Bristol duo mix up hugely potent psychedelic brew. [March 2011, p. 109]

An album that spins and lurches with impressive dexterity. [Aug 2009, p.104]

Enjoyable and fresh, retro and modern, English Electric's only fault is that its creators try a bit too hard to sound like their own past. [May 2013, p.107]

The self-produced Watershed is the best thing she's done since 1992's "Ingenue." [Feb 2008, p.96]

Plastic Anniversary is flexible, addictive and, ultimately, deeply disturbing. [May 2019, p.115]

The intended fully immersive Sensurround experience eludes them, leaving just an occasionally diverting breeze. [Aug 2017, p.105]

Turn Off The News captures his talents in full bloom. [Sep 2019, p.115]

Sounds at once familiar yet new. [Aug 2005, p.127]

Not an experience to be rushed, but it makes for quite a trip. [Summer 2019, p.112]

Here he revisits an early interest in exotica, the '50s faux-tropical lounge style, creating mood music with a global twist. [Jul 2020, p.110]

Charming but once-paced opener from Denver couple. [July 2011, p. 120]

The music here only rarely matches up. [Nov 2002, p.96]

A worthy and wonderful addition to [their] cannon. [Aug 2012, p.98]

This is a charming side-step from a significant latterday voice of America. [Sep 2014, p.110]

A collection of B-sides, Peel Sessions, alternative takes and unreleased tracks which reveal that the Californians were undergoing a spell of prolific creativity bordering on incontinence. [Sep 2015, p.121]

Her marriage of musical gentleness and raw despair takes her to a whole new level. [Nov 2017, p.104]

It loses its way in the last quarter, but not before you're convinced there's a unique talent at work. [Aug 2004, p.115]

A fine showcase for simmering, ethereal pop music. [Oct 2003, p.111]

It's a landmark album for REM and the fans who stayed faithful, a shot in the arm for music in 2001 and - unless they're too foolish to accept it - a long-awaited treat for all the listeners who bailed out after Monster.

Tunstall has Norah Jones's throaty catch, Dido's warmth, plus a winning way with a soaring chorus. [Jan 2005, p.130]

Although just 26 minutes long, it's an unexpected triumph. [Apr 2009, p.115]

The neurotic twists and nuances that made 1982's Vs so electrifying are still apparent... further confirmation that Mission of Burma have no intention of either burning out or fading away. [Aug 2012, p.104]

Warm and beautiful music. [Mar 2014, p.117]

While this more contemplative side rounds out their usual roaring punk, it does strip them of some edge, making The Black Market sound oddly anonymous. [Sep 2014, p.113]

The hit rate is impressive. [Oct 2015, p.109]

Some of the best [tracks] of Rose's career. [May 2019, p.116]

Where other ambient artists can veer dangerously close to musak, Frahm always brims with invention. [Dec 2019, p.109]

It's beautifully put together, remarkably so given that it was constructed largely via the internet. [Jun 2009, p.124]

As a result, She Rode Me Down thunders along like a flute-propelled express train, Black Smoke is a foreground as they've been since their moment of near-glory Travelling Light and they somehow prised the elusive Mary Margaret O'Hara out of obscurity to duet on Peanuts. [Feb 2010, p. 112]

When he's on this sort of excitable form, no one, Albarn included can keep up. [May 2012, p.108]

Energy levels stay firmly in the red throughout and, perhaps, unsurprisingly given the subject matter, it sounds as though the pair had enormous fun in making it. [May 2012, p.102]

We get their most pastoral outing to date, piano ballads one minutes, laid-back Neil Young the next. [July 2010, p. 129]

[Glass's] lyrics are often buried in the mix, but no amount of production occultation can hide the fact that the likes of Plague are excelsior anthems for the End Times. [Jan 2013, p.103]

The oddball duo of Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez rage in a noise-rock playground, sometimes using instruments handmade in Sanchez's workshop. Amid the racket, Dyer's yearning gives political screeds the intimacy of a lover's spat. [Feb 2019, p.108]

Her innate spikiness keeps the schmaltz in check. [Oct 2019, p.108]

All of the elements that make the band great--the Shadowsy guitar solos, James Skelly's Eric Burdon-meets-Jimmy Corkhill croon, the breadth of imagination--are well lubricated, but the songwriting has rocketed. [Aug 2003, p.106]

Espers' folk apocalypse is very now--and very welcome. [Dec 2009, p.112]

Two Suns is an intoxicating, addictive album, a step on from "Fur And Gold" a leap into a galaxy of its very own. [May 2009, p.118]

Gonzales works with subsonic electronics, shoegazey ambiance and lush orchestration to create a wildly ambitious, often visionary record. [Nov. 2011, p. 136]

Although at times Lost Girls' nostalgia feels slightly generic, the record does benefit from Khan's ability to weave nuanced emotional portraits--something that imbues an overused retro aesthetic with intrigue once more. [Oct 2019, p.109]

Rather than working as a listening experience, Myth Takes feels more like a dry run for one of !!!'s compulsive live shows. [Apr 2007, p.116]

Reflective, humourous and romantic, Catacombs is perfect for those long summer nights ahead. [Jul 2009, p.133]

Choice of Weapon is absurd, brilliant and stupidly good fun. [Jun 2012, p.100]

A step backwards. [May 2014, p.121

[Wiesenfeld has an] uncommon ear for texture and rhythm, albeit one compromised by a weakness for self-consciously introspective lyrics and highfalutin sixth form poetry. [Jun 2013, p.93]

This is lush music to get lost in. [May 2020, p. 100]

An intriguing drivetime playlist results. [Jul 2016, p.109]

Sweet, subtle and quietly insidious. [May 2005, p.111]

It's the contrast between lo-fi production and brilliant musicanship that makes Expressions special. [Apr 2010, p.116]

Dare may share some vocal similarities with Jeff Buckley and James Blake, but the overall effect is utterly distinctive. [Apr 2020, p.106]

Inevitably some of the surprised factor has worn off for their second album but it's still an exhilarating collision of ideas. [Sep 2012, p.105]

There are moments of real pathos. [Feb 2016, p.108]

A notch above an off-cuts collection. [Aug 2006, p.116]

While 'New King' and 'Time Can Be Overcome' are heartland country-rock classics, the funk-flecked 'Trans Canada' and feedback-frazzled 'Shower Of Stones' take a cue frrom dub-punk icons Fugazi. [Oct 2008, p.141]

A genuinely quirky record. [Oct 2009, p.112]

Euphoric and uncompromising, Folly us up there with KOD's best work. [Nov 2013, p.109]

Meditative yet pulsing, awkward yet affecting Suuns' contrasting waves deliver an eerie, engaging adrenalin rush. [Apr 2013, p.111]

His fourth album is another trough, low on songs and over-reliant on meandering guitar jams. [Apr 2008, p.112]

These songs aren't in line with much contemporary R&B, but reach for something more retro, and on tracks such as Teach You, a kind of Broadway grandeur. The strange result is that they in fact sound refreshingly modern. [Apr 2019, p.113]

This collections reveals that you can make music as clever or as conceptual as you like, but back it up with magnificent songs, and the people will flock. [Jan 2012, p.132]

As much as The Back Room is a victory for style, it also strikes a blow for substance. [Aug 2005, p.135]

Mulvey is very much his own man on this highly intriguing debut. [Jun 2014, p.117]

They may be too post-modern for some tastes, but Thurston Moore has his sonic menace back. [Apr 2013, p.97]

Their second album may not pack many surprises, but vocalist Haley Shea proves engaging company. [Apr 2020, p.113]

It's a trawl through pop's murky subconscious, all mangled electronics, lurching beats and warped mantras. [Nov. 2010, p. 116]

A true leap forward for an artist maybe only just coming into his own after 25 years. [Jul 2019, p.110]

Once the listener gets beyond the references, Clarietta really hits the mark, with a high strike rate of knockout tunes. [Jun 2013, p.94]

The broader palette suits him. [Nov 2017, p.107]

Although III doesn't offer anything to rival [2014's Beggin For Thread] in songwriting stakes, it does manage to mine thrills from an adventurous production. [Aug 2019, p.108]

By turns soothing and jarring, the tone suggests Death In Vegas with the neurosis replaced by a mood of ennui.

The occasional bit of mannered filler slows things up slightly, but elsewhere all is groovy and enigmatic hauteur. [Dec 2002, p.107]

A fair bit of filler... [Sep 2001, p.106]

While this falls short of the momentous A Few Small Repairs, it's still something to treasure.

Though low on hooks, the ragged and faster songs are sweetened by the vocal interplay between Hersh and Donelly. [Apr 2003, p.104]

Sounds like a recently awakened Aphex Twin in warm snooze mode. [Oct 2004, p.133]

The Canadians [Badbadnotgood] deliver in spades.... Even when Ghostface doesn't bring his A game, he gets by with a little help from his friends. [Mar 2015, p.108]

Another of Cooder's worthy experiments. [Apr 2007, p.117]

While Introspection and Ocean Flow Zither pluck strings in infinite caverns of echo and temple bells, elsewhere things are more earthbound, though still transcendent. [Dec 2017, p.106]

[In the UK], he's still something of a curiousity and likely to remain so, despite Tristeza Maleza's sweet, summery lilt and the Bob Marley-like festival anthem 'Politik Kills.'

Superabundance us a celebratory affair--a hugely likable and intelligent pop album that sings with human warmth and, ultimately, quiet defiance. [Apr 2008, p.106]

Mood music with a soul. [Oct 2011, p.112]

Your tolerance for extended jams will be tested but it's a varied and mesmerizing trip nonetheless. [Jan 2012, p.124]

Matt Shultz makes a natural showman firmly in the mouth Perry Farrell mould. Front of house taken care of, it's then just a matter of pairing the noise and excitement, something they achieve in short, sharp bursts with room to spare. [Apr 2011, p.98]

More downtempo delights from Rhode Islanders. [March 2011, p. 106]

Its best moments--Around The Bend, Traveller--are all about Wainwright, her elasticated voice and deft melodies. [Jan 2017, p.115]

Oldham has been so far ahead of the folksy Americana pack for so long that it now sounds like he's even caught up with himself. [Jan. 2012 p. 119]

She's not ready to call time just yet. [Jan 2013, p.105]

It takes time to reveal its charms and does sag towards the end, but Depression Cherry is a great example of a band hanging on to their trademark sound and managing to create something fresh with it. [Sep 2015, p.111]

As strident as the MC5 yet as playful as Pavement, White Denim sound like the best rock'n'roll party you've ever gatecrashed. [July 2008, p.111]

Only Revolutions has enough in the way of nous, intelligence and tunes to broaden their audience immeasurably. [Dec 2009, p.122]

Time Flies... is the memorial to the greatest rock'n'roll cartoon of them all, one which, re-formation dreams aside, ends here now. [Jul 2010, p.144]

Third album Fake history is a whirl of clattering hardcore, gymnastic screaming and raw-edged, blazing riffs. [Jun 2011, p.114]

Rather than merely bashing out folk takes on [the songs of Wyatt and Antony], they've remodeled them, retained the sense of gravitas and added a fan's love. Gorgeous. [Feb. 2012 p. 111]

The arch, sometimes claustrophobic Macaroni demonstrates Conn's muso-like command of often juxtaposed genres. [May 2012, p.95]

["Cadillac Walk" is] a refreshing change of pace on an album whose smoothness palls just a little over 12 songs. [May 2013, p.110]

Odd couples don't come more unlikely, nor as complementary. [Jun 2013, p.95]

Rather too many hats, perhaps, but still an impressive showcase. [Mar 2013, p.105]

There's little outright originality, but they're melodically strong and the male-female vocal interchange between Andreas Pallisgaard and drummer Jaleh Negari is captivating. [Sep 2013, p.107]