As peculiar as "The Doll" and "Blue Tits" are, at heart this is thrilling, possibly visionary pop. [Nov 2021, p.25]

These are distressed, in-limbo songs. Their unlikely latter-day alliance with Dave Fridmann adds poignantly lavish flourishes and echoing space-age keyboards to the dead-end punk tattoo of “I Don’t Fucking Know What I’m Gunna Do” and monotone monologue and suffocating synths of “Nothing/Everything”. [Jul 2024, p.35]

These elegant, cosmic soul-jazz excursions are a fine fit for Sumney's extraordinary voice. [Oct 2017, p.40]

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

Distinguished by the forceful, deeply personal flows of Roots' MC Black thought, their fourth takes on hip-hop jazz tone, leavening their somewhat overly tasteful retroism without ditching its widescreen pleasure. [May 2023, p.28]

All A Man Should Do is a thing of considerable depth and sensitivity. [Nov 2015, p.79]

[A] rich and understated debut brimming with wisdom and heart. [Nov 2015, p.79]

[Alex G] already shows a masterful handling of mischievous lyrics and beautiful melodies. [Dec 2014, p.69]

Even by his prolific standards, Sojourner is impressive. [Oct 2007, p.99]

Fourth album time for Turin Brakes, and practice is edging the duo closer to perfection. [Oct 2007, p.113]

Their full debut is more "pop," if you stretch the definition to lovely multi-vocal interplay, grooves that stay convoluted but move their asses, and songs with hooks and momentum. [Nov 2010, p.93]

The enigmatic ensemble head out on taut, Teutonic disco manoeuvres on "Dancing In Transit" before making like a feral 808 State as they imagine Raoul Duke and Don Quixote in conversation on "Raoul". [Apr 2025, p.35]

Ultimately, Workout Holiday is a party record for thinking people, and it’s a smart time to join them.

It's Saadiq's fine songs--notably the showstopping slow-jam 'Oh Girl'--that makes The Way I See It less a homage, more a timelessly enjoyable 42 minutes. [May 2009, p.97]

He's a minimalist/multi-instrumentalist who manages to find warmth in what could otherwise be sparse and unforgiving--note the breathtaking pauses between chords in "arise Arise" or the unremitting lilt of "All Day Monday And Tuesday." [Nov 2009, p.117]

If you lost touch with Cowboy Junkies some time ago, perhaps taking their unhurried grandeur for granted, All That Reckoning presents a brave, beautiful and timely opportunity to pick up the thread. [Sep 2018, p.24]

Impressively pretentious, and brilliantly executed. [Dec 2003, p.126]

The real standouts are "Daddy's Little Girl," in which M Ward puts her inside the head of Frank Sinatra, and the Jack Pendarvis-Andrew Bird collaboration "We Can't Have Have Things."

A lyrical treasure trove, but the biggest surprise of the self-produced album is the richness of the sound. Nadler’s usual sparse, gothic folk style is emboldened by well-chosen collaborators from Simon Raymonde to Emma Ruth Rundle. [Dec 2021, p.31]

The effect is a kind of ghostly reconfiguration of classic rock, from a band blessed with unique presence and an unusually melodious minimalism. Outstanding. [Oct 2002, p.108]

This is familiar YLT, but that's certainly not a complaint. ... Even with two-thirds of the band in their mid-sixties, a childlike quality remains. [Mar 2023, p.36]

Mostly Cracker Island maintains Gorillaz' 23-year-old comic-book conceit. The 2D band make ageless pop that shapeshifts to suit the era, be it the sunny reggaeton of "Tormenta" (featuring Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny) or the dreamy AOR of "Oil" (featuring Stevie Nicks). [Apr 2023, p.28]

At times, it's like an architectural drawing. But the repetitions soothe and tease, and then you start to hear the leaves. [Aug 2013, p.78]

Dove Ellis arrives fully formed on this self-produced debut. [Jan 2026, p.30]

The softer edges and new accessibility only makes the fury and dread eerily heavier. [Jan 2026, p.35]

An ambitious but striking debut. [Sep 2004, p.108]

This certainly feels like a rebirth. [Nov 2015, p.79]

The intensity builds relentlessly. [Jun 2005, p.102]

Hendrix's genius really was for compact, tightly honed pop-rock, where his playing could court restraint, embracing a kind of flinty, tensile groove. The psychedelic drift of "Rainy Day, Dream Away" is the highlight; the extra live and demo material will keep fans happy, but adds little of note tot he story. [Dec 2018, p.42]

Confounds all expectations. [May 2006, p.128]

There are writing collaborations with the likes of the Chemical Brothers on the beautifully woozy and remarkably tender “Ballad (The End)”, which further serves to hit home the increasing breadth, scope and versatility Owens possesses in her far-reaching electronic compositions. [Nov 2024, p.41]

The real leap here, though, is one of songwriting. [Dec 2014, p.77]

This debut LP often sounds familiar but never in the same way too often. [Feb 2025, p.33]

A cornucopia of delights from a band with an unerring ear for melody, undervalued in their heyday. [Mar 2020, p.49]

But for all the rueful, wistful, middle-aged preoccupations of History Books, its two most emblematic tracks, "Little Fires" and "Positive Charge", catch The Gaslight Anthem at their most glorious and furious. [Dec 2023, p.30]

It’s a story as old as Pet Sounds, but one that bears repeated re-telling. [Jul 2021, p.31]

No News more or less repeats the formula {of its 2013 debut], with equally pleasing results. [Apr 2015, p.76]

Some of the most exuberant and immediately engaging music they've ever recorded. [Aug 2017, p.22]

Lucifer Is A Flower contains something of the narcotic mischief that made his 1978 debut such a delight. [Sep 2020, p.27]

Much more than just a fan curio. [Jul 2015, p.81]

The departure of vocalist Tyondai Braxton appears to have knocked them off stride a little, but they are certainly an ensemble group, and a raft of guests keep things frisky. [Jul 2011, p.77]

A beautiful paradox of angsty noise and beguiling craft. [Oct 2017, p.40]

An album that splendidly makes the most of a unique creative kinship, as well as a shared desire to cast light in dark places. [Nov 2017, p.18]

Dwyer's unique hiccupping rhythm continues to dominate, ensuring the band are distinctively Osees, but this is the group's most experimental and unusual record for a few years. [Sep 2024, p.37]

All American Made marks both a hardening and a deepening of Price's sound. [Nov 2017, p.25]

Allas Sak marks another gentle shift in direction for Gustav Ejstes, and though Dungen are not saying anything new, they're at least articulating timeless emotion in a classy fashion. [Nov 2015, p.75]

An album heavy on moody atmospheres and dese riffs. ... There's also pleasing variety to this immersive and enveloping debut. [Jun 2023, p.36]

The most intense record of Cash's career. [Feb 2006, p.68]

Better than simply a personal or a confessional album, The Ballad of Darren is clever in what it does and doesn't say about its creator's life. [Sep 2023, p.16]

Bainsbridge's achievement is to take a style of music defined by its emotional directness and render it mysterious, aloof and enthralling. [Dec 2014, p.77]

It may just be the most satisfying record he's made since the group's stellar 1995 debut. [Mar 2017, p.24]

Dawes have never sounded more musically sophisticated. [Sep 2022, p.23]

Scott's ability to weave between monster guitar eruptions, refined pop and stripped-back moments that allow her voice to soar is a constant. [Sep 2021, p.35]

Crucially, it always feels as if Crystal Antlers are having a blast, continually cold-shouldering the obvious and pushing each other to the limits of their musicianship and beyond. [May 2009, p.87]

While "Neon Dad" proves their aptitude for the same sort of psych-pop that Black Moth Super Rainbow use to free minds, "House of Glass" and "Crapture" suggest Holy Fuck are happier putting their rubbery grooves and vintage gear under serious duress. [Jul 2016, p.74]

A voyage in time and space - exploring the Amazon rainforest and transversing the African Diaspora. [Apr 2024, p.32]

Steve Albini is admirably restrained here, preserving the raw power of Niblett's guitar, allowing it to throb and hum beneath--and sometimes above--her bell-like voice. [Apr 2010, p.95]

He still writes lovely, dreamy psych-pop songs that position Luxury Alone as a strange, introverted companion to Tame Impala's Currents. [Jul 2016, p.82]

The follow-up comes from a more confident place musically. [Sep 2018, p.31]

His latest album triumphs on levels beyond its inimitable Holley-ness. On the one hand, it reads like another act of spontaneous divination, revisiting past traumas with pained understanding, yet also hopeful and celebrating the wonder of life. But it’s also his most substantial and accessible album yet. [Apr 2023, p.18]

While there's room for marvellous deeper cuts such as "Goodnight Tonight", "Wild Life" and "Arrow Through Me", there's also filler like "Getting Closer" and "Call Me Back Again". In true Wings fashion, perhaps there really is something for everyone here. [Review of the Year 2025, p.45]

As ever, it's as unpredictable as it is beguiling. [Jan 2021, p.31]

Caracal has the market in mind, but not at the expense of quality. [Nov 2015, p.75]

Recorded in Nashville with Ken Coomer producing and former Sturgill Simpson guitarist Laur Joamets adding minimal country flourishes, it goes some way to understanding what to do with Oren's voice, a low, conversational rumble which manages to disguise the clipped poetry of his lyrics as easy conversation. [Dec 2017, p.32]

A quietly glorious affair. [Apr 2006, p.110]

The result is the most accessible Scott Walker album since Tilt, perhaps even longer. [Nov 2014, p.74]

He has risen to the occasion with an album full of the necessary girth and scope, which doesn't succumb to the forces of inertia. [Mar 2020, p.18]

It is ambitious music, even compared with Big Inner and it also sounds rich with potential. [Feb 2015, p.67]

The Lucky Ones frames this new worldview in a punchier, tauter, leaner sound--less fuzz but more crunch. [July 2008, p.104]

Starting with irresistible lead single 'Pork and Beans', a chunk of Weezer’s sixth album delivers the band’s trademark combo of crushing power chords, pop-culture references and a healthy dose of ironic self-ridicule.

Tracks like 'Knickerbocker' or 'Pussyfooting' are complemented by David Best's whispering voice intoning gibberish lyrics and rhythmic vocal tics over maddeningly catchy riffs. [Oct 2008, p.90]

This box set might test that familiarity [of the Beatles catalogue]. It's like returning home to find the furniture has been moved around, or thayt someone has built new rooms to put your stuff in. It's not that these are bad rooms--they're just not quite where you expect them to be, and certainly not how the architects conceived the building. [Mar 2014, p.90]

Every song on Big Bad Luv seems to stem from emotional trauma, but he's pragmatic enough to get something good out of each one. [Jun 2017, p.36]

Wherever you care to drop the needle or let the shuffle button take you, the essence of this collaboration and the velocity of its execution somehow hoovers you up and brings you along. [Aug 2021, p.20]

It's an impressive cast, matched by the energy and eccentricity of the contemporary and traditional songs alike. [Jun 2013, p.81]

Think early Air meets hip-hop, the West Coast harmonies and Ultramarine-style tech-fok eccentricities merging with euphoric yet becalmed moodscapes. [Nov 2002, p.113]

His most purposeful work in some time. [Jun 2003, p.94]

Everyday Robots is a less ebullient, more intimate and reflective affair, as befits the tentative revelation of a man's soul. [May 2014, p.63]

This is a broad, swaggering definition of jazz that touches on Nigerian afrobeat, Ghanaian high-life, grungy post-rock and vocal-led astral soul. Non-jazz fans might be drawn to Nerija's astonishing guitarist Shirley Tetteh. [Sep 2019, p.30]

Unique, captivating stuff. [Jul 2011, p.80]

A sort of gothy folktronica dominates songs like "Yes Men" and "Out The Way," with shades of PJ Harvey on the acerbic title track about refugees, while the crawling jutter of "2016" captures the dislocating agony of experiencing personal anxiety while "there's a fascist in the White House." [Sep 2017, p.37]

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]

Bursting with symphonic goodness, musical adventure and dizzying levels of intensity. [Oct 2018, p.32]

Pigs x7 are a band that appreciate a bit of theatre. There is plenty of that going on in this second album, along with a whole bunch of heavenly riffs. [Nov 2018, p.34]

Much of Arise draws from the duo's [Moses Boyd and Binker Golding] spartan energy. Boyd serves a one-man Art Blakey, Sly Dunbar, Carlton Barrett and Tony Allen, swinging in a Caribbean vernacular. ... McFarlane has a pop sensibility that's unusual in the jazz world, and her songs are based around strong melodies. [Oct 2017, p.31]

Wagner is adept at evoking children's half-remembered nightmares. [Sep 2014, p.81]

Lush and lively. [Feb 2017, p.29]

Bristl[es] with wit, energy and nifty hooks. [May 2007, p.99]

12 dark, noisy tracks blessed with unexpected details. [Mar 2013, p.75]

A vivid, endlessly beguiling listen. [Mar 2025, p.34]

It's not a ballet or a string quartet, but Costello sounding more "Attractions"-like than he has in over 20 years. [Oct 2008, p.83]

Love Is Love really takes off when the brass comes out. [Jun 2017, p.38]

Haunting, bassy and electronic. [Jun 2017, p.35]

This is vintage front-porch Cale. [May 2009, p.79]

The follow-up [to Absent Fathers] is an even more impressive progression. Marriage and impending fatherhood bring both focus and exuberance to Earle's seventh album. [Jul 2017, p.28]

The result is Mascis's most fully formed and direct solo set to date. [Feb 2024, p.31]

Another illustration of the breadth and generosity of this remarkable group's vision. [May 2015, p.72]

it's not just a band getting back together after nearly a decade apart, but a band reaffirming the ideals that animated them in the first place. [Nov 2025, p.29]