The result is a seductively melancholy and unashamedly serious album that claws insistently at the heartstrings. [Nov 2011, p.91]

Too lo-fi for its own good. [Jul 2006, p.102]

Ferree's insistence of shoving everything right up front in the mix, all the time, becomes wearing, but you can't fault his enthusiasm. [Jan 2010, p. 110]

The bangles here right the ship. [Dec 2011, p.79]

Too many tracks wrap mildly neurotic musings in self-consciously quirky, deadeningly tasteful, grown-up indie-pop crooning. [Aug 2017, p.25]

It all proves that Seasick Steve is at his strongest when he’s playing solo.

Julie Budet's breathy vocals may be a little too Vanessa Paradis, but producers Jean Francois Perrier and Tanguy Destable keep the grooves shiny and the beats sweet. [May 2011, p.103]

Their UPS lies in their assured threading of post-war archive material from StudioCanal, the BFI and old propaganda reels through Avalanches-style musical collages, [Jul 2013, p.80]

The resulting batch of picture-perfect recreations reveal Tuxedo as a one-trick pony, but it's a wicked clever one. [May 2015, p.83]

The spartan tracks without drums, backed only by clumsy piano, remain highly effective. [Nov 2016, p.31]

Why, when Dragonforce are doing this for real? [May 2007, p.96]

Not for the first time, their presentation is inspired but the material can fall a little flat. [Jun 2017, p.37]

Despite also cooking up a glam stomp with "We All Die Young," it sometimes feels overly contrived. The epic "Rusalka, Rusalka/The Wild Rushes" is a notable exception. [Apr 2018, p.26]

With their stuttering beats, AutoTuned vocals and cheerfully foulmouthed lyrics, these genetically modified mongrel tunes are mostly misfires, which only makes them more intriguing. [Sep 2010, p.101]

This luminously lovely collection is well-judged and intensely personal. [Feb 2013, p.74]

An instantly likable, energetic pop set stacked with guitars; his easy voice shot through with enquiry and regret. [Sep 2015, p.75]

As boisterously sentimental as The Cavern at closing time. [Jul 2007, p.106]

The highlights of their third album appear to have been forged rather than recorded. [Aug 2012, p.69]

This is a bold and engaging revolution. [May 2012, p.75]

This run would undoubtedly be shown to greater effect on a more succinct collection. [Feb 2004, p.86]

Luckily he's such a gifted performer that, even if you don't know what he's saying, you kind of know what he means. [Feb 2005, p.76]

There's nothing particularly profound here, but the combination of skanking, roots-reggae rhythms and O'Connor's still-gorgeous voice... is a winning one. [Nov 2005, p.106]

[Herrema's] songs still have the fuzzy weirdness of prime Trux, but now they're chunky, determined and fully formed, too. [Apr 2007, p.115]

Shelter From The Ash displays some pretty wigged-out guitar work, but balanced by ruminative, minor-key acoustic moments that recall the mood of America's "Horse With No Name."

Driven by two drummers they owe much to the styles of Fucked Up, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Torche, but on 'Black Wax' they apply the brakes, revealing a surprising amount of melodic, colle-rock bounce. [May 2009, p.82]

They produce strong enough tunes to make their act more than just a celebration of kitsch. [May 2011, p.88]

When co-leader Marshall LaCount takes vocals the band teeter on the brink of woe-is-me self-parody, but overall this is like a statelier Mazzy Star, dark in all the right places. [May 2011, p.82]

It reads like a compendium of retro cool that leans on the cinematic, instrumental style of DJ shadow and Peanut Butter Wolf. [Dec 2012, p.67]

Fair to say, you won't hear anything like it. [Nov 2012, p.79]

If some of Teena's mid-80s belters betrayed an eagerness to over-emote, her technique here is more restrained, which suits her voyage into Indo-tinged soul and a few delicious slow jamz. [Mar 2013, p.90]

It's chaotic then, but it's also packed with charm. [Jul 2013, p.83]

Remarkably, almost every performance resonates. [Apr 2014, p.83]

The results, restrained, immersive and quite beautiful. [Jun 2014, p.71]

Fear is best when Cowgill strips things back. [Jul 2014, p.6]

This score for the new Hawkings biopic is an effective series of piano-based miniatures sweetened with strings and harp. [Feb 2015, p.79]

[A] slight tendency toward wishy-washiness is kept at bay through deft deployment of collaborators. [Mar 2015, p.81]

This lively debut is full of fertile mash-ups. [Nov 2016, p.23]

Marc Collin's French collective remain a one-trick pony, but it's still a great trick. [Jan 2017, p.28]

A fine album. [Feb 2017, p.35]

It's bracingly experimental throughout, if a little difficult to fully love. [Jun 2017, p.30]

Taken on its own terms, Novum is an impressive display of retro firepower. [May 2017, p.37]

A set of 12 original compositions steeped in his ongoing addiction to muscular '60s blues-rock. [Oct 2018, p.24]

Lovely stuff. [Dec 2019, p.29]

It's taut urban blues business as usual. [Dec 2021, p.26]

An uneven, ugly set that's still weirdly compelling. [Feb 2023, p.25]

Ayers duets with Simonon in Spanish and English on a set of quirky compositions oozing the kind of playful charm her dad was so known for. [Jun 2023, p.29]

The best tracks gently slip their moorings, as with the sour fuzzed guitar and damaged lyrics of "Got The Fear", and hazy warp and alchemical concerns of the insinuatingly additcive "Green". [Jul 2023, p.33]

While the latter's [drummer Gavin Harrison's] rhythms can overcomplicate at times, more often they add to the edgy atmospherics and heighten the contrasting rush when broader rock strokes are applied. [Feb 2024, p.34]

These septuagenarians have made a Doobie Brothers album that sounds like it was recorded by their much younger selves, and the passing years haven't blunted their vibrancy. [Jun 2025, p.36]

This is the first Cure album in a long time that’s more than just another Cure album.

There are worth while curiosities here: his "Bad Blood" is utterly tuneless, but "Blank Space" is appealingly tremulous. [Dec 2015, p.67]

Guitarist Marty Stuart re-recorded his parts, and contemporary shading has been added by Buddy Miller and Jerry Douglas. They don't completely erase the synthetic qualities of the sound, but it's clear that Cash was in fine voice even if the material didn't always suit him. [Apr 2014, p.89]

When it ends, the impression of Devendra Banhart that stays with you is of the artful songsmith, finding a confidence to express himself in something other than riddles.

A return to the coffee shops beckons. [Nov 2011, p.83]

Somewhat erratic, yet frequently satisfying. [Dec 2013, p.65]

This controlled bedlam is just the thing for fans of the similarly explosive, experimental and exploratory sounds of Comets On Fire, Oneida and Black Mountain. [Aug 2005, p.97]

It maintains throughout that signatures guileless fealty to soulful rock'n'roll, laced as usual with the wry melancholy that distinguishes Fallon's lyrics. [Mar 2018, p.

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

Sunday At Devil Dirt inhabits the same scorched earth, but is a more confident record. Ironically, this confidence manifests itself in an understated vocal performance from Campbell, leaving the spotlight on Lanegan’s dusty baritone.

Three of the 10 R&B covers he's recorded before, while the five original compositions faithfully plough his familiar tropes. [Oct 2017, p.35]

Bratty autobiography still peaks though the clean and healthy Californian veneer. [Aug 2019, p.26]

Beneath its appealing veneer this remains a work wracked with personal anguish and doubt, and any positive engagement with life is welcome in it--even if, from necessity, it has to come from someone else. [May 2011, p.84]

Ryan Sambol, with his nasal drawl and ready harmonica, is perhaps rather too into Dylan for comfort, but the title track is dispatched with skronky brio, and "The Unsent Letter" is a heartfelt piano ballad all cracked with emotion. [Apr 2010, p.100]

It's slightly pedestrian take on amped-up roots rock falls short of that particular bar {2008's Furr], but the rolling funk-blues of "When I'm Dying" is terrific, while the harrowing "Joanna" is a masterful piece of storytelling. [Jan 2018, p.18]

With all the percolating energy the album delivers, its three most memorable songs are ballads.

Unlike their many imitators, Autechre's music refuses to relax, ensuring them a longer radioactive half-life. [May 2005, p.106]

[A] solid offering in a drizzle of bleeps. [Oct 2014, p.79]

Tigers... sees the brain of the Manics reunited with their strongest qualities: their heart, humanity and soul. [Jun 2007, p.102]

A connoisseur-curated selection that manages to combine inspired innovation with wit, rich melodies and irresistibly squelchy basslines. [Aug 2012, p.96]

Not as good as the original, but an interesting afterthought. [Feb 2013, p.79]

It's an effective idea and an enjoyable stopgap before her next masterwork arrives. [May 2014, p.74]

He roughs up synth-wave and jungle on "Apathy" and "Fading," but does so with a certain tenderness. [Jun 2015, p.81]

His fourth album as Lawrence Arabia cuts the potential sugariness of strings-embellished, '60s-influenced pop with reflective, often bracingly direct lyrics and wry humour, but sensibly, no sardonic edge. [Sep 2016, p.69]

Talk of losing his "soul and conscience" and floundering in an ocean with no land in sight suggests deep trauma, hinted at disturbingly in songs such as "Pun" "Dark Lights" Yet there's also evidence of at least a partial re-emergence into the light on "Humbug," which sounds like the Be Gees if produced by Brian Eno. [Nov 2017, p.32]

The best bits of Whoosh! blend lofty sentiments with earthier delights. ... The album would benefit from the 13 tracks being trimmed to single figures. [Sep 2020, p.28]

The accent firmly on the spiritual. The stately "Family Bible" touches base with Willie's early career. ... There's a jubilant hoedown vibe to Hank Williams' "I Saw The Light," bettered only by offspring Lukas's plaintive lead vocal on George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass." [Jan 2022, p.27]

Laibach's most pop album to date - five tracks are co-produced by Richard X - and at least as curious and contrary as any of its predecessors. [May 2026, p.32]

Bell's racked howl brings a hardcore intensity to it all, but there's bags of melodic nous just below the scorched surface. [Sep 2014, p.81]

It's unwieldy, cheesy, overlong, confusing and, just occasionally, inspired. [Jul 2020, p.25]

At times, it's as if he's paying homage to his touchstones rather than using them for grist. [Apr 2006, p.114]

It's less derivative than some current house revivalists, and perfect wallpaper for independent coffee shops, but you can't really get down to such studiousness. [Jan 2015, p.74]

The duo's artfully woven sonic tapestry is somewhat spoiled by the po-faced new age banalities of their lyrics. [Oct 2012, p.74]

He's very much the equal of Radiohead's Johnny Greenwood in terms of versatility and sheer invention. [Sep 2001, p.90]

This is certainly the pair's most immediate record. It's also their least appealing. [Jun 2004, p.91]

The appealing immediacy evident on the debut is smothered by the overbearing production. [Nov 2002, p.118]

Only in Victoria Bergman's singing on "Sunbeams" do you hear any of their early shaky charm. [Apr 2006, p.113]

While some of N.E.W. feels a little undercooked, there are also fantastic moments. [May 2015, p.71]

[Producer] Wally Gagel, who helmed the 2013 EP "Fade Away" and now California Nights, gets it right, cranking up the reverb and multiplying Cosentino's vocals to achieve the Spector-esque wall of sound the duo has been aiming for. [Jun 2015, p.71]

Sky Larkin ultimately remain a little too Haley Mills. [Sep 2010, p.102]

It's a mysterious affair, but never obscure. [Feb 2014, p.68]

A bold take on martial oldie "We Want War" brings a fire and brimstone that the more sombre Field Of reeds material conspicuously lacks. [Dec 2014, p.81]

Thankfully, there's more than just wannabe Fall stuff here, offering up a variety of teeth-rattling noises. [Jan 2021, p.32]

There are wildcard influences--"Fire Lies Down" references English folk, "Warm Blood" moves into prog--that suggests Seabear could movie in many different directions. [Apr 2010, p.98]

Boasts and breakbeats are in short supply here. Instead, over gloomy strings, and pounding martial drums, Cudi rails against celebrity culture, confesses to coke-fuelled rages and even contemplates suicide. [Dec 2010, p.97]

His music often lags behind in inspiration. [Mar 2002, p.106]

This treads the thin line between appealing whimsy and finicky, smartypants noodling. [Jun 2007, p.111]

Equal parts entertaining and self-indulgent. [Nov 2015, p.77]

There's a certain modish charm to the opener, "Lucifer's Dreams," while "Finest Hour" show an aptitude for gentle balladry. Elsewhere, though, sub-Smiths smartarsery abounds. [Dec 2016, p.26]