This more captivating follow-up, mixing originals and inspired covers, fuses sultry blues and deep jazz with Trucks' training in Indian classical music to create an alchemical hybrid. [Jul 2012, p.84]

Elsewhere, Garner sounds like he's been spending time with Revolver, while songs like "The Ballad Of Little Jane" and the genial swirling "Lullaby" further the rich tradition of Dutch psychedelic pop. [May 2013, p.71]

At its best, JBM's follow-up transcends it's self-imposed cliches. [Jul 2013, p.77]

This pairing with the UK Soothsayers collective proves an easy fit, framing Campbell's precise, melodic vocals with intricate horn-led arrangements and adding judicious dub effects. [Aug 2013, p.69]

Now manifesting more of an intense, slow burn than a fierce blaze, they sound no less anguished. [Apr 2014, p.74]

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

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

His fourth album is leaner and meaner than 2010's A Train Bound For Glory. [Jul 2014, p.77]

A little over-joyous for most, but a fair achievement regardless. [Oct 2014, p.73]

The crystalline sweetness of Jones' voice belies the dark melancholy that underpins songs such as "Sad Kid" and "Nobody Dies." [Jan 2015, p.78]

Another reliably excellent offering. [Mar 2016, p.82]

What might have been a dry academic exercise is in fact a seductive display of its polyphonic subtleties, which Bourne bends into mood-shifting soundscapes. [Apr 2016, p.70]

The trio's "shaman beat" can be intoxicating even if it's sometimes more meandering than mantric. [Jun 2016, p.71]

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

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

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

Overnight is their most ambitious record, as well as their most accomplished. [Dec 2016, p.26]

Khouri acknowledges 1980s dreampop as a seminal influence, and perfumed traces of Galaxie 500, Mazzy Star and Cocteau Twins sweeten The Salted Air in almost every breath. [Feb 2017, p.30]

This follow-up to their 2014 debut blends antique-sounding folk tracks with glossier electronic numbers including "Die Young," which cocoons premature death in pretty harmonies, and "Kick Jump Twist," about the quest for instant fame. [Jun 2017, p.38]

Even if Mr. Dynamite sometimes feels like a light-hearted sideshow to more established musical careers, these moments of transcendence make the detour well worth while. [Apr 2018, p.32]

Though his jazz instincts can still send him into incantatory live orbit, all he wants here are the boyhood comforts of his early record collection. His voice remains admirably supple, though. [Jun 2018, p.33]

This post-genre approach allows them to take cumbia, mambo, porro, carnival music and ceremonial song, and mash it together in unpredictable and deeply psychedelic ways. [May 2018, p.35]

A record varied in tone and rhythm, capturing a band over 35 years in who are experimenting and sounding rejuvenated. [Sep 2018, p.32]

A certain oppressiveness is part of the design, but there are glimpses of beauty here, too. [Apr 2019, p.39

What is basically an update on the kind of blissed-out composite at which Andrew Gold used to excel. [Apr 2019, p.29]

Crafting a sound that is brash in its bigness, massive in its attack. [Mar 2020, p.29]

The overarching atmosphere is masterful, a sense of brimming anxiety that unites even as it unsettles. [Apr 2020, p.37]

Rarely bubbles over into the remarkable. [Sep 2020, p.25]

Sardonic opener “Down From London” showcases Caravan’s pop smarts, while they make complex fun on the title track, exploding into Steve Hillage-style Euro-rock around the nine-minute mark. [Dec 2021, p.25]

You can’t fault the songcraft , though, as “Dreams”’ romantic reverie and hooky freeway anthems such as “Can’t Stop The Rain” transcend Francis’ rather detached delivery. [Dec 2021, p.27]

Here, informed by the BLM movement, the lyrics on his third Black Radio LP are often mournful. ... Sometimes the mournfulness is sublime. [Apr 2022, p.32]

Island Family examines themes of identity, isolation and belonging against an endlessly inventive backdrop of sweeping electronica, clever samples and weirdy folk, sometimes strangely blissful and at others beat-driven and wakeful. [Apr 2022, p.32]

Dan Hyndman supplies a reliably cryptic stream of absurdist prattle, though his decision to stick with largely adlibbed lyrics robs Down Tools of some of the force and focus of last year’s excellent Lines Redacted. [Aug 2022, p.30]

Art Moore conjure up some compelling scenes on their debut. [Oct 2022, p.25]

The album largely struggles to match the buzz and momentum of its tone-setting opener. [Nov 2022, p.36]

It's more fully formed than his solo work but gathers the same sense of melody and arhythmic quirk on a series of Zappa-esque jazz-infused avant-pop songs, interspersed by the sunshine burst of lo-fi boppers. [Aug 2023, p.29]

Here it's his "Story Of An Artist", delivered with a disarming simplicity. With contributions from regular collaborators Jim James and Neko Case, the other eight songs are striking originals. [Aug 2023, p.38]

The pair share a fascination for esoterica and ritual, and it’s this impulse that powers their new collaboration, Jinxed By Being. [Aug 2024, p.40]

“The Wraith Behind Our Eyes” sounds like the kind of thing Ian Dury might have come up with if he’d been raised in sunny California, while the New Age jazz flourishes of tracks like “Threaded Dances” hit home what a unique concoction of flavours and sounds Izenberg has put together here. [Aug 2024, p.35]

There’s a suitably euphoric rush to tracks such as “Sun Come Up” and “Golden Hour” as McAlmont’s vocals soar gloriously over Dickson’s layered synths, the banging dance rhythms and surging choruses evoking Ibiza rather than California, Faithless rather than The Beach Boys. [Aug 2024, p.35]

It might seem late in the day to be claiming they’ve hit their stride, but Too Cold To Hold is the sound of a differently aspected and ultimately more satisfying Warmduscher. [Dec 2024, p.39]

Despite the number of musicians there is a more focused feel to tracks like "Eye For Keys" and even a drop of trippy folk on "In The Tall Trees." Fans of Comets On Fire will find much to enjoy. [Feb 2025, p.39]

Time-served Carll fans may lament a relative lack of his signature snarky wordplay, but it turns out that sincerity suits him just as well. [Sep 2025, p.29]

The Balance between deftness and density underpins much of the record, as light and airy as it is atmospheric and tactile. [Feb 2026, p,38]

It's the smart pop and clever arrangements of "Glance" and "Songbird (Forever)" that suggest Whitelands are in danger of evolving into a heavyweight proposition. [Feb 2026, p.39]

Curiously retro-sounding production and accompaniment. .... Her gift for infectious topline melodies manages to transcend such stylistic quirks. [Feb 2026, p.31]

Mostly, this is spry, melodic, and totally charming. [Aug 2012, p.79]

No frontiers are breached, but Mascis's cracked vocals and melancholic melodic turns only get more affecting with age. [Dec 2018, p.28]

For all its weird dissonance, Sermon...'s musical crudeness gives it a powerful immediacy. Strangely accessible and highly addictive, it's her best work in three decades. [Mar 2007, p.98]

McGuire's experiments with more conventional structures and arrangements don't always come off--the chuntering drum machines can makes things feel a little brisk and muzaky--but when he hits the spot, track titles like "In Search Of The Miraculous" don't seem too far-fetched. [Mar 2014, p.78]

Back On Time is restlessly inventive without being overwrought. [Feb 2012, p.97]

It's more fireside snooze than woodland romp. [Oct 2013, p.68]

Psychedelic beguilement a la Syd Barrett and Wyatt-ish pastoralism bent into eccentric shapes figure, but variety is key. [Feb 2019, p.30]

As irresistibly loopy and buoyantly Beefheartian as anything in Deerhoof's formidable back catalogue. [Jul 2020, p.29]

Lands as another Technicolor blast. [Jan 2022, p.22]

It's all a very respectable, and closer "P.I.G.S" is great, just slightly disappointing if one had hoped for more than acceptable continuity soundtracks. [Jun 2010, p.90]

Seldom can nostalgia have sounded so fresh on songs such as "Downhearted," "Try" and the exquisite slow burn of the title track. [Mar 2017, p.25]

The follow-up--featuring a mere 13 songs--is solid and functional, but lacks that inspired edge. [Aug 2008, p.106]

The bereft “Have Mercy On Me” and hopeful, lightly gospel “I Have Wandered All My Unending Days” are particularly striking, while the concluding 11-minute instrumental mix works as metaphor for Cave’s faith: immersive and foundational. [Jul 2022, p.25]

The vocals are muddied, but there are diamond-bright tunes here. [Oct 2009, p.95]

A brave endeavour. But unlike My Chemical Romance's Black Parade, Infinity On High has critically little sense of its own ridiculousness. [Mar 2007, p.79]

Always led by the miraculous voice of Ch'hom Nimol. So beautifully and effectively, in fact, that they end up giving fusion a good name. [Feb 2008, p.78]

The more spacious likes of "Comanche Moon" and "Life Song" suggest an ambition to nail a headline spot at the UFO Club, which may not boast much novelty a half-century after the fact, but can still elicit a contact high. [Jun 2017, p.23]

Beguiling if familiar thanks to the many echoes of Jessie Ware and Goldfrapp at their most forlorn. [Jan 2021, p.23]

The resulting hazy acoustic soundscapes are only a soft-shoe shuffle away from Caribou's neo-pyschedelia. [Dec 2008, p.108]

The singer runs out of steam in the second half, opting for a succession of cloying ballads that, despite her beguiling voice, leaves the listener unmoved. [Aug 2012, p.75]

Longer songs are punctuated by studio chatter, voicemails, birdsong and other ambient sounds, lending the whole project an artfully informal intimacy. [Sep 2022, p.32]

Much of Intriguer leaves one yearning for the unbound pop of "Now We're Getting Somewhere" or the straightforwardly confident balladry of "Better Be Home Soon." [Jul 2010, p.104]

This is a seasoned master of what he does operating in his comfort zone, and doing it very well indeed. [Dec 2015, p.66]

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

The best thing about Back Being Blue is that it sounds like Willis only stepped out for a few minutes. [Oct 2018, p.37]

Contributions from Angel Olsen and newcomer YEBBA may be more subtle, but reveal themselves to be the real hidden diamonds. [Aug 2019, p.36]

A Beautifu;l record. [Feb 2009, p.88]

The tracka are overlong and the ubiquitous fuzz pedal makes "Sedatives" and "King Of Kings" sound like a narcoleptic Screwdriver, but it's hard to knock Jesu's dedication to the sad, slow and contemplative. [Aug 2011, p.90]

Their best effort yet. [Mar 2006, p.102]

Conquistador plays out against a cavalcade of dark, intense, downward thrusts that linger and fold back on themselves, each time getting slightly deeper and more daunting. [Jun 2018, p.24]

Bleak but brilliant. [Nov 2008, p.109]

As imaginative as his guitar playing can be, Auerbach's vocals can be limited. ... And yet, Auerbach's obvious affections for these touchstones, and for these performers, more than make up for such shortcomings. [Jul 2017, p.34]

On several songs here Rubin helps peel back the years to reveal an energy and a passion that reminds you just how powerful was the band's initial proposition. [May 2020, p.30]

The band are at their best when they put their heads down and rock. [Jun 2015, p.83]

Behind the hype and the swagger, he's still baring enough of his soul for The Eminem Show to be compelling theatre. [Aug 2002, p.118]

Chris Spencer's vocals complete the darkly uncompromising picture, oozing a disgust and despair that's as much personal as socio-political. [Jul 2012, p.85]

It's a strong return, though bad luck for the copycatting Royal Blood and DZ Deathrays who'd been counting on their obsolescence. [Nov 2014, p.72]

It's an understated yet absorbing work, full of delicate arrangements that are elegantly swept along by Stables' gloriously tender vocals. [May 2015, p.83]

Ultimately Artificial Dance, stiff and self-aware, is easier to admire from afar. [Oct 2015, p.94]

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

The group channel tasteful elements of the Grateful dead, the Allmans, Pink Floyd, Steppenwolf and CSNY in nine songs that swirl and melt into one one another, forming an album-oriented listen where dual guitars steer the ship, and nascent vocals take a back seat. [Apr 2019, p.29]

In this case, sustained synth notes and chimes entwine to create a meditative environment that, while no longer as revolutionary as Discreet Music once seemed, is just as serene. [Feb 2017, p.26]

It might not be the best Hold Steady Album, but it might be their most purely enjoyable. [Sep 2019, p.35]

If it all seems a little too familiar, the hooks here are undeniable. [Apr 2015, p.76]

They've managed to retain everything that was oddly beguiling about them in the first place while boosting their mass appeal with a production that is all West Coast sleek and radio-friendly lustrous. [Feb 2005, p.80]

The lo-fi production makes everything sound like an unfinished demo, the songs are largely forgettable and the AutoTune’d vocals become a little tedious.

More than witty and vivacious enough to satisfy anyone who's stuck with the saga thus far. [Mar 2020, p.35]

The songs, musically dazzling with strings and fetching arrangements, sometimes organise themselves into forceful hooks. [Mar 2013, p.77]

This album is heavy because it's dense with detail. [Jan 2015, p.63]

Honeyblood is a captivating debut that prizes atmosphere over precision and is characterised by soaring melodies and terrifically spiky lyrics. [Aug 2014, p.94]

Slow Summits is bold and immediate. [Jun 2013, p.78]

The trio play straighter than fellow pre-Revolver fetishist Ezra Furman, but have the tunes to finesse it. [Aug 2016, p.75]