The Blue Elephant is a sonic odyssey. [Jun 2021, p.23]

Kurt Wagner’s appetite for change hasn’t dwindled, and Lambchop’s succinct 16th is, thanks to his MIDI piano experiments, particularly tempting. [Jul 2021, p.30]

Atmospheric soundscapes. ... Awash with an adventurousness some might find surprising in a 71-year-old. [Oct 2021, p.25]

If a few concessions are made to mainstream mores here, it still works on its own idiosyncratic terms. [Mar 2022, p.25]

Heaton and Abbott's fifth breaks taboos about infant deaths on the quietly moving “Still” and nobly restores self-belief on the uplifting “When The World Would Actually Listen”. They remain impervious to musical snobbery, too. [Oct 2022, p.31]

Doyle has made a record that is as intricate as it is infectious, creating a deft yet complex pop collage that turns a troubled and chaotic world into a beautiful spectacle. [Feb 2024, p.28]

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]

A little like The Strokes of Is This It trying their hand at metronomic Can jams or mesmeric slowcore. And yet melody is key throughout. [Sep 2025, p.33]

Big Thief are at their best when the instruments step back and create a mellower platform from which Lenker can dominate. [Jul 2016, p.69]

It's spellbinding, shiver-down-the-spine stuff, and enough to have any self-respecting Quadropheniac dusting down their scooter for one last run down to Brighton. ... Their best since Quadrophenia, then. [Dec 2019, p.22]

The further Merritt strays from her default setting, the more affecting she is. [Nov 2012, p.79]

This is a satisfying mix of revised and completed '60s recordings by original Monkees songsmiths like Boyce & Hart and Neil Diamond, with new songs by the likes of Andy Partridge, Rivers Cuomo and Adam Schlesinger. [Jul 2016, p.78]

Sade Adu and co return with more snoozy, expensively produced, quiet-storm soul. [Mar 2010, p.95]

These slight but beautiful tracks have gossamer-thin melodies and are held together by repetition, willpower, a creaky Steinway piano and some stunning vocals. [Review of the Year 2023, p.23]

John Darnielle shares Haines' nostalgic affection for the stars of Martial pantomime, and deploys his deadpan indie rock and trademark wordiness to fine effect. [May 2015, p.78]

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

Jeffreys' serves up a vibrant stew of musical styles while taking the pulse of his beloved New York. [Jun 2012, p.74]

It's confident work, with faith in the power of a few elements. [Oct 2012, p.79]

A certain wistfulness pervades this record, as frontman David Best comes to terms with middle age, yet musically they're as sprightly as ever, having minted a shimmering take on krautrock that allows them to explore numerous directions. [Jan 2023, p.18]

It's fair to say that Mitchell rarely does the heavy lifting here. Her role onstage is a fluid one: muse-goddess, North Star, shredder, comic foil and sometimes singer. The playing by her fellow artists is stellar and the backing vocals, in particular, ooze class. [Aug 2023, p.22]

For shredheads, there's urgent opener "The Static God," while the superb "Animated Violence" alternates between the album's twin moods of sustained guitar menace and reflective percussive ambience. [Sep 2017, p.35]

Some fans just seemed to hate it [1979's At Budokan] very, very much. .... But listening to this expanded edition - featuring the two full concerts from which the original was compiled - the reaction is, "What's the problem?" Dylan sings his heart out. [Review of the Year 2023, p.40]

Even at their most glibly bombastic, there's a melancholy undertow that they can't shake. [Album of the Month, Dec 2004, p.136]

Hubble bubble! From weird sources and high ideals comes a spooky, sensual piece of pop sorcery. And it's bewitching. [Dec 2009, p. 91]

Elegant backgound music, better live, you suspect. [Dec 2007, p.98]

The album's meandering latter stages drag a little, but overall Cinder provides a grand musical landscape. [Nov 2005, p.114]

Their hedonistic sex-dance anthems go down a treat. [Apr 2003, p.103]

Think Randy Newman crooned in a voice like Peggy Lee and delivered with the panache of Rufus Wainwright. [Sep 2004, p.96]