It's a pleasure to get lost in. [May 2012, p.99]

A record of a very fine sort. [May 2019, p.110]

A rousing and defiantly modern revolution in sound. [Mar 2020, p.119]

Perfectly balanced, 2011's So Beautiful Or So What was a triumph, which Stranger To Stranger continues. [#361, p.115]

There is only one real slip - Stephen Fry's mood shattering appearance on the title track. [Dec. 2001 p. 123]

Exhibits a grace and richness that is sometimes absent from Case's self-regarding live shows. [Apr 2006, p.112]

A wealth of quality material. [Jun 2012, p.99]

The finest alt-country album this side of Gram Parsons. [Jan 2005, p.129]

These songs sound as if they could have echoed around soot-stained ports and roadside taverns for generations and can still cast 21st-century listeners under their spell. [Mar 2018, p.117]

On the rich and dazzling Malibu, Anderson.Paak has truly found his voice. [Apr 2016, p.116]

A refreshingly upbeat counterpoint to 2006's opaque, Brian Eno assisted Surprise. [May 2011, p.124]

A Victim Of Stars is the ideal primer to an almost three-decade solo career, with the bait of one impeccable new track. [Mar 2012, p.117]

Third will probably be more admired than listened to and, you suspect, this suits Barrow, just fine. [May 2008, p.131]

The songs are perfectly pitched, and even the less obviously suited numbers are approached with interpretive genius. [Sep 2002, p.101]

Practically every track on Late Registration is a glorious pop song. [Aug 2005, p.120]

It's possessed and peaceful at once, absorbing and wholly gorgeous. [Jun 2013, p.108]

Their fourth LP is their best yet. [Nov 2017, p.112]

Stay Positive isn't so much of an instant gratification, but a record that reveals more with each listen. [Aug 2008, p.131]

Much of Greatest Hits will be familiar to people who've never heard a Foo Fighters album before: indeed, these are precisely the people it's aimed at. Like all such, Greatest Hits fulfills a function for fans too. [Dec 2009, p.134]

A spirited version of Wild Mountain Thyme salutes his influences but it's Head's own songwriting that draws attention. [Nov 2017, p.113]

Bleach's grooviness is intrinsic to its enduring appeal, just as much as the cankerous layers of noise. [Dec 2009, p.128]

JPEGMAFIA's flashes of brilliance are obscured by a bloated tracklist, but they're worth digging out. [Nov 2019, p.111]

Sleep Well Beast is undoubtedly richly textured, but it still demands the listener lean in. [Oct 2017, p.109]

Hebden has a rare ability to make his delicate instrumentals engaging and unpretentious.

As admirable as Radiohead's quest ongoing quest to ignore expectations, tear up the manual and proudly rebel against the limitations of 4/4 time seems, some of Hail To The Thief comes dangerously close to being all experimentalism and precious little substance. [Jul 2003, p.98]

A startling discovery. [Jul 2012, p.115]

There's melodrama aplenty, but it's the meaningful lyricism in both French and English--and a smart Kanye sample on Paradis Perdus--that make it really sparkle. [Apr 2016, p.102]

A slice of West Country meets Southern soul glory to rival anything Auerbach's ever been associated with. [Apr 2019, p.118]

The xx are too smart to get caught in that trap, extending past glories rather than copying them, finding new places for the spotlight to fall. [Mar 2017, p.109]

The San Francisco five-piece remain unforgiving epic, vocals mostly descendant from that same raspy wraith lineage. [Aug 2018, p.108]

Both mysterious and inviting, Helplessness Blues retains and expands what made the debut so special. It's an open door to a private world. [Jun 2011, p.108]

Rarely are albums this thrillingly original. [Jul 2005, p.120]

He may not have Mos [Def's] lyrical depth, but his vocal style is assured and refreshingly direct. [Apr 2005, p.121]

Baroness have confidently produced one of the year's best metal albums. [Jan 2016, p.106]

Shuttles between nerdy and mesmeric. [Oct 2005, p.119]

Not his most graceful, but certainly his most strikingly personal, Benji is another colourful stop on Kozelek's glorious journey into the light. [Apr 2014, p.119]

Absorbing. [Jan 2007, p.153]

A rip-roaring busman's holiday. [May 2017, p.108]

It takes a while for these hushed, subtle songs to change the mood of a room, but when they do, it's as striking as sun through the blinds. [Summer 2019, p.108]

It could be high art. It could be utter bollocks. Either way, it's lovely when it's over. [Jun 2006, p.119]

An LP that is all over the place, yet with a clearly defined sense of self. [Nov 2018, p.105]

They've crucially learned that musical light and shade need not only be flaring explosions, but melodic sunrises too. [Jul 2003, p.109]

...Trail of Dead have reached a point where the need for convention outweighs the joy of using guitars as weapons. [Feb 2002, p.104]

Splits evenly into out-and-out rockers and downhome folk. [Nov 2003, p.123]

The oddball rapper with the humdrum name is carving out a space all of his own. [Nov 2016, p.102]

It is a joy to hear. [Apr 2017, p.113]

The heart-breakingly poignant cello hum of Opening (White Material) typifies the rightness of the association; when you add Stuart Staples's beguiling baritone, it elevates to another level altogether. [Jun 2011, p.123]

A great man still making great music. [Sep 2013, p.99]

The scale and bombast of this record are inescapable, it has a swagger one might associate with acts far bigger than those in the cult hero waters Furman swims in. [Mar 2018, p.112]

In every way, it's alive, but mostly, it's alive with possibility. [Jun 2011, p.112]

This is a record so richly involving that it promises to throw up fresh delights weeks, or even months, down the line. [Apr 2010, p.113]

An utterly furious assault of gritty doom riffs and whisky-addled power, chugging, twisting and thundering with an energy the band have not found in years. [Jun 2012, p.100]

Sounds more focused than ever. [Sep 2017, p.115]

There are songs here that count among the best they've made. [May 2005, p.119]

It's a beautiful piece of work. [June 2009]

They've revealed themselves as a rare, brilliant talent. [Summer 2018, p.104]

Quarantine The Past, a 23-track Best Of, blazes their reunion trail, working as either a tremendous primer for the uninitiated or a dizzying reminder of their remarkable abilities. [Apr 2010, p.124]

Many may not have the patience to follow its somersaults. Those who do will be richly rewarded. [Jul 2009, p.121]

It's the 27-year-old's patience that dominate this sultry debut.[Sep 2012, p.113]

Tinariwen's most intoxicating record yet. [Oct 2019, p.113]

Live albums rarely come equipped with such a strong pulse. [Jan 2006, p.124]

A welcome return to form. [Jan 2004, p.114]

Shows [Lanegan] to be more alive and more vital than ever. [Sep 2004, p.121]

It's her devastating voice and ear for the smallest details that ultimately makes all the difference. [Jul 2013, p.104]

It does thrillingly refine the group's electric explorations of numinous spaces both minuscule and gigantic. [Jul 2019, p.114]

The Soft Bulletin echoes the oft-mimiced Smiley Smile by The Beach Boys, with its psychedelic wobbliness, songs-within-songs and airy termperament.

By breathing life into Richey Edwards's own last words, his friends have crafted not a memorial but a celebration. [Jun 2009, p.120]

It's a collision of classic rap skills and singular beats that makes this album outstanding and far more substantial than its "prelude" billing implies. [Mar 2016, p.110]

A soul-baring album it may be, but The Weather Statio's forecast is still bright and breezy. [Dec 2017, p.113]

While the more traditional sounding songs that remain are unquestionably excellent, it does seem odd to leave such a good idea only half explored. [Apr 2013, p.108]

Their best since '95's Electr-O-Pura. [Oct 2006, p.127]

With shards of melody poking through the noise, the overall effect is often stunning. [Nov 2008, p.117]

Muddy production means the literate lyrics often get drowned out by the surrounding racket, but otherwise this is a raw treat. [Mar 2009, p.105]

A calmer work than its harrowing semi-classic prequel, Blinking Lights... is also less startling or focussed. [May 2005, p.109]

Curiously compelling for something so minimal, it's like nothing else around. [Jul 2003, p.110]

Back in the real world, fans of the disconnected Callahan know what to expect. They're a loyal breed who puzzle over his dryly funny lyrics and file the CDs next to Mark Eitzel and Nick Cave... His best yet.

Leonard Cohen sounds like a performer at the peak of his game. [Mar 2012, p.107]

A dark, challenging album. [Feb 2013, p.107]

The Meadowlands represents an impressive triumph of persistence over talent. [Oct 2005, p.121]

If there's a better little band in America right now, they're keeping very quiet. [Feb 2007, p.104]

An astonishing cohesive record. [Dec 2015, p.107]

It shows that whatever life brings her, Case can turn it into something startling. [Jul 2018, p.108]

Despite th[e] bleakness, Pure Comedy is delivered with wit and warmth, and redeemed by the tiniest twinkle of light. [May 2017, p.110]

The main distinction is the relative lack of spellbinding melodies. [Nov 2019, p.108]

Utterly entrancing. [Dec 2006, p.141]

Funneling psychedelic sounds through soulful gospel has long been a musical quest.... Matthew E. White's band have nailed the gig with their first experiment. [Feb 2013, p.106]

This lush 36-track comp traces Richter's influences,meandering from vintage to post-rock to contemporary and is twinkling, Sunday-morning music in excelsis. [Aug 2017, p.115]

Most of Kish Kash sounds like the album they intended to make after Remedy. [Nov 2003, p.106]

A superbly stealthy assault on the ears, stroking and unsettling in equal measure.

Tomorrow's Harvest delivers oceans of spare, mellow and melodic electronica, but what it doesn't offer is much in the way of surprises. [Aug 2013, p.98]

Uneasy listening from honey-tongued, dark-hearted singer.

Politically charged, smart, melodic and irrepressible--it's a fascinating record. [Summer 2018, p.116]

Sometimes an attitude, a thumping beat and an A-plus scream like the one Carrie Brownstein provides here are really all that's needed. [Oct 2002, p.117]

As a whole, The Harrow and the Harvest maintains a singular mood and sense of atmosphere -- its terrain, musically and emotionally, is stark and bleak but beautiful. [Aug. 2011, p. 118]

If some of Stornoway's folkier past has been lost in transition, then so be it. Fortunately, the conceptual nods to birdlife on every song from chief songwriter and rained ornithologist Brian Biggs compensate by finding a mainstream-friendly alternative. [May 2014, p.112]

The radio sessions on this nine-disc set show that their most anthemic songs could just be as captivating in an intimate setting, but it's the live sets here that really illustrate their story. [Dec 2018, p.117]

High Voilolet features 11 tracks; five are good, six extraordinary. [Jun 2010, p.116]

The West Londner's debut is startlingly intimate, full of soulful, jazzy echoes of a lonely city. [May 2019, p.116]