A pleasantly bitchy book gives all Ork acts their due, a raft of rare tracks completing the picture. Prix offcuts are essential listening for Big Star fetishists.

The first record in a long while I've wanted to play again immediately after it's finished. [Album Of The Month, April 2002, p.92]

There's not a weak moment here, though the aforementioned "I Don't Like My Mind" and "The Deal", with its sudden percussive tumult, shine brightest. [Nov 2023, p.31]

The two CDs from SIR Rehearsals in New York find Dylan in what might be described as his element. Which is to say, at the centre of a certain amount of chaos. His Approach to rehearsal is at best relaxed, if not entirely whimsical. [Jul 2019, p.44]

Though Cleveland's delivery is generally far more subdued, Manzanita shares a similarly transportative, anciently psychedelic feel with The Incredible String Band's magical '60s work. [Apr 2023, p.24]

Waits does nothing predictable here, and the structure of even the most forlorn tear-jerker is ambitious and avant-something-or-other. [Co-Album Of The Month, June 2002, p.106]

Tough, funky and proud, she sounds like she could have been the new Aretha. [Feb 2004, p.87]

Cook puts Staples right at the front of the mix, accentuating her voice to the point where it's like she's whispering in the listener's ear. [Dec 2025, p.37]

The only downside to this soundtrack is that you can’t watch Prince slink around stage or pretend to take a bath with the audience, but at least the Blu-ray. [Jul 2022, p.44]

However minor these 45s may have seemed at the time, together they constitute a major discovery for any soul fan regardless of his or her denomination (or utter lack thereof). [Oct 2019, p.50]

John Lee Hooker was the most adaptable bluesmen. ... King Of The Boogie is a career-bridging overview that highlights these abundant qualities across five discs. [Nov 2017, p.50]

This new 2024 remix by Paul Hicks and Dhani Harrison brings the album into greater relief when compared to previous releases: the orchestral arrangements are brought out of the murk, Harrison’s vocals are clearer and sharper, and the album’s peculiar air of dry, ascetic starkness is increased. .... Rather than being driven by a holier-than-thou smugness, this is an album whose wracked, painful honesty and sense of deep disappointment rivals that of John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. [Review of the Year 2024, p.42]

Constant Noise is a majestic state-of-the-nation polemic, novelistic in scale, eclectic in sound, humane and lyrical even at its most nihilistic. [Apr 2025, p.28]

A record as sonically rich as it is lyrically bold. [Apr 2025, p.35]

At times their lurid romanticism can be an acquired taste... But there's an ambition and articulacy here. [Mar 2005, p.104]

As a reminder of his consummate talent, and a place to start George's comeback, it's hard to beat. [Feb 2011, p.93]

A cresting, rolling record of complexity and depth. [May 2024, p.24]

A creative triumph out of Mali's darkest hour. [Mar 2013, p.73]

It's the interplay between the core duo, and between the American and African influences, that gives Wood/Metal its hypnotic pull. [Nov 2016, p.23]

A mighty musical exorcism. [Dec 2023, p.30]

Iechyd Da feels a culmination of all he set out to do. It’s a record that beckons you over and invites you in, that rewards your faith and careful listening with moments of extraordinary beauty, unflinching honesty, a sonic exchange of love. [Review Of The Year 2023, p.16]

Teems with compelling, trademark narratives full of vivid characters. .... There's a weight to his voice that lends these tales even more authority. [Jul 2025, p.31]

The best-kept secret in the Coltrane archive seems to leap between every stage of his career, like a greatest-hits sampler being improvised in real time. [Sep 2018, p.45]

The official line on In Utero is that it's a raw uncomfortable document of a band in turmoil and a songwriter on the edge. That's partly true, but it's also cathartic, invigorating, full of terrific, scabrous pop songs, and a good laugh to boot. [Nov 2013, p.86]

Big Boi's absurd--and absurdly dextrous--verbiage knits it all together handsomely. [Sep 2010, p.85]

Untrue is altogether warmer than its predecessor. [Jan 2008, p.87]

It's a great illustration of how the trio are even more than the sum of their considerable parts. [Jun 2023, p.25]

Their battery-acid sharp Dransfields harmonies and uilleann pipe drones ensure their second album is powerfully strange. [Dec 2017, p.28]