Like fellow minimalists The xx, Blake takes from dubstep an awareness of space and silence; he appreciates the power of a perfectly weighted pause. [Mar 2011, p.98]

As long as nobody mentions Aled Jones, this is exhilarating. [May 2010, p.94]

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.

Over it all, Vek free-associates with the kind of bland monotony which serves his music--and these times--surprisingly well. [Jul 2014, p.83]

At a time when all things punky or funky with an NY zip code are the peak of chic, Talking Heads ought to be lauded as authentic pioneers. [Jan 2004, p.118]

The most common description of this much-discussed album over the past few months is that YHF is Americana's Kid A. In truth, it's more successful than that. [May 2002, p.112]

These 10 songs are intimate, graceful and surprisingly hooky. [Oct 2018, p.24]

Prophet's approach is tailored to suit, exploring modern and antique mythology through the vernacular of folk music. Despite the stylistic departure, The Land That Time Forgot is busy enough to accommodate trace elements of the roots-rock that made his reputation. [Jul 2020, p.28]

There aren't many groups whose experimental cojones nestle comfortably alongside arch-classicist songwriting, but Califone solved that thorny equation long ago. [Sep 2013, p.85]

"Hard Drive," meanwhile adds spoken word and Bogie's swirling saxophone to a touching tale of psychic recovery, before "The Ramble" concludes with pretty pastel drones. [Mar 2021, p.31]

Magical. [Apr 2007, p.114]

Avoiding the ponderous repetition that dragged down songs like “Bullets” on the first record, they concoct a gentler, dreamier atmosphere with less apparent anxiety, and create a shadowy veil of sadness, shot through with hopeful transcendence.

Twice as long as the band's debut, it's also more than doubly assured. [June 2008, p.99]

Tortoise's John McEntire, producing, keep the whole rhapsodic jam on an even keel. [May 2018, p.30]

Mos Def can still create the year's finest hip hop album. [Sep 2009, p.88]

Baltimore multi-instrumental duo Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack have raised their game with this third LP. [Apr 2011, p.103]

[His] best collection in more than a decade. ... These songs present an entirely unromaticised, often harrowing portrait of the outlaw genre. [Jul 2017, p.28]

This is a beautifully executed love letter to the eternal pop rush. [Jun 2012, p.82]

It's the band's ability to so gracefully coexist in these seemingly contradictory worlds that makes them such an inimitable outfit all these years on. [Oct 2020, p.39]

These songs are full and rich, with longtime foil The Strangers creating honky-tonk, country shuffles and even Tin Pan Alley backdrops that often explode with life. [May 2010, p.98]

This follow-up is lighter still, housing Friedberger's gorgeous voice and diary-entry love songs within a freewheeling sound that bounces around the late '60s and '70s, looking for classic pop clues. [Jul 2013, p.75]

The peppy “Setting Sun” recalls the guitar jangle of the band’s early days, but for the most part this is a bold and seductive exploration of symphonic pop that relishes pushing envelopes at will. [Jul 2024, p.31]

Over-the-top histrionics are nicely downplayed by the lo-fi indie faction. [Dec 2003, p.124]

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

It's all very wry, but rather endearingly so. [Dec 2019, p.30]

Sasami's aim is clear: she forces you to pay attention. [Mar 2022, p.35]

It's a majestic transformation. [Dec 2005, p.102]

A worthy, if more subdued, companion to Kacey Johansing's The Hiding last year. [Mar 2018, p.37]