There's no denying the smooth grooves of Willie Mitchel and Al Green is a template for several cute here. [Sep 2021, p.33]

The early-’60s soul-jazz strut belies the emotional purpose of career-spanning songs. Van’s voice and heart are unaccustomedly youthful and light seeking a West Country grail in “Avalon Of The Heart”. [Oct 2024, p.40]

Amid opiated baroque arrangements, Allison's impressive vocal abstraction stays the main attraction. [Feb 2025, p.33]

"Slow Rise (To The Middle)" reels from the crush of diminished expectations amid instrumental interaction as heady as Oliver Wood's lyrical musings. [Sep 2025, p.39]

The likes of "Hard To Beat" and "Cash Machine" jack not just the offbeat skank and dubby bass of The Specials but some of their creeping dread and downbeat humanity as well. [Aug 2005, p.92]

Whoever is singing, the beats are choppy and the mood intense. A revelation. [Oct 2018, p.24]

Revitalising indie-pop. [Feb 2004, p.78]

The result is a fresh and invigoratingly modern take on black music and as far removed from a musical history lesson as you get. [Mar 2013, p.69]

Fragments could have been made any time in the last 25 [years], yet the down-tempo warmth, tasteful orchestrations and immaculate production are still a winning combination. [Feb 2022, p.26]

Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig apply a dance-pop shine to the 10 songs here, an approach that lightens the load of heavy-hearted lyrics rooted in changes and challenges like Wolfe’s recent divorce. [May 2022, p.30]

Although at times it's a little too knowingly shambolic, the band nail the mood on "Peace Of Mind", while the outstanding Stonesy number "Anyway I Find You" finds a great bridge between their two styles. [Mar 2023, p.32]

Although nothing matches the sexy Prince-funk pastiche 'Test' that Yukimi Nagano and co delivered on their self-titled 2007 debut, there is more depth and variety on their secpnd album. [Oct 2009, p.101]

Glasper steps into the spotlight, less ostentatiously [than Kamasi Washington's The Epic], with a live trio album. [Aug 2015, p.75]

Consistently stirring and heartbreakingly lovely. [Feb 2018, p.18]

The most thrilling moments are those in which you catch a glimpse of the band jamming away amid the aural wreckage. [Feb 2022, p.25]

The likes of "Sauchiehall Withdrawal" and "Diop" add a few crumbs to the collective's heaving table, but there's plenty here to chew on. [Jan 2018, p.22]

As with Daft Punk's sleek 1970s upgrades, his accomplished 1780s meditations go past pastiche. [Jun 2023, p.25]

Cabic’s limited vocal powers are part of the problem. His dusty delivery is allusive when wrapped in instrumental swirls--asked to front up a song, it sounds merely flat.

The result is an impressionistic and intriguing set of instrumentals that draw on an eclectic set of influences from the obvious (Satie and Glass) to the surprising (gamelan and Robert Miles). [Jan 2018, p.24]

An entertaining oddity which manages to recall both Bobby Gillespie and (late) Julian Cope in its reverence for over-the-top rock'n'roll excess. [May 2014, p.78]

An album of grungy, earnest rock that pivots from deluges of Hole-inspired chaos to more restrained, melodic fare. [Nov 2017, p.24]

A frighteningly powerful record. [Jan 2003, p.124]

While it's very much a rock album... it kicks in a very 'now' way (this ain't Tin Machine). [Oct 2003, p.112]

Magic Time ultimately reveals itself to be the sort of strangely mixed bag that will be all too familiar to those who've hung on with patient, fervent belief through the '90s and beyond. [Jun 2005, p.114]

A mini masterwork of magic-realist Britpop melodrama. [Apr 2006, p.108]

It sounds more like a busk than a serious recording session, and that briskness is its strength. [Feb 2011, p.83]

Banjos, acoustic guitar, pedal steel and piano arrangements honour the songs' origins and add lilting texture to an album that will charm those who hear it, irrespective of their age. [Dec 2011, p.104]

Tiden follows much the same formula [as 2011's Stunden] of Satie-esque piano sketches nestled in softly lapping rhythms, muted electro shadings and vaguely lysergic drones.

Whatever it is that keeps him singing still packs a potent emotional punch. [Oct 2016, p.35]

Weird and sporadically wonderful. [Jul 2020, p.39]

The result is park reckoning and part explosive joy, as the band lean further into the hip-hop side of their influences. [Jul 2020, p.36]

The five new tracks that open proceedings, however, fail to add much to band's remit. [Dec 2007, p.102]

A happy music that isn't bland; Held In Splendor makes that toughest of tricks sound easy. [Mar 2014, p.82]

For anyone who fretted that Glory Hope Mountain might have been a beautiful fluke, No Ghost confirms The Acorn's credentials, building thrillingly on the band's ability to access a variety of moods and textures. [Jul 2010, p.121]

Some sound like strange nursery rhymes; some like surreal Eurovision entries. All are very good indeed. [Oct 2010, p.85]

The once robust voice is thinner but still gruffly effective. [Oct 2020, p.39]

Dear Heather is Cohen's highest tide yet, his most exquisite marriage of song and poetry and ambiguous grace. [Nov 2004, p.114]

Sweet at its core, but pleasantly dark around the edges. [Feb 2014, p.76]

You Have Already Gone to the Other World, produced by Deerhoof's John Dieterich, is their best yet. [May 2013, p.65]

As a whole it feel overfamiliar, with little of the cohesiveness that made, say, Les Revenants so powerful. [Oct 2018, p.30]

If Egypt Station is quite startling enough to shift preconceptions about the most famous musician on the planet, it's sufficiently vibrant to justify its existence, and strong enough to ensure that McCartney can sprinkle three or four tracks into the set on his upcoming world tour without setting off any alarms. [Oct 2018, p.28]

Katy B weaves various threads of London clubland into glittering pop flax, and this second LP is a triumphant consolidation of her position as the voice of nocturnal youth. [Mar 2014, p.78]

Molina's songs achieve the kind of epic, majestic sweep his ambition and talent have long suggested. [Jun 2005, p.104]

Luminous versions of American folk songs and old English ballads, alongside works by Lour Reed and Joy Division. [Mar 2018, p.35]

Despite flashes of intense beauty, the going is heavy. [Jul 2018, p.30]

A series of esoteric, danceable, frequently amusing stories about sleeping in gardens, body waxing and Swansea. [Jan 2019, p.19]

Powerful and intriguing stuff, but the emotional spark never quite catches. [Feb 2017, p.21]

A bargin it might be, but the triumphs of yore tend to expose the new album's low-fi rockabilly and country strums. [Jul 2009, p.95]

Damon Albarn and Portishead's Beth Gibbons drop by to provide some haunting counterpoint to DOOM's gruff verbal gymnastics. [Oct 2012, p.83]

There's barely a duff track here, from the talking gothic blues of "The Pill" and the slinky Monks-esque strut of "Isolation". Top marks, though, go the pulpit croon of "(Sometimes You Got To Be) Gentle". [Dec 2009, p. 97]

It's an LP that gets through more ideas than most indie bands can manage in a lifetime. [Dec 2013, p.71]

Smith has skill and ambition galore, but too often settles for tasteful stupor. [Review of the Year 2023, p.32]

Herren calls Savath And Savalas his vision of "Catalan acid folk"--and that should be all the encouragement required for fans of Four Tet, Tropicalia and early Animal Collective to dive right in. [Jul 2009, p.97]

Whatever meanings are to be gleaned here, Bleed Out still rates as one of the band’s hardest-rocking outings. [Sep 2022, p.28]

Nothing more than the uncomfortable sound of a band escaping their svengali. [Dec 2004, p.142]

Throughout, there's an ungainly combination of the leaden and the jaunty. [Aug 2009, p.102]

This box set might test that familiarity [of the Beatles catalogue]. It's like returning home to find the furniture has been moved around, or thayt someone has built new rooms to put your stuff in. It's not that these are bad rooms--they're just not quite where you expect them to be, and certainly not how the architects conceived the building. [Mar 2014, p.90]

Within its narrow punk framework, the music is reasonably effective. [Feb 2017, p.24]

Nau's real forte flies in gentle melodies that meander beguilingly, sung in a rich and warm baritone that is more Kurt Wagner than Springsteen. [Sep 2018, p.35]

Exercises proves Silver is in good shape. [Sep 2012, p.74]

Let's Go eat A factory is not a brilliant album and of itself, but it does cast guided By Voices in a slightly different light. [Feb 2012, p.95]

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

The result is Mascis's most fully formed and direct solo set to date. [Feb 2024, p.31]

As Shirt progresses, grungey riffs begin to cut through on “Itch” and the White Stripes-y chorus of “Rag”. Elsewhere, his slacker songcraft commands evermore empathy as “Voices In My Head” employs a neat acoustic motif and “Music” offers a piano-led lullaby to close a short, deceptively sweet affair. [Oct 2024, p.41]

Their debut's brevity and sharp hooks suggest a band with an acute sense of purpose. [Aug 2006, p.100]

The Afghan Whigs remain a high stakes band, conducting business not with a eye on self-preservation, but in the heat of the moment. [May 2014, p.72]

The backing are stately, most elegant on the trumpet and Wurlitzer of 'Mississippi River Running Backwards.' [Oct 2009, p.108]

Warpaint does, however, fall somewhat short of the triumphant comeback The Black Crowes set their 10-gallons at.

This take on the horrors of 9/11 could seem shallow, but he nails it. [Nov 2013, p.69]

Enchanting debut Oh My reveals itself slowly with each listen. [Feb 2018, p.30]

Mr Beast, by Mogwai's normally formidable standards, underwhelms. [Apr 2006, p.96]

While they're not doing anything particularly new, the mixture of bile and valedictory swagger here is exhilarating. [Apr 2014, p.73]

It's not a disaster, by any means.... It's just that, over 13 songs, it's abundantly clear that whatever the potency of this partnership, there's an old lack of range. [Jul 2005, p.89]

With every element wound so tight, the relentless pace grows exhausting over the long haul. [Jul 2010, p.108]

Ives Sepulveda's vocals can be a little puny, but the music is full of clever twists and suddenly blossoming choruses. [Mar 2013, p.73]

Pretty, poignant and educational, too. [Aug 2013, p.71]

It might just grow into an even better record than The Courage Of Others, as one get used to the way it replaces Smith's precision and popcraft with the new Midlake's love of digression and sonic adventure. [Dec 2013, p.62]

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

He still writes lovely, dreamy psych-pop songs that position Luxury Alone as a strange, introverted companion to Tame Impala's Currents. [Jul 2016, p.82]

[Tim Burgess'] boyish voice sounds warmer than ever, too, while Johnny Marr and Paul Weller are among guests fortifying his band's fluid grooves. [Jul 2017, p.26]

As is traditional, there will be those bemoaning the fact it's no Dopethrone, and "The Reaper," is over in an uncharacteristically brief three minutes, feels like a waste of a track. Still, Wizard Bloody Wizard offers enormous pleasures. [Dec 2017, p.26]

The greatest since he killed off Ziggy? Arguably, but certainly an autumnal peak.

All the writers who share Lund's love of droll wordplay, and all their works are illuminated by Lund's signature laconic twinkle, and the Hurtin' Alberans' deadpan virtuosity. [Aug 2022, p.29]

The spacious, stereo-panning "binaural" sound mix works particularly well as a headphones album. [Dec 2022, p.29]

Barnes' lyrics remain a stumbling block. [Oct 2001, p.98]

There are moments where gusto, melody and thunderous guitar riffs meet to powerful effect but there are some tired moments to wade through to get there. [Feb 2019, p.27]

Like Bread produced by The Neptunes. [Jul 2004, p.110]

A risk of pastiche is never far away, but Presley staves it off with energy, songcraft, cunning and a renewed, relatively streamlined focus. [Aug 2014, p.81]

Witty like Loudon Wainwright, doleful like Jonathan Richman, Hamilton emerges as a distinct presence throughout, and it's this you warm to. [Dec 2006, p.102]

Like 2011's Tao Of The Dead, IX is a big thing, which sometimes rings rather hollow. [Dec 2014, p.71]

Intoxicating. [Mar 2004, p.87]

The many highlights on this big name covers album include Lily Allen--sounding like Kate Nash impersonating Lily Allen--locating the wobbly charm in Joe Strummer's 'Straight To Hell,' Elbow's adding a shabby grandeur to U2's 'Running To Stand Still,' and Rufus Wainwright bringing his heavenly voice to Brian Wilson's 'Wonderful.'

Others paying respects are Steve Earle, Kid Rock and Lucinda Williams, though the inclusion of Lee Ann Womack and Faith Hill dilutes the overall impact. [Apr 2011, p.90]

Their debut has a raucous charm that makes it easy to overlook their songs' emotional punch. [Feb 2016, p.77]

It's touches like these--the suggestiveness of the pauses, the silences, the miniature worlds between the painterly notes Cooper and Hoare play--that makes Dusk, for all its influences and its rear-view mirror vision of classicist pop, such a seductive album. [Oct 2016, p.30]

Gutter Tactics lets a little light in, though, the glimmering, shoegazey 'We Lost Sight' being the surest glimpse yet of redemption within the gloom. [Mar 2009, p.82]

Impressively, Gardner's instrumnetals such as "Grey Lanes" and "All Over" show how he can effectively summon up an exquisite nostalgia for an invented '60s. [Jun 2015, p.76]

Hotel Shampoo is a fragrant little side-project but it's a bit too sudsy to be the main event. [Mar 2010, p.96]