This third album is even better, his voice smoother, more assured, and the tunes equally as confident. [Nov 2010, p.92]

Wainwright’s vocals imbue the material with a mixture of world-weariness, compassion and delight, qualities that didn’t loom large in the emotional lexicon of his younger self.

it's a densely layered, frictional set that matches emotional heft and musical invention in equal and impressive measure. [May 2025, p.39]

Born Like This finds the New York MC triumphing with content rather than form. [Jun 2009, p.85]

The debut LP by Elias Bender Ronnenfelt's new project feels more daring still. [May 2015, p.77]

A funny, peculiar, epic piece of pop minimalism that could be no-one else but Hannon. [Jul 2019, p.27]

It's a delicate, individual record, from the same neighbourhood as Paul Weller's recent excursions in rustic soul, but instead of Weller's creosotey vocals, the emotion is carried in a Minnie Riperton trill.

Her free rock trio is on thunderous form on these lithe and sinewy instruments, stirred up in a cauldron of sub-metal froth and white-hot jazz rock. [Jun 2013, p.76]

The lyrics are occasionally hackneyed, but overall 4 is a very strong record indeed. [Sep 2011, p.79]

The band pursue numerous fractured trends through a breakneck 34 minutes and manages to corral them into an acid-drenched but cohesive whole. [Nov 2015, p.83]

A record that pivots around like the Minutemen; delivered with a verve that comes with a clarity of identity. [Dec 2024, p.36]

[An] instant classic. [Sep 2006, p.84]

Rhubarb Rhubarb is scuzzy but smart, surging between primitive playfulness and something more malevolent. [Dec 2014, p.83]

"D4N" is a shimmering piece of neo-soul featuring vocals from kindred spirit Sampha. even better are the tracks that dispense with the drums and moves into woozy, beatless territory, using choral harmonies and FX-laden electric pianos. [Sep 2023, p.27]

A further shift away from the full-throttle krautrock of their early years into something more sumptuous. [Feb 2019, p.37]

As history lessons goes, it's a lively one. [Mar 2015, p.81]

The Besnard Lakes' fourth album doesn't really add anything new to the heady concoction of symphonic shoegaze, doo-wop and spy stories they perfected on 2007's Are The Dark Horse, but it's always a pleasure to hear them work up a storm. [May 2013, p.67]

The covers from less celebrated acts support the premise most intriguingly. [Jul 2025, p.49]

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

These are glistening sonic fancies picked out in neon and Day-Glo. [May 2011, p.79]

A seductive mix of pastoral folk, motorik beats, psychedelic ragas and gnarly '70s rock, transposed to the Japanese landscape. [Jun 2016, p.74]

After a couple of plays, you're struck by Up's sonic cleverness. Three or four listens and the lyrical complexity begins to bite. Finally, and insidiously, after perhaps six or seven plays, the melodies bury themselves in your head. [Oct 2002, p.112]

At the fluttering heart of this 10th album is the voice of Karen Peris. Her phrasing and tonal glides are as distinctive as those of Victoria Williams or Iris DeMent. [Aug 2018, p.28]

It invokes countless familiar sources--The Byrds, Ennio Morricone, The La's, The Doors, Joe Meek--but reassembles them in such an unexpected way that 500-year-old songs sound utterly fresh. [Feb 2010, p.88]

It's a long time since a debut album forged its influences into something quite as fresh and rich as this. [May 2011, p.87]

"Say Valley Maker" and "Rock Bottom Riser" are hypnotic highpoints, but best of all is "Diamond Dancer," an incongruous slice of hillbilly funk on which he channels his inner Gil-Scott Heron. [Jun 2010, p.83]

Beauty & Ruin falls short as a masterpiece but it quietly lets the handbrake off on Mould's creativity. [Jul 2014, p.79]

There's a beautiful simpatico between Prochet and Danell throughout that elevates everything, and the El Michels Affair contribution points outwards, to new experiences. It's a lovely album - 30 minutes well spent. [Jan 2026, p.20]