Akin to labelmate Brian Eno's early ambient work, its nine, often lengthy tracks of ghostly yet graceful desolation are intended to evoke the forgotten histories of enduring locations. [Jan 2018, p.18]

A soul-funk "cousin" to Big Inner, featuring a hefty dose of off-kilter Afro-pop alongside jazz-rock freak-outs and the acid-country of "Blue As My Name," where Blau claims to be "drunk with Wonder again." He sounds it. [Dec 2017, p.22]

The self-lacerating starkness of "Drive" still freezes the blood, while at the other end of the emotional scale, "Nightswimming" finds solace in snapshots of a lost summer. [Dec 2017, p.42]

Savage Young Du stands as some testament to his [Grant Hart's] wild creativity, and the protean energy of the band that first brought his songs to the world. [Dec 2017, p.34]

The voice is all Gainsbourg. [Dec 2017, p.27]

The tracks are so sparse and lo-fi as to fell half-finished, and Svenonius' smouldering delivery fails to catch fire. [Dec 2017, p.27]

A surprising mutation, for anyone familiar with Dwyer at full-tilt, but Memory Of A Cut Off Head proves his magic straddles genres. [Dec 2017, p.30]

Soul Of A Woman proves to be so much more than your average swansong. ... Sly, spirited and sublime, it packs a whole lot of action into its 36 filler-free minutes. [Dec 2017, p.16]

Where Mavis' voice once a rangey, optimistic mezzo-soprano, her register has dropped dramatically to an emotionally rich, brassy contralto. It adds a growling intensity to lyrics that are dignified rather than angry. [Dec 2017, p.24]

On her second LP, Gothenburg's Sumie Nagano recites her depressive, wintry haikus in a soft, pure voice over some rather samey accompaniment. [Dec 2017, p.33]

As is traditional, there will be those bemoaning the fact it's no Dopethrone, and "The Reaper," is over in an uncharacteristically brief three minutes, feels like a waste of a track. Still, Wizard Bloody Wizard offers enormous pleasures. [Dec 2017, p.26]

Permo's strength is the variety of voices provided by rotating singers Rachel Taylor, Sean Armstrong and Jack Mellin, which in turn encourages and emphasises the band's range. [Dec 2017, p.33]

Recorded in Nashville with Ken Coomer producing and former Sturgill Simpson guitarist Laur Joamets adding minimal country flourishes, it goes some way to understanding what to do with Oren's voice, a low, conversational rumble which manages to disguise the clipped poetry of his lyrics as easy conversation. [Dec 2017, p.32]

This is in many ways his weakest since Kill Uncle. [Dec 2017, p.20]

Keith provides Out Of Range with its sense of momentum, moving things forward where Sharp will circle his themes like a vulture. ... Gun Outfit can sing from the heart as well as from the brain. [Dec 2017, p.31]

Raymonde elicits gorgeous performances from guest vocalists. ... Even more welcome are the deviations from the sumptuous dream-pop and ethereal acid-folk modes you'd expect of Ojala. [Dec 2017, p.28]

The Animal spirits is earthy and tactile. [Dec 2017, p.23]

14 beautifully broken-hearted tunes about just what the album title says. [Dec 2017, p.33]

Hebden's skill is to weave such ethnographic curiosities into the fabric of his own luminous electronica without it feeling like a dry curatorial exercise. [Dec 2017, p.27]

A bit of a triumph. [Dec 2017, p.27]

The four collaborations her with Brit-soul Omar are rather dated pieces of junglist-tinted acid jazz, but elsewhere Pine's orthodox, instrumental ballads are exquisite and well-written. [Dec 2017, p.30]

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

He's captured the binary sense of outrage and fear with visceral brilliance on songs such as "twins" and "Stone Age." [Oct 2017, p.36]

"Nights In The Lab" finds scientist Martin pining for a white-coated colleague, one of many tracks that would have fitted just as neatly into his famed '70s stand-up shows as it does a highfalutin hoedown at the Grand Ole Opry. [Nov 2017, p.32]

A succinct, deceptively simple half-hour outing. [Dec 2017, p.25]

An eccentric collection that only adds to his mystique. [Dec 2017, p.26]

Even at its most languid, this album retains a faintly manic, frazzled quality that prevents it from descending too far into retro pastiche. [Dec 2017, 9.28]

This new album is a bit of a mess at times, though its scope is almost as impressively broad as its top-loaded guestlist. [Dec 2017, p.25]