Scarecrow's sense of defeat actually makes it a better record. [Jan 2002, p.96]

The album does see them traveling further afield. [Aug 2014, p.110]

At times the '60s girl-group feel can prove grating, but there's enough here to suggest a future beyond the indie ghetto. [Jul 2006, p.112]

Terrific, politically charged covers album from soul's Mr. Nice Guy. [Nov. 2010, p. 107]

Stretching his creative wings has worked for Toledo; there's a sense of him pushing outward as well as forward, even as he questions the point of it all. [Jul 2020, p.106]

Intriguingly between success and failure, as if occupying a musical hinterland of its own. [Oct 2018, p.118]

This doesn't quite match the delirious energy of 2006's "Fishscale," but it's packed with big numbers showcasing his maniacal rhyme style. [Feb 2008, p.95]

As a whole, though, I Never Learn wallows too much. [Jun 2014, p.119]

Pleasingly, this is the Wire's best new music since their glory days in the late '70s. [Aug 2008, p.145]

The result is at once fluid and fractured, with a restless experimental edge that never quite allows the beat to settle into anything approaching a predictable pattern. [Sep 2011, p.104]

Food is grown-up, womanly, but for all the hearth-and-home warmth, it doesn't forget the way to a listener's heart is through their ears. [May 2014, p.109]

An atmosphere of heightened weirdness prevails. [Jun 2020, p.95]

For such a heavenly record, an all-star cast makes perfect sense. [Jan 2020, p.108]

Dido should keep checking over her shoulder. [Feb 2004, p.105]

There are a couple of mildly sludgy moments.... But otherwise, it's a perfectly calibrated record. [Nov 2014, p.113]

If possibly too shiny for some tastes, the spooked '60s folk of Wounded Heart adds a touch of darkness. [Feb 2015, p.117]

The two parts of Everything Not Saved Will be Lost aren't quite the work of radical genius that Foals probably think they are, but they're bolder and more adventurous than a lot of those million other bands could manage. [Nov 2019, p.106]

Their rough edged-folk has been planed a little smoother, and a breakthrough seems feasible. [April 2012, p.90]

This eccentric experiment from indie-dance pioneer Steve Mason sees him embracing the '80s with fervour. [Aug 2008, p.132]

While such single-mindedness doesn't leave much room for light and shade, at its best Pearl Mystic is testament to the power of head-nodding repetition and well-stomped FX pedals. [Apr 2013, p.104]

Altogether, it's a wholly surprising musical development from a criminally overlooked talent. [Sep 2013, p.107]

There's nothing here to suggest Holtkamp should think about giving up his day job anytime soon. [May 2014, p.111]

They sand down their raucous edges for a more playful psych-pop sound. [Jun 2014, p.103]

A must-listen if you know the infield fly rule, but not so essential if you don't. [Jun 2014, p.104]

Music Go Music are talented mimics, but Impressions still makes its own presence felt. [Oct 2014, p.116]

On this fifth album, they are now both a more complex and straightforward version of the thoughtfully serrated quartet of 2002. [Oct 2014, p.106]

Musically adventurous, sonically daring and really rather stunning. [Nov 2014, p.112]

A moving reflection of his own life, family and home, it's the sound of Dave Hause getting to grips with himself. [Mar 2017, p.111]