This set offers up a dozen nuggets from the heyday of Nigeria Afropop, all previously unreleased outside West Africa. [Jun 2019, p.49]

The set never feels like adapted poetry. [Jun 2017, p.28]

It's still deeply strange. ... Crucial to its success is its keen rhythmic sense. [Oct 2021, p.25]

His choices suit not only his rich, resonant baritone but also rich Machin's soul-and-gospel-heavy treatments. [Jan 2022, p.24]

Tiden follows much the same formula [as 2011's Stunden] of Satie-esque piano sketches nestled in softly lapping rhythms, muted electro shadings and vaguely lysergic drones.

The Norwegian band's seventh album evokes the storms and swells of mid-period Bad Seeds and Crime & The City Solution. [Oct 2018, p.23]

Although Father Divine ultimately feels more like a sketchbook than a coherent work, Ladd's doodles contain more fertile ideas than most artists' finished albums. [Mar 2006, p.91]

The songs themselves are fascinating in their breadth, and if nothing else, The Visitor feels like Young's broadest album in some time. [Feb 2018, p.26]

Phased guitars recall that past's sweetest '60s spot as lyrics touch on wider, cosmic delay. The epic "Might As Well Ne Me, Florinda" is the best of two Robert Hunter co-writes. [Apr 2026, p.33]

Yes, it’s fascinating at times to be a witness to the meticulous construction of great music, but the contents of this boxset feel a mite desperate, rather than generous, and the flabbiness of its 11-minute jams is entirely inappropriate for an album that famously doesn’t contain an ounce of fat.

While Mid Air is an album occasionally rooted in grief following the loss of Romy's parents, it seeks to take those moments of joy and dancefloor elation. [Oct 2023, p.34]

An extraordinary instrumental album full of hypnotic rhythms and minimalist melodies that are both stunningly beautiful and at times oddly unsettling. [Jun 2018, p.28]

His debut LP married experimental electronics and alt.pop. Now, he takes a giant step closer to the latter. [May 2015, p.73]

Self-consciously odd, but entertaining. [Sep 2001, p.98]

Evans' descendent Gruff Rhys has immortalised his journey with a saga in documentary, book, app and CD form. Rhys has a talent for presenting such material with the right mix of pathos and play. [Jun 2014, p.82]

If the duo seem unfocused, their adventurous variety is beguiling. [Dec 2020, p.29]

The follow-up [to 2009's Warm Heart Of Africa] is similarly energetic and eclectic. [Aug 2012, p.83]

Talkie Talkie benefits from a sharpening of focus even if the instrumental foursome remain determined to recombine such normally disparate elements as sun-scorched psych, Caribbean rhythms, Turkish disco and the kind of rock bravura rarely captured outside of an ’80s movie soundtrack. [Oct 2024, p.31]

The LPs collected here lack the punch of his previous efforts. But they do have their charms. ... Most revealing are two live LPs, from '83 and '87, that show an artist reconsidering his old hits--and his old selves--for new fans. [Nov 2018, p.45]

Admittedly, without seeing the play--which officially opens in London on November 8--the soundtrack feels an incomplete experience. At its most successful, Lazarus finds new ways of presenting well-known songs; an unenviable task for Hey and his seven-piece band.

The occasional ordinary moment confirms a suspicion that Sway only really excels when he's playing the comic foil. [Mar 2006, p.88]

They show little interest in shaking up the formula they established with 1982’s mighty Roman Gods. And that’s just fine given the lusty energy that frontman Peter Zaremba and guitarist Keith Streng muster up on the memorably greasy “The Consequences”, the self-explanatory “Wah Wah Power” and other time-defying displays of undimmed bravado. [Jan 2025, p.34]

Although the Poseidon, Lizard and Islands discs all contain bonus tracks and outtakes, the boxset’s primary focus is on live material. Over a dozen concerts from 1971–2 are included, four of which are previously unreleased. ... The sound of the ’71 gigs is gritty and realistic, and often mixed in stereo. But there’s a noticeable drop in quality when the ’72 gigs start (on disc 10) in Wilmington, Delaware. These are cassette recordings, very rough and bootleggy.

Modern Nature is close to classic Charlatans--no mean feat after their recent tribulation. [Feb 2015, p.74]

Glorious polyglot. [Apr 2013, p.73]

He finds a Teenage Fanclub-style melancholic charm on songs like "America," "How Can I Love You" and the excellent "Palindromes," while "All The Same" and "Twenty-Two" head into heavier territory. [Sep 2021, p.25]

Nostalgic homage never overwhelms the heady sense of sonically rich, exploratory weirdness. [Jul 2016, p.71]

These songs, dehydrated after 50 years, sound bright and timeless. [Jun 2012, p.97]