The album's high point "Who Wants To Live Forever" is a duet between Reznor and Spanish artist Judeline, and like "Vaster Than Empires" from Reznor and Ross's Queer soundtrack is all the more complex and humane for reaching outside the tight-knit NIN universe. "As Alive As You Need Me To Be" is a fitting phrase to conjure at this point in NIN's lifespan their entire oeuvre has never felt more like a living thing, both within and outside the group. [Nov 2025, p.55]

As ever, he works with a solid dub toolkit, but tracks like "The Well Is Poisoned" (co-written with Brian Eno) and "Hiroshima Dub Match" sound newly anxious. [Nov 2025, p.56]

Tower Block is easily Lawrence's best record since 1992's Back In Denim. [Nov 2025, p.61]

These half-asleep compositions inhabit the porous spaces between songform and atmosphere, the result being a remarkably relaxed album that is perhaps the strongest of the trilogy. [Nov 2025, p.52]

It's ["Ghost Net" is] the uneasiest thing that The Necks have done in years, and its duration of 74 minutes is long enough to wear down both resistance and acceptance. .... The other disc-long performance, "Rapid Eye Movement", is far more approachable.

Standing apart from the usual darkwave fold, Lorelle Meets The Obsolete make music that's melodic, accessible and moreish without compromising their darker, more experimental instincts. [Oct 2025, p.64]

His whispery delivery on "Sonkind" over buzzsaw synths evokes Nine Inch Nails, and Monstera Black's sweetly resigned vocals on "Rabbit Hole" hit like a lullaby in an abattoir simulator. "During Elevation" is punctuated by the throat-catch of tears but somehow, it's all still squelchy, pounding good fun. [Nov 2023, p.63]

Lullaby For The Lost is McCaslin's boldest iteration to date. [Oct 2025, p.56]

On The Orb's 18th album, Paterson and current sideman Michael Rendall continue wandering these new (old) avenues. [Nov 2025, p.56]

The album is a present, absorbing companion. Recorded in just three days, the album’s six tracks have that elusive quality of feeling both spontaneous and meticulous. [Aug 2025, p.46]

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]

The album's seven winding tracks, inspired by 1980s country, fit squarely within the impressionistic ambient country movement. But while its influences loom large, the album finds its strongest footing when familiar structures dissolve. [Oct 2025, p.53]

The throttled mayhem that spits from the record is in keeping with the legacy of the aforementioned punks [Dead Kennedys and Misfits], as well as DC hardcore pioneers Bad Brains. [Oct 2025, p.54]

Broken Homes And Gardens is not his best record, but it is an absolutely pure statement of where he was at for the last few years, and is a sheer pleasure to hear. [Sep 2025, p.49]

The First Family isn't for Sly & The Family Stone beginners, but it gives aficionados a fascinating glimpse of their origin story. [Oct 2025, p.72]

They've come back very strong. [Oct 2025, p.65]

You know what you're getting with both artists, but they have created a sequel that surpasses its predecessor. [Oct 2025, p.65]

Here we have songs about pet dogs, home invasions by molluscs, and boxing documentaries, threaded together by moments of humour and a command of language that few other rappers can match. [Oct 2025, p.64]

A cheeky and addictive listen. [Oct 2025, p.64]

Abomination mostly tweaks the speedy punkoid templates minted by early Wire and Black Flag. It's a challenge to find novelty within this terrain, and one wishes Dwyer had tempered the yobbish bellowing. But "Sneaker" succeeds thanks to Hellman's exhilaratingly woozy bassline and Dwyer's florid synth solo, and after launching in a "Mr Suit"-like blur "Fight Simulator" shifts into a Can-like mantra with sped-up "Vitamin C" beats, guitar scree and warped synth. [Oct 2025, p.59]

Built around Richman's distinctive voice and guitar style, Only Frozen Sky Anyway is typically hook-laden and heartfelt. [Oct 2025, p.50]

Byrne's Who Is The Sky? has a similar foundation of strong songwriting, but with bigger production and instrumentation. [Oct 2025, p.50]

Sometimes being broad hits just as much as a sharp observation. Allbarone is a fun balance of the two. [Oct 2025, p.51]

A few guest vocalists pop up in vivid cameos. .... But the guests are mere added attractions. Some of the most compelling tracks, like "No Death No Danger", "Mala Sangre" and the closing "Covenstead Blues", are all her. .... She creates her own world of sound, and her own context, and we must enter cautiously, never sure what we'll find but ready for anything. [Sep 2025, p.50]

$ilkMoney's new album might well be his best to date. [Oct 2025, p.65]

Its comforting gloom draws you closer and closer, extending an invitation to lose yourself that could easily be mistaken for escapism. But this music is one of presence, not absence. [Sep 2025, p.61]

Hitting (unintentionally?) a vein of 1990s retro, evoking Beth Orton/Andrew Weatherall/William Orbit and inventing Highlands Balearic. Campbell only really pushes the envelope on a couple of tracks scribbling fluorescent acid bass through "Weeping Roses" and stitching AFX escape velocity linear drum programming under "220Hz". [Sep 2025, p.63]

Given the remit of this collection, you’d be forgiven for anticipating a jumble of two-bit Human League and Gary Numan rip-offs. Thankfully this unexpectedly odd compilation delivers a whole lot more. [Jul 2025, p.68]