The genre pinballing can work--Brock pulls out his carney Tom Waits voice for Sugar Boats--but it's also uneven, unsteadying. [Apr 2015, p.94]

Absorbing, if not exactly inviting. [Apr 2015, p.100]

S&P might not have rewritten the dub rulebook here, but they've certainly minted a thrilling new chapter. [Mar 2015, p.116]

Night In the Dark is retrograde, but it's a refinement too. [Apr 2015, p.97]

The gauzy production effects on Lamplight are among the few concessions to modernity, though the opening credits theme proper--where Zeffira breathily channels chanteuse Francoise Hardy--is hauntingly gorgeous. [Apr 2015, p.98]

Its meticulously layered creations are hampered by both a pervasive aura of high seriousness and general lack of sonic variation. [Mar 2015, p.110]

Disappointingly unremarkable. [Apr 2015, p.97]

While they are likely to appease their devotees with this solid, if unadventurous record, it seems that Death Cab For Cutie will continue preaching to the converted. [Apr 2015, p.110]

[The album] is filled with intricate detail. [Mar 2015, p.113]

Presenting a sound closer to the black-hearted blues of their Brummie idols more than ever before. [Apr 2015, p.97]

It's imaginative, if profoundly unbalanced. [Mar 2015, p.109]

Jesso's winsome melodies and gorgeous chord changes never fail to hit the spot. [Apr 2015, p.103]

There's no shortage of character. [Mar 2015, p.119]

It's less of an album. more of a grand seduction: sultry, beguiling and entirely irresistible. [Apr 2015, p.98]

A strange, intoxicating and utterly brave record. [Apr 2015, p.86]

The Velvet Trail finds him firmly on home turf: sparkling glam-noir and sumptuous balladeering. [Apr 2015, p.85]

The occasional vocals dilute the atmosphere, softening the bionic techno edge of the best tracks, but on Dilate, Vessels sound like a band widening their horizons to impressive effect. [Apr 2015, p.112]

There's a lot going on here. [Apr 2015, p.111]

It's an accomplished production--but an unambitious production, a reluctance to soar. [Apr 2015, p.102]

They are gorgeous recordings, never over-polished but bringing out the bright force of Staples's guitar and the grainy sweetness of his voice. [Apr 2015, p.111]

It's a quintessential extra-curricular album, straining every which way, but an excellent and oddly coherent one. [Apr 2015, p.97]

Most of what's here is great melancholy rock, but sometimes held back by Wilson's willingness to play the perennial prog-rock boffin. [Mar 2015, p.118]

Glam folk never sounded such a good idea. [Mar 2015, p.105]

The star throughout Joyland is Spedding's guitar, but the record isn't entirely all his own show. [Apr 2015, p.111]

The mix may be familiar but it's still frequently thrilling. [Apr 2015, p.104]

This time, Lemmy Gurtowsky and Dan Jones are joined by guitarist Zach Brower and drummer Cole Lanier. The pair have slowed them down in a good way. [Apr 2015, p.97]

Ghostpoet's empathy for his characters scarcely makes the narrow emotional bandwidth less oppressive. [Apr 2015, p.109]

It's a sound they now seem utterly at ease with, and the album is all the better for its confident, super-relaxed approach. [Apr 2015, p.111]