You long for a bit more of the ardour of "Fine Squad." [Mar 2015, p.73]

[A] strong second album. [Mar 2015, p.73]

An uninspired outfit played into a corner. [Mar 2015, p.73]

An album of fierce ambition and undeniable charm. [Mar 2015, p.80]

Novelist Michael Chabon's lyrics fail to illuminate the theme, while the music settles for tasteful reverence. [Mar 2015, p.81]

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings and Jack White outclass the flat cap and braces brigade. [Mar 2015, p.84]

The band generally favour simplicity and great hooks on this fine second album. [Mar 2015, p.84]

In his communions with nature, Elverum continues the American tradition of Whitman, Thoreau or Emerson, immersing himself in hymns to the land. [Mar 2015, p.78]

Just about every song is not what it seems. [Mar 2015, p.78]

From The Very Depths is unreconstructed but brutally effective. [Mar 2015, p.84]

Its muted feel is accented by folk-blues tones that rarely break out of a shuffle, enlivened only by some buzzing electric guitar cameos by guests including Johnny Depp and Bob Mould. [Mar 2015, p.84]

"Drips" hovers between Hot Chip and late-period XTC, while the meticulous detail of "Babymaking" and "Don't Sit Back (Frankie Said)" recall lost studio gems like Rosie Vela's Walter Beck-helmed Zazu. [Mar 2015, p.75]

The result is a little pick 'n' mix, but the delivery is great and songwriting assured. [Mar 2015, p.77]

Presley has a wry, modern take on country music. [Mar 2015, p.81]

These immersive, synth-driven compositions may never match the brooding atmosphere of the filmmaker's early scores like Halloween and Assault On Precinct 13, but still have much to commend. [Mar 2015, p.73]

Some of these pieces are more like performance art works than songs. [Feb 2015, p.83]

This score for the new Hawkings biopic is an effective series of piano-based miniatures sweetened with strings and harp. [Feb 2015, p.79]

On their fifth full-length, they've got looser and groovier, and it suits them. [Mar 2015, p.75]

Two Gallants can swagger and rage like The Black Keys, but they can also find moments of ambient bliss to complement songs of helplessness and regret. [Mar 2015, p.82]

Worthy is a far bolder and more satisfying selection [than Thankful n' Thoughtful]. [Mar 2015, p.77]

An album as strange as it is compelling. [Mar 2015, p.77]

Timelessly scented, you can almost smell the joss sticks. [Mar 2015, p.76]

Not one original note, but big fun for feedback fetishists. [Mar 2015, p.69]

Co-produced again with Jonathan Wilson, the album bristles with richness and bespoke detail. [Mar 2015, p.70]

As a celebration of classic songcraft, it is as sincere as any of Dylan's many forays into traditional American roots idioms. [Mar 2015, p.65]

Their take on the genre [is] sharply observed and utterly sincere. [Feb 2015, p.83]

It's neither pastiche nor parody, corralling '60s psychedelia, prog, Indian ragas, country rock, '50s lounge music and Javanese campursari into his vision. [Feb 2015, p.79]

It's an inspired rather than gimmicky conceit. [Feb 2015, p.71]