A Short History Of Decay is a stirring suite of studiosculpted alternative rock that jettisons most of their heavy music influence while finding new routes to scoured ears amid plumes of dreampop drift. [Mar 2026, p.60]

It feels like a self-conscious attempt to approximate jazz without ever quite committing to it, no doubt partly due to the fact that Flea's horn chops are somewhat rudimentary, favouring languid lines that could generously be seen as resembling Chet Baker at his most unbothered. .... It's hard not to feel the project lacks any of the liberatory qualities one would hope for from a genuine jazz statement. [Apr 26, p.50]

Probably his most accessible work to date. [#269, p.45]

The group demonstrates admirable judgement, gesturing at entropy while craftily dodging its embrace. [Mar 2011, p.58]

Even if the music remains fairly consistent, the concepts mark off more ambitious territories. [Oct 2011, p.60]

Endgame is spacey and lush in the manner of Deppechord's roster or Donato Dozzy, solidly crafted and a bit of a drag at just over an hour. [Sep 2014, p.60]

Luminal perhaps would have been more impactful as a release by itself – all but the most devoted Eno completists should prioritise it. [Jul 2025, p.52]

Tracks like “It’s Not Me” and “All-Seeing Eye” feel like works in progress and weigh down an already overlong album. Yet the album has its superlative bursts, like the fingerpicked coda of “Goodbye” and the gnarly biker metal guitars on “Alarms” and “Goatfuzz”. [Oct 2016, p.61]

There's a lot going on and while he never rises to anything as wakeful as a melody or a solid riff, there's still a satisfying level of control that keeps him two steps away from the minimalism plus heavy effects tendency of similar acts. [Oct 2011, p.65]

This may be a mini-album, but it's so well turned, so successful in completing what it sets out to achieve that, far from marking time in his discography, it could end up being one of his key releases. [May 2008, p.55]

Ultimately only the title retains the tang of locality. [Nov 2016, p.73]

It's an uneven set, relying strongly on her performance to carry the songs forward. [#229, p.68]

Unremittingly bleak but absolutely compelling. [#204, p.68]

Overall, as a listening experience in itself, The Master feels like a retreat. [Nov 2012, p.59]

Strongly guitar based, their music alternates from being dreamily subdued one second to full on, hair flailing freak out the next. [Jun 2016, p.58]

The lyrical intricacy and rhythmic playfulness of old are still there, but an arthritic creakiness creeps in, especially when he indulges in hackneyed poetism and dodgy wordplay. [Feb 2012, p.71]

Mr Mitch’s productions are as fastpaced, tight and spirited as his DJ sets. He makes the most of these sparse landscapes, marking a path for a complex of emotions to bleed though. Part of the album’s charm is that Mitch doesn’t shy away from adopting a pop sensibility nor embracing love as his subject matter. [May 2017, p.51]

This album is not about re-using their old sounds. Most of the tracks offer something different and work well to complement the story being told. [Sep 2019, p.54]

The duo have created a world of two halves; a land of tension and mystery that collides with a place of release and transcendent sorrow. [Feb 2017, p.55]

This is her most effective project to date. [Aug 2013, p.60]

The bookending tracks from Ulf Lohmann, "Sicht" and "PCC," play seductively with auras of overloaded guitar and synth, cyclical patterns accruing intensity, but an unfortunate saccharine edge remains. [Feb 2014, p.57]

Sumac's rock thunder becomes more involved as they sink deeper into their own personal spaces, uncorking emotions and letting loose inner demons, while still fully functioning as part of a group experience. [Aug 2016, p.58]

His work manages to square Cecil Taylor with Ralph Vaughan Williams. [Feb 2012, p.72]

Totem is a pensive and heterogeneous offering, with glitchy and glittery textures, wandering melodies and echo. [Aug 2012, p.58]

Bassist Haz Wheaton and drummer Richard Chadwick provide the solid underpinning, while Brock's knack of fashioning and delivering strong melodic and verbal hooks is plentiful in evidence. [May 2017, p.46]

The album suffers at points from fastidiously clean production; it’s not just lo-fi romanticism to want to hear musicians of Vieux’s calibre in settings that are less polished. [Jun 2017, p.76]

Moving between diverse musical contexts, with self-assurance yet also unflagging inquisitiveness, open to the unexpected even within the familiar contours of Ruby My Dear or ’Round Midnight, Smith continues to renew and transcend his legacy. [Dec 2017, p.58]

A gorgeous album. [Jun 2018, p.50]