Last Day Of Summer is as good as anything White Denim have ever done. [Jan 2011, p.80]

Though their frothy, soulless hits have rarely displayed originality or purpose, Groove Armada's sixth is a revelation. [Mar 2010, p.86]

They stand out because they combine some very familiar elements with more style and grace than their peers. [Feb 2011, p.94]

A delicious pathos has sustained Jurado through seven albums. It's still intact but it's just possible to detect a lightning of his mood around rthe edges. [Nov 2008, p.105]

This terrific sequel feels bigger and better. [Dec 2011, p.81]

Fear Of The Dawn succeeds better when it surprises. [Jun 2022, p.34]

The band excel at giving fans perfectly plotted two-minute bursts of disgust and attrition, epitomised by the splendidly immature, "F*** You." [Feb 2013, p.69]

Even on stopgap releases like this relatively repetitive mini-album, DeMarco's lysergic balladry and hangdog puppy love have an unbeatable effortlessness. [Sep 2015, p.72]

Takes a few listens to become accustomed to. [Mar 2003, p.104]

Yoshimi's ebullience is inescapable on Kila Kila Kila, from the gymnastic drumming to her ecstatic, Bjorkesian yelps. [Apr 2004, p.106]

Rather fine. [Mar 2002, p.95]

Consolidates and amplifies everything they've done up to now. [Aug 2006, p.110]

Their lack of artifice is a godsend. [Feb 2007, p.81]

A bold leap forwards. [Apr 2008, p.98]

On the likes of "Said And Done" Frahm conjures up a mood of melancholic introspection that makes this accomplished, genuinely pretty set a serious (if rather less extravagant) rival to Gonzales and Andrew WK's recent piano excursions. [Feb 2010, p.84]

This album finds him in complete mastery of his musical range and lyrical fancies. [Apr 2010, p.91]

The Leeds-based electro-rock five-piece set their sights shamelessly high on this grandiose second LP, a novelistic collection of characters journeying through a lavish panorama of cinematic sounds. [Mar 2011, p.101]

His first album in 14 years sounds more like a Ronnie Barker pastiche, constantly playing for laughs and often reworking the calypso rhythms of "Annie I'm Not Your Daddy." [Nov 2011, p.89]

Guitarist Dan Moss writes the songs, but it's Katherine Whitaker's voice that give them life, and the more space she has, the better the result. [Jun 2012, p.71]

The Killer is a rich and immersive experience. [Sep 2012, p.85]

They sacrifice a bit of their identity in the trade-off [to be more pop.][Feb 2013, p.80]

The partners [Peyroux and producer Larry Klein] and arranger Vince Mendoza breathe new life into iconic songs. [May 2013, p.75]

The DJ, producer and singer-songwriter's solo third suggests there's no shame in sticking to your retro-futurist guns, as long as you fire off the odd unexpected volley. [Jun 2013, p.76]

It's united by the long shadow of Ibizan euphoria that hangs heavy over his genre-crossing dance music. [Sep 2013, p.95]

12 dark, noisy tracks blessed with unexpected details. [Mar 2013, p.75]

The overall tone may be sombre but it's expressed with such a weightless delicacy, shaded with occasional harmonica and piano, that it's hard not to feel transported. [Apr 2014, p.77]

Some of the vocal numbers feel like cluttered indie-dance throwbacks, but they are outshone by pure electronic creations. [Apr 2015, p.80]

The evenness of the performances here is striking. [Jun 2015, p.74]

On this luminous nine-song LP, Souther adheres to the old adage--leave them wanting more. [Jun 2015, p.81]

These 12 tracks confirm Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook's melodic talents, but leaden exposition lyrics... make the grisly bits last a lifetime. [Oct 2015, p.83]

Unreconstructed but entertaining when they get the balance right. [Feb 2016, p.76]

Tasteful stuff, for sure, but The Gamble could take a few more risks. [Mar 2016, p.77]

This is a fairly functional set of no-nonsense instrumental cyber-boogie that lives up to its title by bucking and slithering across the dancefloor in an elegant if anonymous fashion. [Jun 2016, p.75]

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

The racket they raise compensates in exuberance what it lacks in subtlety. [Dec 2016, p.37]

The guitars sound grittier, the vocals bolder, the tempos just a bit faster, and her range much broader. [Mar 2017, p.35]

Best are tunes that showcase Cash's plainspoken lyricism and mould his musing into fully formed songs. [May 2018, p. 37]

There's an appealing American cynicism lurking beneath their enchanting '60s doo-wop-indebted sound. [Jun 2018, p.30]

Parish's songs, alternately folksy, swampy and lonesome, are sometimes fleeting, capturing moments in the ether and preserving them in amber. [Jul 2018, p.33]

The lyrical content from MCs B-Real and Sen Dog is fairly rote, but a widened sonic palette keep things interesting. [Nov 2018, p.27]

It's Creevy's charismatically odd lyrics and playful, St. Vincent-style subversion of angsty feminine stereotypes on provocative curios such as "Daddi" that keeps us transfixed. [Mar 2019, p.26]

Opening cut "I Got You" promises faith and solidarity "even if they start to build that wall," and both the strident funk of "Above The Law" and the testifying "Pressure" lament the rise of inner-city crime. [May 2019, p.30]

Daughters mixes history, fable and philosophical thought, with vocalist Horwood switching between euphoric and mournfully reflective. [Jul 2019, p.24]

An intense and dizzying work. [Jan 2020, p.26]

The shouty threesome's hit-rate is good. [Jun 2020, p.27]

The focus is on the sad-sounding uke and kohl-eyed vocals Simmons brings. [Nov 2020, p.34]

What You Gonna Do When the Grid Goes Down? is no return to the glory days, it is a credible reprise of their old-school rolling and one-two punch, spiked with heavy psychedelic guitar. [Dec 2020, p.36]

A potent techno-pagan tapestry of intertwined voices, church bells, liturgical chants and occult spells. [May 2021, p.27]

Shouty Japanese pop-punk quartet Chai guest on wonderfully bleepy “More Joy!”, Giorgio Moroder assists with the thrilling digital disco of “Beautiful Lies”, Bowie’s pianist Mike Garson guests on the elegant ballad “Falling”, while producer Erol Alkan adds a dancefloor-friendly sheen to proceedings. [Dec 2021, p.27]

Barn is a stronger effort than its predecessor [2019's Colorado], with this particular lineup finding its footing. [Jan 2022, p.20]

It's entirely fantastical stuff. [Apr 2022, p.32]

An eventually rousing album. [Jun 2022, p.34]

There’s a palpable sense of world-weariness in his vocals and in the band’s fuzzy hooks, which makes everything sound both precarious and oddly poignant. [Aug 2022, p.25]

It lacks the crumbly warmth of Betke's early '00s work, but the likes of "Grauer Sand" and "Stechmück" - pensive, jazzy constructions drawing on the whine of an ailing Minimoog - draw a certain beauty from their tone of smoky introspection. [Dec 2022, p.35]

Leaving New York for Sweden during the pandemic gave fresh perspective to these songs of past American odysseys and accumulated loss. [May 2023, p.36]

Jean plays a mean guitar and the trademark rockabilly romps of "fate" and "trouble", or heavier numbers such as "Godmother", are perfectly fine. ... The wild, carnivalesque cover of Enya's "orinico Flow" - a novelty but a thoroughly enjoyable one. [Jun 2023, p.31]

The set offers power-pop gems like "Darlin'", a prospective Strokes classic in "818", and the closing surprise "Alright Tomorrow" a disco burner sung by actress/vocalist Rainsford. [Jul 2023, p.27]

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]

“Love Resurrection” exhibits a more redemptive, albeit Yazoo-like energy. Later work, too, is transformed, with “Filigree”, from 2013’s The Minutes, now a poignant piano ballad and B-side “Tongue Tied” (from 2002’s Hometime era) getting the electronic polish it deserves. [Nov 2024, p.40]

"Never Come Never Morning", propelled by chunky drums and a vulnerable lyric, showcases a more accessible heart and introduces the spirit of openness that sits at the centre of an excellent record. [Mar 2026, p.34]

It kicks ass. [Aug 2006, p.99]

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]

This second album feels less mannered than 2010 debut Fields. [Jun 2013, p.75]

A sprinkle of Flaming Lips fairy-dust may be just what the genre needs to slip its genre straitjacket. [Jul 2006, p.114]

[A] slim, but enjoyable album. [Jan 2011, p.88]

Maybe this could have been two different records: the big-name covers album and the back-room jam session. But in terms of conveying the passions, frustrations and intriguing contractions of its restless instigator, Honora is perfect. [Apr 2026, p.27]

Mountain Battles is marginally more polished than "Title TK" but it still sounds as if it was recorded in one take in Steve Albini’s toilet. A good thing, as it turns out. The intimacy of is what makes it precious.

Gossip have been a force of nature - in no small part down to charismatic vocalist Beth Ditto and her dancefloor-quaking voice. Real Power, the Portland trio's first album in 11 years, plays on that reputation, but tenderly. [Mar 2024, p.26]

This third album also boasts that customary lazy Australian twang, but allied with some fine songwriting and a deft lyrical touch. [May 2015, p.72]

She hasn't acquired any other new weapons here, though, sticking to her usual palette: intimidating, sludgy-but-spare garage that builds like someone surreptitiously tightening a thumbscrew. [Jun 2013, p.76]

Much of Deleter occupies latter-day Primal Scream/David Holmes territory, the kind of pleasantly anonymous groove-driven middle ground that wavers non-committally between inchoate anger and fuzzy euphoria. [Mar 2020, p.29]

Old Yellow Moon is not, however, a sombre anticipation of mortality akin to the American Recordings series of Crowell's one-time father-in-law Johnny Cash. The general tone of Old Yellow Moon is of faintly rueful happiness at being here, doing this. [Apr 2013, p.68]

Some of the more routine synth-pop cuts lack weight, but the distant echoes of A-Ha's "The Living Daylights" buried within "Musketeer" are wholly endearing. [Jul 2011, p.103]

It represents Lauderdale travelling full circle, coming 30 years after his first recordings with bluegrass legend Roland white, but with a few of the flourishes he brought to Elvis Costello's recent touring outfit The Sugarcanes. [Oct 2011, p.91]

The lack of ironic twists is both slightly unsettling and hugely refreshing. [Apr 2016, p.83]

Levy's lo-fi sonic palette and dreamy, speak-sung vocals hint at intimacy, her creative use of sound effects and electronics the mark of an archivist. [Oct 2021, p.29]

They continue to find some clever ways to do a pretty dumb thing. [Jul 2007, p.112]

[El-P's] sinister, scarified industrial noise and beats bring a grimly thrilling dimension. [Jul 2006, p.102]

This is their sixth album and inevitably some jazzy ostentation has crept in, but generally there's a warm, graceful fluidity to Skit I Allt's billowing jams that remains uniquely beguiling. [Oct 2010, p.94]

Not even this collaboration's most thunderous moments detract from the quieter power of the singer's frank, free-associative lyrics. [Apr 2016, p.74]

They recreate the mood and spirit of seriously wiggy space-prog excavations. [Apr 2017, p.35]

Talkie Talkie benefits from a sharpening of focus even if the instrumental foursome remain determined to recombine such normally disparate elements as sun-scorched psych, Caribbean rhythms, Turkish disco and the kind of rock bravura rarely captured outside of an ’80s movie soundtrack. [Oct 2024, p.31]

It's reliably hypnotic stuff, although the final two seemingly interminable tracks d o expose Stallones' rather rudimentary chops. [Sep 2011, p.96]

Rattle That Lock turns out to be a modest achievement for the most part. [Oct 2015, p.82]

Together, they've crafted a cerebral yet effortless vast and cinematic ode to love and new beginnings, one that splits the difference between shoegaze and synthpop. [Aug 2019, p.36]

Somewhat Gothic, but for all its dark corners, this debut gleams with a pop lustre. [Jun 2011, p.77]

The Dead Weather is another slightly unsatisfying fling alongside The Raconteurs. [Jul 2009, p.84]

"Lately" is a wonderfully uplifting finale to a finely conceived record, an eloquent testament to an unlikely partnership that's only now delivering its full potential. [Sep 2010, p.97]

Eyes may be on the US market, but the honesty of Parks' expression holds. [Jul 2023, p.33]

An unexpectedly excellent set of sinuous and sensual techno. [Nov 2014, p.76]

It's when they seemingly reach straight down the devil's throat, as on the ferocious "Deacon Brodie," a strangled punk/blues bottleneck, that this debut really distinguishes itself. [Dec 2015, p.81]

Generally the result is kind of Stars In Their Eyes Amy Winehouse. [Aug 2018, p.33]

Most divine is Knxwledge's production on "Make Ya Say Yie," with its twisted brass sample. [Nov 2020, p.27]

Invigorating results. [Oct 2021, p.27]

Giske spins the likes of “Cruising” and “Void” into bold extended pieces that are gripping in their poignancy and intensity. [Dec 2021, p.27]

Wolfe's voice prominent on the shimmering "Hopelessly At Ease" and tremolo-bathed "Shhh", recalling Julee Cruise;s otherworldly work. .... Elsewhere, there's an edge. [Jul 2025, p.27]

Though Requiem doesn't quite match the free-flowing intensity of some of Goat's earlier work, it's continually enriched by a fervent sense of joy and abandon, and an infectious eagerness to get lost in music. [Nov 2016, p.28]

Madlib stretches out impressively without vocalists to contain him, but you sense the real bangers have been saved for another occasion. [Jun 2006, p.106]