An album of abundant imagination, if elusive meaning. [Sep 2018, p.110]

Features a few ropey grunge numbers. [Aug 2002, p.133]

Sadly, Open Season's one-pace '80s guitar rock lags a bit behind the narrative. [May 2005, p.110]

Though twee-o-phobes may baulk at the confessional tone, wit and self-deprecation win the day. [Oct 2012, p.105]

This is an almanac for the chronically inert, best when bottling the sparks that fly as misery meets fine company. [Dec 2017, p.111]

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

Their chart-friendly clothes fit them well. [Oct 2007, p.98]

Seemingly made with the camper kind of dancefloors in mind is the self-titled first album of surging Euro synth-pop from Sweden writer/producer, Kleerup. [Jun 2009, p.134]

Over three albums Echobelly seemed confused as to whether to flog the pixie-esque appeal of singer Sonya Aurora Madan and seek the big money, go for the political jugular or just to pretend to be daft old hippies. Judging by People Are Expensive, the trio still haven't wholly resolved the dilemma...

This late-period curio isn't one for the purists. ... A patchy affair. [Oct 2019, p.117]

His fourth album shows a continuing talent for both dynamite house beats and reframing idiosyncratic vocalists. [Oct 2017, p.105]

Smart, knowing and the right kind of shallow, Spector have moved on to phase two in style. [Sep 2015, p.117]

A record that twists in thrilling shapes but rarely gets tangled. [Dec 2018, p.111]

More familiar than freaky. [Jan 2019, p.114]

Pollard's ear for a pop hook remains unswerving. [Mar 2006, p.109]

There's always been a wistful strain to [Cook's music]. Youth's contribution is to amp up the dreaminess in a way that perfectly suits songs such as Lunar Addiction and Ghostly fading. [Apr 2018, p.108]

Naturally, they can't resist chopping and changing course at the drop of a hat, but the melodic sheen clearly serves notice of more mainstream intent. [Oct 2010, p.120]

Invitation Songs treads a well-worn path through dusty Americana, but with aplomb. [Mar 2008, p.100]

This is a joyful and respectful collection. [Feb 2013, p.107]

Some may carp at the lyrics, but at 47, Kay retains pole position as pop's most revved-up playboy. [May 2017, p.107]

If they're undone by anything, it's their puppy-like, kids-in-a-sweet-shop enthusiasm for their prowess. [May 2016, p.104]

The old fervour remains intact. In truth, their third LP holds few surprises. [Feb 2009, p.116]

It's the interregnum between rock'n'roll and The Beatles and, if the line-up is disparate, the tone is constant, one of languor and melancholy, with re-creation rather than reinterpretation the aim. [Jun 2017, p.112]

Whether anyone would actually buy it is debatable, but certainly everyone should hear it. [Aug 2009, p.110]

Every so often, a newfound edginess gratifyingly creeps in, be that musical, on the gothic post-hardcore of "Plan A," or lyrical, on "The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future," a movingly detailed portrait of a suicidal girl. The signs of a band whose ambition may yet match their productivity. [Mar 2010, p.055]

Untamed Beast proves the band to be much more than just the rock'n'roll Alabama Shakes. [Jun 2013, p.95]

While this album carries more instrumental and emotional heft than its predecessor, something remains off-balance. [Jun 2010, p.130]

Shah isn't doing anything especially new here, but she is blending 2017's concerns, with unalloyed fury and genuine musical craft. [Oct 2017, p.108]

Such are the highs, the weaker material suffers by comparison. [Sep 2004, p.111]

The follow-up mostly reverts to the synth-oriented dream-poppiness of 2010's Halcyon Digest. [Nov 21015, p.107]

While these acoustic poems are often twee and contrived, the woman remains ultimately unpretentious. [Jul 2006, p.114]

Their cut-ups... work best when at their most odd. [Jun 2006, p.117]

[They] have stretched their wings. [Jun 2006, p.119]

There's nothing remotely new here--and his hyper-ventilating yelp won't be for everyone--but it's a rollicking 40-minute ride. [Apr 2018, p.108]

This is a fine follow-up to 2005's "No Wow." [Apr 2008, p.108]

This slick set taps the same pop bounce of 2004's "Calling Out."

The virtuoso musicianship largely eclipses Henry Tremain's insipid vocals. [Feb 2013, p.112]

The subtle rhythms of Nigerian percussionist Lekan Babalola giving something new to Wilson's versions of great old songs. [Aug 2008, p.145]

Contentment makes Everett a less compelling narrator than devastation, but Eels still tailor songs rich in ideas yet stripped of unnecessary fat. [Mar 2013, p.109]

It remains to be seen, though, whether the record-buying public are prepared to give Glasvegas another go, but on this evidence they should. [Oct 2013, p.102]

Dear John is the album he's been gradually building up to, an ebbing and flowing suite best taken as a single musical movement. [Apr 2009, p.107]

For all the celebrity firepower, however, Dark Night Of The Soul never quite adds up to more than a handful of great moments. [Aug 2009, p.111]

A listening experience every bit as intense and idiosyncratic as Ecks himself. [Sep. 2016, p.106]

Marchant is at his best on the more forceful material. [Aug 2013, p.99]

Their 16th LP is their most challenging to date. For all the fine musicianship and vaulting ambition, though, there are lengthy longueurs. [Oct 2015, p.111]

A roster of guest vocalists elevate his noir-shaded take in Detroit techno and '80s "dark-wave" synth-pop. [Dec 2017, p.102]

Be warned: wisdom, soul searching and politics often lead to earnest power chords and clenched fists when coupled with poodle rock. [May 2006, p.123]

Calder employs a startling falsetto over tightly wound tunes that twist your emotions from the gently reflective to swelling with longing in a heartbeat. [Jan 2017, p.115]

Dream Wife draw on the politicised ire of Le Tigre and Bikini Kill while putting their own fun, frivolous spin on things. [Feb 2018, p.111]

Too many of the album's more poignant moments suffer from a slick but formulaic production. ... Graham is at his best when he delivers it straight. [Mar 2017, p.114]

Thoughtfully conceived and carefully executed, it's a record worth braving. [Dec 2012, p.122]

The Dallas-born singer is still making music that's deep and unorthodox. [May 2008, p.141]

It's an intriguing scrapbook of ideas and frequently enjoyable, but could use a banger or tow. [Apr 2016, p.112]

This effervescent debut seems determined to shake off the tragedy. [Oct 2008, p.150]

A modern '70s Motown pastiche, that makes him a serious rival to John Legend. [Dec 2008, p.133]

What Sun Structures lacks is a bit of fire in its belly. [Mar 2014, p.109]

It's a more commercial, fuller album, even if it does slightly lack the spirit of their previous work. [May 2013, p.105]

After just six songs and 17 minutes, the future is sounding admirably open-ended. [Oct 2002, p.118]

Purists may lament the loss of some immediacy to his songs. [Jun 2013, p.95]

Not as instant as the old stuff, but there's more substance here. [Apr 2010, p.116]

Orc is an incredibly full-on record. [Oct 2017, p.107]

When the Crowes stumble into the right place, they soar. Indeed, at its best, their sixth album delivers the same streamlined pleasures that the group rediscovered on 1999's By Your Side.

Los Angeleans' Paul Simon-channelling second LP. [Sept. 2011, p. 110]

Their third album takes them into Foo Fighters' radio-friendly anthems territory. [Oct 2012, p.98]

An album that sounds hushed, bucolic and carefully crafted. [Oct 2012, p.94]

The winter to Johnson's eternal summer. [Jul 2012, p.95]

A minor work from a mighty band. [Jan 2019, p.110]

A radio-friendly collection of feel-good summer pop alongside teen-angsty ballads. [Nov 2007, p.147]

[Passover] can be frustratingly sparse in places. [Apr 2018, p.106]

The whole thing comes with a sort of knowing childishness, like reverting back to your most obnoxious teenage self after 10 Minutes with your family. [Apr 2016, p.112]

Amen & Goodbye is an all-on-black attempt to rediscover their mojo. By and large, it's successful... The only minor caveat is that in the search for sonic and lyric transcendence, the band give off the slight air of Christina rock project. [May 2016, p.104]

A foursome without a single Ken among them, their self-titled debut is heavy psych-rock for those of a crepuscular calling, with Bearfight and Refined being the songs where they really up the power. [Oct 2008, p.153]

The overall effect is warmly intoxicating and that the album comes so close to matching up to the records it's in thrall to means you can forgive its obvious debt to others. [Mar 2014, p.110]

Beware displays enough of Oldham's lyrical and musical guile to ensure that if Beware does become wallpaer, it's lead-laced anaglypa. [Apr 2009, p.100]

Corny soul pitfalls are navigated via satisfying hooks which erupt every time the four-part harmonies kick in. [Sep 2002, p.101]

Sometimes they're studenty when they think they're being menacing, but there's promise and ideas aplenty here. [Sep 2002, p.109]

Under all the Iggy Pop mumbling, splintered ballads and warped Western themes, it seems they keep bubbling back up. [Oct 2017, p.105]

The 1991 session hasn't aged well--the bongos are a problem, but 10 years later they'd mastered the art of subtle delivery. [Jul 2014, p.123]

Anthems For Doomed Youth has plenty of reminders of why people fell in love with The Libertines in the first place.... For better or worse, the habit of both spinning and dwelling upon their own mythology remains too. [Oct 2015, p.112]

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

The airy-fairy aggression sometimes misses the mark. [Oct 2012, p.112]

The duo's experience and aplomb win out. [Sep 2014, p.108]

An album with dirgeful ballads, though they do at least let her show off her excellent voice. [Dec 2017, p.109]

Admirers of The Boo Radleys, the group Carr side-stepped stardom with in the '90s in favour of eclectic cult-dom, will appreciate the sophisticated dance-pop, rock, soul and Brian Wilson-like orchestral curlicues in evidence. [Dec 2017, p.102]

Such a nuanced take on pop's paisley-coloured past won't be to everyone's taste, but devotees will be left dizzy. [Jul 2012, p.95]

The sheer speed can be exhilarating, but changes of pace... are disappointingly few and far between. [Nov 2006, p.149]

Ambitious yet oddly affecting, wash day need never sound the same again. [Apr 2016, p.111]

The shadow of Mazzy Star's drowsy psychedelia still hangs heavily over everything they do. But they do it so persuasively, so single-mindedly, that it's never an issue putting that to one side. [Mar 2013, p.110]

Although its lyrics and concerns are more mature than debut album Life As A Dog, it occasionally feels a bit like reading your teenage diary: a cringe or two amid the catharsis. [Jun 2017, p.109]

An adult in every sense, Goodie Mob are clearly now fully-grown. [Oct 2013, p.102]

Bombay Bicycle Club might have veered all over the track, switching between the folk lane and the electronic one, elbowing indie-pop out of the way, but they still aren't setting the pace. [Mar 2014, p.112]

Pithy stompers such as 'Short Fuse' and 'Drugs' tell their own story, but the spooked death rattle of 'The Drop I Hold' is at least proof that the experimental mind-set of 2007's " Good Bad Not Evil" wasn't a one-off. [May 2009, p.107]

Varshons succeeds thanks to an inspired breadth of material. [Jul 2009, p.125]

It seems hard to believe that the man who made this album is the same one responsible for the 1984's still splendid Rattlesnakes.

Oddly, it [maturity] suits them well. [Oct 2017, p.105]

A solid, if not essential, Desert Sessions return. [Dec 2019, p.109]

Inevitably, it sounds dated. [Feb 2005, p.102]

When it works... he is as heroically spirit-raising and stomach-tighteningly emotional as he was on Play.... Yet, when Moby plods, it's as if the world is burning with boredom. [Apr 2005, p.121]