Inevitably there are moments that would benefit from smoothing out, but part of the appeal is getting to ample Giannascoli's talent when it's still raw. [Dec 2014, p.110]

A punchy, potent return from one of UK music's most distinctive voices. [Apr 2018, p.115]

If possibly too shiny for some tastes, the spooked '60s folk of Wounded Heart adds a touch of darkness. [Feb 2015, p.117]

The occasional vocals dilute the atmosphere, softening the bionic techno edge of the best tracks, but on Dilate, Vessels sound like a band widening their horizons to impressive effect. [Apr 2015, p.112]

So while this collection of singles, B-sides and cover versions might lack the tight focus of previous album Etiquette, there is still flashes of lo-fi pop brillance. [Apr 2009, p.102]

Nothing scary or difficult ever happens. [Feb 2003, p.96]

Throughout, Crutchfield maintains a seething, triumphant line in catharsis that she channels into gruff college rock ad dreamy introspection. [Aug 2017, p.112]

An assured first step. [Aug 2015, p.114]

From any conceivable angle, it is an indulgence...

Their music now comes wrapped in gauzy textures more reminiscent of local hero Toro Y Moi. [Jul 2011, p.111]

[Myela] descends into a bit of a toe-curlingly worthy WOMAD sing-along. More subtle and far better are gentle ballad When the Body Is Gone and lovely closer Infinite Trees. [Oct 2017, p.107]

As ever there are reservations about Molinari's blase attitude to the second-hand song title, but it's still a solid, engaging set. [Jul 2014, p.111]

Oregon trio deliver harmonious indie bliss-out. [Oct 2011, p.127]

They have turned in their most conventional set of songs yet. [Sep 2007. p.95]

Mild existential dread is delivered over a quietly forceful musical template that owes a lot to the third Velvet Underground album. [Jan 2014, p.127]

If the squelching synths of 'The Original Thought' irritate, the jauntiness elsewhere suggests he's thriving on a lack of commercial pressure. [May 2009, p.119]

Here, melody and charmingly lo-fi electronics vie for attention next to moshpit riffing. [Apr 2011, p.106]

En masse, Maroon's brisk acoustic rock settings and the hyperactive rush of words can still have you reaching for the skip button. But broken into bite-size chunks, its bitterly humorous dissection of the fumbling absurdities of modern life and death is not without pathos.

Heightened emotions stop Keepsake's soft-focus textures from slipping into the background. [Aug 2019, p.111]

Though not without charm. thier debut rarely yields anything distinctive. [Apr 2010, p.120]

It's early days yet, but right now Twin Atlantic are doing nothing wrong and much that is right--their future looks bright indeed. [Jun 2011, p.124]

Foster's voice sounds as beautifully eerie as ever; imagine a ghost from a Deep South 78 brought back from the dead. Little else here, however, sounds avant-garde. [Jun 2012, p.101]

If none are the kind of songs likely to be remembered with misty-eyed affection in another 40 years, they at least entertainingly tackle matters few others would. [Mar 2006, p.104]

Oddly enjoyable. [Dec 2014, p.110]

Refreshingly free of focus-grouped compromises, Sucker is certainly full of character. It's just that the character is a cartoon. [Feb 2015, p.114]

Though still intermittently thrilling, even they must be beginning to feel like it's time for a change. [Jan 2014, p.127]

The result is a more direct sound. [Apr 2011, p.106]

With her debut, the former member of art-noise cult Gowns sounds like she would quite literally rip out her heart as a sleeve adornment if it served her creative purpose. [July 2011, p. 111]

An oddly addictive hip hop concoction of self-doubt and dread, set against a minimalist, almost jazzy backdrop that's also a bit Tricky, too. [Mar 2011, p.116]

These songs aren't as charcoal-stark as her earlier solo work, but the aura of breathy acid-folk enchantment can leave the feeling there is too much atmospheric smoke, not enough revelatory mirror. [Aug 2015, p.104]

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]

How much you enjoy it will depend on how you feel about largely structureless sonics, but if you just submerge yourself into it, there's plenty to discover. [Oct 2018, p.108]

What it lack in surprises it makes up for in songcraft. [Oct 2017, p.108]

A66 is made thrilling by the gear change midway through, ditching its Sabbath crawl for a brutal climax. Nothing else quite succeeds in cutting through the downtuned murk, although riffs are uniformly monolithic and frontman Matt Baty's throaty bark is never less than entertaining. [Nov 2018, p.112]

This polished set plays to his strengths--Oil And Water is an emotive half-ballad with Rag'n'Bone ambitions while the surging Fuel To The Fire channels Emeli Sande. It's a relief, though, when he lightens up a bit. [Nov 2017, p.112]

If there's a fault, the self-consciously retro production doesn't push her far enough. [Jul 2013, p.106]

While Derdang Derdang has killer hooks aplenty, they're all too often obscured by stop-start rhythms and the unhinged-sounding vocals of Sam Windett. [Apr 2006, p.119]

The results, while never quite suggesting imminent breakthrough, are sometimes elegiac. [Nov 2006, p.147]

Even at just over 30 minutes, there's a feeling they're running short on new ideas. [Oct 2007, p.98]

It's by nature a patchwork, but boasts more hits than misses. [Mar 2009, p.98]

Not surprisingly, To Dreamers doesn't stray far from what's gone before. [Dec 2010, p.114]

Derivative, but there's artistry and some rattling tunes among the noise and confusion. [March 2012, p.112]

Aided by Pixies producer Gil Norton, they've audibly thrown everything at By Default. [#361, p.107]

As film music the score's consciously unobtrusive. [Apr 2015, p.94]

An exuberant mash-up of all sounds urban. [July 2011, p. 111]

In time-honored fashion it rattles through a dozen tracks in a shade over 30 minutes, never getting close to overstaying its welcome. [Mar 2011, p.116]

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]

It's a hypnotic mid-paced but hard-sounding beast which yields more with each play. [June 2002, p.112]

It's not that Audio, Video, Disco isn't on several occasions, a blast; it's that it's a blast from the past.[Nov. 2011, p. 132]

It's far from perfect, but if this is Exit The Wu-Tang, they can go out with heads held high. [Feb 2015, p.112]

It takes ?uestlove from The Roots to reproduce the kind of smooth, mellow-aged soul that made Green's name. [July 2008, p.102]

Licensed to offend, he's as pumped-up and provocative as ever. [Nov 2008, p.121]

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

There's an air around The Exodus Suite of something not quite being finished. [#361, p.114]

Fado is a harder sell, a stronger taste. Still, Lina's voice has an irresistible dramatic heft, and combined with the smudgy ambient arrangements, all dark wood and bitter coffee, she and Refree could fill a gap that non-believers might not know they had. [Apr 2020, p.111]

The sound has changed little, and the level of emoting none. Still, thunderous grooves such as Everyone and Shining Star continue to be virtually irresistible, while the quieter moments, including the hit single Shape Of My Heart will wow the ladies and the more sensitive gents for a while yet

Tell Me is produced by The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, an arrangement that suits her lean, unsentimental alt-country just fine. [Mar 2011, p.116]

More a holding album than a great step up. [Aug 2015, p.111]

The bombast is blunted by a lyrical clumsiness, but if you've stopped to analyse them, then you've already missed the point of The Subways' exuberant pep. [Oct 2011, p.130]

Dividing their labour between two vocalists and songwriters does much to keep this second record interesting. [Apr 2020, p.113]

In solution, any song could light up your Saturday night; en masse, they sound like a formula wearing transparently thin. [Nov 2014, p.112]

While not yet distinct enough to escape [Lily] Allen's shadow, as an empathetic soundtrack to similar growing pains Nash's debut hits its mark. [Sep 2007, p.86]

At times it meanders, but their weirdness is quite wonderful. [Nov 2007, p.134]

Barbed but Gregarious. [Dec 2020, p.110]

The lightness of touch is a pleasant surprise, but not as pleasant as the sound of summery Sumner re-engaging. [Nov 2009, p.101]

Though resolutely glum, their debut is alluring in its foggy melancholia. [#361, p.111]

Though never matching the otherworldly brilliance of their first two albums, Moonbuilding 2703 AD does at least find these 50-something space cadets still aiming for the stars. [Aug 2015, p.111]

At times, notably on Honey Bee, Pritchard's lyrics are sugary enough to induce toothache. However, the ever-present feel-good factor makes this an album as impossible to dislike as seeing the sun break through the clouds. [Oct 2018, p.112]

No new ground is broken, but there's an admirable conviction in the way Maximo Park fight their corner. [Aug 2012, p.104]

Halfway in the album starts to stutter like a mirror ball whose motor is on the blink. [Jan 2017, p.106]

Who would want another version of We Shall Not Be Moved is, surely, debatable, but elsewhere the results are more persuasive. [May 2007, p.129]

Lilting protest number Corruption Na Stealing comes closets to discovering a rhythm of its own. [Apr 2018, p.111]

The resulting brew takes some getting used to, but there;s levitating force behind the rumbling Thunderdrums and Satt Nam's astral harmonics. [Oct 2010, p.112]

His first LP of original material since 2002's October Road slips into earshot with the gentle country lilt of Today, Today, Today and rarely breaks a sweat from here on in. [Aug 2015, p.113]

A well put-together record, just lacking in heart. [Oct 2018, p.119]

Sounds like the work of a man touting for soundtracks. [May 2006, p.131]

Okereke's voice, at times feels a bit too up close and personal. [Dec 2014, p.111]

Hayes has a tendency to wisp but this is offset by more exciting tunes such as the Cure-y single Keep running. [Dec 2012, p.106]

Gusts of electronic noise, ominous drones and Menuck's semi-spoken vocals fight for supremacy throughout, occasionally coalescing into something special. [Mar 2018, p.111]

His music, colorful and entertaining as it is here, has yet to supply a definitive answer. [Mar 2013, p.98]

The overlong 'Faith/Void' aside, this is another absorbing collection. [Apr 2009, p.100]

Not a straightforward journey, then, but still a rewarding one. [#361, p.108]

A familiar blend of clipped funk, jazz nuances and airy musings. [Jul 2003, p.113]

Not quiet as good as 1970's Live At Leeds, but it's still a riot. [Jun 2018, p.119]

With hints of Maurice Jarre on the title song and Love Reign O'er Me achieving full-chest-beating catharsis, it suits its new symphonic frame. [Aug 2015, p.114]

It's a record about being Madonna. [Jun 2003, p.90]

Fans will find few surprises on this full-length debut, which opens with Silhouette's emo-soul ballad and throughout maintains a mood pitched somewhere between tortured and despairing. [Apr 2017, p.111]

They are at their best when bandleader Torquil Campbell and muse Amy Millan share the mic. [Nov 2007, p.147]

The sound of a man finding freedom, it's an impressive reincarnation. [Mar 2016, p.112]

She plainly knows the meaning and benefit of brevity. [Apr 2013, p.110]

Epic pop has a new face, and it belongs to Joe 90. [Jun 2009, p.122]

This one feels more grounded, less frantic and, despite that constant pulsing movement, more at home. [#361, p.109]

It's familiar, but immaculately done, and by far the most focused work this band has managed thus far. [Sep 2002, p.100]

Many of the early tracks feel over-packed with ideas, musical styles , thrusts of synth, bongos, spoken word and chemtrails of jazz. Later, though, when he settles into sparser ballad territory, there is a sense of him drawing into focus as an artist. [Aug 2019, p.116]

The whole exercise has an infectious exuberance, even if it isn't quite the must-have document its title suggests. [Summer 2018, p.114]

If the themes ate familiar then at least Clock Opera imbue them with a twisty, nervous heroism instead of indie's usual fatalist whingeing. [May 2012, p.94]

He attampts to reinvent himself again, this time as an unlikely hybrid of Rufan Wainwright and Elvis Costello. The results are surprisingly good. [Mar 2010, p.105]

Unsurprisingly, this posthumous album doesn't reach such heights [as a973's Solid Air], and comes with a little too much overlong, incoherent blues whimsy. [Jul 2011, p.114]