This brittle, torrid world has little light and shade. [Apr 2015, p.89]

Mostly she's clever, soulful, sexy, and only a gram of venturesomeness short of her early best. [Apr 2014, p.90]

A tad more conventional than Liz Harris's ongoing work as Grouper, despite roots in C86 shambling and early-90s shoegaze, Helen's hazy, half-grasped songs are still several left turns from any standard indie fare. [Dec 2015, p.86]

There are tidings aplenty, but little comfort and even less joy. [Feb 2017, p.97]

For the most part, this is soothing, circular psychedelia with added depth, warmth and texture. [Feb 2018, p.93]

Before long, these initially detached settings establish a magnetic, narcotic allure, filled with elliptical hooks and images. [Feb 2018, p.97]

He keeps the core of material such as The Nearness Of You and My Blue Heaven spare and the tone intimate. [Mar 2020, p.94]

'Mother May I?' and AdRock's 'Oooh Girl' are the most engaging and enetertaining of a solid selection. [Oct 2007, p.106]

Suggests a majestic, exquisitely desolate mix of Isis and My Bloody Valentine.[Aug. 2011, p. 106]

It's lots of fun, a whirlwind romp through grubby rock landmarks. [May 2012, p.84]

Guest appearances from the venerated likes of Percee P and M.E.D. and Mr Lif & Edan prove these Brothers' breakbeats more than pass muster. But it's the more adventurous instrumentals that impress most. [Mar 2010, p.92]

Barfly is pithy, punky pop and some of it really shifts. [Jan 2012, p.98]

La Havas sets herself apart from the coffee shop set with a rough-hewn edge. [Aug 2012, p.92]

Reliably familiar punk pop by enduring Japanese trio. [Sept. 2011, p. 96]

Aloe Blacc swaggers with a charming insouciance on C'est Bon, which is an accurate description of Red Lips itself. [Jan 2017, p.94]

Side two, however, veers into arch Euro-pop (I Don't Have Control Sometimes) and moody balladry (Stand By Me), and Sunflower Bean's new-found confection begins to set one's teeth on edge. [Jun 2022, p.87]

This new album is as quixotic and wilfully idiosyncratic as his previous oeuvre. [Jan 2016, p.88]

These "little" songs have the feel of home-studio genesis, thanks to pitter-pattering drum machines, the unflashy layering of instruments, and the author's intimate lyrical reflections. [Feb 2016, p.94]

The sound's good and getting better - a wig-out of surf rock, Stooges-style punk and hardcore thrash, with the occasional Bambi noise of 1960's folk peeping round a tree. [Aug. 2011, p. 106]

Cupid Deluxe is wildly eclectic and nostalgic. [Jan 2014, p.97]

Politically astute, philosophical and profound, Ty's comeback is a tad too long, but only because he cares. [Apr 2018, p.92]

Their ongoing Heavy Rocks series plays things relatively straight, however, restricting their palette to metallic tones. Even so, this third volume rewrites the rulebook. An opening brace of tunes gallop like vintage Motorhead, if they were being chased by wild banshee saxophones. [Oct 2022, p.90]

Just as you're thinking "so far, so generic," they wrong-foot you, as their debut album starts to incorporate seemingly random elements of knock-kneed white reggae, snotty hardcore punk and snatched bar conversations. [Mar 2014, p.94]

A career-builder, if not a game-changer. [Jun 2019, p.89]

Faun Fables do gothic folk with admirable vigour and this is incontrovertible force of nature. [Jan 2011, p.104]

With four tracks topping 12 miutes, it's essentially a celebration of pre-punk boffin-rock, 'The Best Of Times 'and 'The Count Of Tuscany' both prog-metal masterpieces worthy of imperial-phase Rush. [Jul 2009,p.95]

The wrong kind of sonic adventure undermines about half the songs. A drop of Waitsian, drunken, junkyard percussion might have been just the ticket, but the plethora of drony guitar and keyboard distortions proves distracting, rather than "atmospheric", and impairs the effect of some strong songs including Back To Manhattan and Stuck. [Dec 2009, p. 88]

Despite berry's background in comedy there's definitely more of an air of homage than pastiche to this deliciously chilled album. [Jun 2014, p.90]