The laser focus evenly applied to songs from the upcoming album (Grant Hart's heart-wrenching "Don't Want To Know If You're Lonely" and "Sorry Somehow") and older material makes it apparent why Hüsker Dü were the first US punk band to make that historic leap into the mainstream. To catch an earful of them in a live setting after that dicey dive is truly an illuminating experience. [Dec 2025, p.68]

Despite its complexity, the album is full of ravishing, soulful production and vocals--as catchy and emotionally stirring as it is subversively and intellectually thrilling. [Dec 2012, p.75]

As interesting for what it carries over from the past as for the future it foreshadows. [Feb 2013, p.47]

It’s one of the most vibrant, purposeful rock records of the year, as Ambro balances the sickly weariness of this day and age with a triumphant jubilation of simply being alive. [Dec 2023, p.54]

A box set containing their first two LPs plus demos and live tracks, provides some help in cleansing the palette while providing context for the evolution of their massively cribbed style. [Jun 2021, p.67]

Little Simz’s latest--and greatest--album is divided between three emotional states: bravado, doubt and love. [Apr 2019, p.58]

Despite the obvious post-production touches and curation, the outtakes from 20 minute studio improv sessions featured across the four pieces feel authentically extemporaneous and evolve organically, akin to a late night jam between friends. ... “Bloodstream” provides the stunning album with a fittingly grandiose ending by digging into a psalm-like recital full of solemn organ, voluminous textures, invigorating fanfares and rumbling spectral melodies. [Feb 2023, p.52]

Sounding like nothing else out there, distinct even from Tribe's previous work, We Got It From Here is political without being preachy, fun without being unintelligent and next level out while being street corner down. A superb swansong. [Jan 2017, p.71]

For the most part, the album makes a convincing argument for Sleater-Kinney's continued relevance. [Jan 2015, p.63]

Though clearly labelled as demos, it’s hard not to think of this as a completed work. Cargill’s sequencing is impeccable and the material is compelling throughout. This is no mere collection of odds and sods, but a substantial release from the band that enriches their legacy. .... A reminder of what was lost. But it also feels like a gift. [Jul 2024, p.68]

We should be thankful at least for this one precocious masterpiece, where even the big closing motivational ballad “Energy” comes humble and soothing. The 14 flawless blasts of pure hunger that precede it are equally spare, allowing room for all sorts of monumental chords and vocal inflections to weave their way into Salieu’s tales of frontline Coventry. [Jan 2021, p.87]

His verbal style is notable because it avoids typical ragga chat or MC freestyling in favour of an almost literary blend of prose and verse. [#219, p.75]

Afrikan Alien consolidates renewed supremacy with casual swagger, epic statements like “Afrikan Di Alien” and “YGF” sandwich more routine slices of virtuosity from the flex of “Big Smile” to the earnest romance of “Round & Round”, normality victorious against a hostile world. Strutting victorious on “Ya Zee”, he’s aspirational, iconic. .... He’s still in a league of his own. [Jan/Feb 2025, p.97]

The sense of loss and longing becomes so physical at points that rather than respond, it's simpler to go with it until the ride ends in a drained silence. [#219, p.72]

The tunes recorded on 6 March bear no relation to that relaxed and delicate session [with Johnny Hartman]. Instead, they’re much closer to the kind of high-octane material the quartet were pursuing in live performance at the time, albeit with considerably less intensity than could be witnessed on the bandstand. [Aug 2018, p.74]

The album is the product of a consistent vision, synthesizing hip-hop's beat architecture and sound manipulation with bespoke funk playing. [Sep 2010, p.50]

Musically it’s mannered to the point where he makes Stormzy look like Tempa T. Token exceptions offer some respite. On “Location” with Burna Boy and “Disaster” with J Hus he briefly escapes the bland backing and naff counselling concept to explore more primal modes of expression. But ultimately the failures predominate, most notably ten minutes of the heavy handed domestic violence PSA “Lesley”. [May 2019, p.50]

Burial has transcended his dubstep origins, belonging to a Gothic tradition that takes in Massive Attack and even 4AD at their most grandiosely despondent. [Jan 2008, p.53]

Played front to back it works as a dazzling kaleidoscope; on shuffle, every combination worked in a different way, with no weak links because the quality of each track is insanely high. Underground, resistant US rap par excellence. [Jun 2023, p.60]

He knows that being the most complete version of himself requires lifelong searching – græ never fails to feel like such a journey. [Aug 2020, p.63]

This is what happens when you expose the oneiric to daylight. It’s jazzy, symphonic, tough, tender, true. Plain magnificent. [Jul 2022, p.45]

Funeral For Justice comes a step closer to channelling an authentic Mdou Moctar live experience. The title track wastes no time to demonstrate the unfettered power on tap, bursting from silence into a series of electrifying riffs and fervent claps, never letting up. [Jun 2024, p.53]

LSD is so concentrated, so packed with ideas, that on initial listenings, it's most efficacious when taken in moderate doses. .... Jim and co-producer Torabi have created a best fit from an abundance of available music, and this version of the band does Tim Smith proud, serving his singular vision with brio and love. [Oct 2025, p.61]

Fans will find things to love here, I’m sure. But Savage Young Dü won’t be making any converts. [Dec 2017, p.69]

New listeners may be drawn by these tributes, to experience something far more compelling, still flowing from the source. [Dec 2022, p.72]

This is the sound of two mature rap gentlemen throwing it up for one of hiphop's most enduring, if not always endearing, charms: utter immaturity. [Dec 2014, p.54]

As Four Tet, Hebden has devised a musical identity that is distinctly different from his work with Fridge, but both projects share a passion for defying boundaries. [#231, p.60]

LEGACY! LEGACY! is just as much a celebration of Chicago musical talent. ... It also demonstrates Woods’s vast talent as singer and songwriter. [Apr 2019, p.69]