If it's a little too impressionistic to last the 17-track distance, then Freetown Sound still seduces. [Aug 2016, p.73]

It's addictive, delirious and madcap, Martha turning anxiety into exuberance. [Aug 2016, p.78]

The Bride is her most accomplished realisation of her wandering mind yet. [Aug 2016, p.65]

Harvey's intimate understanding of Serge's rich catalogue allows him to smother markedly different compositions such as "Ce Mortel Enniu" (1958) and perverted mid-70s gear "SS Si Bon" and "L'Homme a Tete De Chou" with a menacing Bad Seeds swagger that unifies Delirium Tremens. [Aug 2016, p.76]

Ibifornia features slightly too many faceless party-friendly dance-pop bangers. [Aug 2016, p.73]

Singer-guitarist Ian Felice brings real pathos to lucid tales of characters in various states of dissolution. [Jul 2016, p.74]

It's steeped in the snotty multi-coloured psych of the Elevators, the Seeds, Os Mutantes and, via the parping Farfusa of "Follow Me Home," early Doors. [Aug 2016, p.80]

Although Kramer sometimes lacks the craft and discipline to make his purposely flimsy sonic treatments stand up as full-blooded songs. [Aug 2016, p.83]

[A] darkly beautiful tour de force. [Jun 2016, p.75]

Postcards From... represents a diary of five years of travel, though these 10 instrumentals are less reflective of the locations where they were conceived than the moods they inspired. [Jul 2016, p.70]

The Last Days Of Oakland is a polished--but not too polished--set of soulful blues. [Aug 2016, p.75]

Wonderful stuff. [Aug 2016, p.76]

This careful layering of old and new, east and west, has something of the forensic deliberation of post-rock experimentation about it, but songs like "For Everything That You Lost" and "They Keep Silence," which evokes Killing Joke, are thrilling in their intensity. [Aug 2016, p.77]

A heroic mutual soppiness is the key tot his dreamy two-tracker. [Jul 2016, p.74]

Fortunately, they haven't forsaken their natural songwriting strengths. [Aug 2016, p.70]

He's hit the sweet spot between fresh and the familiar. [Aug 2016, p.83]

Much more than just a hobbyist fancy, 2 is, in fact, far better than it has any right to be. [Aug 2016, p.82]

The melancholy underscoring even the android-sex jam feels both personal and more than a little musty. [Aug 2016, p.80]

There's a lighter, more hopeful bent to the musical settings, which perfectly balance the more dissonant leanings of The King Of Limbs with a sumptuousness and gentleness they've rarely sought since OK Computer. [Aug 2016, p.81]

There's little on the pair's ninth album that will surprise longtime admirers; rather, Plaid play to their strengths. [Aug 2016, p.80]

This third album sees her come into her own as a songwriter with a seductive collection of slow-burning synth-funk. [Aug 2016, p.80]

There are too many blandly chipper moments that feel better suited to mobile phone ads than an album. [Aug 2016, p.77]

Glasper's keen-eared stewardship throws up some astonishing alchemy. [Aug 2016, p.75]

More than once, it is difficult not to drift into wistful contemplation of the splendid, unreconstructed rock'n'roll racket of which they might be capable if they tried underthinking things for a change. [Aug 2016, p.74]

The Colour In Anything is Blake's fullest and boldest work yet. [Aug 2016, p.72]

Undercurrent is an enthralling journey from source to mouth. [Aug 2016, p.72]

A more refined classic techno sound, paying homage to his adopted hometown of Detroit. [Aug 2016, p.71]

It's the thickness of these synth textures and the intensity of the sounds that create a thoroughly immersive experience. [Jul 2016, p.78]

Everything flows and nothing jars, but Craft's soft voice and often orthodox songcraft makes Blood Moon merely pretty rather than stunning. [Jul 2016, p.73]

It all hangs together, propelled by a sense of fun that, 22 years on, still pervades every note. Trot on. [Jul 2016, p.73]

There are overdubs, Auto-Tune and, most conspicuously of all, songs have been overlaid with Animal sounds. [Jul 2016, p.68]

This is a satisfying strange listen. [Jul 2016, p.75]

On the cautionary rockabilly of "Put Out The Fire" and low-slung raunch rap of "Ain't No Rhyme," he demonstrates a firm grasp of his essential strengths. [Jul 2016, p.70]

It has a transitory feel; a half-step back from those monolithic builds and whiplash grooves, gesturing towards something more contemplative and ... well, "softer" feels the wrong word, but weathered by the journey. [Jul 2016, p.80]

The very wonderful Eyeland finds them poised between the familiar and the less so. [Jul 2016, p.75]

There are reminders of St. Vincent on "Happy" and "Thursday Girl," while "A Loving Feeling" boasts The Breeders' punkish brevity. [Jul 2016, p.78]

As they've refined their technique, they've almost erased the need for lyrics, while their twin obsessions--romance and the celestial--remain constants. [Jul 2016, p.89]

Fohr's voice is the constant, but here's it's denuded, its strangely hollowed-out tone perfect for Jackie Lynn's dizzying theatrics. [Jul 2016, p.76]

At its heart, though, this is essentially a great pop album. [Jul 2016, p.83]

On his third solo album, he's found a niche that suits him. [Jul 2016, p.81]

Quibbles aside, though, this appears to be a partnership with plenty of mileage left. [Jul 2016, p.70]

These diorama-songs of a Mayberry gone to seed don't sound to different from what you might hear on mainstream US radio--only much more lovingly observed and finely crafted. [Jul 2016, p.71]

There are moments, such as in "Crazy Love" and "Monster Again," where the vibe is less open-hearted confessional than "Futurehead Does Andrew Lloyd Webber." Even so, this is a brave and extremely poignant piece of work. [Jul 2016, p.74]

Like coiled springs, this Manchester four-piece fire out jabs of tight pop-punk energy that seem created with the intention of filling an indie dancefloor. [Jul 2016, p.79]

Patience is still a warm and uplifting record befitting this modest, meticulous band. [Jul 2016, p.74]

Polished but pedestrian. [Jul 2016, p.78]

A moving collision of past and present. [Jun 2016, p.78]

The sound of two talented men messing around and letting off steam in a studio. Much livelier than Tunng. [Jul 2016, p.81]

This is old-time spiritual soul shot through with urgent, electric energy. [Jul 2016, p.79]

Initially foreboding, its laminar abstractions give way to the stealthy textural seductions of centrepiece "Line Angel," where shards of electronic glass penetrate a wavering organ drift, and the choral minimalism of closer, "MFBK." [Jun 2016, p.78]

Toussaint masterfully irons oout the kinks and the dissonances from the city's music. [Jul 2016, p.77]

An unqualified triumph. [Jul 2016, p.73]

This fruitful collaboration between k.d. Lang, Neko Case and Laura Veirs succeeds largely because it makes room for all three distinctive voices and songwriting styles, alongside sublimely blended three-way harmonies. [Jul 2016, p.71]

Not quite the rebirth it might have been, but a welcome retread. [Jun 2016, p.73]

A terrific, laidback, sleep-headed dose of minor key psychedelia, which has something of the flavour of Spiritualized at their finest. [Jul 2016, p.79]

There are delicate nylon-strung acoustic guitar solos, punky and ecstatic Ornette Coleman covers, thrash metal improvisations for just guitar and drum, and intriguing battles with saxophonist Chris Potter. [Jul 2016, p.88]

It's much less obstreperous than most of their earlier works. [Jul 2016, p.76]

Songs such as "Golden Days" and "No Woman" combine the fragile longing of indie-pop with the superior songwriting smarts of classic early-70s rock, in a way that should reel in fans of Josh Rouse and Liam Hayes. [Jul 2016, p.82]

Their second is a complex, pile-driving delight. [Jul 2016, p.78]

Some songs don't quite live up to the arrangements, but the sonic ambition here shames nearly every other major-label release of 2016. [Jul 2016, p.78]

Nostalgic homage never overwhelms the heady sense of sonically rich, exploratory weirdness. [Jul 2016, p.71]

At a time when a generation of US roots guitarists are reaching creative maturity, Modern Country reasserts Tyler's place at their forefront. [Jul 2016, p.81]

On this inspired album, jittery characters sketches alternate with introspective ballads bearing echoes of Simon & Garfunkel, astride variations on the exotic rhythms that have propelled his music since Graceland. [Jul 2016, p.79]

There's some fine original songwriting, particularly from Stills. [Jul 2016, p. 79]

An agreeable anachronism that feels '60s but sounds '80s. [Jun 2016, p.79]

The results are sometimes almost listenable, which is why the most compelling songs on her third LP allay these avant-garde instincts to a belting tune. [Jul 2016, p.69]

These are nuclear-grade pop hits that don't sacrifice on adult emotional complexity: a rare power. [Jul 2016, p.81]

Lyrically, it's the darkness that maintains its grip, sometimes alarmingly so. [Jul 2016, p.74]

Marking youthful reminiscence and the passage of time, WWW rocks with gleeful, guitar-driven, singsong abandon. [May 2016, p.78]

Other elements are more familiar, but this beguiling debut is never less than the sum of its parts. [Jul 2016, p.76]

Like 2010's The Shine and 2013's Hoodoo, Rain Crow is thick with nervous trepidation, ominous trips into the rural mindset. [Jul 2016, p.82]

There's a winning mix of mist and muscle on this debut. [Jul 2016, p.69]

An unapologetic confection of lush overstatement. [Jul 2016, p.67]

Their music is accruing more bewitching, dramatic layers. [Jul 2016, p.71]

It manages to top those two finely crafted albums [2013's Time Off and 2014's Way Out Weather]. It's more streamlined in its playing, more confident in its writing, more determined in its mission. [Jul 2016, p.72]

With Ash & Ice, they're back on compelling track, cranking their songs' rhythmic drive while focusing as much on structure as mardy atmospherics. [Jul 2016, p.75]

Simultaneously dry, jaunty and eerie, As If Apart takes time to get lost in, but it's worth the effort. [Jul 2016, p.71]

Although mercifully less in line with the Kooks/Courteeners hegemony than their first album, The Ride is stodgily dedicated to the Real Rock cause, even while it's shooting for Alex Turner's autobiographical cool. [Jul 2016, p.71]

A seductive mix of pastoral folk, motorik beats, psychedelic ragas and gnarly '70s rock, transposed to the Japanese landscape. [Jun 2016, p.74]

Though lacking a defining identity, at its best it's like listening to a long-lost compilation playing all the AM radio hits that never were. [Jun 2016, p.78]

Mosey is clearly not just the work of an absurdly gifted musician, it's the product of an exceptionally vibrant mind. [Jun 2016, p.70]

Big Thief are at their best when the instruments step back and create a mellower platform from which Lenker can dominate. [Jul 2016, p.69]

The attitudinal posturing wears thin on "Killer" but stuttering funk, the Depeche Mode in the moshpit vibe of "Little Mamma" and a timely nod to Prince on closer "Something" all hit the spot. [Jul 2016, p.69]

This is a satisfying mix of revised and completed '60s recordings by original Monkees songsmiths like Boyce & Hart and Neil Diamond, with new songs by the likes of Andy Partridge, Rivers Cuomo and Adam Schlesinger. [Jul 2016, p.78]

Her full-length debut confidently and even defiantly collides raw garage rockabilly with distorted blues and ornery old-time folk. [Jul 2016, p.81]

There's no denying the pair know their way around a perky tune, but their songs are unmemorable because their sound is so heavily recycled. [Jul 2016, p.82]

Shame about the occasional guest vocals, which veer a touch drab compared to their glittering backdrops. [Jul 2016, p.78]

It takes a while to get over that initial disjuncture, and the title track is a headache-inducing mes that sounds like a Bo Diddley rhythm played on electronic toys. Other tracks slip down quite appealingly. [Jul 2016, p.76]

The trio plough an increasingly creepy furrow over the course of this debut album. [Jul 2016, p.76]

A more exuberant sophomore effort that synthesises the techno-pop of Yellow Magic Orchestra and the electro-R&B of '80s hitmakers like Midnight Star. [Jul 2016, p.75]

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]

It's a head-turning mix, a sort of pop-art take on Southern gothic, and highly infectious. [Jul 2016, p.73]

His latest fizzes with energy and smarts, and sees him letting his imagination off the leash to irresistible effect. [Jul 2016, p.70]

Never short on vocal confidence, here, she trades divadom for arresting, unconventional shapes. [Jul 2016, p.69]

With Fallen Angels, Bob Dylan, like Linda Ronstadt and Rod Stewart before him, has seen fit to continue his exploration of the Great American Songbook begun with such unexpected poise and humility on last year’s Shadows In The Night.

Their take on good old-fashioned rock'n'roll can be a bit shaggy, but it's surprisingly arty. [Jun 2016, p.74]

Day Of The Dead is an exemplary way of proving to a sceptic that at the heart of the Dead's digressions are great songs. [Jun 2016, p.66]

The Party is definitely worth celebrating. [Jun 2016, p.79]