The record conjures an atmosphere of twilit sadness, but the songs themselves--languid and forgettable--fail to mark Stein out from dolorous troubadours past. [Oct 2018, p.116]

It's chillingly powerful, but the band sell short their cinematic ambitions with just 33 minutes of music. [Aug 2014, p.102]

To their credit, they've not taken the easy route by simply cutting the bombast and hoping for the best. [Jan 2017, p.112]

This third full-length solo record is a rich blend of different genres that, despite its rampant eclecticism, never jars. [Nov. 2011, p. 128]

The whole thing is a bit of a grower and a tentative flex in a new direction with just about enough of their old sound to keep fans happy. [Mar 2017, p.111]

Without any shifts in emotional temperature, You Gots 2 Chill follows the thread that connects homespun to woolly. [Feb 2014, p.113]

Intriguing as this glimpse behind the curtain is, it's hard to imagine many purchasers playing the entire EBW disc more than once. The same might even be said about Brotherhood itself. [Oct 2008, p.156]

This follow-up boasts some vibrant garage funk reminiscent of fellow Bostonian, and sometime collaborator, Edan. [Jul 2009, p.122]

As albums by models go, it's a blinder. [April 2012, p106]

It's exhilarating in short snatches but too samey over the long haul. [Apr 2014, p.110]

It might be a little too smooth for plant-seducing ubiquity, but Tuxedo still deserves to get lucky. [May 2015, p.114]

Even when it isn't actually good, this is quality froth. [Sep 2001, p.114]

it ens up a tie between waffling self-indulgence and occasional moments of inspiration. Definitely not predictable, though. [Apr 2011, p.110]

Lyrical concerns are accordingly way less uptight and conceptual. [May 2013, p.99]

The loose-limbed beats, fuzzy keyboards and faraway trumpet on Which One Of You Jerks Drank My Arnold Palmer? are loungecore at its best, while The Daily Routine's distortion is full of atmosphere. [Feb 2010, p. 103]

The Temper Trap are touched by the brilliance of Dougy Mandagi, a vocalist with a set of pipes so extraordinary he could emote a Twitter feed. [Jun 2012, p.112]

Decidedly monochrome, but strangely never dour. [Jul 2014, p.119]

Most of the 10 songs here are still well-crafted exercises in ceaseless forwards momentum. [Dec 2014, p.106]

It feels like an exercise in stretching the spirit of the first album as far as it will go, its urgency and menace dissolving into static down a long-distance line. [Mar 2017, p.111]

While the thumping psych-rock of Rollercoaster shines a light on the fears that still plague her, it's lead single For The First Time that makes for the most refreshing and cathartic moment. [Apr 2020, p.105]

Proves that there is still a place for bands playing short, noisy pop songs about girls and being young, regardless of where they come from. [Feb. 2012 p. 100]

Even though his wit and word patterns still dazzle, they need a livelier canvas if the Eminem nostalgia experience is to be the thrilling one it should be. [Jan 2014, p.122]

The Hawk Is Howling is similarly impressive [to "Mr. Beast"], the band's earlier experiments in noise more reined in, allowing a subtle and textured approach. [Oct 2008, p.149]

There's enough deviation from Lowe's fastidiously tasteful norm to prevent YU descending into dullness. [Jul 2019, p.113]

Those two moments ["Powerless" and "Waiting All Night"] aside, Home is a very satisfying debut. [May 2013, p.107]

You leave the record feeling a bit like you've visited a museum. [May 2014, p.116]

The quality often drops, making for an intermittently engaging album. [Nov 2002, p.100]

An album that plays too safe in its thirst for hits. [Jul 2015, p.110]

Hexes and such may be the stuff of teenaged girls' diary fantasies, but it's not hard to fall under The Pierces' spell. [Jun 2011, p.120]

It's as unsanitised as ever, then, and , as such, makes Mudhoney's continued existence a cause for celebration. [Nov 2018, p.111]

Folk and indie-pop influences are as prevalent as prog's darker hue, making Allas Sak far less challenging than it might have been in less thoughtful hands. [Nov 2015, p.109]

Killer Sounds feels like a missed opportunity. [Oct 2011, p.120]

If there's a problem, it's Bubba's one-track rhymes. All he ever talks about is himself. [Jun 2006, p.119]

It's a job well done.... But a few tracks sound too much like functional mix fodder. [Nov 2012, p.91]

The Endless River is an unsatisfying way for Pink Floyd to cease trading. [Dec 2014, p.107]

A mixed bag. [Apr 2007, p.117]

Across Planet Earth’s brisk and varied 10 tracks, he is once again doing it pretty well, from cocky rock strut ('Guitar') to Chic-style, pumped-up funk ('Chelsea Rodgers') and knicker-loosening R&B beats ('Future Baby Mama').

Much more than a collection of second-hand shoegaze though, Sleep Forever is also endowed with a glam-rock swagger and a fondness for euphoric choruses that fans of Kasabian would do well to investigate. [Oct 2010, p.105]

This doesn't quite match the delirious energy of 2006's "Fishscale," but it's packed with big numbers showcasing his maniacal rhyme style. [Feb 2008, p.95]

Perhaps not the best introduction to Gane's soundworld, but for fans Hormone Lemonade offers a familiar landscape dotted with enough new structures to make it worth exploring. [May 2018, p.104]

Coppola resurrects her pop carrer as Little Jackie alongside DJ/Producer Adam Pallin, who adds hip-hop beats and faux-motown gloss to her R&B tunes. [Oct 2008, p.147]

Odludek feels more like a mixtape than a sole artist's work. [Apr 2014, p.107]

Subculture stands up well: an accomplished set of ska, pop and reggae. [Aug 2015, p.112]

The sulky formula which established them, however, like the seismic chords of Control or the crunching Battle In Me, proves the efficacy of this recycled Garbage. [Jun 2012, p.114]

Both vocals and music here shimmer with a weird radiance... to dizzying, intoxicating effect. [Aug 2012, p.108]

Not cutting edge, but it;s looking sharp all the same. [Nov 2017, p.111]

Like those '70s Teutonic adventurers tracks such as Treten, with its aerated harmonics and oddly motorik beat, aim for mind-expanding mantric intensity. [Jul 2012, p.112]

A rebirth that's actually been worth the wait. [Jan 2016, p.]

This Gift rattles along in the finest punk tradition, even usefully recycling The Damned's 'Neat Neat Neat' riff on the title track. [Feb 2008, p.1000]

The results are a no-less-entertaining 33 minutes of madness, like a Ramones album spun at 78 rpm. [Jan 2014, p.123]

12 songs of charming inconsequence that briefly make the world a slightly better place. [Mar 2009, p.105]

Lovelaws feels like an act of introspection that's gone too far, one that might have benefited from a breath of fresh air, a trip outside its head. [Jul 2018, p.118]

The first section bristles with churning intensity, but offers little in the way of surprises. The soundtrack, however, an unnerving sound collage, is far better. [Aug 2017, p.109]

For a "difficult" record, it's an oddly easy sell--an instant, atmospheric disturbance, a tiny portable wormhole. [Aug 2018, p.108]

A very understated record, the kind that will be treasured by diehards, pull in one or two casual bystanders and leave the world pretty much unchanged. [Apr 2003, p.106]

Footwork newcomers might want to test their stamina with one of Planet Mu's excellent Bangs & works compilations first. [Jun 2012, p.114]

Get past its duffel coat and its 14 layers of cardigan, though, and there's a warm and lovely heart at this record's centre. [Aug 2014, p.105]

There are 14 tracks in total and three fewer would have made for a tighter set--but it's hardly a deal breaker. [Jul 2012, p.112]

Both the Reid brothers' nice and nasty sides are represented. [May 2007, p.128]

Brilliantly bonkers. [Oct 2007, p.105]

There is plenty to enjoy, although it never comes close to recapturing the eclectic brillance of 1999's career high, "69 Love Songs. [Feb 2008, p.99]

The Spinto Band offer a softer, watered-down version of '90s US indie-rock--their influences include Pavement but now also Prefab Sprout. [Oct 2008, p.150]

While the songwriting draws heavily on bigwigs such as Elvis Costello, Burt Bacharach and Brian Wilson, albeit ckloaked in layers of woozy production. This is its chief asset, providing a dark undertow. [Oct 2009, p.111]

His synapse-fusing take on acid-house, however, first showcased on 2005's OK Cowboy, reamins an underground phenomenon--this sequel won't alter that. [Nov 2009, p.114]

[Lead singer, Corrina] Repp's spectral omnipresence enhances A Monument's addictive, dark-clouded atmosphere, especially when things get as chilly as later-day Radiohead and as pallid as Portishead. [Jun 2012, p.114]

The Donnas have reached the legal drinking age in their native California, even if their foxy glam/punk-rock remains fixated on teenage preoccupations...

Solidly enjoyable though Uno! is, they might have been wiser to mix things up fro the start. [Oct 2012, p.92]

Jessie, "The Devil" Hughes merges tub-thumping keyboards, '70s glam stomp and the sense that music making is a bit of a hoot on his solo debut. [Nov. 2011, p. 128]

A fearsomely efficient follow-up to Back To Bedlam. [Oct 2007, p.92]

Until the follow-up to 2006's excellent "The Crane Wife," this makes for an adequate stopgap. [May 2008, p.136]

Every track on Tender Madness sounds like it's been chiseled out of Mount Rushmore. [Jan 2014, p.124]

From Coldcut to DJ Shadow, every rap-era cut-up maestro owes a debt to Steven Stein. [Nov 2008, p.129]

Matt Skiba's bitter lyrics still have an impressive sting, and with My Chemical Romance on hiatus, his misanthropy may yet secure a broader audience. [Aug 2008, p.135]

Garwood's gruff whisper can't touch Lanegan's death rattle, but it lets him slip in the odd love song without sounding like he's sketching a suicide pact. [Mar 2015, p.106]

Creatively there are signs he's struggling to keep it up. [Feb 2014, p.114]

At times, this records triggers the vision of Ivor Cutler fronting Pet Shop Boys, the barrage of synths and layered vocals making for a mostly exhilarating experience. [Jul 2016, p.112]

It's a harder-edged, slightly less cartoony thing than their youthful debut, but it's still exuberant and frantic like a puppy with an important message. [May 2015, p.110]

Midway through, however, Karl Hyde stretches himself too far with the minimal This Mortal Coil-styled ballad SKYM, exposing the weaknesses in his singing voice.

Like a quieter, more thoughtful Sheryl Crow, Scialfa is a daughter of the city and her charms reveal themselves slowly. [Jul 2004, p.122]

Son of Evil Reindeer has a fun, collaborative atmosphere which produces some truly unique moments. [June 2002, p.123]

Lyrically, Terminator-like narratives such as Cyber God do underwhelm. Their music's intensity, however, holds everything aloft. [Mar 2017, p.112]

It's just that he has done all this better before. [Jan 2014, p.124]

If their emergence appears low-key, Everything Ever Written is a quietly triumphant return. [Mar 2015, p.110]

It's a clear-eyed first step to turning their ideas into reality. [Oct 2013, p.106]

Trad country and honky tonk duke it out with outlaw attitude and roadhouse rock, a high ground meeting point between early R.E.M. and Drive-By Truckers. [Feb 2014, p.120]

Very much an album of two halves. [Jul 2019, p.113]

They've never sounded heavier, now delivering songs without compromising their complex songcraft. [Apr 2914, p.103]

Lou Reed guests and she's brave enough to wrestle with both Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan's unsettling The Stations, while her four lugubrious originals show the drugs didn't turn her brain to much. [Apr 2011, p.101]

There's no doubt Glasvegas are on the side of the angels; they just need to remember that the Devil is in the detail. [May 2011, p.108]

Peepers mostly whizzes by in a heady blur, but when they paise for thought, a whole new layer of depth and intrigue emerges. [Apr 2010, p.116]

Heaven Is Whenever proves The Hold Steady are capable of messing with the script without diminishing their core appeal. [Jun 2010, p.125]

Barrera's vocals lack the sneer to carry the heavier moments, and a couple of songs are little more than lame US rock-lite. [Oct 2003, p.106]

More of the same firework riffs and vexed vocals. [Sep 2016, p.102]

There's nothing groundbreaking here, but these songs will surely be lots of fun to play live. [Dec 2016, p.115]

At its worst, it's tired and turgid, but neither is it hopeless or without hope. [Dec 2016, p.109]

His masturbatory approach to the stroking of his muse is very nearly obscene. [Apr 2006, p.114]

Mixes his distinctive whinny toothlessly low. [May 2006, p.131]

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]