The second solo album still sounds like a wilful jukebox stocked on the disparate taste of someone attempting vinyl hari-kari. [Apr 2003, p.116]

Everything shines out brighter and louder than ever before as they return from a three-year break. [Sep 2014, p.64]

[El-P's] sinister, scarified industrial noise and beats bring a grimly thrilling dimension. [Jul 2006, p.102]

Arcade Fire have delivered a triumphant restatement of purpose that 2022 probably doesn’t deserve but is brightened by all the same.[Jun 2022, p.35]

Backed by a 15-piece band plus horn section, they delivered a spirited set of classic blues, R&B and gospel that concluded with “The Weight”, which Staples and Helm had first performed together at The Last Waltz in 1976 at the start of their 35-year friendship. [Jun 2022, p.33]

Smart and slick but vulnerable too, it's the point where Blonde On Blonde meets Voulez-Vous. [Apr 2020, p.33]

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]

The self-produced LP captures the energy and sentiment of a veteran bar band tearing it up in some Jersey Shore dive - meaning they're very much in their element on this timeless record. [Nov 2023, p.31]

Most of it so beautiful and effortless and easy, and no matter how much you want to look for ghoulish clues, it sounds like a great new record by someone spectacularly alive. [Jan 2012, p.83]

Upping the tempo-and libido of her Grammy-winning "Beautifully Human," here Scott lays the funky paramaters wide open. Jan 2008, p.100]

A set of one-take, fragile musings, predominantly for acoustic guitar and voice. [Mar 2019, p.23]

Throughout the album, it's a thrill to hear Rhys' mellifluous voice juxtaposed with the music's synthetic thrust.

An album that is as eccentric as it is atmospheric. [Feb 2012, p.90]

An electrifying collision of cosmic jazz and squalling psychedelic rock, all tumbling grooves and frenzied collective euphoria. [May 2019, p.34]

Adios expands on 2014's The No-Hit Wonder by incorporating heaps of soul, a pinch of sprightly folk and swampy blues. [May 2017, p.25]

Against all odds it works, distilling shots of Bowie, Billy Idol and inevitably, Pulp into a surprisingly potent cocktail of list and regret. [May 2025, p.35]

The Decemberists' most immediate and outgoing album. [Feb 2011, p.76]

The songs are suited by the rough and tumble, though, wearing the bruises with poise and pride. [May 2012, p.83]

These are beautiful songs, penned from midlife. [May 2014, p.82]

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]

Crucially, though, sardonically strong melodies underpin the, er, shit. [Jun 2011, p.94]

The dissonant guitars and whirring synths land on the more accessible side of avant-garde rock, veering into sia-esque pop on tracks like "Greener Stretch," though revelling in never quite resolving its melodies. [Nov 2017, p.36]

“Love Resurrection” exhibits a more redemptive, albeit Yazoo-like energy. Later work, too, is transformed, with “Filigree”, from 2013’s The Minutes, now a poignant piano ballad and B-side “Tongue Tied” (from 2002’s Hometime era) getting the electronic polish it deserves. [Nov 2024, p.40]

Loaded: Reloaded stands as a lavish sequel. [Nov 2015, p.92]

It's often breathtaking. [Mar 2018, p.22]

d'Ecco has become marvellously proficient at channelling the spirits of Bowie, Bolan and Jobriath into riff-forward dance-rock numbers, and In Standard Definition is irresistible trash for anyone so inclined. [May 2021, p.23]

You can't turn the clock back, of course, but in "Sad Days And Lonely Nights" you completely understand how the simple groove and ringing of the strings might act as a revivifying tonic. [Jun 2021, p.23]

A bold leap forwards. [Apr 2008, p.98]