The real triumph of Easy Tiger is less rooted in the sound, more in the attitude. [Jul 2007, p.114]

There are times when the playing of the session band is slick to the point of blandness, and the production (by Davies and Ray Kennedy) is crisply tasteful when the songs cry out for dissonance.... But when it works, it works.

Sensual beauty abounds. [Apr 2018, p.24]

It is Lanegan's most accessible to date. [Mar 2012, p.83]

Bang Zoom Crazy... Hello could very well be the band's most consistently thrilling long-player since the Carter administration. [May 2016, p.70]

[Greg Dulli has] pulled the Whigs back into (sharp) focus. ... Closer “In Flames” is a welcome reminder that few can match the Whigs in the slow-burn desperation stakes. [Oct 2022, p.23]

Deerhoof are close to knocking the Flaming Lips off their exalted perch. [Feb 2011, p.82]

Tosta Mista fades like a film score and then hit you with a bang on "Clap." [Feb 2012, p.89]

Teaming up Oberhofer with veteran producer Steve Lillywhite seems to have drawn out an impressive sophistication. [Jun 2012, p.80]

There are clever couplets and wry winks, but the melancholy is authentic. [Jan 2004, p.112]

The visionary meditations of John Tavener are a touchstone, and though used sparingly in the film's final cut, this dark, unsettling music stands proudly on its own. [May 2011, p.87]

Iconoclastic and visceral, Squarepusher is punk rock 2002. [Nov 2002, p.132]

Quite mesmeric. [Oct 2025, p.31]

Sound Mirror pursues a roving brief set to a pop aesthetic. These are compact but restless songs. [Jul 2014, p.81]

Among The leaves is entirely consistent with the rest of Kozelek's fine catalogue. [Aug 2012, p.63]

Pulverising noise is not entirely absent – the sludgy riffs of “The Fallen” growl ominously – but they are largely replaced with more atmospheric explorations, Wata’s gentle vocals and tracks that slow and quieten down to reveal a tender exploration of texture. [Feb 2022, p.26]

Their battery-acid sharp Dransfields harmonies and uilleann pipe drones ensure their second album is powerfully strange. [Dec 2017, p.28]

A voyage of rediscovery through terrain whose appeal remains undimmed by time and familiarity. He treats the blues with the respect it deserves, but he aims to have fun along the way, while proving that, at 80, he still has the voice – albeit an octave or so lower than in his early days – to make the material live again. [Mar 2026, p.24]

You may not be whistling these songs or dancing to them, but Biophilia's unsettling visions are compelling art. Oct 2011, p.92]

So far, so agreeable, but a minor niggle is that Morrison evidently continues to favour comfortable rather than challenging accompanists. Then the album hots up.

Taken on its own terms, though, Nouns is a righteous success: delightfully dazed, good-times punk rock for a new generation of Californian dreamers.

On this debut album they already sound fully formed, despite only having come together in 2016. [May 2019, p.37]

A happy music that isn't bland; Held In Splendor makes that toughest of tricks sound easy. [Mar 2014, p.82]

An ear for arrangement detail — be it fuzzy synths or rustic washboard-like percussion — lifts often simple, acoustic-led songs into enduringly captivating territory. [Oct 2022, p.36]

Sunday At Devil Dirt inhabits the same scorched earth, but is a more confident record. Ironically, this confidence manifests itself in an understated vocal performance from Campbell, leaving the spotlight on Lanegan’s dusty baritone.

Spry, antic and engaging. [Jun 2017, p.34]

Uber-angsty but hugely exciting. [Jun 2016, p.74]

Little Simz' identity shines through on this bold, vibrant and genre-busting record. [Jun 2025, p.35]

Rufus reins in his extravagant tendencies for a subtly shaded, seductive album that radiates warmth and contentment. [May 2012, p.84]

Throughout, his instrument is recorded so close, it practically lassos your ear with its strings. [May 2011, p.94]

Sometimes diaristic, sometimes philosophical, it's a long litany of past memories and formative moments that, while demanding patience, gradually inches its way to somewhere profound. [Oct 2020, p.34]

Hones the Southern harmonies and guitar-pickin' crosstalk of the brothers Good. [Nov 2004, p.116]

This is a finely paced album, mirroring the rhythm of the calendar and getting choppier as it moves toward the midway point. [Feb 2011, p.99]

There's a dash of Yeah Yeah Yeahs about the opening scenes of this Brirtsh Columbia band's vivacious third album, which should have them gracing bigger indie dance-floors. [Jun 2010, p.109]

Singular and unsettlingly sophisticated. [Jul 2015, p.76]

Giske spins the likes of “Cruising” and “Void” into bold extended pieces that are gripping in their poignancy and intensity. [Dec 2021, p.27]

These songs fizz as freshly as if the group have only just discovered that combination of the post-punk pugnacity of prime Attractions with the acerbic disquisitions of a spoken-word Springsteen. [May 2023, p.28]

The Kid is a hugely satisfying example of Smith';s wholesome and harmonious vision, one that manages to enmesh the wonders of music, memory and nature via analogue synthesis with out explicit reference to the healing properties of crystals. [Nov 2017, p.38]

Across this record, you could spend days unravelling the songwriting. [Nov 2019, p.22]

Cleaner and crisper... their first [album] for half a decade where great noises... outshine august guest vocalists. [Feb 2005, p.73]

The ferocious cauldron of funk guitars, stinging horns, simmering grooves and incendiary, politicized lyrics departs little from Fela's trademark style, but is delivered with a spiky aggression that entirely justifies the album's title. [May 2011, p.94]

If their painstaking studiocraft has in the past seemed over-refined or even fussy, here they've discovered a new wildness, a liberating sense of drama. [Oct 2012, p.70]

It's a remarkably seamless companion piece to her previous [compilation disc]. [May 2006, p.122]

The stumbling spontaneity is refreshing. [Jul 2006, p.95]

Purple is a formidable show of power and resilience, the band--with the help of produce Dave Fridmann--achieving its most consistently thrilling fusion of metal, southern rock and the edgier end of '90s alt.rock. [Jan 2016, p.72]

The real ace up their sleeves is their exquisite harmonies. [Dec 2012, p.77]

It feels deft and thoughtfully constructed. A deeply warm record. [May 2021, p.23]

A joyous album, one that doesn't wander off along unnecessary tangents and keeps their indulgence in check. [Apr 2020, p.29]

The lustrous "In Your Light" alone should see his name on billboards. [Mar 2012, p.87]

The Other sees the slacker goofball King Tuff reborn as a spiritual thinker, albeit one with an excellent groove. [Jun 2018, p.30]

Modern Studies' Emily Scott, Rob St John and their cohorts once again supplement their brackish folk with tape loops, harmonium, a Mellotron and more to create songs both ancient and modern. [Jun 2018, p.30]

Content's fiery funk will have you bouncing around and beaming at the return of this inspiring, influential unit. [Feb 2011, p.87]

An even more ambitious conceptual album that finds her sharing her insecurities, praising her heroes and going on a fairytale voyage over 19 tracks. [Oct 2021, p.30]

A wonderfully anomalous effort. [Jun 2015, p.81]

It is, at 78 tracks, quite a meal. But fine work lies within. [May 2011, p.96]

On this mostly splendid debut, meanwhile, Hawk actually fuses two of his previous recording identities bridging the shiny electronic of his Weird Tapes alter ego with the hazy lo-fi psychedelia of its "feminine" mirror image, Memory Cassette. [Jan 2010, p. 116]

Stark and poetic, with an echo of danger. [Feb 2012, p.105]

The Atmosphere is intimidating and nervy--a far cry from cosy campfire kumbayas. [Feb 2011, p.94]

On their second outing, these three peripatetic musicians pick up more or less where they left off on their 2022 debut. This is no bad thing. [Jun 2024, p.27]

Despite--or perhaps because of--its viscous air of paranoia, this record is unputdownable. [Mar 2004, p.100]

The opening title track casually drifts into existence, and the rest follow suit, melancholic blend of twinkling steel guitar, rambling acoustic guitars and wearied vocals. [Sep 2016, p.76]

embracing experience in all its prickly incarnations might make for a tricky life but--on this evidence--the pay-off is the creation of ever more beautiful and emotionally engaging music. [Jul 2014, p.72]

While its New Age themes may dissuade some, Hopkins affirms his genius for fashioning unparalleled landscapes from sound. [Dec 2021, p.28]

The pair's Run The Jewels hits hard but has brains to spare. [Sep 2013, p.87]

The mood is pensive, walking the line between downbeat and quietly uplifting, but this is among the best set of songs Finn has written. [Nov 2017, p.26]

This collection further substantiates Newman's rarefied status as a songwriter. [Jun 2011, p.93]

Even as Atrocity Exhibition plumbs depths, Brown remains a savvy operator. [Dec 2016, p.25]

Bjork's vocals are a hypnotic midnight whisper, a continuation of Medulla's vocal layering techniques. [Sep 2005, p.117]

Another triumph for the post-classical scene. [Oct 2011, p.81]

It's all subtly regal, abetted by banjo, fiddle and mandolin textures. [Nov 2013, p.71]

Pristine miniatures dominate, but the title track allows a more searching exploration of more ambiguous ambiences. [Feb 2018, p.29]

Icy washes and brittle synth clanks complement the pair's wintery vocals. [Nov 2011, p.107]

Pleasingly grubby debut LP. [May 2021, p.25]

A moving tribute to an unsung talent. [Jan 2016, p.75]

The expanded palette, majoring on warm, Dylanesque waltzes and rolling country-rock, brings out the colours of the songs even if, at 17 tracks, it trades in the focused intensity of Ruminations for something looser. [Apr 2017, p.35]

This handsome debut bristles with ideas that could lead to some truly remarkable music later on. [Mar 2012, p.89]

While there's a hefty serving of funk on "The Clone," Sherwood keeps his distance, bringing space to psycho-ballads such as "Abracadabra" and "Monocle Man" as the pair reassembled their skeletal, wheezing pop in intriguing new forms. [Jun 2016, p.74]

If you want epic, check out the eight-minute sprawl of 'Mary Is Mary.' For a bit more raw noise terror, try the speed-rush of 'Tattoo.' [Nov 2009, p.117]

Provides a gentle but subtle introduction to the sometimes onerous world of avant-techno. [Apr 2003, p.122]

It's by some ways the finest of the three iterations. [Oct 2020, p.36]

Perhaps for the first time, The National sound relaxed in their skin. [Jun 2013, p.77]

This is a brief--a mere eight tracks, just under 40 minutes--but incredibly intense wall of sound. [Apr 2010, p.92]

Her most universal album yet. [Sep 2019, p.27

Furman's distinctive shrieking, poetic phrasing and postmodernist perspective prevents the work from sounding overtly derivative. It instead borrows the best qualities of its forebears, and fuses them into something new. [Sep 2019, p.22]

You could mount an argument that these are the definitive performances, although that probably isn’t the point – the idea is to view these time-honoured tunes from a surprising new vantage point. Whatever, you leave Mulatu Plays Mulatu in reverence. Astatke’s status – as gifted musician, visionary bandleader and eternal innovator – is forever assured. [Nov 2025, p.34]

Probably the most potent album she's made since Broken English. [Nov 2004, p.102]

An album that proves he's worthy of the legacy he cherishes. [Apr 2002, p.102]

Terrific, genre-flipping from Seattle collective. [Jun 2011, p.92]

Some of their most startling material has always been found down the back of the sofa, among such relatively unconsidered trifles as "In The Back Of My Mind" and "Angel Come Home." [Oct 2013, p.82]

New Fragility is emotionally fraught but musically generous. [Mar 2021, p.28]

This is raw, inventive stuff. [May 2007, p.88]

These 10 sheeting, luminous soundscapes lean into the band's considerable pop smarts as well as their soundtrack and post-rock mastery. [Jan 2025, p.39]

Desertshore is really only the jumping-off point (Beachy Head?) for an album of ultimately rather bleak electronic songs.... The strongest performances, in fact, come on the two tracks vocalled by Cosey herself.

There's nothing fake about the purgatorial narrative of songs such as "Nobody Knows My Trouble" and "My Diamond Is Too Rough." [Feb 2015, p.74]

it's a fitting summation of a remarkable career. [May 2025, p.36]

Hayden Norman Thorpe's falsetto squawk is the controversial focal point but his lust for language is equally extraordinary.

It's Religious Knives' proto-PiL, art-punk minimalism and addiction to the motorik groove that mark them out as different. [Nov 2008, p.117]

Its distinctive musicianship leads to some powerful moments. [Jun 2018, p.35]