Synths and drum machines dominate, courtesy of Epworth and producer Thom Monahan, lending Elytral a seemly patina of '80s dark-pop. [Oct 2017, p.26]

American Dream is a triumph, then, and possibly LCD Soundsystem's finest album so far. [Oct 2017, p.18]

Sundfor's first for Bella Union suffers from an occasional excess of affectations, her melismatic vocal style an acquired taste. Fortunately, she's best at her most intimate, this sixth collection's dominate quality. [Sep 2017, p.38]

Portico's rejuvenated quartet status brings with it more of the jazz-influenced stylings that first made their name, [Oct 2017, p.36]

[Swim Inside The Moon] consists primarily of intricately constructed acoustic guitar lines and De Augustine's soft, high whisper of a voice. [Sep 2017, p.26]

Here you'll find the French cool of Ruth's "Polaroid/Roman/Photo," the glacial "Romantic" by Sweden's Cosmic Overdose as well as the gorgeous minimalism of "NY NY" by Dutch musician Truus De Groot. [Sep 2017, p.52]

Often, the more oblique voices speak loudest from Manchester Mekons' pop-prog punk collectivism, through Durutti Column's moist-eyed melancholy, World Of Twist's epic pop oddness, to classic British hip-hop from Ruthless Rap Assassins. [Sep 2017, p.53]

An aquatic, slow-moving work, rich with melancholic atmosphere. [Oct 2017, p.35]

There are occasional moments of poppy levity, like the energetic "Feel Like I Wanna Stay," but otherwise this has an impressive heft. [Sep 2017, p.26]

Another furious, frenetic collection of lurching tear-ups. [Oct 2017, p.28]

A neat sampler of MacKay's unshowy virtuosity, at once brisk and mellow. [Jun 2017, p.33]

These are songs all at once cavernous and claustrophobic, substantially assembled from gloomy electronica and echoing drums, all of which provides an appropriate backdrop to a rich voice appealingly laced with melancholy. [Oct 2017, p.30]

"Despierta," released in October 2016 as part of the 30 Days, 30 Songs projects aimed at hindering Donald Trump's campaign. If that did not quite work out, their LP does. [Oct 2017, p.26]

It's an unalloyed treat. [Sep 2017, p.38]

A couple thin tracks aside, Exile is a richly layered sonic feast slathered in alluringly discordant noises. [Sep 2017, p.26]

A sort of gothy folktronica dominates songs like "Yes Men" and "Out The Way," with shades of PJ Harvey on the acerbic title track about refugees, while the crawling jutter of "2016" captures the dislocating agony of experiencing personal anxiety while "there's a fascist in the White House." [Sep 2017, p.37]

For shredheads, there's urgent opener "The Static God," while the superb "Animated Violence" alternates between the album's twin moods of sustained guitar menace and reflective percussive ambience. [Sep 2017, p.35]

Mogwai are still exploring the push-pull dynamics of soft and harsh and slow and fast with almost bewilderingly pleasing results. [Oct 2017, p.35]

There are poppy moments--the churning "What Have You Done For Me," and deceptively tranquil "Dead At The Wheel"--but otherwise the Jarman brothers have restrained their more melodic instincts to create sludgy monsters like "Year Of Hate" and storming closer "Broken Arrow." [Oct 2017, p.26]

Though other songs don't escape the inevitable air of redundancy, Gibbard's facsimiles retain all the originals' love and warmth. [Oct 2017, p.28]

Beast Epic is laidback and monochromatic but enlivened by its discourse. [Oct 2017, p.32]

May has a knack for hooks and titles. [Oct 2017, p.32]

Miserable but magnificent. [Oct 2017, p.39]

The Maels' spectrum of tried-and-true on Sparks Album No 25 is wide and rich enough to provide no end of delights. [Oct 2017, p.39]

The intimacies of David Briggs' production and the pure strength of the songs suggest an album that, with a few overdubs and a bit more polish could have worked as that desperately anticipated follow-up to Harvest. ... Pride of place, though, goes to the two unreleased tracks {Give Me Strength and Hawaii]. [Oct 2017, p.

Richter's own work sits as comfortably alongside these as Schubert and Rachmaninov, and there are further contributions from Low and Rachels, as well as Bach, and, inevitably, Steve Reich. [Oct 2017, p.52]

Avant-folk with a thin glaze of psychedelia and gurgles of electronica on songs that draw their charm from the contrast between Dyble's crisp enunciation and vaguely experimental settings. [Sep 2017, p.26]

Their voices blend beautifully, especially on Dylan's title track and Jason Isbell's "The Color Of A Cloudy Day," but they caterwaul awkwardly on an unintentionally silly version of Nirvana's "Lithium." [Sep 2017, p.32]