these are largely piano-centric tunes, tastefully embellished with pedal steel, guitar and subtle gospel harmonies, armed with a baroque-pop sensibility that claims the middle ground between Harry Nilsson and The National. [May 2016, p.69]

This second album by Minneapolis trio Night Moves was worth the wait. [May 2016, p.78]

A typically excellent set of unusual songs. [May 2016, p.82]

Throughout Azel, the mix of the two genres allows for an even greater sense of uplift and collectivism in a music that always carried the communal at its core. [May 2016, p.72]

Stephen McBean's merry bunch have toned down the heavier impulses of 2010's Wilderness Heart on this fourth album, plumping instead for a collision of gruff psychedelia, trippy space-folk and pulsing electronica. [May 2016, p.69]

[Super] has some darkly twinkling moments.... The rest is at the very least a reminder that PSBs remain a lively genre of their own creation. [May 2016, p.78]

This follow-up feels almost like business as usual. Luckily, there are a clutch of standout songs. [May 2016, p.75]

Price's excellent debut wastes absolutely no energy trying to address her place in the country-music ecosystem, and gets right to telling us who she is, rather than who she ain't.... Her voice is the record's real star: controlled, infectious, and rich with enviable natural twang. [Apr 2016, p.63]

This is a focused record by Weezer standards, one that play to their strengths (sun-kissed tunefulness, nerdy introspection, loud guitars). [May 2016, p.82]

The album, recorded live in a village hall on the shores of Loch Ness, is tremendous fun. [May 2016, p.76]

For better or worse, no-one else is making records quite like this. [May 2016, p.82]

Plucking samples from wannabe grime MCs and unknown divas and weaving these into his uplifting electronica proves surprisingly moving. [May 2016, p.79]

Kempner's raw honesty encompasses the droll as well as the despairing. [May 2016, p.78]

Largely instrumental, but with some strong vocal hooks, this is music of ascension. [May 2016, p.76]

The lovely songs have such a languid unity of purpose. [May 2016, p.75]

Vocalist Nicholas Wood's doomy proclamations are frequently buried amid murky guitar and electronic textures, which can obscure the songs somewhat. [May 2016, p.75]

Sentimental yet experimental, ii suggests Liima could be the band Efterklang always wanted to be. [May 2016, p.75]

Essentially the second half of their epic third album, the trio are in blistering form on III's seven tracks. [May 2016, p.75]

Clark turns in one continuous lachrymose piece that ebbs and flows with sinuous grace and is edgy enough to intrigue Hollywood. [May 2016, p.71]

Oldham's rustic configurations have been replaced by the fine Chicago kosmische act Bitchin Bajas, who provide authentic relaxation tape vibes and stretch the parameters of Oldham's songcraft. [May 2016, p.69]

Blues reveals itself to be a barnstorming triumph that channels Led Zep, Free, early Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Beck and even Dire Straits into something fresh and invigorating. [Apr 2016, p.70]

No other pony does his one trick half as well. [Apr 2016, p.76]

Stiff flirts with mainstream etiquette--Ethan Johns produces--before resorting to the sort of hyperdriven, math-tinged choogles that have served the band so well over six albums. [Apr 2016, p.82]

Not a decline, but a deliberate descent. [Apr 2016, p.92]

It's a bittersweet study of fate and circumstance that resonates long after it's over. [Apr 2016, p.70]

Taking cues from Lord Byron and Rome, this solo album from the former Race Horses singer is a dramatic affair. [Apr 2016, p.75]

A delightful, horn-infused love letter to Morrissey's best solo work. [Apr 2016, p.76]

Grimly compelling. [Apr 2016, p.66]