Although the hard-hearted and selfconsciously cool may dismiss them as the avant folk scene's answer to Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, that's no reason to deny one's self the joyous singalong harmonies of 'Don't Be Afraid, You're Already Dead." [Oct 2007, p.71]

It radiates with a confidence fuelled by acolytes and its fun is infectious. But... the angry cynicism coursing through the album creates a distance between its maker and the listener. [#237, p.53]

Kesto could have been improved with some judicious edits; but when they are at the top of their game, these Finns are undeniably great. [#244, p.59]

It is a difficult task to understand just what the fuss is about. [#236, p.72]

It's as timeless in its own small way as the Chicago canon that inspired it. [Jun 2012, p.46]

Rat Farm has only the occasional flash of brilliance. [Apr 2013, p.53]

Singer's Grave feels like an exercise, something which never be said for the work released under the Palace banner in the 1990s. [Nov 2014, p.72]

A compelling tribute from one iconic vocalist to another. [Sep 2016, p.59]

The sonic centre of gravity is Ranaldo’s instantly identifiable guitar sound, and if you can’t get enough of that, this disc is for you. ... Pàndi’s work with Merzbow and Keiji Haino attests to his ability to hold his own in heavy company, but he restricts himself to sparse, black light coloration throughout this session. Urselli is a bassist and electronic musician as well as an engineer, and while he didn’t do any post hoc editing or overdubbing it’s likely that he is responsible for the recording’s rather amorphous final shape. [Jun 2019, p.63]

As a whole, Goons Be Gone feels strangely anachronistic, but not nostalgic. Retrieved from the heyday of punk rock, but with a lot of its own to say. [Jun 2020, p.59]

A seductive and persuasive look at the lives and human struggles those in power would rather you ignored and disdained. Get connected. [Apr 2021, p.62]

The themes may change, but draped around catchy and crisp melodic motifs, the textures remain as gorgeous as ever. [Jan/Feb 2025, p.95]

Wiley is one of those rare double-threats, blessed with both production and MCing abilities. [Jan. 2012, p.64]

Shaolin is a pleasingly unpredictable record. [May 2011, p.64]

This is the adult Metallica at last, monolithic, grandiose and grizzled. Maturity suits the band, makes them a weightier proposition than the pursuit of former glories ever could. [Dec 2016, p.62]

Ladd's eclectic and downbeat montage of samples creates a rootless soundscape, seemingly geographically transient, restless, impatient and unsettling. It is the perfect backdrop for Ladd's soul-searching reflexes and rants. [#251, p.54]

These are what protest songs can sound like, feel like and taste like in the 21st century. [#257, p.52]

Wooden Wand's contemporary contributions to songwriting tradition have produced some great work, but on Death Seat he has excelled himself. [Nov 2010, p.64]

Let’s Start Here has a middlebrow sensibility, with plenty of grooves Calvin Harris would approve of. Its best moments come when he unleashes his oddball trill, an evocative sound that bland sentiments like “So surreal, the vibes I feel” can’t quite diminish. [Apr 2023, p.68]

He raps in a stereotypically ‘white’ voice shorn of regional inflections, and the contrast between his deadpan vocals and the beats ranges from startlingly imaginative (the hammering blapper “Fundrazors”) to anodyne (“Indifferent”). [Sep 2022, p.57]

Darkness At Noon works because it doggedly pursues its convictions through to a satisfying conclusion and in doing so creates its own kind of offbeat logic. [#254, p.53]

Civilization's simplicity is deceptive: not every producer can take such basic elements and fashion somethings so thrillingly menacing. [May 2012, p.72]

Robert Hood's first album as Floorplan is if anything more functional than Marcel Dettmann's offering. [Oct 2013, p.58]

he 22a label founder flexes his expansive musical influences across ten new creations. One of the most exciting tracks here is “Buffalo Gurl”. Dividing its time between earlier R&B and sultry jazz chords, it’s the pick me up you didn’t know you needed. [Aug 2019, p.65]

It’s off to a shaky start – for this writer at least – with the lugubrious dirge of Procol Harum's “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” – and I wouldn’t mind never hearing The Small Faces’ “Itchycoo Park”, which follows, again – but The Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset", Pink Floyd’s “See Emily Play” and Tomorrow’s “My White Bicycle” all receive tasteful, stripped back renditions. [Dec 2024, p.54]

Brooks builds eight neat instrumentals from gradually layer guitar, playing in a closed circle with himself, a dialogue that is sometimes affecting but more often banal. [Aug 2014, p.59]

The music tends to come up short of its lofty goals, a fact made more frustrating in the moments that prove that they are capable. [Apr 2014, p.60]

[Co-producer Rick Rubin] is a reductionist, an essentialist, which suits ZZ Top just fine. [Nov 2012, p.67]