A consistently impressive record. [Dec 2013, p.111]

It's all resolutely urbane and largely unmemorable. [Dec 2013, p.110]

This crosses the border from homage to mimicry. [Dec 2013, p.108]

A record tremblingly alert to the darkness, it flickers like a candle in the gloom, a victory for the forces of good against all odds. [Dec 2013, p.107]

While that may sound par for techno course, it's shot through with discordant sonics and a bubbling surface that makes even the most wildly different moments feel like part of the same voyage. [Dec 2013, p.107]

Alongside the routinely powerful rocking there are tracks that might have similar impact to 2006 smash Chelsea Dagger. [Dec 2013, p.106]

This latest studio offering is equally tricky to categorise. The mood, though, never overwhelms. [Dec 2013, p.105]

Breathlessly current in its maxed-out production, but also properly robust, Bitter Rivals should turn Sleigh Bells into serious contenders. [Dec 2013, p.104]

The formula really sparks when the layers of sounds are given firm edges. [Dec 2013, p.103]

At its worst, it comes across as parody of one of Primal Scream's cod-Stones missteps. Only once do they drop the Southern shtick. [Dec 2013, p.102]

A dark well of frustration, anger and guilt illuminated by just the smallest crack of redemptive light. [Dec 2013, p.106]

A staggering, intoxicating record. [Dec 2013, p.116]

No Blues is their best album yet. [Dec 2013, p.109]

He doesn't break into this persona often enough, slipping back into ILP's default tone. [Dec 2013, p.109]

It isn't perfect but it adds up to an intimidatingly assured opening shot from a major new talent. [Dec 2013, p.108]

Prism feels transitional, the work of an artist clever enough to be restless, yet unable to split from a winning formula. [Dec 2013, p.110]

Wed 21 is a great place to enter Molina's world, but doesn't tell fans anything they don't already know. [Dec 2013, p.110]

There's no hint of an artistic left-turn here. [Dec 2013, p.103]

It's all very melancholy and mysterious, as you'd imagine, but the production has a pleasingly seductive, 12st-century sheen. [Dec 2013, p.103]

It's one of the best things Childs has ever done. [Dec 2013, p.104]

If they're not stressing about anything, neither will the listener, meaning meager traces remain when it's finished. [Dec 2013, p.105]

Like a silent movie star who discovered she didn't sound like Janet Street-Porter when talkies came, the overwhelming feeling is one of relief and career continuation. [Dec 2013, p.102]

It seemingly exists in another dimension entirely and by the end of the album you feel as if you've just emerged from a a nightclub in Atlantis. [Dec 2013, p.102]

The qualities that make M.I.A. a tough sell is the same one that fuels her restless, hungry, inspirational music. [Dec 2013, p.100]

It confirms the suspicion that Bugg really could go all the way to the top. [Dec 2013, p.106]

These Texans stick to the plan: the concoction of very wonderful thinking-dudes' rock albums, recycling yesteryear's classic vinyl. [Dec 2013, p.110]

This is music that hovers at the edges of modern life, out of time but in its own glorious world. [Dec 2013, p.116]

Such Hot Blood is best when it's at its most anthemic. [Nov 2013, p.101]

Not for the faint-hearted, Kilo packs a bracing, powerful punch. [Jun 2013, p.108]

Their third album reins in the sonic restlessness with impressive results, making it easily their most coherent and melodically enjoyable record to date. [Nov 2013, p.105]

Brush off the buzzing novelty, though, and there is much to admire. [Nov 2013, p.118]

Magnificent. [Nov 2013, p.121]

These previously released 28 masters and 27 out-takes are yet another eloquent reminder that contrary to received wisdom, Presley's '70s were no creative desert. [Nov 2013, p.120]

The sheer wealth of material--over four hours' worth--seem designed to only excite the tastebuds of tourbus veterans. [Nov 2013, p.120]

Kozelek is typically raw, grouchy and funny, and his words find meaning in the minutiae of his own behavior and the lives of others. [Nov 2013, p.109]

A peerless comeback album that's as sad as it is uplifting. [Nov 2013, p.115]

It's just a little underwhelming. [Nov 2013, p.115]

The Fifth sounds like half a dozen different [albums] squashed onto one record. Not good. [Nov 2013, p.115]

They retain enough of their own identity to sound fresh. [Nov 2013, p.114]

Not so much a comeback, more a welcome back. [Nov 2013, p.114]

Aventine does not reveal its atmospheric charms instantly and the brief instrumental Tokka is a reminder she can veer too close to chamber music, but repeated listens unfurls all sorts of wonder. [Nov 2013, p.113]

A dense sci-fi metropolis, rich in atmosphere, but light in the edge and unpredictability of urban life. [Nov 2013, p.111]

It lacks variety, but with a debut this clear-eyed they earn enough musical credit to stay in the black until next time. [Nov 2013, p.111]

This album is as comfortable with skittery beats and strikingly artful arrangements as it is with acid throb and super-sensual disco shudder. [Nov 2013, p.111]

It might lack originality, but its freewheeling spirit will definitely keep you listening. [Nov 2013, p.109]

There's lots here to get lost in. [Nov 2013, p.109]

Effortlessly tuneful, and swathed in allusions to Greek mythology, this is classic Harper. [Nov 2013, p.108]

For new disco freaks and their parents alike, here are 43 old-school minutes of party-down pleasure. [Nov 2013, p.106]

While these midlife blues are never less than absorbing, fans will hope he sees in his half century by upping the ante somewhat. [Nov 2013, p.105]

A breezy 75-minute exploration of the lighter side of their vision. [Nov 2013, p.105]

Radiohead refused to take part, but everyone else has embraced the idea, albeit with predictably mixed results. [Nov 2013, p.107]

The pomp they derive from taking dour post-rock to a rave--notably here in Prisms--is satisfying. [Nov 2013, p.101]

Chatma is a polished set. [Nov 2013, p.116]

Offering a clear connection with his melodically sophisticated, emotive songwriting of yore, it combines light an d shade while touching on such universal notions as the ineffable mystery of existence, how love is eternal and the waning of earthly powers. [Nov 2013, p.114]

Quite unlike any other record you'll hear this year. [Nov 2013, p.116]

It can feel on occasion like being rhythmically walloped round the head with a history book, but when Hamilton properly locks into the immediacy of his and Kim Moyes's immense electronic grooves, its undeniably powerful. [Nov 2013, p.114]

This is an epic musical journey. [Nov 2013, p.120]

Of Nelson's many collaborative albums, To All The Girls is simply among his best. [Nov 2013, p.112]

Scroobius will always smack of Marmite, but he's shaken off some of the whiff of student poet, even addressing bling culture without sounding like a finger-wagging cliche on Gold Teeth. [Nov 2013, p.105]

An album that should have seen Flynn take a step closer to Messrs Marling and Mumford has, sadly, been moulded into a bit of a snoozefest. [Nov 2013, p.102]

Where once Of Montreal sparkled, they're now mired in a plodding, asexual beige. [Nov 2013, p.113]

In Rolling Waves' most successful songs benefit from restraint. [Nov 2013, p.112]

This Is... Icona Pop does contain some enjoyable moments, but it's a hollow victory. [Nov 2013, p.117]

It's full of high drama, intense melancholy and crepuscular euphoria. [Nov 2013, p.116]

It's a record of dizzying scope and Janelle Monae is a terrifying talent at the top of her game. [Nov 2013, p.112]

If Ski Mask fails to be a hit now, though, give it 20 years and it'll be cult gold. [Nov 2013, p.102]

A perfectly acceptable retrenchment. [Nov 2013, p.105]

Scouse grump and Philadelphia radicals were made for each other. [Nov 2013, p.104]

Not all of it works but tracks such as the duskily euphoric Dojo Rising; Moonrabbit, all sunny, West Coast harmonies; and Ice Age Heatwave, which sparkles on a soundscape of otherworldly guitars, are epic in both sound and ambition. [Nov 2013, p.102]

All told it's a captivating listen that's proudly individualistic, heart-warmingly intelligent and beautifully intonated. [Nov 2013, p.102]

Imagery and music intertwine elegantly on Small Plane and The Sing and if it's not up there with Callahan's very best work, Dream River still runs deep. [Nov 2013, p.102]

This raw, unsettling album's backstory, rendered through protesting guitars, is what gives it its defiant edge. [Nov 2013, p.102]

More Than and We Both Know's saturnine piano chords offer a novel contrast to crisp synth-pop such as Somebody Who, where their talent for alluring yet artless arrangements really comes into its own. [Nov 2013, p.102]

Hard to believe they needed 13 years to make it, but Event 2 is well worth the wait. [Nov 2013, p.103]

Most of the musical elements remain over-familiar-swelling strings, understated beats, the odd crackly blues sample. [Nov 2013, p.111]

There's a renewed focus and a hitherto undetectable oomph, both achieved without jettisoning their trademark subtlety. [Nov 2013, p.116]

Beautiful and candid, One Breath proves Anna Calvi has her frailties. They just happen to be as captivating as her strengths. [Nov 2013, p.106]

This 20th album is his most overt and conscious attempt to wrestle with specific demons that [diagnosis of being in the autism spectrum] raises up. [Nov 2013, p.113]

Although the music is minimal, propulsive and built for clubs, Avery's formative years spent listening too rock and proto-electro lend the album a dynamic that suits headphone immersion. [Nov 2013, p.102]

You plug it in your ears in June and three months later you've barely listened to anything else. Highly recommended. [Nov 2013, p.104]

The next crossover metal band has arrived. [Nov 2013, p.101]

While Reflektor isn't so flawed as to strip them of their sash, it's a wobble on a podium, a needless error of judgement that could have been easily avoided had they heeded that other old truism. [Nov 2013, p.100]

The way they shift from the blues-y swagger of Let The Record Play to the percussive march of Pendulum and the R.E.M.-evoking country twang of Yellow Moon is a sure sign that they belong in the lineage of great American rock bands. [Nov 2013, p.108]

This is a patterned Wellington boot of a record, more suited to looking boho at a festival then actually having a splash around in the swamp of the human soul. [Aug 2013, p.104]

Reggae has always plundered country for songs of love and heartbreak. Though seldom with such limp indifference. [Sep 2013, p.109]

Altogether, it's a wholly surprising musical development from a criminally overlooked talent. [Sep 2013, p.107]

They capture a group on the brink of a startling transition. [May 2013, p.116]

This fourth is no less essential for fans than the previous three. [May 2013, p.117]

While the new incarnation of the band has made two strong albums, LXXX shows off what really was their last splash. It was one hell of a cannonball. [May 2013, p.115]

The RCA Albums Collection remains the final word on the most consummate singer-songwriter of his generation. [Sep 2013, p.111]

Both sides [metal and pop] work well individually, but bolted together it sounds confused. [Sep 2013, p.100]

It's the album's dream-like middle section where the real alchemy happens. [Sep 2013, p.102]

The relentlessly summery mega anthems sound identical. And exhausting. [Sep 2013, p.109]

His debut is lush and in places, lovely. [Sep 2013, p.108]

This is actually a deeply groovy album, beautifully produced and full of sparkling detail. [Sep 2013, p.108]

[He's tempered] his earlier frat-boy laddishness with some gentler introspection and a keen ear for beats. [Sep 2013, p.107]

It features a clutch of terrific songs delivered with a sense of real elation. [Sep 2013, p.106]

The wan disco of Sugar And Bullets and Another Land's sub Depeche Mode pastiche show a fatal lack of creative daring. [Sep 2013, p.106]