SeiTang's solo project is about extracting the trance-inducing goodness from equipment resurrected from the cusp of analogue and digital ages, so Badalamenti/Lynch Twin Peaks and Vangelis' Blade Runner are key reference points. [May 2013, p.78]

A rewarding evolution by a band that could easily coast on their rugged laurels. [Aug 2016, p.72]

Michael Franti has fashioned an inclusive pan-global pop, heard here at its most confident and fully formed. [Jul 2014, p.73]

In looking to ramp up their sound for bigger stages, the Galway trio have adopted a polished style of shoegaze in place of the earthy charm that won them admirers such as Robert Smith. This suits the muscular new songs of Julie Dawson. [Dec 2025, p.36]

There's emotional violence, spiritual leaps and supernatural powers lurking in the shadows. [Nov 2005, p.96]

The raw poetic facade occasionally cracks, but there is something special here. [Mar 2006, p.88]

Moore's delicately stylish piano lines and Liz Fraser-style vocal hiccups combine seductively. [Mar 2020, p.37]

Vermont is a project now--but the outcome is similarly minimal and beatific, with each of its 12 tracks shaded with only the most essential detail. [Mar 2017, p.40]

A darkly impassioned mix of hip hop, art rock and electronics that connects to indigenous street music as well as to Gil Scott-Heron, The Ruts and TV On The Radio. [Feb 2016, p.84]

Undertow resembles free jazz noiseniks let loose in a junkyard, cooking up a mood of creeping dread with radioactive electronics. [Apr 2017, p.40]

The LP's muscular hooks and unpretentious formalism provide Dylan with the ideal setting for his assured wordplay and signature stoicism. [Aug 2021, p.35]

It's a little hard to digest in one sitting, recalling the more outre moments from Linda Perhacs, the Cocteau Twins, or Kate Bush's Aerial. But individual moments are quietly compelling. [Jun 2016, p.81]

Lyrically, Rodgers can be stilted and adolescent at times, but she hits the sweet-spot on the compellingly stern electro-goth chant "Disgrace" and the terrific title track. [Jul 2019, p.33]

Ghost's raps are more Staten Island than Sicily. [Jul 2013, p.76]

The predominant flavour here is a sort of manic hedonism, but scratch the sequinned surface and you find some witty social commentary and a seam of vulnerability. [May 2024, p.35]

Blake's fragmented post-dubstep has always had an air of bleak melancholy, but nothing he's done has been quite as self-consciously miserable as this. [Nov 2021, p.25]

There’s acreaky Sunset Boulevard synth-pop air of nostalgia to much of Nonetheless, but just when you’re ready to dismiss it, they pull out “Love Is The Law”, adream collaboration between WH Auden and John Barry, which shoots straight into the Top 10 of their indisputably greatest songs. [Jun 2024, p.37]

It's to The Felice Brothers' credit that Favorite Waitress never quite becomes oppressively earnest, though it's a near thing at a couple points. [Jul 2014, p.75]

They've reverted to broader strokes on their self-titled follow-up. If few musical envelopes are pushed, the pounding melodic rock of "Like I Had Before" is irresistible, and will sound huge live. [Dec 2025, p.31]

Gendel makes it all appear effortless - as usual. [Apr 2023, p.26]

Alongside matters existential, there are plenty of personal expressions here. [Nov 2015, p.81]

It might seem late in the day to be claiming they’ve hit their stride, but Too Cold To Hold is the sound of a differently aspected and ultimately more satisfying Warmduscher. [Dec 2024, p.39]

Nothing is too self-consciously retro. [Feb 2013, p.71]

"Horns Surround Me" and "Feel You" may lack the intricately orchestrated arrangements of their recorded incarnations, but they're no less thoughtful. [Apr 2017, p.32]

A notably confident-sounding record. [Aug 2021, p.23]

[The interviews with dock workers, WWII veterans and itinerants whose stories inspired nine of the 12 songs make] little material difference to his music. [Feb 2014, p.77]

The dominant flavor is deliberately faceless and club-friendly electro, but the highly finessed sonics and subtle attention to detail emerge over repeat listens. [Apr 2012, p.88]

Little Windows has an easy charm, but doing this stuff well is harder than it looks. [Jun 2016, p.81]