Disc five means you can now hear it in its aborted "quadrophonic" surround sound mix. [Dec. 2011 p. 145]

Familiar BSP influences such as New order, Talk Talk and Bunnymen are present and it's shot through with a Telstar optimism, ensuring that the afterglow is defiantly positive. [May 2017, p.100]

22 miniatures serving up sliced funk, jazz and soul with all the dexterity and precision of a sushi chef. [Jun 2020, p.102]

This wonderfully bleak record exists in a cocoon of early-hours introspection, with melancholy guitars rippling around the pair's half-whispered vocals. [April 2012, p.105]

It remains to be seen whether this is a long-term diversion for Oberst. But if the Mystic Valley Band is just a brief stop, it's a hugely enjoyable one all the same. [Jun 2009, p.129]

Lively third outing from Brighton collective. [Feb. 2011, p. 117]

The arch, sometimes claustrophobic Macaroni demonstrates Conn's muso-like command of often juxtaposed genres. [May 2012, p.95]

This time around, Bugg writes every track. It only makes the stand-out tunes even more impressive. [#361, p.113]

His best work in many a long year. [Jun 2004, p.105]

A compelling record, in which the moments of sudden tenderness stand strongest. [Jul 2014, p.105]

The fact they're doing this in their early 20s verges on the astonishing. [Mar 2006, p.111]

It's a record of dizzying scope and Janelle Monae is a terrifying talent at the top of her game. [Nov 2013, p.112]

This is an epic musical journey. [Nov 2013, p.120]

The songs here are real beauties. [Jan 2018, p.110]

Reconstructed stands as a compelling snapshot of an artist who can't be considered a real game-changer. [Oct 2012, p.118]

Even when the centre spins out, Lennox's naive melodies make his indulgence sound strangely inviting. [Mar 2019, p.116]

It's an experimental, fitful listen that rewards concentration. [May 2020, p.103]

Any fears his propulsive energy may have waned in exiles are quickly dispelled. [Mar 2018, p.111

Show Yourself and Steambreather prove that its possible to perform challenging, complex material without being self-indulgent. [May 2017, p.108]

It's potent stuff. Visceral is an understatement. [Jun 2020, p.103]

At Mount Zoomer finds them making a giant leap forward, its surfeit of innovation defying easy categorisation. [Aug 2008, p.145]

Psychodrama is a bold statement from a rapper unafraid to ask tough questions of himself--and the often unforgiving world around him. [Jun 2019, p.108]

Far from being aural wallpaper, this is ambient music that's both engaging and engrossing. [Mar 2012, p.112]

Far from a mid-life indulgence or quirky side project, this is a brave and beautiful album. [May 2013, p.102]

Concise at just 30 minutes, perhaps explaining why "the concept" is not fully realised, but it's still unlikely you'll hear a better anti-fascist-Marxist-electro-pop record all year. [May 2013, p.106]

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]

Not only do Kannberg’s vocals sound more robust than previously, but the whole record has considerably more colour in its cheeks than Malkmus’s own recent solo effort.

The country-folk roots are earthly present, but old-time tropes are given contemporary settings. [Jun 2014, p.112]

A work of baroque detail, crossing between Mercury Rev's psychedelic Americana and The Beta Band's bucolic electronica. [Aug 2004, p.110]

Imagine if a Morrissey-style frontman--sharp, tender and taboo-breaking--was also sexual. [May 2003, p.107]

An emerging songwriting talent with a style and sophistication all his own. [Oct 2015, p.107]

There's timeless wit and energy here. [Nov 2019, p.111]

His production is masterful enough to demonstrate just why he is hip hop's hottest new property. [May 2004, p.111]

The RCA Albums Collection remains the final word on the most consummate singer-songwriter of his generation. [Sep 2013, p.111]

The follow-up reins in some of the chaos and the songs are stronger for it. [Nov 2015, p.115]

The sheer musical scope means Vagabon resembles a shifting mood piece, tied together not by generic tropes but its creator's singular sensibility. [Jan 2020, p.114]

Clearly le maestro hasn't lost his touch. [Dec 2015, p.114]

Andrews shares far more than just a haircut with Linda Ronstadt and Joni Mitchell, while heartbreaker ballads such as Only In My Mind roll from her fingers like Carole King. [Feb 2017, p.111]

It's full of high drama, intense melancholy and crepuscular euphoria. [Nov 2013, p.116]

Sparklehorse's resulting leap transports the group away from gloomy country to a modern psychedelia that achieves its creator's ambition of "making Kid A with choruses." [Oct 2006, p.120]

This is music that's lived life and doesn't stay in the same spot for long. It's a revelation. [Feb 2019, p.109]

The oddball duo of Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez rage in a noise-rock playground, sometimes using instruments handmade in Sanchez's workshop. Amid the racket, Dyer's yearning gives political screeds the intimacy of a lover's spat. [Feb 2019, p.108]

Three years after Rod's Soulbook covers album, Hucknall does that bit better, as you would expect from a voice with more than a decade's less wear and tear. [Dec 2012, p.106]

Pick of the bunch is 'March of the Camels,' which marries a doomy baseline with children's choir backing vocals, and exemplifies their gift for the surreal. [Apr 2008, p.117]

SVIIB is a memorial, yes, but it's a glorious one. [Mar 2016, p.107]

Much of the material here would fit seamlessly on any of their records since 1996's No Code. ... Gigaton is a reminder that Pearl Jam are a band totally comfortable in their own skin. [Jun 2020, p.104]

Newton's ups and downs might not always be fun, but they make for gripping listening. [May 2019, p.108]

Mind games worth playing. [Mar 2013, p.107]

This surprising, haunting album will speak powerfully both to her peers and to anyone who remembers how youth can sometimes feel like an overwhelming weight. [Jun 2019, p.110]

The result is another emphatic celebration of Malian musicianship. [Feb 2014, p.111]

It's quite brilliant. [Jan 2012, p.124]

It's a transformation that makes the delicate beauty of what comes before even more startling. [Mar 2013, p.102]

Understated yet charismatic, Harding has the gift of making reality seem like a very fragile and porous thing indeed. [Jul 2017, p.108]

This is witty English guitar rock of the highest calibre. [Nov 2002, p.114]

Her observations possess a nuance that blasts away old cliches, but are also related with a pleasing simplicity. [Aug 2020, p.107]

This is as bold, daring and vibrant an album as we'll hear this year. [Oct 2009, p.106]

Reassuringly, life is good once more. [#361, p.107]

Finds his muse back in rudest health after the relative disappointment of Rock N Roll. [Feb 2004, p.98]

An lysergic audio treat to sate the hunger of horned nature deities and psychedelic heads alike. [Aug 2015, p.115]

Either Yorke’s lyrics are better this time, or the comparative voluptuousness of the vocal performances make it easier to tune in, or we’ve finally grasped what he’s been getting at since abandoning OK Computer’s more straightforward man-vs-society musings.

Eyes Wide, Tongue Tied is a leap forward. [Oct 2015, p.108]

Their sky-scraping melodies may not enjoy the same reverence and ubiquity as, say, The Smiths' catalogue but these rearrangements are magical. [Nov 2018, p.105]

These songs might not defeat Fu Manchu, but they're a fine addition to Richard Ashcroft's hand. [Nov 2018, p.100]

Their debut...has all the right soul/pop/early Motown moves, plus enough retro fizz to get any party started. [Oct 2011, p.130]

If Angelina's somewhat mannered accent, make for an exercise in second-hand Americana, Vagabond Saint has too much panache to make that a stumbling block. [Feb 2017, p.111]

This debut album is free of the scowling raps that made grime such an abrasive prospect the first time round. [Nov 2012, p.104]

It's rarely an easy listen, but in among all the post-punk references lurks a soundtrack to 2018's looming global catastrophe that's urgent and compelling. [Feb 2018, p.113]

These previously released 28 masters and 27 out-takes are yet another eloquent reminder that contrary to received wisdom, Presley's '70s were no creative desert. [Nov 2013, p.120]

It's lawless crashing of styles--genres mangled include FM radio rock, queasy disco and a waltz--might appear off-putting, but are, instead invigorating. [Mar 2018, p.115]

The album comes to life with the radio-friendly, dancefloor-ready banger Operator (He Doesn't Call Me), but only one track, Love Is Blind, errs on the side of the saccharine and straightforward. [Apr 2016, p.109]

Amok shows Yorke successfully synthesizing his obsessions into a compelling and complete universe. [Mar 2013, p.92]

His gently intense third album is sometimes breathtaking in its melancholy sweep and songwriting skill, and always absorbing. [Mar 2013, p.96]

The fierce intensity of Ote's digital blurts, Mudafossil's amorphous throb and To Many's fractal melodies show Kooshanejad mapping fascinating new dimensions of his own. [May 2016, p.111]

While Finder is as relentless as they come and Intruder punches harder than chase & Status, The Fool details life in a court during the Middle Ages interestingly enough and there's subtle beauty in Eating Hooks. [Jun 2016, p.114]

It's tempting to say that Groves makes music mature beyond her tender years, but tha's wrong. It would be stunning no matter how old she was. [Jun 2009, p.117]

At its best, this is strangely charming, chiming pop music with a twist. At other times, the bare-boned production hampers the inventiveness, rendering a track such as Y Teimlad (The Feeling) a workmanlike Velvet Underground retread rather than the thing of symphonic beauty it briefly threatens to be.

Compared to the mulch churned out by far too many, Contra will cut through most of the stuff on the radio like sunshine through clouds. [Feb 2010, p 100]

A splendid blast of pop art--with the accent on tunes and outrageous fun. [Jun 2015, p.110]

Years & Years currently seem unconcerned with idiosyncrasy and edge, but it's hard to mind when they've hit a pop spot this sweet. [Summer 2018, p.112]

There's a small charisma shortfall, but blessed with good songs, Leithauser wears everything well. [Jun 2014, p.113]

Boy King is an album that exudes confidence to try new things, to experiment, to pull things apart and pull them back together again. [Sep 2016, p.100]

While not exactly rammed with chart-friendly bangers, the likes of Oino's Day-Glo twitch and Mountain's doe-eyed dream pop should hopefully ensure Dust the success that eluded him first time around. [Jul 2015, p.108]

Amid all the bitching and moaning are some of the finest songs of Weezer's career. [May 2002, p.118]

Despite the hypnotic repetition at its core, it's surprisingly tuneful. [Jul 2014, p.109]

Femejism is every bit as exhilarating as debut Sistronix. [Oct 2016, p.107]

While the new incarnation of the band has made two strong albums, LXXX shows off what really was their last splash. It was one hell of a cannonball. [May 2013, p.115]

High drama in every molecule. [Jan 2019, p.114]

Weaving Song and Poor Old Horse's exhilarating communal bellow show the band homespun and raw. [Mar 2018, p.115]

[Wrongtom's] meeting with East London jungle MC Deemas J is his most faithful homage yet. It's also his best. [Nov 2012, p.112]

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]

Khan's own incomparable pipes as blast-proof as ever, her first studio album since 2007 stands comparison with its stellar single. [Apr 2019, p.113]

Hercules And Love Affair are at their best when they cut loose and damn the consequences. [Apr 2008, p.110]

There's still vigour in The Orb's ambient house vision. [Jun 2020, p.105]

Essential not only for fans of roots music but anyone who cares about how it shaped rock. [Apr 2015, p.116]

As a live document of The Rollling Stones in all their swaggering, arrogant pomp, Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out is damned near essential. [Jan 2010, p.131]

This is one of Biffy Clyro's best records yet. [Aug 2016, p.106]

The sort of glorious record Greenwich Village beatniks would make if they'd been hibernating for 40 years. [Feb 2004, p.102]

What sets Faded Gloryville apart, however, is the new bluesy, soul-filled groove she found recording in Muscle Shoals. [Oct 2015, p.113]