Weezer sound extremely happy in their own skin right now, and they're all the better for it. [Jun 2016, p.112]

Love, Death & Dancing finds Garratt charged with a new, bright energy. [Summer 2020, p.100]

This is little short of a treat: a rambunctious dance through the more sepia-tinted corners of US musical history. [Oct 2001, p.122]

Herd Runners is ambitious and emotionally enthralling throughout. [Jun 2014, p.106]

Moving into attack mode suits the band, most strikingly on the monolithic Superbug and the effects-laden boogie of Mars For The Rich. [Sep 2019, p.112]

It's a curious artifact for sure, but it casts a unique spell. [Jul 2014, p.111]

Both albums are lovely in the way that only Lambchop can be lovely. [combined review of both discs; Mar 2004, p.112]

Old fans will be delighted: new recruits may be seduced. [Nov 2017, p.112]

Hard to believe they needed 13 years to make it, but Event 2 is well worth the wait. [Nov 2013, p.103]

It's soulful, not funky, and brims with spiritual joy. [Dec 2006, p.134]

As a band no one lays down a heavier groove right now. [Jan 2016, p.114]

It's not the third coming many Stone Roses fans may have hoped for, but Ripples marks the welcome return of a solo artist who never rested on his laurels or allowed himself to be overshadowed by past glories. [Mar 2019, p.110]

Treading the line between artful and emotive, it's a quiet riot. [May 2019, p.112]

Uncomfortably personal, but it sounds irresistible. [April 2012, p.102]

This is a record of fiery energy, spinning into sight like a chunk of chrome off a satellite, fierce, funny and beautifully unpredictable. [Jul 2018, p.116]

As with the other great British debut of 2004 so far, by Franz Ferdinand, Up All Night ripples with cocksure sangfroid and a barely contained sexual fever. [Jul 2004, p.111]

An album that could finally establish Feeder as major league players. [Feb 2005, p.92]

It's a stunning, stealthy, faintly malevolent collection of songs that serve as a reminder of this songwriter's power and innovation. [Nov 2018, p.106]

Like R.E.M. when they were good, [The National's] superficially simple songs have a real depth and resonance. [May 2005, p.114]

A record of rivers and trees rather than streets and skyscrapers, it's a blissful and quietly cosmic experience. [Sep 2013, p.98]

Intricate and precise, Be Small doesn't demand attention--but slowly and very smartly, it secures it just the same. [Dec 2015, p.108]

This is far more than just a vanity project by a label boss. [Jan 2018, p.113]

While it may be too easy to reach for the word "cinematic," it can't be avoided. [Dec 2015, p.104]

This is furious but slick metalcore, but none the worse for that. [Nov 2012, p.103]

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

Comparisons to Marling may linger, but The Staves should soar above them. [Nov 2012, p.105]

Despite the backward glances, a record very much in the moment. [Apr 2020, p. 106]

Sheff's unorthodox, often beautiful songs blend folk and country with left-field rock influences.

At every stage the songwriting is relentlessly, almost effortlessly strong. [Jan 2015, p.139]

There is a richness and an oddity to Condon's output that deserves continued attention. [Mar 2019, p.112]

He never strays outside his comfort zone, but the strongest moments ... have a familiar charm. [April 2012, p.102]

This is a starry-eyed celebration of yearning on a US factory floor, as idealised by British spa town punks. [April 2012, 105]

Not a huge departure from the day job, but who cares if the result is as consistently enjoyable as this. [May 2015, p.100]

He may have followed the aspiring bedroom producer's now-established route from blog favourite to remixer (for Yeah Yeah Yeahs), but the solo debut of Dayve Hawk, former frontman for post-punks Hail Social, is anything but predictable. [Jan 2010, p. 122]

Nabuma Rubberband is too uneasy, too unsettling, to guarantee a full-blown commercial breakthrough, but otherwise, they've cracked it all. [Jun 2014, p.107]

The characters and stories that Oberst sketches out have never been so fully realised. [Jul 2014, p.112]

[His] new-found security has enabled Weller to refine his art in the manner of Travis and all those accused of making the same record over and over again. [Oct 2002, p.113]

GLA's songs are snappy, its drums gigantic, its guitar riffs thrilling and McTrusty sings I Am Alive with the conviction of a man truly reborn. [Oct 2016, p.113]

A return to form. Definitely. [June 2002, p.108]

Any darkness never overwhelms an album which feels as welcoming as an unscheduled drink with an old friend. [Dec 2016, p.110]

Every song here is an exquisitely constructed, shimmering pop gem, and jam-packed with Folick's unique perspective and clarion voice. A special thing. [Jan 2019, p.109]

Everywhere you turn there is something beautiful. [Apr 2020, p.114]

For all its moodiness, Careful is a glorious coming-out. [Mar 2019, p.112]

[The Mavericks'] sound refreshed, recharged and better than ever. [Feb 2013, p.106]

Bang Zoom Crazy... Hello is their best version this century. [May 2016, p.107]

A rich and varied album, fans of Sonic Youth's less abrasive, song-based output of recent years will find much to savor here. [April 2012, p.102]

Seal The Deal opens with a rollicking piano intro that's longer than the rest of the song, guitars are abandoned in favour of exhilarating keyboard riffs, and the background use of birdsong and bagpipes is commonplace in Quasi's world. And it's a better place for it.

There may be a lack of tub-thumping choruses, but he has an unerring ability to craft a warm, welcoming atmosphere. [Jun 2019, p.111]

Sigur Ros's second album proper features this astonishing opener ["Svefn-G-Englar"] and 10 others which, while surprisingly diverse, each reflects their penchant for apocalyptic serenity, overdriven guitars and teenage singer Jonsi's Birgisson unique Hopelandish language.

The Long Journey Home and God, I'm Missing You might look back at the past, but Crowell's best years are right now. [Jun 2014, p.107]

By simultaneously preserving the intimacy and honesty that made her initial work so striking, Any Human Friend sees Hackman wholly uncensored, and al the better for it. [Sep 2019, p.111]

If the instrumentals can occasionally feel a little lounge-comfy, Turn To Clear view is ample proof of why UK jazz's horizons keep expanding. [Nov 2019, p.108]

A rich quilt of Americana, as if the folk, country and rock strands were brought together in a starlit saloon somewhere near the border. [Jun 2003, p.106]

The Toronto group's grunge underworld is floodlit by stadium-sized drums and vast, airborne melodies. [Oct 2018, p.108]

At times, a work of considerable beauty. [Jun 2005, p.108]

A deconstruction of heartbreak pulling out all the emotional cogs and catches with the precision of a watchmaker. [Dec 2018, p.110]

Imagery and music intertwine elegantly on Small Plane and The Sing and if it's not up there with Callahan's very best work, Dream River still runs deep. [Nov 2013, p.102]

This warm and busy album pursues pop as a democratic ideal. The uplift isn't subtle--the tracklisting looks like something you'd come up with after a wrap of MDMA-- but it's infectious. [Jan 2016, p.110]

Out of disappointment and distress, Elbow have crafted another brilliant album. [Mar 2017, p.104]

Their sound has never been fuller. [Mar 2019, p.112]

Troy and Edwards bring some bite to the Lips' experimentation, keeping their more wayward indulgences in check while they do it. There's still a stellar breadth of sound and colour on offer. [May 2020, p.104]

Hits? Smoke + Mirrors bristles with them. [Mar 2015, p.116]

Essential to anyone searching for modern folk's head waters. [Feb 2012, p.101]

Her lyrics are folk-like in that they seem ancient yet new, delivered by a voice that's both angelic and sharp as a whip-crack. [#361, p.112]

Someday World is a joyous blend of busy rhythms and bright, surging melodies with fleeting hints of Hot Chip and Talking Heads. [Jun 2014, p.108]

While preachiness rarely flatters battle-trained MCs, roller-coaster wordplay here makes the 34-year-old's sermons fun to untangle, even on harrowing subjects. [Oct 2019, p.107]

This is a very good album. The Kooks sound like a band rejuvenated. [Oct 2014, p.105]

Sometimes, the groovier, mellower tracks dull the clarity of the MCs' densely witty lyrics. But when the pair's smart humour and indignant ire is given room to shine, as on the chilly grime of I Spy, they live up to their reputation as two of the UK's foremost rap maestros. [Jan 2020, p.107]

There's still something truly magical in the wistful clarity of her voice. [Nov 2005, p.131]

Like Solomon Burke and Johnny Cash before her, she's turned to the likes of Will Oldham, Dolly Parton and Merle Haggard for source material, and turns in an album of love, pain, suffering and redemption to rival any of them. [May 2006, p.130]

His penchant for flyaway drama is anchored by his winning way with a soaring melody. [Feb 2018, p.115]

Of Nelson's many collaborative albums, To All The Girls is simply among his best. [Nov 2013, p.112]

His first album in seven years is vigorously diverse. [Nov 2012, p.90]

Frequently the music here sounds unhinged and stretched out to the limits of endurance, but it's exactly this lack of sanitisation that makes this such a thrilling listen. [Jan 2015, p.129]

More earthy than his contemporary Richard Thompson, Chapman shows younger pretenders a clean pair of heels with impeccable guitar-picking and tunes that veer from moist-eyed remembrance to defiance at times's relentless passage. [Mar 2019, p.112]

A pure pleasure. [July 2008, p.101]

The musical collage approach, is the starting point for a captivating album of pop electronica. [Mar 2013, p.101]

'Midnight's' gut-wrenching sight of an ex not leaving a party alone is a case in point, but any of one of these 10 tracks is equally illuustrative. [Mar 2009, p.93]

A career-spanning, alternative "best of." [Feb 2012, p.101]

Nostalchic is texturally dense, yes, but made of simply swoonsome stuff. [Apr 2013, p.104]

Wrong Crowd may still be driven by piano but it charts a new path for Odell. [#361, p.106]

Randell's lyrics reveal subversiveness too, telling of teenage insurrections and small-town upsets. Steve Hassett's backing, meanwhile, is characterised by enough strange impulses and pleasing deviations to whirr and rattle through the stillness. The band's third album is filled with such quirks and quiet rebellions. [Aug 2018, p.113]

Latin, their third album, turbo-charges post-punk, lolloping Karutrock and primitive electro.

The Nihilist is a mind-melting blend of traditional songwriting and endless, restless experimentation. [Jun 2014, p.110]

Chastising them for not reinventing the wheel seems churlish when they sound like they're having so much fun spinning the old one. [Apr 2013, p.111]

Grey Tickles, Black Pressure captures everything great about Grant's past and bundles it into his most riveting album yet. [Nov 2015, p.110]

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

Amid the shiny licks, the hallmarks of his previous work remain. [Dec 2015, p.111]

All told it's a captivating listen that's proudly individualistic, heart-warmingly intelligent and beautifully intonated. [Nov 2013, p.102]

He may not have stepped totally outside his discomfort zone, but Blake here reveals himself as an artist at the peak of his powers. [Mar 2019, p.113]

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

There is nothing new here but Teleman make it sound like their own. [May 2016, p.109]

A true master in career-best form. [Summer 2019, p.112]

It's great, with well-judged strings and horns giving full rein to some marvellously acute lyrics.... A glorious return. [Oct 2002, p.117]

For the most part, though, the excellence of what's here is less a matter of particular details than the way they combine to produce long stretches of real magic. [#361, p.104]

Kokoko! are far more ramshackle affair than Mbongwana's dub-drenched African Funk, with "instruments" all but salvaged from junkyards. The effect is deliriously infectious--Gruff, chanted vocals, wandering basslines and often woozy FX that can render the whole disorientating and dreamlike. [Aug 2019, p.112]

At times, he thinks as laterally as Pavement's Stephen Malkmus. [Feb 2004, p.102]

The relentless live percussion give Frost's music the structure that makes it more than noise. [Jun 2014, p.111]