So, no startling change of pace, direction or feel, then. Instead, what Tindersticks sound like on this subtly strong album is a band with restored self-belief, again loving doing what they do better than anyone else.

Loud and lively, fast and fuzzy, this scattering of creative energy is the most persuasive solo record Coxon has released. [May 2012, p.64]

The 12 artfully crafted songs here suggest Blitzen Trapper should now be judged in the elevated company of Wilco, Brendan Benson and The Raconteurs. [Jul 2010, p.113]

It's an album of two halves, with "Rock And Roll Again" summarising a scene-setting opening hand that focuses on good-time, AC/DC-worshiping rockers. A shade more subtlety comes late on. [Mar 2015, p.72]

BAG's core values remain intact, but it's an exhilarating advance. [Feb 2019, p.24]

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]

A darker and dramatically more cohesive collection than its predecessor. [Sep 2003, p.108]

Greg Weeks and band reference artists as diverse as Michael Rother ("Caroline"), Cowboy Junkies, and "No Quarter" - era Zeppelin, but the classicism of their compositions keeps all this firmly in the service of the song. [Dec 2009, p. 92]

Though the production has improved, there's still a certain lyrical flimsiness and a sense that, enjoyable and stylish as Two Suns is, it's still just horsing around in the dressing-up box of '80s pop, in a way that's more Might Boosh than Kate Bush. [May 2009, p.77]

After a moment of comparative restraint he returns with a double album so spectacularly grandiose you have to wear 3D specs to hear it properly. [Nov 2011, p.91]

The tunes are getting stronger. [Oct 2019, p.24]

While it's sometimes a little too precious or studied, there's plenty of beautifully blank melody here, too. [Feb 2023, p.26]

It feels like an extended hymn to his home state. [May 2011, p.92]

Parts of Myth Takes [are] as close to commercial... as !!! can get without combusting. [Apr 2007, p.92]

Regularly a memorable lyric leaps out--but too often the pared-down aesthetic is an excuse to coast. [Aug 2009, p.96]

Mastodon idiocy it may be, but on "Honey From A Knife" and "For The Animals" at least, the fire in their eyes keeps them alive, [Jun 2012, p.71]

Shriek is a sustained act of seduction, a deftly conjoined conjuring of song, rhythm and mood. [May 2014, p.83]

The fatalistic and darkening Gothic moods bring out some of the shiniest elements of his prodigious talent and imagination. [Aug 2013, p.67]

It's aggressively zen numbers such as "Enter Exit" and "Water" that finally succeed in dragging you up to that higher plain. [May 2020, p.23]

Their take on the genre [is] sharply observed and utterly sincere. [Feb 2015, p.83]

The finished work is a smorgasbord of all of their best bits. [Jun 2024, p.34]

This sounds like the record Vic Chesnutt's been waiting his entire life to make. [Apr 2005, p.112]

An audacious, risk-taking tour de force, it locates itself in the upper reaches of Steve Wynn's increasingly daunting canon. [Jan 2011, p.87]

Plaza, finds them bedding down with a more cautious and concise approach. [Mar 2016, p.78]

Dare's songwriting feels to be improving, even as he pares his music to the bare essentials. [Mar 2020, p.26]

Wilful, perhaps, but also a hugely inventive joy. [Aug 2012, p.77]

Morgan Delt has moved to Sub Pop and upped the ambition for this excellent follow-up. [Sep 2016, p.73]

It all takes a bit of getting use to.... [M:FANS} is yet another fascinating maverick move. [Feb 2016, p.70]

Yet another work of widescreen beauty and magnificent ambition. [Aug 2006, p.86]

Brilliantly realised. [Oct 2021, p.31]

Their sound is accordingly pared down, the overall tone downbeat and perhaps appropriately rueful. [May 2026, p.34]

Another sly masterstroke by the canniest widow in rock. [May 2007, p.103]

Most of the time, however, Epoch sounds like the album Ulrich Schnauss has been promising for a decade. [Feb 2017, p.38]

She achieves something close to eerie synthesis of avant-classical art song and Throbbing Gristle-worthy brutalism that three-quarters of TG themselves created on their 2012 tribute to Nico's Desertshore. [Nov 2018, p.29]

KGLW now take their foot off the gas via this countrified, ’70s rock’n’roll set with a warm, relaxed air. [Sep 2024, p. 37]

Images Du Futur is an altogether sleazier affair on which Suuns, toughened and grubby from two years on the road, come into their own. [Jun 2013, p.79]

It is, in short, a hippy record, and a very good one.

At 15 tracks it rather drags its anchor, but there's much promise here. [Jul 2023, p.23]

They appropriate Thin Lizzy's strutting grooves and harmonised guitars on "Dream City" and Psychic Lighting," while other tracks gleefullly work in a careening analog synth as if it had just been invented. [Jun 2010, p.86]

It's a potent combination and one made all more alluring by their refusal to settle for one chorus when about 12 all being played at once will do. [Nov 2007, p.98]

If the Plastic Beach-era material gets a bit bogged down in the concept, it's not without its moments. [Jan 2012, p.86]

Mulvey brings virtuosity, intelligence and a lightly experimental agenda to his rich and crafted solo debut. [Jun 2014, p.80]

Awkward moments of not, this group moves as one. [Apr 2013, p.76]

Shifts them into a warmer, fully 3D landscape without sacrificing the songs' imposing build or the solipsistic intensity of Katie Ball's lyrics. [Jan 2026, p.34]

With the entire 10-track affair compressed into just 25 minutes of vaguely expressed melancholia, this flimsy career coda is not the grandly melodramatic Lynchian finale that Li's doom-diva shtick deserves. [Jun 2026, p.32]

Freedom Tower showcases three men who grasp that great rock'n'roll can be at once rudimentary, virtuoso and preposterous. [May 2015, p.80]

Down There reveals a lyrical quality to Dave Avey Tare Portner's songwriting that's not always apparent amid the radiant clatter of the full band. [Nov 2010, p.81]

Hansard's whispery growl is something of an acquired taste, and the first half of this LP sees him aiming towards Nick Cave-style slow burning epics. ... More successful is the second half of the album. [Jun 2019, p.29]

The album never lags completely, but its fair to say that the band aquit themselves far more strongly on "You Haven't Got A Chance" and "I Watch You" than on rather less comprehensively developed garage rock like "Go Blow A Gale." [Jun 2013, p.69]

At times the production is overly slick, but Sky Trails is a strong, sinuous piece of work. [Nov 2017, p.37]

A considerable advance on predecessor 604.... This is sublime, subtle, subversive stuff. [Dec 2002, p.150]

It's amazing they're still so punk, so relentlessly jagged and vicious. [Apr 2003, p.110]

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]

At their best when strings and horns--even a sousaphone--let some air flood through a dense mix, they could even be an American Supergrass in waiting. [Sep 2006, p.89]

Four vocal tracks serve to make the LP more than a masterclass in groove-ology. [Jun 2011, p.87]

This terrific mini-album signals the arrival of an unlikely new set-up. [Dec 2014, p.76]

Hip Mobility favours digital modernism over analogue nostalgia, yet admits the wonder and romance inevitably in play. [Aug 2017, p.35]

A rather good LP of socially conscious R&B. [Sep 2021, p.46]

As stylishly coherent as it is surprising. [Mar 2022, p.26]

Who Is The Sky? benefits greatly from Byrne's singular perspective as a songwriter. It also shows how much more expressive he continues to become, even here in his eighth decade on Earth. [Oct 2025, p.26]

The trio [Badbadnotgood] create nuanced, immersive contexts for the rapper's narratives: occasionally dialed in, at times surprising. [Mar 2015, p.71]

It's frequently wistful, sad and nostalgic. Yet Cooder's eccentric storytelling style and his prankish, Sufjan Stevens-ish take on Americana also sounds oddly contemporary. [Apr 2007, p.99]

Escovedo is as reflective as he is melodic. [Juul 2010, p.116]

Bring On The Sun is a sprawling collection, encompassing everything from euphoric zither washes to jazzy beat poetry, without ever losing sight of its mood of sunny positivity. [Nov 2017, p.30]

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]

At times (“Matter Of Taste, “Got A New Car”), the inventiveness lands with a clunk. However, it’s a generous record, emotionally fearless and thoroughly likeable on first listen, while Perry’s voice can’t help but convince. He’s only just begun.

La Radiolina reaches out beyond it's core audience to a universal constituency, not so much a world music record as a global-rock mission statement.

Superabundance sees the trio break away from the neo-post-punk pack, in one swoop, but without sacrificing one calorie of their furious energy. [Apr 2008, p.109]

An album that reveals fresh layers on every listen. [Jul 2019, p.33]

Swedish pop producer Patrik Berger brings a new clarity to Boman's work without disturbing the delicacy of her performance. [Feb 2020, p.25]

“The Shame Of Love”, “Splinter” and “Mouthful Of Blood” successfully concealing Black Flag-worthy spleen behind a comforting veneer of distorted guitars, sunny Mellotron and Carpenters-compatible melodies. [Jul 2021, p.27]

There's a tense, nervous energy o songs such as "Obsession", "Our Song" and "Oversize Sweater" and surprises aplenty. [Sep 2023, p.34]

This album pushes and pulls in so many directions, it should fall apart; remarkably, it doesn't. [Apr 2016, p.72]

It's worth getting lost in their groove. [Jun 2011, p.93]

While the arrangements are loaded with clever touches, the LP comes off like an exercise in technique, preventing Price from reaching the transcendent moments she's clearly capable of. [Mar 2016, p.76]

They've sorted through a kitbag of 80 songs and made good on the potential. [Apr 2011, p.77]

Nothing sounds more dated than an ageing futurist, and it's only when Trent cuts loose... that we get a glimpse of the world-beater we know he can be. [May 2007, p.103]

This score suggests many of those Nine Inch Nails tricks hold good. [mar 2012, p.97]

The trio only really let loose on their sprawling, wailing cover of Jonathan Richman's "Don't Let Your Youth Go To Waste." [Feb 2006, p.86]

The sounds on Smart Flesh may be muted, but there is power and daring in its pursuit of stillness. File under: a quiet Storm. [Mar 2011, p.84]

Though lacking killer songs, Wainwright is always a compelling vocalist, variously evoking Patti Smith, Debbie Harry and Piaf. [Dec 2016, p.38]

An LP that's uncharacteristically respectful of the traditional country and hushed folk idioms that make it up. [Nov 2011, p.81]

Mitchell's sophisticated Memphis funk gives Green's voice the fuel to float. [Apr 2005, p.97]

First-time producer Justin Townes Earle has succeeded Jack White as guardian of the Wanda Jackson sound, guiding her through a fascinating mix of covers and originals. [Dec 2012, p.72]

Sadly, Feed The Animals blends commercial US rap with rock classics with so little charm or skll, that even Jive Bunny is slightly annoyed you've used his name in vain. [Nov 2008, p.96]

The mournful pedal steel, keening harmonies and thumping analogue rhythms that ornament the deeply introspective songs of Marigold transform what would be a slog of emo self-absorption in less nimble hands into a vibrantly empathetic experience. [Feb 2020, p.30]

"White Horse" and the chest-thumping "South Dakota" recall the redneck drama of a Skynyrd show closer, and standout "Think I'm In Love With You" is a simmering mirrorball-country slow jam. [Review of the Year 2023, p.32]

Dreamy of atmosphere, and often screwed of tempo. [Aug 2015, p.71]

Rarely before have the pair achieved [moments of transcendence and preserving them in amber] with this much grace and finesse. [Sep 2015, p.68]

Weirdly affecting. [Dec 2004, p.151]

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

This affinity with Muse is impossible to escape on pounding epics like "That Golden Rule" and "Mountains," but the slight personal "God & Satan" and intriguingly angular "Born On A Horse" offer respite from the bombast, while Queens Of The Stone Age's Josh Homme brings a welcome touch of class to "Bubbles." [Feb 2010, p.79]

Time Flies, though fun, is no more than a handy place to nab all 27 Oasis' singles in one unfilteresd, undescerning grab. [Jul 2010, p.124]

It's well-crafted, but clunky. [Feb 2012, p.105]

Dark, funny and teetering on the verge of Phil Ochs delusional, Macaroni is a assault on hipster apathy. [May 2012, p.69]

The outcome never exceeds the sum of its parts. [Feb 2013, p.73]

Inspired song choices further deepen the spell in a beguiling instant classic from a masterful soul stylist. [May 2013, p.78]

While all perfectly pleasant and expertly played, there's a nagging wish that Richey would break out of her comfort zone more often. [May 2013, p.76]