Its riveting, yarn-spinning intimacy enhanced by the singer's dry patter. [Feb 2014, p.113]

An album of hidden depth, then, even if some of them require firm resolve on the listener's part. [Jun 2017, p.105]

Sounds so sure and committed that it could be the work of a new band. [Nov 2005, p.127]

Less lush than their previous affairs, but still rich in Beach Boys-like vocal harmonies. [Jul 2005, p.120]

Precise, tough, tuneful, ambitious and sexy as hell. [Apr 2005, p.112]

The qualities that make M.I.A. a tough sell is the same one that fuels her restless, hungry, inspirational music. [Dec 2013, p.100]

The River In Reverse's soulful arrangements and warm textures are no surprise. [Jul 2006, p.113]

Growing confidence as a songwriter, arrangements that push the boundaries of Americana, even an unlikely Captain Beefheart cover make Stranger Me, her third release, extra rewarding. [Aug 2011, p.126]

Zach Condon's troupe emerge from indie safe house on triumphant third. [Sept. 2011, p. 109]

He might be a man out of time, but his music's timeless. [Mar 2007, p.114]

Warm, welcoming and dazzling. [Sep 2012, p.100]

Worthy of far more than 15 minutes of fame. [Aug 2017, p.110]

Fallon's grizzly vocals are both his strength (they ooze commitment) and weakness (he'll always sound like The Gaslight Anthem) and they're Painkiller's strength and weakness too. [Apr 2015, p.105]

While that may sound par for techno course, it's shot through with discordant sonics and a bubbling surface that makes even the most wildly different moments feel like part of the same voyage. [Dec 2013, p.107]

While unmistakably Scottish leader Scott Hutchison has taken a great songwriting leap forward, the more ingredients his group throws in, the more effecctive and more inspiring the Selkirkers are. [Mar 2010, p.102]

It's about 15 minutes and three songs too long. [May 2007, p.117]

Though this is a return to Matthews's more meandering ways, some lessons about conciseness have plainly been learned. [Nov 2002, p.108]

Finds his muse back in rudest health after the relative disappointment of Rock N Roll. [Feb 2004, p.98]

Verity Susman's wayward, fragile Nico-lite vocals will either delight you or drive you nuts. [Mar 2003, p.102]

Cornershop have clearly been biding their time, not squandering it, returning with the kind of meaty, substantial, truly multi-dimensional project they've long been working towards.

Sparklehorse's resulting leap transports the group away from gloomy country to a modern psychedelia that achieves its creator's ambition of "making Kid A with choruses." [Oct 2006, p.120]

A gloriously adrenalised return to form. [Dec 2019, p.106]

Seriously good stuff. [Jun 20009, p.134]

Two good albums, then--but more editing could have produced a single excellent one. [May 2017, p.104]

Not all of the dream-influenced Gold Past Life is sharp enough around the edges to propel Johnson away from cultdom, but the high-definition poignancy of Drawn Away and the title track's aggressive Bee Gees pastiche show him decisively pushing at the walls. [Aug 2019, p.111]

Comfortably their finest outing since 1982's Forever Now. [Sep 2020, p.113]

This is certainly no party album, and its colours are almost exclusively monochrome, but its majesty reigns supreme. [Sep 2005, p.112]

It's not his strongest, but facinating none the less. [Nov 2009, p.110]