The whole album passes without anything you could call a tune, but there's a keen intelligence at work: while fiercely odd, it's frequently electrifying, too. [Feb 2010, p. 112]

Montreal's Preistess are more holy smokers than divers, to the point where this engrossing second album recalls the potent psych-rock of the early-'90s-era. [Apr 2010, p.106]

A happy mess of ideas, fun and riffing. [Jul 2004, p.122]

It won't bring down the establishment, but it does light a bonfire under their arses. [Oct 2019, p.113]

The 11th studio [release] has a brooding familiarity yet is also coolly exhilarating. [Oct 2015, p.111]

It's a journey that's wildly eclectic, hard to endure through every tangled turn, but impossible not to love. [Jan 2019, p.117]

Hearing these set whole makes a difference: sparse yet hypnotic; with Lou on commanding form. [Jan 2016, p.120]

Her most purely enjoyable album since 1978's Easter. [May 2007, p.120]

A great leap on from an already remarkable debut. [Oct 2012, p.114]

Second time round, they still marry old and new, but they've cut down on the stodge. [Apr 2017, p.118]

Fans of Gonzalez's intimate solo bedroom folk may be taken aback by the kaleidoscopic bells and whistles of Fields, but the rest of us should be thankful the sales of those two previous releases have given Gonzalez andd his mates the freedom to indulge every whim. [Oct 2010, p.109]

The range of his ambition and the nailed-on vocal performances soar beyond. [Mar 2016, p.119]

As ambitious an album as you will hear from a young British group and they mostly pull it off. [Mar 2016, p.104]

As this flits from widescreen country soul to palpitating Meat Loaf theatrics, the overriding impression is of a band that's having a blast. [July 2008, p.99]

The Flower Lane is a collection of hazy but beautifully constructed songs. [Mar 2013, p.98]

Nothing here sounds forced. [Jun 2017, p.102]

A meditation on modern urban life that lets the city shine with mystery, menace and grace. [Jan 2004, p.118]

There is something unceasingly engaging about Trans Am. [Apr 2004, p.122]

With Williamson delivering street-ranter streams of consciousness over Andrew Fearn's frigid post-punk/jip-hop productions, it's possibly not for the casual listener out for a few laughs but there's much to invigorate in its unaffected, defiant slagging of hated jobs, metropolitan hipsters, Twitter and more. [Jun 2014, p.120]

A dark album for darker times--at 53, Saadiq is still ahead of the curve. [Oct 2019, p.110]

In places, though, the live show is a little too freeform and rambling. The 11 new studio tracks on CD2 are much more focused.... [Dec 2001, p.131]

A commanding return. [Nov 2005, p.131]

On tracks such as single Weapon Of Choice, Berlin, 666 Conductor and Need Some Air, BRMC can show anyone a clean set of scuffed heels. [May 2007, p.123]

Their fifth album is another step up the ladder. [Apr 2008, p.117]

A band recharged and re-energised. [Mar 2019, p.120]

Nicole's tunes are so memorable you almost don't need to buy them. [Dec 2007, p.123]

Pinkshinyultrablast have lifted their eyes from their laces to the skies. Superb. [Apr 2016, p.113]

Spidery tendrils of sex-and-drugs-related dread curl around dramatic synth-pop and twinkling R&B, Yet there's also a batch of tracks that draw from bombastic, slightly tacky '80s pop - a warm, funny and wholly welcome diversion from the stylish but sterile bleakness that remains Tesfaye's calling card. [Jun 2020, p.106]