"Comic" interludes like "Tie My Pecker To A Tree" lose them a point, but electronic-strafed epic "I Told You I Was Crazy" shows these proto-grundge "three dumbasses" have interests beyond neolithic riffing. [Dec 2013, p.70]

Rice is at his best when indulging his penchant for punk bubblegum. [Dec 2013, p.71]

Surfing Strange hits similar touchstones to Waxahatchee--Sebadoh, The Breeders, that whole '90s grunge wave--albeit with rather more noisy brio. [Dec 2013, p.74]

Her strident approach to country means she excels at rockabilly-flavoured tunes. [Dec 2013, p.71]

The hooks on tracks like "You'll Carry On Real Nice" are the kind of value-meal stodge that clogged the tail end of Britpop. [Dec 2013, p.66]

Guthrie's work here gives birth to social conscience in pop culture, and this 157-track set, gets it all down in the context it deserves. [Dec 2013, p.82]

This live site from New Year's Eve 2011 reminds why these songs are firmly embedded in NZ music folklore. [Dec 2013, p.81]

The sequel is at least that record's [Just Across The River] equal as he again revisits some of his best known songs. [Dec 2013, p.71]

It's those who deviate furthest from Fela's template who reap the greatest rewards. [Dec 2013, p.71]

Other versions are so microscopically different from the originals that you wonder why they've bothered. [Dec 2013, p.71]

It's an LP that gets through more ideas than most indie bands can manage in a lifetime. [Dec 2013, p.71]

Bitter but sweet enough. [Dec 2013, p.71]

Epic in scale, World Boogie Is Coming is an extraordinary amalgam of envelope-pushing studio manipulation and DNA-fuelled deep gut grooves. [Dec 2013, p.71]

This take on the horrors of 9/11 could seem shallow, but he nails it. [Nov 2013, p.69]

The Coincidentalist, as with most things Gelb puts a shoulder to, is a thing of strange, understated pleasure. [Nov 2013, p.68]

An unusual taste that's well worth acquiring. [Dec 2013, p.66]

Essentially this is Korn returning to their familiar discomfort zone. [Dec 2013, p.70]

The listlessness of the structures is initially offputting, but the tracks begin to reveal luxurious depths. [Dec 2013, p.69]

Those acquainted with the slow and soulful pace of Griffin's recent work may be surprised by her ability to let rip here. [Dec 2013, p.69]

If the results can be unremarkable the album is redeemed by Nelson's engagement on most cuts. [Dec 2013, p.68]

The rest of the album freewheels around American music with a virtuosity and spontaneity that belies the group's indie-rock roots. [Dec 2013, p.67]

The band have come a long way since 2000's reissued Dead Meadow, but some of that early bombast and arresting variety in dynamics would not go amiss, even if, individually, Warble Womb's 15 songs. [Dec 2013, p.67]

The songs are warmly hypnotic: pitch-perfect pop. [Dec 2013, p.66]

A newly acquired taste for Gilbert O'Sullivan-style upright piano puts the accent on cheeky fun on his ninth solo album. [Dec 2013, p.66]

His guttural, rat-tat flow is raw and unleavened, but it's the way he uses it--in flights of fancy and feats of mischief--that's truly the nub of his appeal. [Dec 2013, p.66]

Frankie Rose's 2012 tour de force Interstellar cuts the same fabric slightly more elegantly, maybe, but Blouse's frills are anything but cheap. [Dec 2013, p.65]

Somewhat erratic, yet frequently satisfying. [Dec 2013, p.65]

On the five tracks sung solely by the Blind Boys, the record comes off as Vernon intended.... By contrast, the remaining six, each featuring a contemporary guest artists, are problematic. [Dec 2013, p.65]