It's perhaps not a career peak but it's not too far away. [Oct 2015, p.102]

If their principal audience is a nostalgic one, The Selecter deserve credit for refusing to bask in its obvious comforts. [Nov 2017, p.112]

Danilova's vocals occasionally get bogged own in the contemporary pop production, but this foray from murky fringes into the mainstream deserves success. [Nov 2014, p.121]

Morrison swings as he sings, conventionally but enjoyably in a classy jazz club mode. [Feb 2018, p.112]

Album number eight from Zakk Wylde sees him cranking up the macho guitar heroics to superhuman levels. [Oct. 2010, p. 103]

For all the many diverting moments, the lack of judicious editing leaves the album spending too much time going round in circles. [Apr 2020, p.114]

It can be a little ponderous, but the unearthly dawn chorus of 'Jade Like Wine' or the ritual freakout of 'Goddess Atonement' leave you yearning ofr a solstice to celebrate. [Dec 2007, p.124]

Fray's acute sense of geography, both local and emotional, guides the band's hectically directionless indie rattle down some alluring paths. [May 2008, p.137]

A spontaneous, short, sharp stab of a record but one that might have been great had it not sounded so rushed. [April 2012, p.101]

There's nothing here to quicken the pulse, but like an uneventful beach holiday it's the perfect place to pause and refresh. [Jun 2018, p.114]

It won't change the world, but These People will give those other troubadours something to think about. [Jun 2016, p.106]

Lamb have finally perfected the trip hop/classical fusion they discovered on their career-high Gorecki, though the beatific sumptuousness of their sound can be overwhelming.

The more you ignore Bell X1, it seems, the better they get. [Aug 2013, p.94]

US singer Grey Reverend lends a bluesy warmth to Silent Fall's heavyweight electro, but Swedish vocalist Cornelia Dahlgren sounds merely decorative on the Massive Attack-like Vivid. [Oct 2014, p.107]

It feels like a splash of teenage aftershave: a pass at sophistication, not the real deal. [Oct 2011, p.123]

Miracle Fortress' version of the '80s manages to push the decade's bookends together, fusing the analogue synthetics of early Mute records and proto-shoegazing's disorienting, ecstatic swirl of noise. [Oct 2011, p.127]

While there are a few pops and crackles of magic--it's often dead air. [Jan 2016, p.114]

The LP's monotonous back half leaves Jackson running to stand still. [Apr 2020, p.111]

There's nothing here that feels truly essential. [Apr 2007, p.122]

A ferociously Velvetsy turn from Brian Jonestown Massacre's Anton Newcombe on Istanbul IS Sleep only highlights how mind-blowing The Liminanas could be if they ventured further from the shadows. [Mar 2018, p.111]

By packing 21 tracks onto a half-hour running time, he never gets stuck too long in one grove. [Sep 2011, p.104]

This is his most pleasing solo album for a decade. [Mar 2008, p.108]

There's breezy charm to much of the music here. [Feb 2015, p.117]

It's very much a period piece, but a very enjoyable one at that. [Feb 2012, p.107]

Still on polyhedric form. [April 2012, p.102]

It feels like a middling album that would've made an incredible EP, but when Wiley thrills, he really thrills. [Jul 2018, p.116]

Nearly, but not quite. [Jul 2009, p.117]

Although reaching a touching peak on melancholic closer City By The Sea, two albums in Good Shoes still lack a defining personality of their own. [Feb 2010, p. 107]