The debut album by this French five-piece sends an icy wind cutting through their shoegaze haze. [May 2013, p.78]

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

His second album is a rich, meaty fusion of jazz, grime, hip-hop, dancehall and reggae. [Dec 2021, p.26]

On her band's follow-up to its 2014 self-titled debut, Rankin returns to that comfort zone with largely engaging results. [Oct 2017, p.24]

There is a tense, troubled air to many of these songs.... But the like of "Plates2" and "Moonbeams" mirror the story of the album by unfurling gloriously into expansive soft-rock vistas. [Aug 2015, p.69]

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]

The Cribs' wild, unfinished edge is elsewhere polished by producer Patrick Wimberly (MGMT, Solange) in a lyrically rueful but musically soaring record. [Feb 2025, p.27]

It's plenty funky, just less in-your-face and with a disco polish. [May 2005, p.103]

Fletcher's three-chord trick comes up trumps once more, every sha-la-la-la, every woah-woah. [Nov 2012, p.85]

These nostalgic confessionals stray into navel-gazing at times, but in a way that feels authentically adolescent. [Sep 2023, p.34]

Departures from the mean include jazzier ventures with Ren Harvieu and octogenarian soul singer Ural Thomas, plus forays into baroque-pop balladry that get the best out of Laura Groves and Marissa Nadler. [Apr 2021, p.30]

Their fourth full-length is eclectic and confident. [Jun 2016, p.78]

Time contains KG structurally, but not creatively. "The Land Before Timeland" is a lyrical workout of delicate intricacy. ... "Hypertension" is every bit as light on its feet and the conversational playing between the Gizzards is equally impressive, but it takes more of a pastoral-prog path. [Dec 2022, p.18]

Frozen Niagara Falls is still a rocky ride in places. [Jul 2015, p.81]

Love Is The Plan sits just fine alongside his other records. [May 2012, p.67]

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

The band's pleasure in playing and connecting with fans shines throughout. [Feb 2021, p.25]

This follow-up is mightily impressive too, the band ramping up their sound into something approaching classic rock. [Feb 2021, p.30]

Palomino is upbeat, glossy country, tending somewhat towards the generic, but redeemed (as usual) by the rich twang in Lambert’s voice and the waspish humour which frequently enlivens her lyrics. [Jun 2022, p.29]

So closely and carefully has Brooks shadowed the sounds of those times [1980s]. [Feb 2025, p.33]

This LP is their most uncompromising yet. [Dec 2013, p.74]

Only an underpowered "Nightclubbing", slathered in hair-metal guitar-rock slammers dilute an otherwise exhilarating night of impressively gutsy jazz-metal bruisers. [Feb 2025, p.39]

Stand-out numbers include the sumptuous orchestral lament "Hi A Skoellyas Liv A Dhagrow" and the gorgeous "Herdhya", a breathy spooktronica ballad with an anti-Brexit theme. [Apr 2018, p.27]

Even if the lyrical references to Greek mythology are a little nebulous, she's already created a world we believe in. [May 2019, p.29]

Passages of modish electro show that they're certainly on top of things, yet their heart remains pure pop. [May 2013, p.75]

The Vines' place in the rock gene pool is shaped by elements of controlled guitar thrash, often complex harmony, bubblegum psychedelia and polished piano-driven ballads with an early Seventies whiff. [Aug 2002, p.116]

Categorisable, but mostly excellent. [Oct 2017, p.35]

The songs here are country rock, unadorned and sensitively played, nestled around Young's lovely acoustic take on Barn's "Song OF The Seasons." Inevitably, Young's influence proliferates. [May 2023, p.31]

The overall effect is immersive, wallowing, sad but often beautiful. [Feb 2019, p.27]

It lives and dies on its guest vocalists: female MC Tink shines on "Wanna Party," as does grime veteran Riko Dan on "Speng." Elsewhere, a reliance on drab Auto-Tune crooning can drag. [Mar 2015, p.76]

On his 24th solo album, the Guided By Voices man shows he still knows how to cobble together a sturdy, well-constructed song. [Apr 2016, p.78]

A stylistic leap forward. [Jul 2017, p.35]

Producer Kwesi Sey has upped the dramatic ante throughout. [Jul 2017, p.25]

Its 10 minimalist songs mine a vein of laconic broodiness. [Apr 2003, p.110]

Hardy's agile vocals and lyricism are never in doubt, but shine brighter on light touch arrangements. [Jun 2015, p.76]

For all its space-oddity trimmings, Feorm Falorx mostly sticks to Plaid's home planet, boldly going where they have been many times before. [Jan 2023, p.24]

Self-reflection is twinned with a rueful survey of the current state of the nation. [Oct 2021, p.25]

Unfussy poeticism abounds. [Oct 2020, p.27]

Patti Smith's bewitching poetry readings make this an experience that demands full attention. [Oct 2020, p.36]

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

Bjork and Joanna Newsom are unavoidable reference pints for her hiccuping poetic whimsy. [Aug 2012, p.79]

Huge, head-rushing opener “Happy New Year” and sad banger “Hall Of Mirrors” exemplify the giddy “new” LEG, while the country-folk “Sunday”, powerfully harmonised “Strange Conversations” and Angel Olsen-ish title track are maturations of their earlier sounds. [May 2022, p.30]

Loving You is a poignant last statement, rich with nuance and personality. [Sep 2023, p.34]

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]

Awash in plump brass, grainy mandolin and fuzzy warm electric piano, this solid second edges deeper into Fleet Foxes territory. [Apr 2013, p.78]

The wistful allure of the heady old days is strong as he ponders the sacred but mostly the profane alongside a fiery Lisa O'Neill on "Poca Mahoney's". But he also finds slapdash inspiration on his doorstep in bucolic Normandy. [Jun 2025, p.31]

Large, slow-drifting and majestic masses splinter into smaller sonic units, analogous to the glacial movements that signify environmental change. [Review Of The Year 2023, p.24]

He's hired JIm James, whose spiritual beliefs he seems to hare, along with a taste for cosmic rock and psychedelic blues, all of which figure on the compellingly heavy "Hey, No Pressure." [Apr 2016, p.75]

With Ash & Ice, they're back on compelling track, cranking their songs' rhythmic drive while focusing as much on structure as mardy atmospherics. [Jul 2016, p.75]

Gate Of Grief is admirably cliche-free and mostly excellent. [Sep 2018, p.39]

The songs' operatic grandeur evokes the music of Dead Can Dance and Diamanda Galas at its most epic-scaled. [Oct 2017, p.40]

VanGaalen's clear talent as a producer and arranger still shines through in even the less spectacular moments. [Oct 2017, p.40]

A cherry if tad predictable offering. [Jul 2014, p.71]

Tracks vary in emotional and sonic tone, sources, instrumentation and complexity. [Aug 2013, p.65]

Embracing his Māori heritage and language when his songwriting faltered in English has, though, taken Williams into more nakedly exposed realms. [May 2025, p.39]

Worth the wait. [Jun 2016, p.76]

The predominantly instrumental Hundred Of Days is a more expansive affair than 2016's At The Dam. [Jun 2018, p.30]

There's only one possible word for this: rad. [May 2013, p.79]

The third Cd features interesting but inessential 12in mixes. ... There are diamonds throughout the sprawling set, which also manages to sound cohesive thanks to Lydon's binding, blaring vocals and the atmosphere of managed, jagged chaos. [Sep 2018, p.48]

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

Orbit sees their shared musical predilections slide furthrr into focus. [Sep 2017, p.32]

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

Robbie Robertson has enlisted Bob Clearmountain to provide a new mix in order to give the recordings more "space" and clarity, and it especially reaps rewards on the woozy duet between Richard Manual and co-writer Van Morrison, "4% Pantomime", and Allen Toussaint's New Orleans brass arrangement on "Life Is A Carnival". [Feb 2022, p.43]

Dreamer is irrefutably dreamy. ... Nonetheless, she strays into other early-to-mid-'90s styles. [Jun 2023, p.31]

There are plenty of albums by singer-songwriters documenting damaged relationships, but few have mapped out the emotional catography with such candour and insight as Van Etten. ... The ethereal "You Didn't Really Do That" floats on layers of seductive harmony, while church-like organ lends the bittersweet "I'm Giving Up On You" a sepulchral feel. [Jan 2018, p.43 - Album score: 8/Extras score: 6]

Devotees of the 2000-era indie-pop of the Clientele and Marry's former employers in Camera Obscura will be charmed by the pretty likes of "Julie: and "Gold & Lips," though Banane Bleu could've benefited from more darker hes that enriched Fleurs Du Mal. [Apr 2021, p.29]

Historically confused it may be, but the simple pleasures of Turn The Lights Out are hard to deny. [Apr 2007, p.115]

A star in the making. [Apr 2017, p.37]

The defining breeziness of Buddy & Jim could never be mistaken for an ill wind, as such, but there are moments at which it's hard not to wish they'd invested a fourth or even a fifth day in the work. [Feb 2013, p.70]

["And Then He Wrapped His Wings Around Me" is] unashamedly lovely but manages to avoid tweeness through the clarity and concision of both the composition and the playing. [Nov 2023, p.29]

Leschper meditates on creativity, identity and self-doubt in a voice that's equal parts Angel Olsen and Waxahatchee, while the music--played by a full band--runs the expressive gamut. [Apr 2016, p.76]

Feyness is a constant threat, but Mitchell's British debut generally tiptoes clear of whimsy, mixing up the guitar loops, squitting beats and genteel vocal angst in a way which becomes insidious. [Apr 2003, p.105]

Fertita fashions 11 lean, mean garage-like tunes that frequently touch base with his work as a member of The Dead Weather. [Jan 2023, p.27]

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

It's most persuasive setting is deluxe drive-time melancholia, purring with understated classicism. [Sep 2015, p.69]

While Workin' Man also marks the final studio contributions of Nelson's pianist sister Bobbie and drummer Paul English, the mood is very much celebratory. [Review of the Year 2025, p.27]

Foster's processed vocals roam the album's glossy surfaces and robotic grooves, evoking Prince and Daft Punk, while the widescreen title track and the trippy "Glitchzig" sound like outtakes from the Tron soundtrack. [Sep 2024, p.32]

Taylor's no alchemist--not yet at least--though Lateness Of Dancers suggests he can write songs that transcend the everyday by hymning its subtleties. [Oct 2014, p.78]

There's a fine line between the sincerely wistful and contemplative and the nostalgic and morose, but Merrie Land understands where the borders are and stays within them. [Jan 2019, p.18]

She’s made another very good album, her first in six years. [Jul 2022, p.33]

The outcome isn't exactly surprising, as it falls in line with a relatively recent explosion in modular exploration (see Bitchin Bajas, Caterina Barbieri) but at times it is very beautiful. [Mar 2025, p.32]

This self-produced fourth still has many charms. [Apr 2017, p.39]

Wiggy electronics abound, from the urgent gallop of the title track and the woozy psych-pop of “Kinetic Connection” to the cinematic orchestrations of “Slacker” and “A Quarter To Eight”. Think The Flaming Lips’ sci-fisonics given a very English twist. [Oct 2022, p.26]

It's far more restrained, foreboding and ultimately effective. [Jun 2018, p.27]

Everything is buried under a blanket of surface noise, as if these are decaying tapes that have been salvaged form an old building and the highlights math this narrative. [Jun 2017, p.26]

Jello is still in good voice, so this could basically pass for a mid-80s Dead Kennedys album, were it not for the contemporary references. [Jun 2013, p.69]

It could do with some Toe Ze-style danger, and it's a bit coffeetable--but a sun-dappled, rum-stocked coffee table to be fair. [May 2012, p.69]

There's something unerring precise about the four compositions here, even as they stretch their limbs outwards. [Nov 2025, p.28]

Travis continue to subtly experiment with their sound, and on this 10th studio set it regularly pays dividends. [Aug 2024, p.40]

His eighth solo album is a fine place to start investigations of this dappled terrain, in laces a little heavier and more psychedelic than one might expect. [Sep 2014, p.74]

This one keeps the focus tight and intimate. [Sep 2013, p.93]

It's sunny and optimistic and mostly dynamic (sans a few sleepy, repetitive moments on the six-minute-plus tracks). [May 2023, p.35]

The lowering, incantatory "Circles," suggesting Peggy Lee fronting a minimalist Warpaint, and the doomy rebetika of "Loving Loving" stand out, but there's much to admire. [Dec 2018, p.33]

Wilderness is a logical step for the group, honing their aesthetic, and finding intimate rapture in the peak moments of their carefully crafted songs. [Feb 2017, p.24]

Her deft piano playing helps release some of the tension in her highwire act. [Apr 2019, p.34]

Howling from the eye of the storm, Scott Hutchinson's raw holler and bleakly poetic worldview remain the key points of emotional connection. [Feb 2013, p.73]

Overblown and occasionally excruciating, I Love It...'s fearless perversity nonetheless puts most "alternative" bands to shame. [Apr 2016, p.67]

This polished third album is a feat for fans of puerile humour and glam-metal guitar solos. [May 2014, p.80]