Negro Swan is more consolidation than the ext great leap forwards. [Oct 2018, p.91]

As with all such improvised projects, Gong Splat is as much about the journey as the destination, but there's little meandering to Dwyer's questing. [Feb 2022, p.87]

The pleasantly chaotic backdrop is heavy on analogue synths and vintage space echo, and though far from the reggae idiom, Perry is at home warbling his curses and magic spells in multi-tracked triplicate. [Nov 2016, p.93]

Charming and cherishable. [Sep 2014, p.94]

By track two... he has slipped back into the familiarity of sinuous guitar lines, fidgety beats and the cheesy language of international disco. [Jul 2005, p.110]

An album hitting some dead ends, as other avenues open up. [Jan 2020, p.88]

Here's a concept Tori: less is more. [Jun 2007, p.108]

It's full-bodied baroque. [Oct 2008, p.109]

Urstan find Roberts'signature whistling-kettle delivery ... framed with guitars, fiddles, drums and brass. A peaty, heathery authenticity pervades - to compelling effect. [May 2012, p.88]

Chopper blades and police sirens pepper the album; indeed, shorn of this angsty hum, the by turns pastoral and metallic instrumental tracks pale. [Apr 2004, p.106]

Slaloms round sing-song pop, day-glo punk and Zappa-style tune transformations. [Jun 2004, p.106]

The title track is a thunderous grower with a tribal, kick-ass epiphany. And then...it's one mediocre ballad after another. [Jul 2014, p.91]

Esteemed Cologne unit corrals a trans-global selection of the dancefloor's most revered. [Sep 2015, p.95]

It's their fourth album in six years, but quality hasn't wavered. [Oct 2015, p.94]

Joplin's long, devastating plea for salvation once mirrored the big story--that the surprise star of '68 had outgrown her rough diamonds. The 30 tracks here, several in multiple versions, don't necessarily change that. But wart'n'all, Big Brother were the best foil Janus had. [Jan 2018, p.101]

Their initial torrid confluence of My Bloody Valentine and Joy Division here shapeshifts more towards "synth-assisted stadium nu-gaze," with odd Kraut-y hints of early Simple Minds, and frequent echoes of their new found patron: fune-real The Arbor is pure Disintegration, while shimmering Keep It All To Yourself has Kiss Me! Kiss Me! Kiss Me!'s hi-tech dazzle. [Feb 2019, p.88]

The result are suitably soothing. [Mar 2016, p.95]

Any of these versions would brighten Radio 2's day, but eventually the massed violins and mid-paced tempos begin to pall. [May 2013, p.88]

Musically this is the most satisfying Deftones album in a decade, welding their patented post-hardcore crunch with their noted love of twisted, Cure-styled melody. [June 2010, p. 92]

New Adventures In Hi-Fi holds up well now. ... CD2 consists of all previously released material. Fun of you've never hears R.E.M. saunter through Wichita Lineman, but completists will see this one as a massive opportunity missed. [Dec 2021, p.98]

We're not talking SFA psychonautry but Gorky's Zygotic Mynci's verdant valley of romantic pop innocence. [Aug 2014, p.92]

In no way startling, but elegantly put-together all the same. [Jul 2014, p.92]

[A] blissful orchestral new age soundscapes, to suggest lapping waves on late summer beaches with just the occasional cloud of gloomy dissonance to add to that authentic 2016 holiday experience. [Nov 2016, p.91]

Gibb's voice might be audibly timeworn in parts and the production is a bit vanilla, but there's no denying the poignancy here. [Nov 2016, p.86]

Triplicate lacks the revelatory impact of Shadows In The Night. And you always wish there was more light, inside these pocket-size arrangements. ... But this kind of immersion--in folk, blues or Sinatra--has always been serious business and rejuvenation to him: looking for answers and a way forward in a pasture of plenty. [May 2017, p.90]

The resulting oestrogen charge--an operatic Tori Amos with a dab of Jane Siberry--is terrific when Worden reins in the "hello trees, hello sky" imagery, wincingly precious when she fails. [July 2008, p.110]

None of these songs sound like they took too long to write or record, but her appeal lies in how, despite her off-the-cuff vibe, she often hits the bullseye or happens upon something enamouring. [Jun 2016, p.93]

The Wild Swan echoes both John Hiatt's gnarled, R&B-rooted wit and Van Morrison's lyrical-mystic flights while developing Vance's own romantic voice. [Jun 2016, p.90]