The result may be less straightforward to dance to, but can play dizzying tricks on the ears. [Dec 2012, p.108]

One shouldn't underestimate the achievements of this sturdy, confident record. [Nov 2007, p.131]

Whether reworking Steve Earle's 'The Mountain' or the traditional heart-tugger 'The Blind Child,' it represents a small yet very real personal triumph. [Dec 2007, p.121]

Unfortunately, there's nothing else that come close to matching its opening statement. [Feb 2015, p.106]

This exquisitely downbeat album of droll heartbreak songs once again confirms that there is a certain knack to creating uplifting musical misery, and spectacularly-named frontman Eeef Barzelay has that knack in spades. [Jun 2009, p.119]

Things unravel with the folky fuzz of closer Aphorismic Wasteland Blues, but for a band whose charm is enjoyably slack'n'sleazy that's kind if the point. [Apr 2014, p.112]

Their songwriting doesn't always soar like their Hall of Fame inspirations, but the intense, super-saturated atmosphere is every bit as evocative as that advertised on the neon-lit cover. [Aug 2019, p.116]

Ultimately, My Morning Jacket's diversity proves their partial undoing and Circuital remains a frustratingly hit-and-miss affair. [July 2011, p. 112]

Holland's fragmentary syntax, rendered in a variety of heavily treated voices, rarely proves as mesmeric as the music. [Aug 2011, p.116]

His best work to date because, at last, he actually sounds awake--even if much of the record remains music for dozing in hammocks to. [Apr 2005, p.122]

A sleek collision of burbling basslines, adversarial vocals and downtuned brutality. [Mar 2006, p.109]

It's a highly evolved, sometimes claustrophobic take on warm but angular Scandi-pop. [Oct 2012, p.103]

It's not essential, but it is a sunny delight. [Oct 2009, p.117]

Though low on hooks, the ragged and faster songs are sweetened by the vocal interplay between Hersh and Donelly. [Apr 2003, p.104]

They make often wistful, often wry, but always intelligent pop.

An acquired taste. [Jul 2005, p.119]

Harmless fun. [Nov 2006, p.149]

You are, unfortunately, left wondering how the 26-year-old Dylan would have sung them. [Dec 2014, p.113]

A bigger budget and they'll get really interesting. [May 2008, p.135]

Sex & Food is more grounded, focusing on such concerns as the state of the world. Yet it's all wrapped in warped, layered music as complex as the mess we're in. [May 2018, p.114]

While Oakey's lyrics still have a near-surreal banality, with Privilege surely the most bizarre song yet to tackle the credit crunch, the two-finger riffs of Sky and Get Together are as addictive as ever. [Apr 2011, p.104]

Stealing the riff from Sweet Jane wholesale as the basis of a song would seem to speak of a band who aren't exactly pushing the envelope or alive to the possibility of change. [Aug 2001, p.128]

It may lack enough heavy hitters to equal the sucess of "Merriweather Post Pavilion," yet the aptly named McPhun has created a Technicolor, synapse-tickling delight. [Apr 2010, p.119]

More engaging doom from the download kings. [March 2011, p. 101]

The neurotic twists and nuances that made 1982's Vs so electrifying are still apparent... further confirmation that Mission of Burma have no intention of either burning out or fading away. [Aug 2012, p.104]

Pleasing, interesting, but not especially gripping. [Nov 2018, p.102]

Monkey Business proves that less could have been more. [Jul 2005, p.110]

It's hardly revolutionary and nothing eclipses their finest career moment At Your Funeral, but there's nothing too wrong here. [Jun 2006, p.118]

Not the place to start an exploration of his musical output--that's the superb Witchazel LP--but it's impossible to dislike an album containing The Innkeeper's Song Couplet. [Jan 2016, p.106]

The absence of a monstrous lead track, though, suggests the appeal will remain selective. [Apr 2011, p.110]

[Falls] between the arch electronic vistas of later Magazine and skewed, Giorgio Moroder-esque avant-pop. [Feb 2002, p.114]

Rather like Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante's solo work, Malone pootles around the margins of commerciality, nodding to the avant mischief of Buthole Surfers and engaging folksy clatter of Devandra Banhart, while on Driftwood Heart the vocals are almost oepratic. [Dec 2009, p. 120]

Epton On Broadway Part 1, delivers elastic electro-funk with a knowing Italo-inspired wink. It's a winning formula they never stray far from. [Aug 2019, p.112]

Acceptable but never stellar. [Dec 2003, p.121]

Mostly Born In the Echoes is a blast. It's just that sometimes it's a blast from the past. [Aug 2015, p.108]

A glossy production makes for ear candy, but it's bereft of edge. [Feb 2005, p.102]

Fulfill[s] glam's promise of tasty geezers in make-up playing shrill, sleazy punk sounds. [Jul 2004, p.121]

It consistently fails to match their parent group's most sublime moments. [Sep 2012, p.110]

His high, thin voice won't grab everyone, but will generate a gentle glow for many. [May 2007, p.125]

Rice is much more appealing when he blatantly ramps up the theatre, sticks a bit of greasepaint over his sincerity, tips irreversibly into show business. [Dec 2014, p.114]

While the songs remain wonderful, Mr. Blue Sky feels like Lynne righting imaginary wrongs. [Dec 2012, p.111]

Ambitious and crackling with smart riffs, the end result achieves a brooding intensity all of its own. [Apr 2011, p.111]

His experiments works best when anchored to a solid rhythm. [Jun 2015, p.102]

There's a calculation to much of what's on offer here that undercuts all the other advancements. [#361, p.116]

It's still unclear, for all the charm and enthusiasm, exactly what might mark them out, make them a cause, a rally call. For now, though, Young Chasers is just enough to keep them out in front. [Apr 2015, p.103]

Charming, if slight.

OHMME add depth to the harmonies on seven of the 10 songs and the overall sense is of five people as excited by playing together as they were at their first rehearsal nine years ago. [Oct 2019, p.114]

While lacking the high-concept drama of the similarly-minded Rammstein, KMFDM are more sonically adventurous: drum'n'bass and digital dancehall spice up the usual murderously heavy riffing. [May 2002, p.115]

It's an occasional return to their punk roots, more often smoothed over by the glistening pop production they've been known for more recently. [Nov 2019, p.116]

He certainly pushes the right commercial buttons. [Mar 2006, p.108]

Free of the shackles that hobbled his debut, Styles manages to show more of his personality here, especially on the Vampire Weekend-style Sunflower, Vol. 6. It's just a shame he can't quite keep up with his ambition. [Feb 2020, p.110]

While Bloc Party Mk II don't quite reach the dizzying heights of hits such as Banquet or Flux, Hymns restores your faith in both their ability and ambition. [Feb 2016, p.114]

Imagine the anarcho-grime of Fat White Family coalescing with a tripped-out Thee Oh Sees--then peel slowly and see. [Apr 2017, p.112]

If this album is a mixed bag for West the producer, then it's a nadir for West the lyricist. [Jan 2009, p.114]

Muddy production means the literate lyrics often get drowned out by the surrounding racket, but otherwise this is a raw treat. [Mar 2009, p.105]

Only the very dedicated need apply. [Jun 2009, p.119]

Though consistently strong, in the absence of dancers or plot it's hard to make sense of this subtle album's jolting transitions between subtle mood pieces and bombastic orchestral techno. [Apr 2011, p.106]

Bounce is the sound of a group who know what they're good at and why. [Nov 2002, p.97]

Not the breakthrough they crave but a highly engaging 45 minutes nonetheless. [May 2014, p.118]

There are curveballs along the way--an unexpected bagpipe riff on Hey Ma, for instance--but largely this is a fast, furious record that sounds startlingly vital in these worrisome times. [Aug 2019, p.116]

Feminist Sweepstakes is a clever, catchy Day-Glo riot that anyone can join. [#184, p.140]

Contains a clutch of crowd-pleasingly brutal anthems...

While the lyrics portray only stereotypes - whore, ladyboy, hick - the music is a tumble of racing rhythms underlying slow, reflective vocals with empathetic groans, sighs and howls of matching emotion from violin and cello.

It's still not exactly crossover material. But the twitchy, Four Tet-like epic Thousand Yard Stare would slot perfectly into one of Yorke's after-hours DJ sets. [Jan 2017, p.108]

It sounds twee and, in parts it is, but it's leavened by their unrelenting world-weariness. [May 2007, p.123]

What distinguishes New Build is their lyrical inner monologue, which speaks of a reflective mind given to philosophical enquiry. [Dec 2014, p.114]

Essentially, it's another Dixie Chicks record with Robison's more expressive vocals replacing Maines's twang. [July 2010, p. 129]

Delights in filtering classical motifs through electronic effects. [Mar 2018, p.104]

A very professional job, then, even though it feels as if Levi's wilder instincts have been tamed. [Apr 2017, p.115]

A solid, tribal-sounding collection of dramatic, literate rock with cello, brass and hints of frosty country. [Dec 2013, p.111]

There's greater scope here [more] than ever before, with the gentle llyena providing space before Cavaletta's riot of detuned radios, car alarms and struggling internet connections. [Feb 2008, p.99]

It combines psychedelic elevation with a curious sense of order. [May 2018, p.107]

Unsurprisingly, the atmosphere is often weigted with doom, though there's an intoxicating impetus to the tar-like bass and woozy funk. [Aug 2008, p.140]

So many genres collide on Aa it can feel like being trapped in a virtual karaoke machine. [Apr 2016, p.102]

Fake is rearranging his sound rather than reinventing it. [Jul 2020, p.109]

The parts here still speak louder than the whole. [Mar 2015, p.110]

The sleek return from Swedish indie-pop collective. [Dec. 2010, p. 104]

This has a more expansive, almost pop feel. [Dec 2008, p.132]

Some newer tracks while still enjoyably bleak, play straighter with acoustic guitars and a lot of vocal noodling, though it never feels like Radio 2-friendly folk pop is where Parker's strengths lie. [Jul 2017, p.112]

The problems are compounded by the sheer awfulness of some of Jones’ lyrics.... What often redeems them is the music. On that front, Stereophonics have undoubtedly progressed...

Entirely instrumental, it retains the band's elasticated, rhythmic approach but stretches and softens it to create something much more atmospheric and evocative. [Aug 2015, p.105]

It's relentless, totally one-paced, but somehow oddly refreshing. [Aug 2012, p.105]

A record that perhaps only Dylan fans need apply for. [Aug 2012, p.110]

With Mariachi El Bronx II, the Mexican wing of The Bronx have moved swiftly to reinforce their authenticity. [Nov. 2011, p. 136]

There are moments on Could Be Worse and Money where melodic punch is lacking, but, overall, this new softer persona suits LTA well. [Apr 2017, p.115]

Rain revisits familiar Jackson themes of romantic disappointment and despair at the modern world with a pared-back immediacy that showcases his craftmanship to the full. [Feb 2008, p.96]

Rarely makes for easy listening.... though the album's second half is notably more harmonious. [May 2016, p.104]

Only on closing track Myth Me does he give into temptation and step up to the mic, unfurling a quirky, lisping ballad that shows he still can't quite play it straight. [Apr 2015, p.102]

Compellingly bleak is a tough mood to sustain, however, and tracks sucj as 'Interrupted' edge them toward generic stadium territory. [Nov 2009, p.112]

An exquisitely warm, olde-worlde soup in which to bathe one's auditory senses. [#361, p.116]

Decent enough, but still not up to their best. [May 2014, p.119]

The Electric Soft Parade are one of the few young British bands to have successfully navigated the hype and emerged with something genuinely promising.

Group Sounds is as good as anything they've put their name to previously. [#180, p.110]

Oddly, for an album inspired by the blues, there's not much misery, and what vocals are there get looped and treated beyond storytelling. [Oct 2012, p.103]

One of those albums that grabs your attention without ever having to shout at you. [May 2006, p.131]

A rewarding curio. [July 2010, p. 128]

The album's closing songs blur into a somewhat too-cushioned landing. [Dec 2012, p.112]

It finds Morrissey wandering down some interesting musical avenues. [May 2020, p.109]