The sisterly joie de vivre marks out Songs Of Separation as a very special record indeed. [Mar 2016, p.82]

Though occasionally betraying signs of metal fatigue, mostly Hidden City is vibrant fun. [Mar 2016, p.72]

The instrumentations are the highlights. [Mar 2016, p.82]

Often, however, it's the catchy, heads-down belters that win you over. [Mar 2016, p.81]

Raitt isn't breaking new ground--she's emphatically marking out the turf she's owned for 45 years. [Mar 2016, p.78]

Often these widescreen productions are more effective at the most minimal. [Mar 2016, p.76]

In a field of her own. [Feb 2016, p.79]

For much of the album, there's a poppy ebullience reminiscent of the MTV-friendly '80s Elton. [Mar 2016, p.70]

A crop of startling, striped-down songs. [Feb 2016, p.78]

Like their debut, Not To Disappear evokes bot the gauzy fragility of Cocteau Twins and the offbeat ingenuity of Kristin Hersh, though this time it cranks up the amps. [Mar 2016, p.72]

The idiosyncratic chamber-pop o these 14 songs evokes The Kinks, XTC and the more melancholy side of Hot Chip; like much of their past work, it's musically intricate, too. [Mar 2016, p.73]

Turin Brakes makes no attempt to fix what isn't broken, honing their melodic, acoustic-based forays into rootsy genres. [Mar 2016, p.81]

The seething mood is familiar but the cursory electro beats offer little of the grimy richness of primetime Tricky. [Mar 2016, p.81]

Their music rarely sounds like the blues: "Let Me Get By" is a fiery funk waltz, "In Every Heart" a 6/8 Stax-styled ballad with woozy horns, while the blue-eyed soul of "Crying Over You" segues into a flute-led raga. [Mar 2016, p.81]

More intriguing are the songs that tap into Throwing Muses' vein of chiming offbeat indie-pop, familiar tales of teenage yearning elevated into something more glowing and magical. [Mar 2016, p.80]

Where her other albums are more varied, this all-guns-blazing pop portfolio is a touch wearying. [Mar 2016, p.80]

Seattle three-piece Night Beats swoop into Who Sold My Generation oozing confidence. [Mar 2016, p.77]

A reliance on rabbity non-sequiters, plus a tendency to change genres every 11 seconds, makes the point of it all rather hard to grasp. [Mar 2016, p.77]

The Brooklyn five-piece's second record resembles an ordinary collection of pebbles--unlike their early sea-washed gems. [Mar 2016, p.73]

Weird--but in a generally good way. [Feb 2016, p.75]

A set of abstractions that are essentially pop in nature, rather than avant-garde. The seduce from the start. [Feb 2016, p.84]

A strikingly confident record. [Feb 2016, p.74]

Night Fiction emerges as an engaging sampler of his range as well as his virtuosity. [Feb 2016, p.78]

The spirit of the band's old leader Ronnie Lane comes shining through. [Feb 2016, p.80]

A darkly impassioned mix of hip hop, art rock and electronics that connects to indigenous street music as well as to Gil Scott-Heron, The Ruts and TV On The Radio. [Feb 2016, p.84]

Unreconstructed but entertaining when they get the balance right. [Feb 2016, p.76]

A moving tribute to an unsung talent. [Jan 2016, p.75]

Kelly Zutrau's pure voice is full of tiny, yodelling curlicues that sound oddly Appalachian, and the songs have the sturdy melodies and heart-wrenching lyrics we associate with Nashville. [Feb 2016, p.84]