An album of palatable Radio 1-friendly alt-rock. [Mar 2007, p.110]

It's not going to challenge anyone, but it would bring a welcome touch of class to the charts. [Oct 2008, p.139]

The gauzy production effects on Lamplight are among the few concessions to modernity, though the opening credits theme proper--where Zeffira breathily channels chanteuse Francoise Hardy--is hauntingly gorgeous. [Apr 2015, p.98]

It turns out to be a bit of an understated charmer. [Dec 2010, p.114]

Octahedron bucks the band's trend for obfuscation, though; conventional song structures are very much in evidence, while its relatively trim 49-minute running time is on par with some of Mars Volta's more involved live jams. [Jul 2009, p.127]

Justin Hawkins' vocal histrionics can, at times grate, but for suckers of old-school guitar riffs and songs about the Viking invasion of East Anglia, there's much to enjoy. [Jul 2015, p.104]

Their technical reach may not yet match their imagination, but that'll come in time. [Jul 2014, p.102]

Sistrionix doesn't always keep up the consistency, but Deap Vally have enough swagger to fill in the gaps. [Aug 2013, p.96]

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

While Mair's wistful voice can carry the weight, it occasionally makes all the impact of a light mist. [Jul 2012, p.107]

She sings [everything] so prettily that you wonder just how authentic her misery really is. [Aug 2006, p.113]

For Polica, chilling out means going way below zero, resulting in an icy glitter that is seductive but ultimately freezes you out. [Dec 2013, p.112]

It's an album that's trying very hard--and succeeding. [May 2017, p.108]

Though bereft of the drama and surprise with which a top production can transform a song into cap-R Record, her ninth album is a ton of fun. [Feb 2013, p.104]

There's enough here certainly, though, to suggest he's one to keep an eye on. [Oct 2013, p.97]

The results are mixed. [Jul 2020, p.104]

Producer Joe Henry has softened the originals' raw edges without compromising their acidic content. [Oct 2008, p.152]

Forward-thinking dance music for head and feet alike. [Mar 2014, p.121]

Night In the Dark is retrograde, but it's a refinement too. [Apr 2015, p.97]

Halos & Horns has Dolly reaching fever pitch with Hello God and, with Not For Me, singing as beautifully as she has ever done. [Aug 2002, p.131]

An intriguing collision of the musical outer reaches and American indie rock. [Jun 2013, p.107]

There's a gnawing gutlessness at work here, which ultimately sells him short. [Feb 2004, p.101]

Sun-kissed first single Love Lasts Forever aside, the songs are often suffocated by vaguely outre production flourishes. [Sep 2018, p.110]

Owens is still lyrically overblown and adolescent with his themes, but his band have found a way to make their progressive intentions fit their punk rock. [Jul 2014, p.104]

Clearly her reinvention was a step worth taking, though it might have been more radical if she'd truly struck out on her own. [Aug 2014, p.108]

Synthetica's relentless efficiency feels a tad mechanical. [Jul 2012, p.107]

The shift between styles can jar, but it's a move that give Broods' inoffensive formula a welcome burst of energy. [Mar 2019, p.112]

Solid, but a little more derangement would have been welcome. [May 2017, p.107]

Clinic have performed a remarkable metamorphosis for the melodic, dreamlike Bubblegum. [Nov. 2010, p. 106]

The Brummie veterans' 16th studio album is every bit as gloriously over-the-top and ludicrous as you might imagine. [Aug 2008, p.135]

The result is an exciting, albeit one-paced, record, but one that arrives with a significant question mark over its purpose. [Oct 2013, p.98]

Style and contentment. [Jul 2020, p.104]

They too often tip into adolescent parent-scaring anguish. [Mar 2014, p.121]

Occasionally distant, the restrained urgency of Dracula and soulful vocals of Closer ripple with an enticing warmth. [May 2013, p.113]

Super absorbing. [May 2012, p.99]

A refreshingly upbeat counterpoint to 2006's opaque, Brian Eno assisted Surprise. [May 2011, p.124]

Intimate without being indulgent, the crackly production only enhances the home-baked mood. [Summer 2018, p.113]

Pitched somewhere between Lauryn Hill and Alanis Morissette, Furtado's songs - sung nasally in a style which occasionally recalls a less hysterical Gwen Stefani - are playful, unaffected and full of little surprises.

Pleasing, brain-squeezing racket. [Aug 2012, p.95]

Maybe not vintage Willie, but entertaining enough. [Jul 2012, p.107]

Not song-based, the album relies on mood... making its impact in a similar, slightly less accomplished manner to Brian Eno's early ambient experiments. [Feb 2007, p.102]

The Search revisits the social commentary of Farrar's old band. [May 2007, p.129]

At its worst Etheridge is a sub-Springsteen mistress of the lyrically obvious. But when she hitches a poetic directness to a thumping tune on The Wanting Of You and Company, she's in a league of her impassioned own. [Aug 200, p.119]

It's more accessible than more tripped-out previous releases. [Dec 2012, p.110]

Unfortunately, the old pop standards--including two popularised by Brenda Lee--are all syrup and no spark. [May 2017, p.107]

There's a slightly dated stadium-house feel to th rest.... Still, when he thrills, he truly thrills. [Apr 2008, p.108]

The Canadian synth-pop duo are still partying like it's 1984. [Nov. 2010, p. 106]

Whether it's some twangy rockabilly or a thoroughbred country lament, their aim is always true. [Feb 2013, p.107]

An engaging, easy on the senses combination of murk and shine, then. [Feb 2014, p.115]

Paring down the roster to give more space to standout performers would have made this hit-and-miss debut fell less like a lucky dip. [Mar 2015, p.106]

These songs might waver and stumble, but they still feel like a successful step forward. [Jul 2019, p.106]

This isn't his masterpiece, but it is the unexpected sound of the road of excess leading to the palace of wisdom. [May 2013, p.103]

He's not quite established his own sound, but that will surely come. Meanwhile, Braveface remains hugely enjoyable. [Jun 2009, p.121]

Some might find Issues a bit too strenuous ("I stand up to them and confront/While you choose to be a cunt, " claims Up) but as fans know, The Slits are meant to be full-on. [Dec 2009, p. 126]

Feels like reconnecting with a well-loved school friend on Facebook and finding that he's barely changed his clothes, let alone his ideas: a pleasure but not quite a thrill. [May 2012, p.100]

The Beastie Boys have always been at their best when gleefully rhyming and stealing from a variety of sources--both musically and lyrically--and the self-imposed adherence to hip hop traditionalism here, and indeed musically on the album as a whole, rather subdues their famously free-form sonic palette. [Jul 2004, p.108]

This slow-moving record is full of secrets yet reveals barely anything at all. [Summer 2018, p.116]

Stylish nightlife pop. [Dec 2004, p.148]

Harvey's voice is not worthy of heavyweight songwriting. Still, when the songs are lighter, he succeeds. [Oct 2005, p.117]

Draining and stylish in equal measure. [Jan 2017, p.111]

At times they lack the focus to quite surmount their influences. [Aug 2006, p.117]

There's a harder edge throughout their fourth album, making them sound a little like Starsailor at times, with electric guitars getting more of a look-in this time. [Oct 2007, p.106]

Everytime they hit their stride, as on 'Weightless,' a delicious coupling of joyful guitar riffs and Matthew Caw's warm falsetto, it is quickly followed by a bog-standard indie jangle. [Mar 2008, p.108]

Any nuance is stomped by hectic drums and background chants, but it's hard not to warm to people acting on the very human compulsion to make their presence known in case they spin out of reach forever. [May 2017, p.107]

He's made his most palatable LP yet. [Feb 2013, p.109]

This final testament is all the more heart-breaking for the fact we'll never hear from Campbell again. [Oct 2013, p.99]

Though their lyrical scope remains limited, they work hard to deliver the kind of catharsis you'd associate with a cherished coming-of-age movie. [Jul 2020, p.106]

What's lacking from the Oakland native is the kind of fresh approach to a retro sound that elevated Amy Winehouse above straight homage. [Apr 2009, p.110]

The group struts through an early brace of crackling tunes.... Unfortunately though, the album's second half slips - bar the swirling psychedelia of Sioux - into more indistinguishable indie-rock territory. [Oct 2011, p.123]

Shorn of the stunning visuals, a little too much here sounds like aural padding. [Oct 2008, p.149]

Silence Is Wild may be willfully idiosyncratic and prone to self-indulgence, but it's also refreshingly imaginative, sexually upfront and impossible to second guess. [Mar 2009, p.101]

While these 12 tracks occasionally meld into one [an]other a little too easily, there are many moments of promise. [Jul 2018, p.111]

Their third album is another bony bundle of modern neuroses. [Apr 2009, p.108]

Its rambling nature irks, for in among its nearly 80 minutes there are pop diamonds that would have made a sharp and spectacular single LP. [May 2013, p.109]

Fans will enjoy this career-spanning double live album. [Apr 2012, p.94]

The length and sheer number of guest stars mean it;'s somewhat rambling, but when you're talking P-funk, what's new? [May 2011, p.112]

A record whose hooks sometimes struggle to sink their claws in. [Sep 2018, p.113]

When they do stretch themselves there's much to savour. [Jul 2014, p.109]

The sex tracks themselves are more scary than seductive.... [But] the dancefloor tunes are far more slinky. [May 2004, p.107]

It's enjoyable inventive stuff, although the world music influences and Perry's scat singing style can make him sound unnervingly like Sting at times. [Dec 2016, p.106]

It's a tough listen--although that might be the point. [Jul 2012, p.108]

Two good albums, then--but more editing could have produced a single excellent one. [May 2017, p.104]

He's carved out his own island. [Apr 2016, p.104]

Few of the remaining tracks, all instrumentals, stray far from the blueprint. [Oct 2013, p.99]

There's plenty of evidence on Tonight... of attempts at broadening their palette, but it's usually by substituting jerky guitar for jerky synthesizer as the lead instrument. [Feb 2009, p.110]

This isn't music designed to be passively enjoyed and it's all the more thrilling for it. [Apr 2014, p.116]

Just think how much more she could do with that glorious voice. [#180, p.112]

Freed from the expectation of neatly crafted songs, Goddard gets in touch with his dance roots on a collection of largely instrumental grooves. [Jan 2010, p. 119]

We're All Alright! has admirably little truck with nostalgia. [Aug 2017, p.102]

Adam Duritz has vocal warmth and his band create all sorts of lush soundscapes, not a million miles away from a less jazzy Steely Dan. [July 2002, p.112]

His songs are funny clever, rather than funny ha-ha, making Dad Country a serious business. [Jul 2013, p.105]

While The Double Cross is diverting enough, it is far from essential. [July 2011, p. 119]

At times, it's almost peaceful. [Jul 2014, p.109]

Judgement Days is no disgrace, but nor is it cause to anoint Dynamite as a major talent. [Oct 2005, p.112]

An excellent return. [Dec 2012, p.109]

Two good albums, then--but more editing could have produced a single excellent one. [May 2017, p.104]

The restless desire to cross-pollinate disparate musical genres doesn't always work. [Feb 2015, p.113]

It's sprawling beast, but for all its occasional spots of indulgence it's a towering achievement. [Oct 2009, p.115]