A cult classic in waiting. [Jul 2014, p.69]

This isn't mainstream music in any sense of the world, but it's one of the first glass-rattling industrial-noise records you could imagine getting stuck in your head. [Aug 2014, p.81]

While somewhat novelty, it's hard not to appreciate Daniel's conceptual moxie. [Aug 2014, p.79]

For purists, "Lonely Island" and "River Jordan" are closer to a bygone Nashville sound. [Aug 2014, p.78]

This is as good as the "soundtrack for an imaginary movie" gets. [Aug 2014, p.78]

The Orwells ape highlights of the last 25 years of indie rock on their second album. [Aug 2014, p.78]

Meshell's search for love and meaning rarely asserts itself over the sense of muso friends at play. [Aug 2014, p.76]

Despite nods to jazzy glitch and ambient glide, most of these beautifully crafted tracks are united by supple but solid 4/4 rhythms. [Aug 2014, p.75]

Some of the tracks can sound exhaustingly out-of-phase, but such sonic wonkiness works brilliantly on the hypnotic thumb-piano minimalism of "Down And Out," the Afro-funk of "In Praise Of Homeboys" and the Congolese heavy metal of "The Ploughman." [Aug 2014, p.75]

Amid the cheap preset funk and curdled interludes, Bouaziz enchants with moving pieces such as "Heartbeats" and "Hero." [Aug 2014, p.74]

While You Were Sleeping is a curious amalgam of '70s soul, '90s R&B and the epic manoeuvrings of stadium rock. [Aug 2014, p.74]

Brothers shines brightest when Nelson spins out pithy philosophising, or hits a certain inimitable, rambling, jazzy sweet spot with his longtime band. [Aug 2014, p.70]

The musicianship is exemplary throughout, with a stronger focus on roots traditionalism on "The Traveller" and "Ships At Sea." [Aug 2014, p.71]

Gamel is an ecstatic return. [Aug 2014, p.76]

A racket, but a charismatic one. [Jun 2014, p.72]

This is deluxe, bespoke, artisan electronica, only slightly marred by its high seriousness and lack of mischief. [Jul 2014, p.67]

It's well done, but the price of reinvention has been the band's personality. [Jul 2014, p.76]

Cosmic trim to these sturdy songs is mostly provided by keys man Adam MacDougall; odd, though, that his Moog gurgles are often closer to '70s novelty records than anything more notionally psych. [May 2014, p.78]

Producer Max Dingel fashions a crystal clear sound, full but never overblown, bringing an attractive universality to some very personal emotions. [Jun 2014, p.79]

Ultimately, the changes are subtle rather than profound and Gray still sounds like he's been nailed to a cross--which will no doubt come as a relief to loyal fans. [Jul 2014, p.74]

Noise, which might frustrate hardcore types because despite the promise of its title--delivered via speed-metal monster "Quicksiler" and 18-minute, FX-strafed-epic, "Angel"--it leans on their melodic shoegazing tendencies. [Jul 2014, p.70]

Deft lyrical touches and a persuasive commitment nonetheless lift Happyness well above pastiche. [Jul 2014, p.74]

It's to The Felice Brothers' credit that Favorite Waitress never quite becomes oppressively earnest, though it's a near thing at a couple points. [Jul 2014, p.75]

Fear is best when Cowgill strips things back. [Jul 2014, p.6]

Musically, this is probably the richest collection of songs Vlautin has written.

The addition of a horn section brings pleasing texture to the likes of "Hotel" and "Revisited," but it's rarely enough to lift The Antlers out of their willfully wounded torpor. [Jul 2014, p.69]

Illuminate is a rich, alluring debut which nods to Orbital or The Chemical Brothers with its hooky melodies, pulsing analogue synths and supple breakbeat rhythms. [Jul 2014, p.69]

A subtly lyrical and perennially thoughtful writer, Minnesotan Gorka is both stellar and predictable on this, his 14th album. [Apr 2014, p.76]

Greys are able to take these influences forward on tracks like "Cold Soak" and "Guy Picciotto," which seethe, howl and rock, combining the energy of hardcore with some of the more abstract sounds found in contemporary noise rock. [Jul 2014, p.74]

The highlight is a creepy, prowling, marimba-driven take on The Knife's "Pass This On," which retains the female gaze of the original. [Jun 2014, p.82]

This time the compositions are still thoughtful and exploratory and, although a tendency to emphatic angst dulls on the over-earnest, producer Mark Hutchinson is fully attuned to Dunlop's musical resourcefulness. [Jun 2014, p.75]

The songs are simple but seductive; the melodies blissed-out, hypnotic. [Jul 2014, p.78]

A bravura production job, assisted by The Haxan Cloak, gives What's Between arcane depths. [Jul 2014, p.83]

This sequel is more focused and song-based. [Jul 2014, p.69]

Thrillingly heavy and direct it may be, but there are great tunes here. [Jul 2014, p.77]

Norrvide still sounds a little glum, but he's got plenty to be happy about here. [Jul 2014, p.76]

The record arguably lacks a killer track, Chrissie seemingly on autopilot throughout, although the sultry "In A Miracle" contains the occasional echo of past glories. [Jul 2014, p.76]

Moody textures outnumber memorable songs, but this is still a stylish and inviting debut. [Jul 2014, p.73]

It's all gracefully wrought. [Jul 2014, p.73]

Michael Franti has fashioned an inclusive pan-global pop, heard here at its most confident and fully formed. [Jul 2014, p.73]

One-paced but classy. [Jul 2014, p.74]

The technology has evolved, but the Plaid Aesthetic remains constant. [Jul 2014, p.78]

Russell was always more super-sessioneer and songwriter than vocalist, and the rasp of advancing years does little for over-familiar pieces like "Fever" and "Georgia On My Mind." Better are more personal favorites like Billy Joel's "New York State Of Mind" and Mose Allison's "Fool's Paradise." [Jul 2014, p.80]

As the album Latin music fans always hoped Santana would make, Corazon doesn't disappoint. [Jul 2014, p.80]

An album bursting with adventure and originality. [Jul 2014, p.83]

It's a record this restless artist can settle into and build on as he continues to mature, because it solves his chronic problems while presenting huim with a newfound sweet spot. [Jul 2014, p.82]

Ultima II Massage is ostentatiously big and frequently clever. [Jul 2014, p.83]

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]

There are plenty of deft touches but it's perhaps too knowing to truly connect, to sketchy to reward deep listening. [Jul 2014, p.80]

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

Not every track gels, but the duo's easy chemistry never feels like gimmicky contrivance. [Jul 2014, p.81]

Page's notion of what might catch the ear was eccentric, but generally infallible. Duly, these remasters aren't asking you to extend your idea of the Zeppelin canon, but retract it--to realise why the albums have the power and mystery they do. [Jul 2014, p.86]

Page's notion of what might catch the ear was eccentric, but generally infallible. Duly, these remasters aren't asking you to extend your idea of the Zeppelin canon, but retract it--to realise why the albums have the power and mystery they do. [Jul 2014, p.86]

Page's notion of what might catch the ear was eccentric, but generally infallible. Duly, these remasters aren't asking you to extend your idea of the Zeppelin canon, but retract it--to realise why the albums have the power and mystery they do. [Jul 2014, p.86]

Over it all, Vek free-associates with the kind of bland monotony which serves his music--and these times--surprisingly well. [Jul 2014, p.83]

Slender and strange, Await Barbarians once more finds the singer on the back foot, his default position, peering cautiously at the things around him. [Jul 2014, p.81]

It moves at a cracking pace, its 10 concise songs picked clean of fluff and with their sugar content much reduced. [Jul 2014, p.74]

In Conflict feels starkly personal. [Jul 2014, p.77]

There's no seismic shift here, but the differences--and listening rewards--lie in the indeterminate spaces between their sources. [Jul 2014, p.77]

The Nihilist feels like a collision of Gotham's manic energy and the otherworldliness that has permeated Kiwi music from Uncle Tim's Splitz Enz to Lorde. [Jul 2014, p.73]

A Letter Home illustrates that vagaries of sound quality can sometimes enhance the drama of a record, and rarely undermine the potency of a good song. [Jul 2014, p.68]

Johns suggesting a hunger for discovery still resides in us all, and his beautifully considered songs make for an emotive sat-nav. [Jul 2014, p.70]

While the unrelenting energy can be somewhat exhausting, it's hard not to get swept up. [Jul 2014, p.73]

So while Lazaretto may sometimes appear to be a more nakedly emotional collection of songs than we've come to expect from its creator, the contents also rate among his wittiest and his wildest efforts to date. [Jul 2014, p.63]

Strange Friends marks a measured step towards accessibility for one of Britain's most inventive bands. [Jun 2014, p.82]

Emma Jean is mellower, mournful and unimpeachably authentic.... A magnificent piece of work. [Jun 2014, p.76]

Beauty & Ruin falls short as a masterpiece but it quietly lets the handbrake off on Mould's creativity. [Jul 2014, p.79]

At times it can get a little overheated but the pair are more than capable of reining it in when they want to. [Mar 2014, p.85]

We Have Band seldom make things look easy--and sees them achieve a kind of punk-funk perfection, regardless of fashion. [May 2014, p.81]

Runaway's Diary is a record with hugely impressive depth and emotional range. [Jun 2014, p.79]

Howe doubles as the "link" drummer for Amorphous Androgynous and his authentic beats bring the requisite darkness to Shadow. [Jun 2014, p.79]

Nightclubbing is the album that came to define Jones as the complete performer, in her own way, as singer, muse, actress, alien and androgyne. [Jun 2014, p.90]

Even back-porch sketches like "Free" and plaintive instrumental "First Snowfall In Detroit" radiate a warm, freewheeling, unforced beauty. [Jun 2014, p.91]

If Definitely Maybe still sounds pretty much as Noel envisaged, that's certainly to do with the quality of the songs, the delivery and the timing. [Jun 2014, p.95]

Are We There's subtler songs point to a painfully well-honed understanding of what drives and degrades long-term love. [Jun 2014, p.70]

Luke Haines' trilogy of rock follies concludes with this perverse mediation on New York punk. [Jun 2014, p.78]

Global fusion at its most democratic and exhilarating. [May 2014, p.73]

Sequenced into an almost seamless tapestry, most of these tracks flow along in a pleasant but unremarkable vein of propulsive, melodic, Hot Chip-style synth-pop. [Jun 2014, p.83]

It's self-improvised and often raw, but bursting with vim and surprise. [Jun 2014, p.80]

Black Hours knowingly and passionately charts a journey through make songwriting archetypes, from doomed fatalist to well-adjusted realist. [Jun 2014, p.84]

Her second proper LP is a full-on pop-reggae confection. [Jun 2014, p.75]

The promising flourishes of "Burn It Down" and "Explosions" give way to "Meteorites" and "Is This A Breakdown," mediocre indie rock plods. [Jun 2014, p.75]

Overall, Butler's pedestrian appropriation of the clunky beats, tinny handclaps and squelchy vocoder effects of yesteryear sound stale and repetitive. [Jun 2014, p.78]

It's hard-going at times, but "Nolan" and "Soda Fide" are oddly stirring. [Jun 2014, p.78]

A complete rethink has resulted in the most uninhibited and visceral album of her career. [Jun 2014, p.78]

Wrangler's LA Spark is textbook industrial electropop--nothing wildly new but at its best on "Lava Land" and "Space Ace" it's a compelling listen. [Jun 2014, p.85]

It seamlessly blends his classical talents with an avant-garde flair and experimental rock dynamics. [Jun 2014, p.83]

Five long pieces allow for the tussle of improv. [Jun 2014, p.71]

Lighght is a giddy rush where the 38-year-old's innocent pursuits and guilty pleasures collide head on. [Jun 2014, p.79]

The results have fire in the belly and attitude to spare. [Jun 2014, p.78]

Their fourth album is reassuringly familiar. [Jun 2014, p.73]

One to file alongside Second Attention (2006) in Toth's vast and increasingly noteworthy catalogue of cliche-free Americana. [Jun 2014, p.85]

A clutch of the group's best songs are strangely omitted from the setlist, while slower numbers like "Beneath Wild Wings" tend to expose a lack of subtlety. But at full pelt, Howlin Rain are a match for anyone. [May 2014, p.76]

The results, restrained, immersive and quite beautiful. [Jun 2014, p.71]

Aldred's third album as Cherry Ghost is so unashamed in its embrace of the warm croon, the twinkling keyboard, the swelling orchestra and the poignant chorus that its 10 songs might stretch the patience of anyone who wants some jagged edge in their melancholy MOR classicism. [Jun 2014, p.73]

Stripped back to voice and piano, it's difficult not to recall early Kate Bush, but Amos' lyrics maintain a multi-layered depth that is uniquely hers. [Jun 2014, p.71]

There's nothing here that is likely to offend or amaze but it's a classy affair from start to finish. [Jun 2014, p.79]

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