There's a calculation to much of what's on offer here that undercuts all the other advancements. [#361, p.116]

There are moments when it becomes a bit Baltic Eurovision, but Okovi is as tender as it is tough. [Oct 2017, p.111]

Footwork newcomers might want to test their stamina with one of Planet Mu's excellent Bangs & works compilations first. [Jun 2012, p.114]

Anyone who wants a bold new direction from Jeff Tweedy may find Sukierae disappointing. [Oct 2014, p.120]

Sad to say, The List is an overly polite, lifeless collection of tried and trusted country standards apparently recommended as required listening by her father back in 1973. [Dec 2009, p. 126]

Previously, their appeal was an alien fusion of ferocious single-mindedness and forbidding complexity. Here, Battles often struggle to sound strange enough. [July 2011, p. 107]

The ambition is still there. [Jun 2016, p.114]

An album that seeks to pull you under from the off and that, by and large, succeeds. [Jan 2017, p.112]

You have to salute Jaar's ambitious, freewheeling approach, but a little more cohesion would've sealed it. [Dec 2016, p.109]

Entertaining though these tracks are, it's hard not to wish that he could ignore the buzzing irritations of not being universally adored, all the time, forever, and concentrate on the big picture. [Mar 2009, p.90]

Despite some strong material, the relentless gloom gets a little wearing well before the end. [Nov 2016, p.113]

Graduation is mercifully skit-free, but it still feels insubstantial to West. [Oct 2007, p.95]

These songs aren't as charcoal-stark as her earlier solo work, but the aura of breathy acid-folk enchantment can leave the feeling there is too much atmospheric smoke, not enough revelatory mirror. [Aug 2015, p.104]

Their weak spots (feyness, smugness, shallowness) remain. [Nov 2003, p.104]

There's little revelatory, but it's another fine record to add to their cannon. [Oct 2009, p.119]

It may do little to make non-believers go his way, but Get Up! sizzles with intent from the off. [Mar 2013, p.102]

Sometimes, these stresses and strains seem to swallow her dreamy synth-pop whole, but there's at least a striking EP's worth here. [Aug 2017, p.108]

The winter to Johnson's eternal summer. [Jul 2012, p.95]

She's A Witch's tumbling harmonies, the tessellating grooves of Dark Star and Bushe's surrealist lyrical skew help cast a dazed spell. [Jul 2015, p.106]

Their stance is still refreshingly at odds with the mainstream. [Oct 2009, p.105]

An album that's as entrancing as it is modestly proportioned. [June 2002, p.121]

There's something rather pinched and prescribed about this weirdness.

Kozelek's sparse, haunting delivery can render even the basest material achingly affecting...

It's an album that will send you to sleep, and to dreams of another dimension. [Jul 2016, p.114]

It's by no means awful; it's just as if Nirvana had recorded 12 versions of Territorial Pissings for Nevermind. [Apr 2014, p.105]

For the most part, the duo's fourth full-length curbs their indulgent tendencies. [Jun 2011, p.114]

Impressive but so unblinkingly stern. [Oct 2013, p.101]

'Scare Easy,' the single, and 'Bootleg Flyer,' reminiscent of Petty's classic 'American Girl,' are the standouts on this collection of rough and ragged, feel-good country-rock. [July 2008, p.107]