A fascinatingly fractured yet whole album, it is the sound of a man not only investigating but celebrating the full cultural spectrum of his existence. [Apr 2017, p.51]

The album is ultimately defined by its ten minute centrepiece “American Dream” and the 14 minute closing title track. Both beatless, these two are painted in broad, expansive strokes by Martin and further shaded by some of the most mystifying motifs of Carlson’s career to date. [Apr 2017, p.49]

Contact may be more consistent than earlier albums, but some of the edges have been filed down and some of the physical intimacy that had such an impact by virtue of being too close for comfort is dialled down. [Apr 2017, p.47]

Only time will tell which albums will ring out as genuine artefacts and which will be revealed as little more than sound and fury, signifying nothing. [Apr 2017, p.46]

The pair’s soundtrack is trippy and foreboding, swaying between melancholy cosmic laments on slo-mo keyboards (“Leaving Moomin Valley”), mysterious Middle Eastern whines (“Hobgoblin’s Hat”), extraterrestrial dream sequences on thumb piano and wooden glockenspiel (“Most Unusual”) and a giddy blast of what sounds like computerised rodents squeaking with speeded-up glee (“Party Time”). [Mar 2017, p.65]

Godfather is no mere retread, not the sound of youth but an idealised memory of it. [Mar 2017, p.56]

Chasny’s vocals in particular, hushed and double-tracked, tend to sound like the performance of awed transport rather than awed transport itself. In that sense Threshold’s instrumental numbers--which on so many albums feel like interludes or filler--are standouts. [Mar 2017, p.54]

At every turn it bubbles with the delight of discovery, and shows the alchemical reaction between the two studio personae coming along very nicely indeed. [Mar 2017, p.54]

Every track is a killer. [Mar 2017, p.54]

The pop craftsmanship on display throughout Pangs is just the thing to make vinegary dregs go down easy. [Mar 2017, p.53]

It is psychedelic in the best sense of the word, evoking constant movement, but a motion that is always interior, burrowing deep into the psyche of listener and player alike. [Mar 2017, p.52]

Falkner's presence helps tighten up Moore's game with out diluting his essential weirdness, while Moore encourages the usually perfectionist Falkner to cut loose and re-engage with the taste for lo-fi leakage. [Mar 2017, p.50]

Anyone interested in just how far out and far in British music can be i 2017 should have Stillness spot-welded into their systems right now. [Mar 2017, p.50]

Kingdom's debut album is all pop. Not in the formulaic sense, but in its sophisticated amalgam of everything that is skilled and aesthetic from both mainstream club production and underground dance subgenre. [Mar 2017, p.49]

There’s a strong sense on Children Of Alice of each member of the trio’s strengths--Cargill’s ear for synth sounds and eerie melodies; Roj’s rippling tone patterns and rhythmic momentum; House’s collages glued together from the subconscious--both coexisting and combining into a greater whole. Yet its threefold approach to listeners’ minds--as, simultaneously, musique concrète sonic buffet, richly nostalgic hotpot of beloved reference points, and hieroglyphic recipe book--is less cohesive. [Mar 2017, p.47]

Anjou’s transition from post-rock to power ambient now complete, Epithymía sees these musicians extrapolate into new directions masterfully, squeezing out a mesmeric minor masterpiece in the process. [Mar 2017, p.45]

[A] finely crafted and very songwriterly affair (with echoes of Talk Talk, The Auteurs and Roy Harper). [Jan 2017, p.74]

At times 50 swerves near to MOR Americana, but Chapman’s guitar playing, the bedding of every track, bristling with thorns, won’t let it. [Jan 2017, p.61]

Zubot’s production creates a sense of vastness, placing Tagaq’s voice low in the mix with strings and drums or conversely counterpointing it to instruments to create icy thick layers of noise. However, his maximalist approach fails the more poppy tracks. [Feb 2017, p.45]

A confused but compulsive listen. [Feb 2017, p.60]

Cutting through the tedium reveals a moderately engaging narrative of low level criminality with solid insights ranging from the cloying to mildly provocative. [Feb 2017, p.59]

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]

Oczy Mlody fluently balances three decades of untamed experimentation with the poppier sensibilities they've gained along the way. [Feb 2017, p.51]

Borders is Emptyset’s Fury Road--both heavier and cleverer than the trilogy it follows. [Feb 2017, p.47]

While the Bowie tribute will probably garner most attention--hey, at least it saves Basinski having to explain the story behind Disintegration Loops again--for me, “A Shadow In Time” is the more absorbing work. [Feb 2017, p.44]

[A] glorious record. [Feb 2017, p.44]

The next person who decides to write a book on Miles Davis, or agrees to play him in a movie, will find this set invaluable. But for the casual Davis fan, it’s bound to be a bore and a chore. [Nov 2016, p.76]

He doesn’t sound quite engaged anywhere on Lady, Give Me Your Key – more like a talented but wayward kid trying out for the school show. [Nov 2016, p.75]