Their fourth album sees them on more soulful, though no less seductive ground, having worked up old song ideas into 12 new, mid-tempo tracks which are compositionally and emotionally diverse. [May 2024, p.35]

Some songs are mere fragments and there's an early version of standalone single "U.S. Mail" in place of Sundowner's stunner "Jamie," but this is otherwise a beautiful and raw selection still bearing the scars and charms of creative birth. [Oct 2021, p.29]

Weird, wonderful and life-affirmingly wise. [Aug 2004, p.96]

[An] intimate, woody collection of fractured folk. [Nov 2004, p.120]

Enjoyable solo debut. [Nov 2017, p.30]

[It] is such an unassuming creation that the deceptively vast scale of its ambition only becomes apparent after several listens. [Jun 2006, p.103]

Lucinda Williams' version of Gentry's iconic "Ode To Billie Joe" leaves much to be desired but. ... Overall, this one's worth it. [Mar 2019, p.30]

Cinematic in scope, ruthlessly ambitious in execution, this is not easy listening. [Mar 2016, p.82]

It's a rich, well-crafted piece of 1970s AOR, featuring elegantly written verses, choruses and - heaven forfend - middle eights. [May 2020, p.32]

There's nothing revelatory here, but it's good to see Hayes being so productive. [Feb 2015, p.77]

La Costa Perdida brings them full circle, back to their Californian roots. [Feb 2013, p.80]

Trees might be the best '70s antecedent; the Japanese Ghost a more modern analogue for these seething reveries, tantalisingly poised on the edge of freak-out. [Apr 2016, p.74]

On People Who Aren't There Anymore, then, no curveballs are thrown. However, the band's debt to OMD and New order is increasingly less obvious, while the earlier bombastic synths are being edged out by a more spacious, less forceful style of electronic poo that recalls fellow Baltimorean Dan Deacon, with echoes of Peter Gabriel. [Jan 2024, p.26]

It's the change of pace and mood on the reflective "How Far" that marks Run Around The Sun as a real advance. [Jul 2019, p.34]

Think the Chemical Brothers meet Flaco Jiminez and you'll get the idea. [Jan 2003, p.119]

A modest triumph. [Aug 2019, p.28]

While the sugary highs could give Van Dyke Parks an ice cream headache, it's hard to resist a work so clearly besotted with the power of music. [Oct 2015, p.78]

Initially seems more listener-friendly than Volume 1... [but] Congotronics remains radical listening. [Jan 2006, p.125]

The songs' sense of drive and drama demonstrates RVG's growing confidence. [Jul 2023, p.33]

There's a rich atmosphere of Americana on the faith-questioning "Falsetto" and the hop-skipping hoedown "On My Conscience," while the lover's lament "Priscilla" and emotional navel-gazing of "Half Of Me" find him dallying on the outskirts of John Grant pop grandeur. [Sep 2013, p.86]

Not pretty, necessarily, but pretty good. [Jan 2016, p.75]

Could It Be Different? is a cathartic celebration of newfound self-assurance. [Feb 2018, p.32]

They're as seductive as when they first saw light, with "Arthur" capturing the aquatic oddness of Russell's finest productions. [May 2017, p.36]

The Drums are more stupidly contagious than ever. [May 2019, p.27]

Bursting with good ideas, albeit often self-defeating in its kaleidoscopic complexity, much of Aureate Gloom sounds like the great psychedelic retro-glam rock opera that Graham Coxon might one day compose. [Apr 2015, p.81]

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

No-one writes with such wince-inducing accuracy about their target audience as their former Beautiful South pairing. [Sep 2017, p.30]

While Fagen and co show no interest in wholly reinventing Steely Dan’s most beloved songs, the live setting does add a vital spark to them.

An epic, if somewhat ruminative tone dominates. [Oct 2015, p.77]

If it all seems a bit contrived, the end result is harmonious and -- remarkably -- never kitsch. [Aug 2002, p.99]

If the tunes don't all stun as surely this time around, lyrically they're bolder. [Dec 2019, p.25]

The resulting album is a thing of gossamer beauty. [Dec 2019, p.25]

[An] affectionate charity project to benefit the victims of floods and fires in Tennessee and Texas. [Dec 2012, p.95]

The spine is provided by Smith's gentle, unforced voice and virtuosic fingerpicking but piano, subtle splashes of percussion and guest appearances recorded remotely by the milk Carton Kids, Bill Frisell and Lisa Hannigan add extra texture. [May 2021, p.32]

Sun-dappled, retro Americana dominates their second album, albeit overlaid with an arsenal of sonic tricks. [Feb 2013, p.70]

Composed for the 10-strong Montreal modern dance troupe Animals Of Distinction, in ways it conforms to the template of Canadian post-rock – extended instrumentals characterised by gradual builds and ecstatic climaxes. But “Scanner” and “Grid-Wall” explore a sleek, synthetic sound palette, all glitching electronics and halogen synths. [Jun 2021, p.25]

Sonically and creatively, these demos reflect their domestic environment, the realm of the historically valuable rather than the mind-blowing. [May 2019, p.38]

His band know their way around '80s-influenced bluster-pop, and carry it off through sheer deadpan lack of irony on this strangely beguiling second album. [Mar 2014, p.79]

The title track's mod R&B struts with the confidence of a band whose last album hit the Top 10. [Jun 2019, p.37]

Album opener "Garbage Dream House" is a scene-setter - somehow both ominous and joyful with its grinding, melodic riff, robotic bleeps and orchestral outro. [Sep 2025, p.37]

The nicest moments come when his simple structures are allowed to do their thing. [Jul 2013, p.75]

He may not offer many surprises – those Beatle-esque inclinations remain ubiquitous – but he does pull in some impressive guests. [Aug 2024, p.35]

Nothing here is exactly restrained, but KK&TS seem to have realised that the slower burn can be just as effective as the full blaze. [Oct 2013, p.70]

There's mammoth hooks and meaningful shouting galore here. [Jul 2007, p.116]

They take a clear delight in topping their scrappy indie-pop tunes with folk-rock vocal harmonies. [Jan 2025, p.34]

Weird but oddly wonderful. [Oct 2023, p.37]

Faithful to the source material and occasionally inspired. [Apr 2016, p.81]

However nonlinear her compositions, they’re bright, full of wonder and have a pop sensibility, recalling Four Tet, Deakin and Suzanne Ciani. [Sep 2022, p.30]

The record's best moments are slow-mo funk cuts like "Laughter" and "Praise" where Jones' silky falsetto finds a sweet spot east of Prince and Earth Wind & Fire. [Mar 2014, p.78]

They unleash 15 compact, primarily pro forma bangers. [Feb 2024, p.28]

The demos are undoubtedly this boxset's main attraction. [Apr 2012, p.91]

A return trip worth taking. [Sep 2019, p.29]

Engaging New Zealanders The Beths masterfully marry muscle and vulnerability here. [Sep 2025, p.28]

Sometimes a more shadowy affair, with McKiel’s voice on the title track reverberating in what sounds like a deep cave, its woodwind and wriggling bassline emerging from different chambers to establish a Beta Band shuffle. Elsewhere things are dusky rather than dark. [Jun 2024, p.37]

Gamble is a dab hand at sound design and creating textures that convey anxiety and paranoia--some tracks are smothered in hiss--but because of its sprawling length, parts of KOCH feel rather one-dimensional. [Nov 2014, p.75]

The flirtations with more dissonant sounds throughout also point to a welcome eagerness to roughen up the latest results of Surfer Blood's ongoing quest to find the happy medium between the Pixies and The Hollies. [Mar 2017, p.40]

They have at times found themselves mired in over-fussy arrangements, but here recapture something of the crisp economy of their breakout 2007 LP ...Are The Dark Horse. [Feb 2016, p.73]

Unexpected digressions often invigorate their third full-length. [Apr 2020, p.28]

On occasion, the chintziness of the production undermines Maine's sentiment, but at least now he's learning to be himself. [Mar 2016, p.77]

Four of these tracks run well past the 10-minute mark and pack in an exhausting series of musical ideas that most artists would be content to spread more thinly over an entire album. [Mar 2014, p.79]

A couple of bratty, clunky bursts in the vein of the self-titled first album spoil the mood slightly. [May 2015, p.72]

It may be a little too restrained in places, but this is a quietly confident debut. [Apr 2014, p.74]

Her mother had died, but she had also found love. Musically, she's equally diverse. Mostly, there is the voice, a swooping instrument that swirls and eddies beneath sparse folk rhythms. [Jul 2018, p.24]

Its hard-edged synth-punk is grittier and harsher this time around, perhaps their best collection since 2001's Danse Macabre.

Antenna compresses the formula further, fetching up crisp, anthemic crunch-rock several notches above the inexplicably popular likes of Bush or Papa Roach. [May 2003, p.96]

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]

The effervescent punk-pop of The Breeders is a touchstone, as is Kimya Dawson's ramshakle honesty, but "Lips And Limbs" affects a subtle country twang, while on the terrific "Blue Pt. II," skeletal acoustic acoustics and frank lyrics document a stagnating love affair. [Aug 2013, p.79]

An unabashed old-school West Coast rock'n'roll record. [Dec 2019, p.29]

Cool to the touch, but vanilla sweet as well. [Nov 2014, p.76]

The overall tone is bracingly sour but surprisingly accessible. [Apr 2006, p.98]

Inhabiting the same last-dance ballroom as Portishead's noir torch songs, this monument to ennui is prettily impressive. [Mar 2006, p.90]

La Futura sounds at times overly relaxed, but never less than a fun, frill-free ride. [Dec 2012, p.79]

With its detours into glam, Southern rock and pristine ’70s-style balladry, Ramble & Rave On! often feels like a celebratory jukebox of everything Gabbard holds dear. Fabulous fun it all is, too. [Dec 2024, p.33]

Like Tragedy & Geometry, it's awash in vintage synthesised sounds with which fans of Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel will be familiar, but remains considerably more concise than this (and its predecessor) suggests. [Jan 2013, p.77]

It's impressive the way the trio can seamlessly slip back into the Dead-like country-psych sound that defined the best of their '80s/'90s output. [Apr 2019, p.32]

[Super] has some darkly twinkling moments.... The rest is at the very least a reminder that PSBs remain a lively genre of their own creation. [May 2016, p.78]

Salad days is goofy but sweet guitar pop in the vein of Jonathan Richman, occasionally somewhat lightweight but delivered with a crooked smile that's quite endearing. [May 2014, p.73]

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

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]

This is an explicitly fallen world and yet, with its "Super-8 mote" and "temples of tragic skyscrapers", one of strange Lynchian wonder. [Jul 2025, p.31]

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

The results are radical without losing sight of Garcia's original vision. [Dec 2021, p.27]

Physicalist feels like a heavyweight statement. [Nov 2016, p.26]

It's the smoother, almost surfy, tones of tracks like "Deep Infatuation" and "Earl & Duke" that offer a pleasing change of tone from the familiar indie racket. [Dec 2020, p.29]

Revolution Radio, happily, shares more with the zestier (and earlier) likes of Nimrod. [Nov 2016, p.28]

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]

There's a tendency to drift rather than fully engage, but... "Wolves" and... "Thin Blue Line"... dazzle with poetic imagery and invention. [Apr 2006, p.102]

Self-serious and low on humour, Suede sometimes mistake bigness for greatness, but they still generate enough lusty passion to set pulses racing and hearts aflame. [Feb 2016, p.83]

Menzies fuses his recent interest in classical work with glitchy dystopian techno, painting a nine-more-black picture that lurches between bruised James Blake and after-hours heroin party with no little elegance before ultimately losing its way in all the fog. [Feb 2016, p.80]

The fourth album finds them touting a tougher sound with the addition of a second guitar, but the strident, passionate voice of Erika Wennerstrom remains their calling card. [Jan 2013, p.77]

Not thrilling, maybe, but pleasingly solid. [Apr 2018, p.24]

Easy listening it's not, yet there's defiance, too ("You Mustn't Show Weakness") and even transcendence ("A World Of Love And Care") before Furman ends with a posutively harrowing cover of Alex Walton's emotionally fraught "I Need The Angel". [May 2025, p.31]

The duo of Matt Carlon on Modular synthesiser and Joanthan Sielaff on bass clarinet, are onto something with Seer. [May 2014, p.74]

Their strongest and most coherent records. [Jul 2018, p.28]

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]

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]

Much of [Kasabian's] personality comes from guitarist/songwriter/producer Serge Pizzorno, and on this solo project, similar quirks stands out. [Oct 2019, p.36]

Purling Hiss set aside their chaotic brand of psychedelic garage rock in favour of a collection that seems to owe a surprising debt to British New Wave of the late '70s and early '80s. [Nov 2016, p.35]