A well-rounded triumph. [Mar 2013, p.76]

At first the music seems hermetically sealed; only with repeated listens - and an emphatic twist of the knob - do the subtle splendours burst out of the aural chrysalis containing them and take flight. [Jun 2020, p.34]

Any Day is their sharpest set of songs to date, but Sam Prekop's languid melodies still prove defiantly elusive. [Jun 2018, p.35]

[Seb Rochford] delivers Bear's most varied set to date. [Apr 2014, p.80]

Rain is a fetching guitar-pop wonder, a melodic feastm blending vintage Marshall Crenshaw-like hooks with elegant, acoustic scenes-in-miniature. [Mar 2010, p.89]

Who Will You Believe is the sound of a man who has not only grown into himself, but is finding that, despite dents and losses, he's kind of enjoying life. His trademark country-rock jangle glistens. [Apr 2024, p.39]

Terrific follow-up. [Oct 2020, p.29]

Wagner has achieved a fusion of the outgoing, string-driven country-soul heard on 2000's Nixon... and the reluctant intimacy of 2002's low-key Is A Woman. [combined review of both discs; Feb 2004, p. 68]

It's entirely fantastical stuff. [Apr 2022, p.32]

The 'contemporary classical' tag doesn't do justice to their cinematic, intense instrumental narratives. [Mar 2006, p.104]

It's Roderick's lyrics that really grip. [Nov 2006, p.118]

The results shimmer like rivers at dusk. [Sep 2010, p.111]

Highlights include Idles’ explosive “Peace Signs”; St Panther unlocking the irresistible pop heart of “One Day”; and “Love More” given a rhythmic, world-weary makeover by Fiona Apple. [Jun 2021, p.46]

This meatier effort offers more of the same dog-eared melancholy. [Oct 2007, p.90]

Highlights include the waltzing "About As Helpful As You Can Be Without Being Any Help At All" and a breathless canter through the Broken Social Scene stylings of "Post-War Blues." [Jan 2012, p.93]

A collection that aims to sweep up the moments when the spotlight isn't on, Sawdust, therefore, might just be their defining document [Jan 2008, p.91]

Country Sleep will never get a party swinging, but if you're in the mood to have your heart ripped out, it does the job beautifully. [Mar 2013, p.75]

Out Of My Window shimmers like a heat haze. [Nov 2008, p.105]

The pinnacle is the tidal rhythms of 'Sickness, Bury,' but there's plenty more here to admire and absorb. [Nov 2008, p.98]

Six Organs may be a stylistic cul de sac for Chasny but, on this evidence, who needs a way out? [Apr 2011, p.92]

A fast-paced, multi-faceted, furiously entertaining record that reveal hidden emotional depth. [May 2015, p.79]

A discordant, but strangely beautiful, experiment from the outer fringes of pop. [May 2011, p.93]

Red Barked Tree is the most successful product to date of this examination. [Feb 2011, p.86]

These are impenetrable walls of off-kilter guitars, skronking saxophones and icy synths, topped off with Richard Butler's mournful rasp. ... For the most part, Made Of Rain cleaves closest to the sense thrum of Talk Talk Talk. [Jun 2020, p.37]

[A] moody, edgy album. [Mar 2002, p.104]

A rich, evocative portrait. ... The album's raw honesty is also highly tuneful. [Mar 2023, p.34]

An enduring tenacity runs through Works For Tomorrow, one of the best and feistiest entries in their catalogue. [Sep 2015, p.73]

The opening, “Sky Hooks” is beguiling, too, while “Hooked Paw” amps up the dub and woozy quotients to unique effect. [Sep 2024, p.39]