While the aural palette's novelty value fades by the halfway mark, the final spin cycle provides a thrilling conclusion to this ingenious exercise. [Mar 2016, p.76]

A dynamic young talent improving with every release. [Apr 2019, p.39]

Smith habitually flows everything together, creating glowing and serene canvases of sound with her own gentle and expressive voice hymning at the centre. [Jul 2020, p.34]

Cohen displays a light touch throughout, whether spiking “Dog’s Face”’s reverberant honky-tonk piano with detuned guitars and brass, constructing “Sunever” around swinging mandolin or conjuring ’80s DIY indie on “Wishing Well”. [Aug 2024, p.31]

The M Ward-produced Livin' On A High Note is a wonderfully chiselled Stax forgery. [Mar 2016, p.80]

These 33 minutes are some of Malkmus' finest work; one avenue, then, has now been explored and staked out, but remains pleasingly wild. [Apr 2019, p.35]

They rather more resemble the wilfully over-wrought pastiches of Flight Of The Conchords, but without the jokes. [Sep 2009, p.82]

Professor Beam has made his first art movie, and it's a stunner. [May 2013, p.70]

Come Down With Me seems slightly out of step in 2010, harking back to a time at the turn of the millennium where Tortoise and Tarwater were still the names to drop, but you can nonetheless appreciate its glistening geometry. [Mar 2010, p.84]

It's quite beautiful, even if it feels a little pacific and lav-lamp-like in the long haul. [Feb 2012, p.84]

The perfect needle, pitched into the red every time. [Sep 2015, p.81]

Francesconi provides an elegant framework for Diane, who is in fine voice here. [Nov 2015, p.75]

A slice of life in all its messy, complicated and ultimately doomed glory. [May 2021, p.25]

Sweeping arrangements, thoughtful ambient passages and judicious archival samples drive the story, which is cleverly weighted from a thematic viewpoint. [Oct 2023, p.33]

It's hard, though, to be sure of such depth aid the often imprecise lyrics, gently sweet vocals resembling a semi-skimmed Jonathan Donahue, and muffled, ambient brass and sax swells. [Oct 2018, p.30]

The band strike a neat balance between chunky Pavement guitar scrawl and sombre orchestrals. [Dec 2011, p.89]

The Runners Four displays intuitive melody and a childlike disregard for convention that's captivating enough to overcome any saccharine tendencies. [Dec 2005, p.116]

Balancing staccato rhythms and itchy guitars with a neat line in woozy, trance-like synthesisers, they have an oblique lyrical bent that's all their own. [Feb 2008, p.80]

Sometimes, it's hard to remember who's influencing who. [Aug 2012, p.70]

All she lacks is a really killer song. [Apr 2015, p.72]

This still-teenage quartet writes heady songs that luxuriate in bubbling electronics, lagoon-diving reverb and layered harmonies. [Jun 2011, p.79]

Touches of ska... and ethereal dream-rock... betray a penchant for late-'70s guitar experimentation, alchemised here by a brilliant pop sheen. [Jul 2004, p.101]

This live site from New Year's Eve 2011 reminds why these songs are firmly embedded in NZ music folklore. [Dec 2013, p.81]

Over 10 minutes or more, he wisely avoids manipulative builds and drops, leaving a compelling opacity. [Mar 2014, p.76]

On occasion, the production on Who IS The Sender? threatens to swamp the plain-speaking poetics of Fay's lyrics with soupy sentimentality.... But just as often, producer Joshua Henry correctly gauges the tenor of these songs. [May 2015, p.74]

Plum feels very much like a landmark in his still-fresh career. [Oct 2017, p.38]

The songs may work better in short, sudden bursts; over 11 tracks, you can feel bludgeoned by the band's blunt force. [Apr 2005, p.112]

The best of Faith In The Future is among the best of Finn. [Oct 2015, p.75]