At a safe distance from Britpop's glare, Midlife justly represents Blur as national treasures, as emotionally rich and hungry for progress as ardiohead, only catchier. [Aug 2009, p.116]

Her marriage of musical gentleness and raw despair takes her to a whole new level. [Nov 2017, p.104]

London "ravestep" duo make vividly raucous debut. [Sept. 2011, p. 115]

Few singers examine the pathology of heartbreak so expertly. [Nov 2016, p.102]

Modern life is rubbish, but the tunes are great. [Nov 2016, p.114]

Go places they do, whether its Comin' On's sweetly dumb pop, the garage chug of Lose Myself In Sound or the dense yet loose Crazy Horse-style feedback and riffing of Crow and Dropper. [Oct 2014, p.112]

It's to Russell and Albarn's eternal credit, then, that they not only noticed but reach out and made this wonderful record happen. [Jul 2012, p.99]

Every one [of the songs on] here is a gem. [Jan 2019, p.107]

It is, as always, complicated, but addictively, intriguingly so. [Apr 2017, p.111]

Lady From Shanghai laughs in the face of chart pop, but the listener can't help cackling along. [Feb 2013, p.108]

Alienation, restlessness and lovelorn angst abound here, and Veronica Falls have lost none of their knack for blithely morbid romance. [Feb 2013, p.113]

In modern jazz terms, a masterclass. [Mar 2014, p.116]

A moody, sensual record that unwraps its pleasures slowly. [May 2015, p.111]

Help Us Stranger is Jack White and Brendan Benson's love letter to classic rock. [Summer 2019, p.114]

Remedy follows a growing list of albums born of an infectious energy and bubbling belief that, dance-wise these days, almost anything goes.

An unmitigated success. [Summer 2019, p.108]

Everyday Roberts is a wonderful record. [May 2014, p.104]

Kanye West's debut aside, it's the essential hip hop album of the year so far. [Jun 2004, p.102]

Seductive, breathy and forlorn, [Trebeljahr] sounds like a more ethereal Sarah Cracknell. Oh, and the songs are top drawer, too. [May 2004, p.104]

They're at their most effective when they ease back on the aggro, as on the luminous Side Effects or the '60s-garage pop-influenced Two Birds. [Nov 2017, p.107]

Cellar Door is so gorgeous it could persuade the most hardened clubber to give it all up for a hammock and a cool breeze. [Aug 2012, p.100]

Four Of Arrows is proof the band can turn on a dime--perhaps they needn't worry about their best songs being ahead of them. [Dec 2019, p.110]

A real jewel from an underestimated band. [Sep 2014, p.111]

An album rich in swirling emotions, backed by inspired productions from electronica virtuosos Arca and London-based Jam City. [Dec 2017, p.106]

In spite of an occasional sense of deja vu, this is a spacious, raw record that sees Tonra trying something new while holding on to the core that's propelled her thus far. [Feb 2019, p.111]

A set of songs that can be chilling but never cold. [May 2020, p.109]

It's not quite the perfect wave that was Tame Impala's Lonerism, but it's certainly not far behind. [Feb 2015, p.113]

But it's the art-punk sense of fearless invention that makes...Bobby Dee a winning album in praise of life's losers. [Feb 2010, p. 105]