The Idiot and Lust For Life still mostly sound thrillingly bold. ... Sadly, the bonus disc of outtakes and rare tracks is thin. ... Substantial live discs. [Jul 2020, p.51]

Doubling down on the Deadhead-to-Lagos sound of “Frisco Beaver” may mean fewer surprises but the band’s loyal herd will no doubt savour the greater prominence of keyboard-driven freakouts and the greater fullness of grooves like the one that powers the mighty “Ouroboros”. [Nov 2024, p.36]

[It] sees them break out of the subculture in spectacular style. [Nov 2006, p.123]

There's nothing here to surprise anyone familiar with Mogwai's chiefly instrumental, epic soundscaping. [Mar 2005, p.120]

Matt Korvette is a misanthropic force of nature whether ticking off the negatives of cities from Boston to Rome ("Everywhere IS Bad") or addressing adult responsibility ("Helicopter Parent"). [Mar 2024, p.33]

The Stand-In has everything that made its predecessor special--big voice, expertly crafted tunes, clever backings, a deft mix of stridency and restraint--but is definitely a step up.

Black Cherry this ain't, then. As a companion piece to its genius predecessor, though, Supernature iis planty to be going on with. [Sep 2005, p.108]

The music is pure old-time country though, their pressed-linen harmonies already hailed by Exec Producer T Bone Burnett--on whose label this mostly covers record is released--as among the purest he's ever heard. [Mar 2011, p.92]

Pedal steel and fiddle waltz around a crystal-clear baritone on a succession of laments to hillbilly heartbreak that ooze class from every pore. [Jun 2018, p.28]

His tools may be blunt, and too many tracks sound like unfinished sketches, but Zomby manages to summon a uniquely unsettling atmosphere. [Aug 2011, p.107]

Though not everything here works, Spiral remains consistently intriguing throughout. [Sep 2021, p.27]

There are crafted, uplifting songs, but also haunting, ambient undercurrents hinting at everything from Art Of Noise to The xx to Fever Ray. [May 2011, p.103]

[The album] fires out volleys of convincing Metalheadz-style jungle breakbeats, embedded in brooding sound collages apparently influenced by Jonny Greenwood's score for There Will Be Blood. [Mar 2014, p.71]

Infinite House sounds like a less precious Dirty Projectors swagger toward that rare place where unashamed intellect meets accessible pop. [May 2015, p.69]

Hayden Norman Thorpe's falsetto squawk is the controversial focal point but his lust for language is equally extraordinary.

Let It All In is all kitchen-sink realism and mordant one-liners best exemplified in the TS Elliot-influenced "Some Day Better."

Amid the murk, there are still magnetic, rough-hewn fight songs about heartache and ambition. [Aug 2013, p.69]

The girls have made a gorgeously restrained full-length debut that intimates both youthfulness in its most innocent state and startling self-awareness. [Nov 2013, p.74]

Trouble is a typically tender, casually contemplative, occasionally tearful goodbye. [Nov 2014, p.72]

Production-wise it tips a brim to the jazzy psych of the Brainfeeder crew, with some very gnarly riffs chopping through the boom-bap. [Feb 2015, p.77]

There's something of the teenage Laura Marking about Rachel Sermanni. [Aug 2015, p.78]

Tan remains aloof and introspective, still murmuring about lonely walks and cigarettes, but now there's a swagger and verve to his production. [Jan 2016, p.75]

It's a typically sharp uppercut from the former lynchpin of The Broken Family Band and Singing Adams. [Apr 2016, p.67]

Their 10th studio album might be their best of the new century: 11 songs capturing the reckless dynamic that made these Texans alt.country heroes in the 10th century. [Mar 2017, p.37]

Here, the likes of "Call Upon The Fire" and "Commanche Moon" continue to mines, as, say Earth do, a folk essence of melody and lore. [Apr 2017, p.23]

To be fair, there’s an element of You Never Were Much Of A Dancer that feels a little like an index of possibilities, as though Raymond’s setting out what she can do: future albums will, hopefully, be yet more coherent, more conceptually thoroughgoing. But for a first album, it also feels stunningly confident, in full possession of its art. Guitar soli is in very good hands here indeed.

A joyful noise. [Sep 2018, p.39]

With a touch of the sinister, James' voice swerves through a spectrum of wild emotions; folk, blues and a dreamy, eerie style of pop wind their way through everything here. [Apr 2020, p.27]