While impeccably executed, as ever, a little more warmth and a little less ego wouldn't have gone amiss. [Dec 2009, p. 126]

It's claustrophobic at best, and, after a while, a little tiring. [Feb 2019, p.108]

Each and every track is subservient to a formula which demands a whistling filter sweep, a rattling, super-hyped snare roll and the inevitable canyon-deep drop before it all goes nuts. [Dec 2012, p.113]

{Bejar's] fondness for drenching songs in production so muddy that they end up as little more than smears of noise. [May 2008, p.130]

Erland Oye and Eirik Boe's voices cannon off each other appealingly enough on 'Boat Behind,' but the album drifts in the manner of nick Drake out-takes and by the time you've waded through 13 dawdling tracks, it's a struggle to recall any of them. [Nov 2009, p.109]

Amidst all this, the trio's scratching feels peripheral, and when it does take centre stage, is underwhelming. [Jul 2004, p.127]

The Music generate their songs like a smoke machine--vaguely atmospheric but ultimately lacking in substance. [Oct 2004, p.124]

Not without some good moments, but bereft of magic. [Feb. 2012 p. 104]

Much of Love & Life... is a procession of syrupy ballads with added self-help litanies. [Nov 2003, p.113]

10 unfortunately remains mired in irrelevance. [Jan 2003, p.120]

While his message is clear, the means of conveying it comes up wanting. [Sep 2012, p.98]

Brassbound is more convincing than their debut.... But it's hardly adventurous. [Jul 2005, p.113]

When countless Miracles anthologies exist, anyone who reaches for this is a bigger clown than the weepy one in Smokey's song. [Dec 2014, p.116]

Everything Is Borrowed is a huge disappointment, riding in on the crest of the huge disappointment that was Skinner's previous album. [Oct 2008, p.140

The yelpy, sub-Beasties rapping from Clams Baker renders Whale city all but unlistenable. A shame, because the backing tracks' raucous Fall-isms consititute a long-anticipated high-energy flipside to the smacky languor of Adamczewski's main band. [Jul 2018, p.118]

The default mode is now so soft as to resemble a big bowl of ice cream for a man who's lost his dentures. [Jul 2013, p.103]

Trash Talk's speed punk is the musical equivalent of the third can of Red Bull: a great idea at the time, but may well produce a headache after. [Dec 2012, p.113]

Anyone unfamiliar with Sheffield's rich musical heritage could be left thinking the city's main legacy was maudlin ballads for the Saga set. [Dec 2008, p.128]

By recreating Britpop's also-runs so faithfully, Superfood run the risk of becoming one themselves. [Dec 2014, p.116]

It's executive producer Eminem and his tin ear for a beat who dominate the LP's direction--or, rather, lack of it. [Dec 2012, p.112]

A missed open goal. [Aug 2015, p.110]

At album length the apologetic beats and tuneful but numbed vocals quickly pall, and it neither delivers one the wig-flipping promised by the intricate Ocean Floor nor the narco-pop of Disappeared and Turn 2 U. [Aug 2012, p.111]

While Love Grows Out Of Thin Air spins exquisite patterns from chiming synths and electronic blips, The Magic In You sounds like Empire Of The Sun remixed by Jean-Michel Jarre. And not in a good way. [Jan 2017, p.112]

Not for the first time, you find yourself wondering whether Squarepusher is taking the piss. [Dec 2010, p.113]

Unlike, say, fellow old-time Americana acolytes Mercury Rev, Beachwood Sparks lack sufficient melodic brio and steadfastly refuse to make any concessions to 21st century life. [Nov 2001, p.116]

The third album from James Morrison isn't the musical enlightenment that its title suggests, but rather another sturdy, if predictable, collection of soul-tinged, Radio-2 friendly pop tunes. [Nov. 2011, p. 139]

Trust have a problem in Robert Alfon's unengaging, reedy mid-range quiver of a voice. [Dec 2012, p.114]

Craig David seems to have accepted he's destined to occupy the middle of the road. Trouble is, it's still not clear which road he's on. [Dec 2007, p.115]