The passage of time sometimes has a way of making youthful politicking seem naive, but not here. [Jan 2013, p.121]

Badu shines a light on less frequently explored areas of Kuti's back catalogue. ... One of music's undisputed heavyweights. [Jan 2018, p.116]

All the freshness and ingenuity that made their 2009 debut such a revelation is here. [Oct 2012, p.111]

McMahon has found new ways to expand his wild-eyed sound, thickening the psychic murk with electronic textures but keeping the emotional edges bright. [May 2018, p.104]

Best skip Stray Cat Blues though, a track so problematic it's a wonder Operation Yewtree haven't opened a file on it. [Jan 2019, p.117]

V feels bigger than its predecessors, but it still disturbs. [Oct 2017, p.105]

A triumph. [Aug 2020, p.111]

Isolation showcases just what made others scramble for her number: natural pop charisma and an ability to glide effortlessly between genres. [May 2018, p.113]

They've made a fine pop record without compromising their trademark quirkiness.... The band's best work to date. [Aug 2003, p.114]

His most intricately affecting music yet. [Nov 2016, p.100]

Vlautin's literary side is very much evident, with the lyrics of these 11 songs effectively vivid short stories populated by bruised characters. [May 2014, p.108]

This two-disc set captures R.E.M. in their prime, erasing the memory of their middling final decade. [Jan 2012, p.135]

A rather erratic affair. [Apr 2002, p.119]

Electronic showboating even the original authors would struggle to identify. [May 2006, p.138]

Her state-of-the-nation address. Stunning. [Feb. 2011, p. 112]

Not only do the rhythms here sound tighter and more intensely focused, Murphy's presence as a songwriter and frontman is a revelation. [Apr 2007, p.110]

Whatever she make you feel, it's a ferociously sensual work. [Summer 2018, p.117]

Sounds like a malfunctioning iPod loaded with The Neptunes, Aphex Twin circa Windowlicker and The Last Poets--only with all the fragments miraculously falling in just the right places. [Jun 2003, p.104]

It's gloriously dark and downbeat stuff. [Nov 2001, p.130]

For all the sonic bricolage, nothing upstages Garbus's own force of personality: her vocal range thrillingly from demure cooing through sassy funk to lung-bursting holler. [May 2011, p.126]

Comicopera is a cornicopia. [Nov 2007, p.148]

It never sounds over-considered or a grab for mainstream success, but rather the joy of an artist relishing new territory. [Feb 2019, p.106]

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

Truely, a voyage of discovery. [Jan 2009, p.121]

It's a record that announces its creator as a true force. [Feb 2015, p.113]

A Sailor's Guide to Earth is audacious in a genre that prizes hat size over innovation, a concept album about parenting and childhood intended for consumption in one continuous sitting like a short story. [Jul 2016, p.114]

As on Tramp, Van Etten's lyrics remain similarly frank. [Jul 2014, p.117]

The Wisconsin outsider stretches horizons on mesmeric second album. [July 2011, p. 108]