It's all very wry, but rather endearingly so. [Dec 2019, p.30]

Each mode works in service of the vibe Cohen intends, but Spring's organic easiness belies the evident care in its creation. [Dec 2019, p.24]

Some good songs emerge--"Ego Central High" is a glammy gem that makes its repetitiveness a virtue--but otherwise this is heavy listening that too often edges towards stodge. [Dec 2019, p.29]

There's a defiance in each painful note. In tasting despair, Tahliah Barnett has returned 10 times stronger--in spirit and voice. [Dec 2019, p.27]

Surprises may be fewer this time around but, with their warmth and grace, "Wanted Never Asked" and "Filigree" are two of several songs here that rank with Cabic's finest. [Dec 2019, p.35]

The template remains intact, with monotony fundamental: The Necks lend the title track's repetitions a shimmering, slowly evolving transcendence, Anna Von Hauswolff and sister maria provide bloodcurdling shrieks on the devastating, pummelling "Sunfucker," and Baby Dee adds voodoo magic to "The Nub." [Dec 2019, p.32]

Played and sun with unassuming grace, it's an album of rare generosity. [Nov 2019, p.30]

Very much a Van Morrison album, and a pretty decent Van Morrison album at that, tapping into that apparently inextinguishable reservoir of muscular yet crotchety blues. [Dec 2019, p.30]

As is the case with most of his releases the past decade or so, Ringo addresses his own career with a heavy dose of nostalgia. [Dec 2019, p.32]

It's a strong, seductive set, with the soul-blues burn of "Prophet" and tender "If You Think It's Love" standouts. [Dec 2019, p.29]

Dave Brock's outfit are still hot-wiring the same motorik grooves and primitive electronics that helped jump-start the counterculture in the first place. [Nov 2019, p.27]

The Livelong Day is dark, powerful and disquieting stuff that resonates long after its final note has subsided. [Nov 2019, p.31]

The results may comprise the most finely distilled example of Stephen O'Malley and Greg Anderson's deconstruction of heavy riffage, with each of these tracks demonstrating the infinite varieties of fuzz and rumble that exist within a single mighty note. [Nov 2019, p.33]

Laid-back and loose maybe, but neither lazy nor lacklustre. [Dec 2019, p.33]

Like its predecessor, FIBS is a stubbornly uncategorisable hybrid of styles, tempos and angles on the traditional "song." [Dec 2019, p.30]

The resultant raggedy, in-the-moment feel suits the Neil Young-ish "Show Me" and harmonica-hinged "Guardian Well," as well as "I've Got Reason," less so "Feel It All," which drags its feet over five minutes. "Lost A year" is a sax-assisted winner, though. [Nov 2019, p.24]

If the tunes don't all stun as surely this time around, lyrically they're bolder. [Dec 2019, p.25]

Kiwanuka is loaded with memorable songs, but the best way to experience them is by listening to the album from start to finish. [Nov 2019, p.26]

Wave finds beauty in the belief that all's not lost. [Dec 2019, p.35]

It's a polite, rather repressed formulation and the most appealing moments come when they go off-piste. [Dec 2019, p.32]

An unabashed old-school West Coast rock'n'roll record. [Dec 2019, p.29]

Timeless, tender and sparse. [Dec 2019, p.35]

Spending a little too long in the shallows of pastel-shaded easy-listening minimalism. That said, there are sublimely beautiful and lightly experimental touches here too. [Dec 2019, p.30]

Song structures are over-egged, resulting in blunted hooks and lost momentum. [Dec 2019, p.25]

It is raw, but also synthetic. There are a number of very long songs,m verbal rambles, but the music fills in, disturbing the melancholy of Cave's piano with static interruptions that owe as much to cave and Warren's film soundtracks as they do to the Bad Seeds' more conventional songcraft. [Dec 2019, p.18]

If Psychedelic Pill was among his longest, strangest trips, Colorado has more rustic charms--Harvest Moon or Prairie Wind, but hopped up on guitars. [Nov 2019, p.16]

Doesn't reveal itself in haste but rather unfolds over time and through multitudinous layers. [Nov 2019, p.23]

Another delightful exercise in musical brevity and lyrical snark. [Oct 2019, p.24]

Opulent, perverse and reassuringly other-worldly. [Oct 2019, p.30]

Guitarists Rich Robinson and Marc Ford, bassist Sven Pipien and the three seasoned players they've recruited stretch out stylistically on the sequel. [Nov 2019, p.28]

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

As ever, the technical chops are indisputable--but it does, with fewer brains on board, feel somehow less substantial. [Nov 2019, p.22]

Shepherd's most eclectic album to date, a richly pleasurable balancing act between brain and body, academic seminar and night club, cerebral experiment and sensory feast. [Nov 2019, p.32]

Ten-minute sonic odyssey "Neptune" provides a typically overblown finale, but it's INXS-style banger "The Runner" that will further cement their place at indie rock's top table. [Nov 2019, p.25]

Following on from a 2017 album of standards, this chiefly replaces covers with original compositions and adds a meaningful, Slint-like loitering on chord to his repertoire of shattered blues licks. [Nov 2019, p.30]

Dawson's most direct album to date. ... It's hard not to conclude that 2020 is the record we need now: a state-of-the-nation address for a nation in a bit of a state. [Nov 2019, p.20]

This is a corporeal and cacophonic record, but all ear-bleeding mayhem it isn't. ... Lightning Bolt continue to spark. [Nov 2019, p.28]

This new emphasis on alt.rock songcraft can leave frontwoman Arrow de Wilde sounding little constrained, which may be why she sounds so thrilled to unleash her inner Iggy on "Toy teenager" and "Rich Taste." [Nov 2019, p.33]

There are moments of redemption as songs such as "On Deronda Road" and Weightless" celebrate life's capacity for renewal. But make no mistake: this is a dark record for dark times. [Nov 2019, p.25]

Lanegan's lyrics are as daft as ever. But that growling baritone voice and the soundscapes are never less than compelling. [Nov 2019, p.27]

Even if Lahs isn't quite the album Allah-Las believed they were making, it's still a minor marvel. [Nov 2019, p.21]

Two Hands is more grounded [than U.F.O.F.]. ... The music is also rawer and more immediate. [Nov 2019, p.22]

An uniformly compelling set. [Nov 2019, p.27]

A thrilling racket it is too, the quartet achieving a winning balance of improv and melodic suss on a bunch of hairy psychedelic jams. [Oct 2019, p.26]

White Noise/White Lines is a compelling showcase for both her admirable songwriting skills and, as Prine puts it, "One of the more authentic country voices I've heard in a long time." [Nov 2019, p.24]

A passionate and muscular record that oozes cool in every note. [Nov 2019, p.30]

Deceiver sees them return in a better mental state but with much the same spirit as when they left, delivering wafting waves of shimmering guitar over lyrics that hint at drama and turmoil. [Nov 2019, p.24]

Their most imaginative and immersive album yet, with Webber emerging as a more commanding frontwoman. [Nov 2019, p.28]

Songs Of Our Mothers taps into something much bigger than itself. ... It also helps that the music is quite remarkable. [Oct 2019, p.38]

It's a warm, beguiling set that tips its hat to roots music interpreters as disparate as Hoyt Axton, Fairport Convention, Dolly Parton, The Byrds and Bobbie Gentry, wile also tapping Cajun fiddle music and the work of Ralph Mooney. [Nov 2019, p.23]

Finely honed reflections that add a new perspective to the conversation of politics. ... The songs here are simple, but they contain multitudes. [Oct 2019, p.25]

All Mirrors is her boldest reinvention yet. [Nov 2019, p.30]

An intriguing body of work. [Nov 2019, p.22]

If Texas is a deliberately ambiguous assessment of Crowell’s home state, it’s also a resounding endorsement of the enduring powers of its composer.

This is a downbeat set, lean and lonesome yet never morose. [Nov 2019, p.38]

Temples seem to be in the thrall of Tame Impala's retro-futurism, but their in-studio moves fall short of Kevin Parker's aerodynamic wizardry, although they come tantalisingly close on "You're Either On Something," nimbly balancing delicacy and majesty. [Oct 2019, p.36]

Abbey Road is the sound of the Beatles walking into history. [Nov 2019, p.38]

The fizzy psych-funk of "A Good Luck" and "Sing Along" ramp up the atmosphere in grand style, matched by Simpson's fabulous baritone, through best of all is the monstrous "Fastest Horse In Town." [Nov 2019, p.30]

There's a uplifting buoyancy to these eight tracks. [Oct 2019, p.30]

Straddling past and present, this is Red River Dialect's most sunny and easygoing record to date. [Nov 2019, p.30]

Something of a grind--repeat helpings of grimly strummed acoustic guitar and keening vocals becoming the folk equivalent of consecutive courses of muesli. [Nov 2019, p.29]

The bleak piano ballad "Hello I'm Right Here," the suicidal "Hold My breath Until I Die" and the slow-burning synth-pop of "We Don't Have Fun When We're Together Anymore" all find curious joy in pain. [Nov 2019, p.33]

While the full deluxe treatment might not life Don't Tell A Soul all the way to "lost classic" status, it at least fleshes out an underappreciated chapter of The Replacements' messy saga. [Nov 2019, p.42]

The playful tumbles of verbiage are as central to the group's sonic identity as the key components of its baroque power pop. [Nov 2019, p.28]

This solo debut sees him working within a very limited sonic palette--doomy, minor-key constructions featuring distorted rhythm guitar riffs played over a grid of '80s synths and drum machines. These can be effective when paired with grim lyrics of small-town realism. [Oct 2019, p.33]

Come for songs and you'll be left wanting, but as a holy distillation of Moore's influences, Spirit Counsel impresses. [Oct 2019, p.30]

There's depth, vulnerability even humour to the lyrics. [Nov 2019, p.27]

This is vintage Roberts, rich poetry couched in spare, beautiful, quietly adventurous arrangements. [Oct 2019, p.36]

So much of Okie is overly sentimental, mono-paced balladry. [Nov 2019, p.27]

It's a breezy and easy listen, as displayed on the melodic shuffle of "Unfamiliar Sun," but there's also a deeply layered approach where stacks of harmonies and melodies interweave gracefully. [Nov 2019, p.33]

Epic debut, an emotionally rich and stylistically broad mediation on homeland, exile and identity. ... A lavish feast of an album. [Nov 2019, p.30]

The mood is upbeat throughout; a joyous, non-stop chug through several shades of American popular song. [Nov 2019, p.28]

Why Me? Why Not. ticks a number of boxes for his fanbase. [Nov 2019, p.25]

Whereas the band's grand ambitions have sometimes led to music that can feel unduly grandiose, "Uden Ansigt" and "Verden Forsvinder" mark a welcome return to the more intimately scaled music of their early years. [Nov 2019, p.25]

A thematically rich record, heavy on mood and elegantly written in a way that positions Del Rey between Eve Babitz and Carole King. There are beguiling and evolving melodies underneath the spare piano and acoustic arrangements. [Nov 2019, p.24]

These are tender anthems, even if some won't be readily singing lines like "eating your ass like an oyster" in a festival field. [Nov 2019, p.22]

The best songs here are the instrumentals. As a songwriter he relies on too many cliches, remains fiercely devoted to a stiff ABAB rhyme scheme and offers too few insights into his underworld characters. [Oct 2019, p.36]

Occasionally a little too meandering. [Oct 2019, p.26]

Throughout Jamie, Howard also continues to challenge the impressive instrument of her voice in unpredictable ways. ... Her quest for personal fulfillment doubles as a creative bloom as well, revealing new dimensions of her talent. [Oct 2019, p.18]

It's consistently charming. [Oct 2019, p.29]

All up, an(nother) apparently effortless hitting if the sweet spot. [Oct 2019, p.27]

The swooping strings and Escher-like melodic structures of "Camion" and "Yard Bull" are reassuringly familiar to Vannier enthusiasts. ... Patton rises to the occasion throughout. [Oct 2019, p.33]

For anyone who enjoys a dash of shimmering disco hedonism with their feminist theory, or who simply harbours a lingering respect for the sun-drenched joy of '90s trance techno, this album offers a richly rewarding dialogue with mainstream pop. Crucially, Hval understands well the strange, seductive, subversive potency of "cheap" music. [Oct 2019, p.28]

As with any enduring soundtrack, this collection of songs stands on its own. [Oct 2019, p.24]

It suffers somewhat from inevitably diminishing returns, in that it simply isn't anywhere near as good as their canonical records; that said, not much is. [Oct 2019, p.33]

Lots to unpack, and it's a pleasure to do so. [Oct 2019, p.30]

The result is an album that displays Wolfe's versatility and ability to stir power from whispers as easily as she does howls. [Oct 2019, p.39]

While Pang!, totalling just under half an hour, doesn't have the conceptual strengths of Babelsberg or American Interior, it's nevertheless a delight to hear Rhys once again embracing the possibilities of technology and harnessing modern, global sounds to enhance his unique vision. [Oct 2019, p.37]

These 13 grooving and textural song-poems are his most focused work to date and, although loaded with meaning, Ma never feels heavy or burdensome. [Oct 2019, p.24]

In an angry, impatient world it takes real dedication to carve out space for music this blissful. [Oct 2019, p.33]

There is zero sense on Amadjar that this band in any way playing to an international audience; on the contrary, this music feels hermetic in its focus, guitars picking out bluesy motifs, voices rising together in mournful chorus, all tethered by a simple drum rhythm that approximates the lollop of a camel making its way across the dunes. [Oct 2019, p.32]

Close It Quietly is billed as a collaborative, full-band release--and while the singer's distinctive vocals prevent too radical a departure, even the minute-long cuts here sound sturdier, more confident. [Oct 2019, p.27]

Musically this is arguably his most touching work since the early 2000s. [Oct 2019, p.27]

The follow-up sees them cutting all ties to their bleak kosmische past, shaping Jana Hunter's songs--which reflect politico-personal anxiety about our collective raging competitiveness, among other things--into darkly gleaming and hopeful synthpop panoramas. Hunter's rich contralto is always at their centre. [Oct 2019, p.29]

The intimate, minimal work done by his accomplices serves to channel Pop at his bleakest and most rueful. [Oct 2019, p.34]

Not all of it works--the ballads sag, and the reggaeton-influenced "Paradise" is ill-advised--but much of Miles's playing is on fire. [Oct 2019, p.45]

A deep-breathing, ecstatic joy. [Sep 2019, p.34]

Hynde's default here is swoon and ache. Add her incendiary guitar to Mingus instrumental "Meditation (On A Pair Of Wirecutters)" plus a lovely dubbed-out, spacy "Caroline No" and her one-of-a-kind signature is writ large. [Oct 2019, p.29]