The longer cuts like "Les Echos", "Ann" and "crooked Teeth" are most compelling, with loops projecting through the air and clashing like streamlined silver darts. [Dec 2022, p.32]

The synthetic drama of Maps' "The Other Side" retains the tension of Apollo 8's inaugural moon mission; Vessels anchor "EVA" with a tidy bassline; Field Music remodel "Korolev" into a taut, angular beauty. [Aug 2016, p.80]

Despite the odd longueurs, Boys Don't Cry is a heartfelt, beguiling match of singer and song. [Jul 2012, p.80]

Beneath The Skin is further proof that the Icelandic music movement is a near-unstoppable force. [Aug-Sep 2015, p.79]

The mood is upbeat throughout; a joyous, non-stop chug through several shades of American popular song. [Nov 2019, p.28]

Overall, this is a lavish, well-produced affair that still finds room for the kinks and chaos of the Arkestra. [Nov 2020, p.34]

It's business as usual, but a welcome return nonetheless. [Nov 2018, p.32]

The finest moment is the moving wartime ballad, "No Man's Land." [Mar 2022, p.35]

Every one of these 11 songs is a work of wayward genius. [Apr 2007, p.106]

Economical as he is, Mendez suggests wider musical ambitions with the light lysergic choral coda of "Mary/Dreaming" and the budget baroque of "Frog". [Jun 2026, p.33]

It's a svelte, consummately accomplished change, although Burnett's reliably polished, sometimes even laidback, settings allow plenty of room for grit and sweat. [Apr 2017, p.32]

This daring approach at times exposes the quality of their material, but mostly this is sparkling stuff. [May 2019, p.34]

Gibbard's freighted eloquence gives Asphalt Meadows its unsettling immediacy. [Oct 2022, p.26]

Eskmo's sweet, pop-toned vocals add an unexpected element to his expression of the sublime, although he lets his club-floor impulse rip on "The Sun IS A Drum." [Mar 2015, p.76]

The 2020 material is curiouser sill, a body of elegant guitar pop as abstruse as it is seductive. They've still got it. [Aug 2020, p.39]

The Bees' oddball genre-hopping is still evident. [Sep 2018, p.24]

Feldwick is clearly a livewire talent adept at mashing up everything from vintage Sega sample to the arthouse end of dubstep. [Jul 2012, p.83]

The Killer is a rich and immersive experience. [Sep 2012, p.85]

A fine album. [Feb 2017, p.35]

Surprises are reassuringly thin on the ground here, but the quality of Ubovich's psych-tinged ramalams, mostly delivered at Ramones speed, is high. [Dec 2014, p.77]

Little on Painkillers would sound misplaced on any given Gaslight Anthem album. Which, if one is predisposed to the band's hearty but thoughtful brand of rock'n'roll, is no bad thing. [Apr 2016, p.73]

Low-key but engrossing, Tranquility Base is a slow-burner, self-doubting but pushing ever onwards. It's a brave new step, even if it can be a little one-paced, and a little withholding. [Jun 2018, p.25]

Cohesive and pleasingly understated, drawing on post-punk, Afro-pop and Talking Heads-style funk-pop, and glued together by Fraiture's gauzy vocals. [May 2017, p.39]

Runddans is 39 minutes of continuous music, most closely related tot he percolating grooves of Lindstrom's Where You Go I Go Too. [Jun 205, p.81]

Her latest is more remarkable for its beguiling softness as well as a sometimes woozy feel that befits the contents' absinthe-soaked origins. [Oct 2020, p.36]

Nau's real forte flies in gentle melodies that meander beguilingly, sung in a rich and warm baritone that is more Kurt Wagner than Springsteen. [Sep 2018, p.35]

The new songs tend to be a little too blues-rock generic, but there's fun to be had on the self-penned "If You Wanna Rock'n'Roll". [Dec 2025, p.30]

A fascinating document of exactly how far he's travelled. [May 2005, p.117]