Recorded live: there's a twisting, doomy intensity to these 10 instrumentals. [Dec 2014, p.73]

Whenever his scorched Bill Callahan drawl appears, the effect is at once jarring and intoxicating. [Dec 2014, p.72]

It must be said, [Rip This] lost some of the garage band magic that made [the debut] so memorable. [Dec 2014, p.71]

Ultimately the Barrs sound like themselves. [Dec 2014, p.71]

It's a stunning showcase of his emotional, slippery, psychologically fraught production style. [Dec 2014, p.71]

Lost On The River is an album of good, sometimes excellent songs with a unique creation story which, in the end, adds little substance to the narrative of perhaps the most mythologised recordings in musical history. As footnotes go, however, it's an entertaining, energised and often fascinating one. [Dec 2014, p.64]

[Alex G] already shows a masterful handling of mischievous lyrics and beautiful melodies. [Dec 2014, p.69]

That it far surpasses its cut-up, protracted origins, and might even be the best thing the Floyd have released for over 30 years, is a welcome surprise. [Dec 2014, p.68]

The pair have come up with a finely crafted album that blurs the line between shoegaze, indie pop and goth-rock, and is as assured as it is atmospheric. [Dec 2014, p.69]

Like 2011's Tao Of The Dead, IX is a big thing, which sometimes rings rather hollow. [Dec 2014, p.71]

The duo seems to be pursuing a more focused vision than they do in the rambunctious, eclectic Men. [Dec 2014, p.75]

It's a muscular, Butch-Vig-produced behemoth that impresses. [Dec 2014, p.77]

A slightly sunnier and more melodic LP. [Dec 2014, p.77]

Rhubarb Rhubarb is scuzzy but smart, surging between primitive playfulness and something more malevolent. [Dec 2014, p.83]

The choral refrain of the title hook, meanwhile, imposes collectivity on the query--just about the only time on the whole of Storytone that the horizon stretches further than Neil's emotional backyard. [Dec 2014, p.79]

Doyle shines as a singer and lyricist. [Dec 2014, p.78]

There isn't another band who make creativity sound so intensely joyous. [Dec 2014, p.75]

A confident, more expansive--emotionally and musically--annexe to his impressive, soul-baring debut. [Dec 2014, p.75]

Mering's atmospheric second album is a masterclass in spooked melancholia, clothing her cool Nico-esque vibrato in spine-shivering folk-noir arrangements. [Nov 2014, p.84]

What their debut lacks in innovation it makes up for with emotional eloquence. [Nov 2014, p.76]

It's compelling from start to finish; if OW's main is simply "to slay," then mission accomplished. [Nov 2014, p.81]

Beneath the gliding surface lies Browne the politico, quietly raging at the legacy of imperialism and warning of impending eco disaster. The music occasionally matches such animated sentiment. [Nov 2014, p.71]

She sounds like a woman liberated, employing the services of Al Green's band, the Hi Rhythm Section, and cheerfully ratcheting up the soul textures hinted at on her 2010 debut, Obadiah. [Nov 2014, p.75]

As reassuringly familiar as it all sounds, the high point comes courtesy of an interloper, John Cooper Clarke shoehorning suitably rant-like poetry into the six-minute garage groove of "Let You Down." [Oct 2014, p.73]

Marianne's back on her feet theses days, fully recovered, and while reminding us that love is pain, doesn't entirely neglect the funny bone. [Oct 2014, p.70]

Phantom Radio feels like a real upping of the game. [Nov 2014, p.70]

The result is the most accessible Scott Walker album since Tilt, perhaps even longer. [Nov 2014, p.74]

The sound is low-slung, lugubrious Americana. [Jun 2014, p.76]