While it won't lift him beyond cult status, it's typically enjoyable. [Apr 2010, p.112]

Cited as a missing link between Radiohead and Massive Attack following their self-titled 2007 debut, the Leeds outfit here start to live up to the hype. [Mar 2011, p.115]

Long thought missing in action, it's good to report that his first album in more than a decade finds him in surprisingly rude health. [Nov. 2011, p. 128]

Dead Set On Living is gritty, punk-metal. [May 2012, p.94]

Evans the Death manage to make humdrum, everyday existence sound quite magical. [May 2012, p.96]

It's narcotic, claustrophobic and brilliant. [Sep 2012, p.98]

Betty Wright is a wise, commanding presence. [Aug 2012, p.11]

By the end, it feels as if Tegan And Sara need to sharpen their edge before they lose their point completely. [Mar 2013, p.110]

The Grenoble DJ/producer's third and best solo release, may feature some ropey lyrics, but the sultry dominatrix voice in which she intones them helps her get away with it. [Jul 2013, p.108]

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

A surprisingly easy album to enjoy. [Mar 2013, p.105]

Seemingly compiled by the toss of a coin, Can't forget is a hotch-potch of old staples, two new songs and two covers. [Jun 2015, p.102]

At Times, Tenderness teeters on schmaltz, but Souther's way with a simple melody usually pulls it back. [Jul 2015, p.113]

In other words: quintessential Squeeze. [Dec 2015, p.114]

A boot-stomping blast from start to finish. [Feb 2016, p.110]

A white guy singing "de" instead "the" might reek uncomfortably of minstrelsy for some, but if you can get past that, any fan of Tom Waits or Dr. John ought to get a kick out of Gon' Boogaloo. Cracking. [Aug 2016, p.117]

It's a record delivered with real verve and attack. [Sep 2016, p.111]

A masterclass in the art of collaboration. [Mar 2018, p.108]

This is the sound of someone surveying a world turning to ashes. In other words, anyone looking for upbeat club songs to soundtrack adverts may be disappointed. [May 2018, p.111]

Yet the band's mastery of mood often comes at the expense of memorability, with the melodies and refrains of individual tracks tending to merge into a single mass of bittersweet malaise. [Jul 2018, p.112]

It might be summer, but autumnal is the atmosphere here. [Summer 2018, p.114]

Cypress Hill have rarely sounded this focused. [Nov 2018, p.105]

Their sound has never been fuller. [Mar 2019, p.112]

A classy return. [Summer 2019, p.108]

Authoritative, direct and exhilarating. [May 2020, p.100]

A career highlight. [Sep 2006, p.109]

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

These considered songs are slow to blossom but, like Junip, they're worth the wait. [May 2013, p.104]

A mightily heavy and punky album. [Jul 2006, p.119]

In any sensible home there's always room for some no-nonsense, Nuggets-era Garage rock, however, and for that alone the impossibly titled **** pushes plenty of the right buttons. [Jan 2011, p.142]

Even when the spare, fractured arrangements seem a bit aimless, the girlish harmonies keep on charming. [May 2008, p.126]

It's Up To Emma feels like eavesdropping on someone's post-break-up revenge fantasy. [Jun 2013, p.104]

In short, Calling Out's not a bad shout if you're looking for something calm and unruffled to soundtrack the summer. [Aug 2015, p.104]

Despite there being little opportunity for euphoric release, it's easy to lose yourself in Deleter's darker, more brutal moments. [Mar 2020, p.119]

It might be a record looking to the past, but it has Harris and Crowell doing some of the best work of their careers. [Apr 2013, p.103]

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]

Even at its most melancholy, there's a warmth and brightness to M. Ward's eighth solo album. [Apr 2016, p.110]

Luckily, Lif's mental agility and provocative rhymes are matched by the production skills of... El-P. [Jul 2006, p.115]

A typically disorienting affair, Skik I Allt divides itself between pastoral, paisley-patterned '60s pop and, more troublingly, the toothless prog-rock of Hogdalstoppen and Blandband. [Oct 2010, p.107]

A moody, sensual record that unwraps its pleasures slowly. [May 2015, p.111]

Reassuringly, Gilmour's cool and composed vocal delivery and liquid guitar solos dominate throughout. [Nov 2015, p.113]

Stelmanis is her own woman and on Lose It and Spellwork there's enough regal clatter to elevate her from being a mere cult concern. [Jun 2011, p.107]

Horehound's strengths are also its weaknesses--the rush with which it came together, the sense that it amounts to Jack White playing to type. But like Jack White, too, when it's good, it's very, very good. [Aug 2009, p.102]

It's a surprise to have him back, but on the strength of After You, a more than welcome one. [Jan 2020, p.113]

The best parts of Hawk, where Capbell's voice slips around Lanegan's like a membrane and the duo assumes a single, menacing persona. [Sep 2010, p.121]

This collection by 18-year-old Chicagoan David Davis makes footworking beats accessible. [Dec 2012, p.106]

Rakei's gently wistful tone fits the general mood, though it's something of a relief when he shifts gears. [Summer 2019, p.115]

The mix may be familiar but it's still frequently thrilling. [Apr 2015, p.104]

Requiem is Goat's most acoustic and folksy release to date, but their greedily promiscuous approach to pilfering beats from all pints of the globe is undiminished. [Nov 2016, p.107]

There's still enough trail dust on the seat of their experimental pants to delight country rock eggheads. [May 2006, p.123]

Aside from the Flying Lotus-produced curio tucked away at the end, there's little sign here he's willing to attempt a new role. [Jul 2011, p.111]

Invoking the spirit of minimalist commposer Steve Reich, Hebden crafts music of fragile beauty fron the simplest sonic palette. [June 2008, p.142]

It's excellent. [Nov 2015, p.107]

An exquisite addition to the canon. [Apr 2003, p.104]

This is largely Arab Strap on familiar ground: filmic guitar atmospherics backing an extended bout of post-coital melancholy.

Sure, it sails close to novelty record territory but Folds demonstrates exceptional skill in marrying wryly observational lyrics to upbeat piano-driven craziness.

Go Forth is addictively oblique stuff, veering joyously between budget Gary Numan, scene elder statesmen Fugazi and the Pixies in their surf-rock period. Shredding instinct and convention along the way, Harrington has forged something compellingly original here. [Nov 2001]

An effortless melding of Stones and Family Stone, Curtis Mayfield and computers, all topped off with Tim Burgess's fetching new falsetto.... With every track a winner, Wonderland is a truly thing of wonder.

Heavenly. [Mar 2012, p.97]

Femejism is every bit as exhilarating as debut Sistronix. [Oct 2016, p.107]

Lucky, then she's so musically warm and, like its predecessors, Safe Trip Home takes comfort in a sound that almost masks her unrest. Almost. [Dec 2008, p.127]

They're at their most effective, however, when they allow their songcraft to dictate the swirl, rather than vice versa. [Nov 2016, p.115]

Andrea Ferro's growls and Cristina Scabbia's soaring melodies just about rescues this from sounding as dated as its influences. [Feb 2012, p.107]

The Heavy remain The Black keys for people who'd rather dance than mosh. [Sep 2012, p.102]

The first 25 minutes are exhilarating if a little one-dimensional, but eventually they rein in the noise slightly. [Aug 2014, p.107]

The follow-up sounds like an altogether more professional job. [Feb 2017, p.112]

The thematic predecessor to this LP underlined Yoko Ono's re-evaluation as a musical envelope pusher by a new generation of artists including Cat power, Spiritualized and The Flaming Lips, who all reworked moments from her back catalogue. This sequel successfully repeats the trick. [Mar 2016, p.112]

[Common] delivers something fresh and vibrant by applying his seasoned skills to old-school breaks, classic hooks and a measure of eclecticism. [April 2012, p.104]

Orkenvandring and Sauerkraut evoke the motorik thrum and ringing guitar melodies of Neu!, splashed with Balearic colour and cloosely attuned to the squishy ambience of the hour just before dawn. [May 2010, p.125]

They spent three weeks recording this eclectic set of covers ranging from The Moody Blues to Spoon, all delivered with the steel-trap tightness of a touring band. [Jun 2010, p.128]

Anything approaching a tune seems to have been muffled under a duvet of drowsiness. [May 2006, p.122]

Possibly The Flaming Lips' most upliftingly utopian work since Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. [Aug 2019, p.111]

Live At The Olympia more than stands up as a vital, vibrant document in its own right. [Dec 2009, p.118]

Teeth offers more upbeat songs about downwardly mobile characters, complete with Springsteen-scale musical drama and clever lyrics about dive bars. [May 2014, p.111]

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]

The results are spellbinding. [#361, p.111]

It's worth having--just don't expect the act of possession to be all one way. [Feb 2014, p.110]

See You In Magic happily throws in every hoary old cliche in the book. [June 2008, p.149]

The language barrier may prove too much for English-speakers, but the typically sunny, genre-blending production from world-pop maven Manu Chao should win them a place on the summer festival circuit. [Jul 2011, p.111]

If last year's Spanish El Turista was Josh Rouse embracing his new European home with a vengeance, this time around he's deployed his resources with more subtlety and made a better record. [Nov. 2011, p. 140]

This sequel to 2011's Interplay again taps a renewed interest in minimal wave's glacial harmonies and pattering beats... though it's the man who triumphs over the machines. [Jun 2012, p.101]

The players' energy and instrumental prowess are captured intact, even if some of the analogue grit that makes the '70s originals so compelling has been sacrificed. [Aug 2012, p.102]

The baroque embellishments of Nowhere To Go and Blind Eye are a perfect dressing for the emotions that created them. [Mar 2013, p.104]

This follow-up is a return to the dullsville rock of old. [May 2013, p.99]

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

Exotic, hip and exuding an effortless charm, Costa Blanca is a sophisticated treat from start to finish. [Jan 2014, p.120]

Shadow finds a band who can do more than just roar. [Jun 2014, p.114]

Glam folk never sounded such a good idea. [Mar 2015, p.105]

It could have been full steam ahead here, but Pure Mood instead chugs forward gently. [Jan 2016, p.112]

Music that strives for knitted-brow intensity. [Jan 2018, p.110]

The propulsive Fast Forward proves there's still a shard of emo in their hearts, but mostly this feels like a bold reboot. [Dec 2018, p.114]

More often than not, the discordant swamp of cacophony Leonard has long brought to his work threatens to overwhelm the freeform joy of his compositions. [Dec 2018, p.111]

High drama in every molecule. [Jan 2019, p.114]

A very impressive debut. [May 2005, p.117]

This irresistibly funky makeover feels like the emergence of a major new talent. [Aug 2017, p.108]

Combining the brittle emotion of Bob Mould with Dave Grohl's understanding of rock dynamics, My Vitriol are robust enough for the moshpit while also providing the perfect soundtrack for those dark nights when the only company you need is a wine bottle.

A marvellous, surprising comeback from a forgotten talent. [Mar 2003, p.103]

Few bands epitomise so well the virtues of not fixing that which isn't broken.