The sheer wealth of material--over four hours' worth--seem designed to only excite the tastebuds of tourbus veterans. [Nov 2013, p.120]

Opinions will still be divided--Murdoch as literary giant or self-important art school berk?--as, over 25 tracks, there's evidence of both. [Jul 2005, p.129]

Most tracks follow a simple formula: the vocal from Don't Stop by the Stone Roses + layers of chimes + dog barks + crashing drums = mess. [Jun 2003, p.100]

Compared to their early work, disappointing. [Jun 2005, p.118]

M.I.A.'s style mag-cool pop-rap doesn't have the substance to carry the dark subtext of the title. [May 2005, p.107]

In the end, though, to fixate on these 33 songs' serial flaws and occasional bad odours is to miss the essential point. The music amounts to a compelling period piece. [July 2008, p.116]

An acquired taste. [Mar 2003, p.109]

A rather erratic affair. [Apr 2002, p.119]

Aurally, Super Furry Animals are evolving into a hybrid of Blur and The Cardiacs. (Drawing) Rings Around The World, Shoot Doris Day and Presidential Suite are excellent, most of the remainder pass muster, but there's nothing to change anyone's world.

There's almost too much bubbling up in their heads. [May 2020, p.109]

Fans of experimetal electronica will be [happy], though Radiohead devotees should exercise caution. [Jun 2010, p.124]

Frustratingly uneven. [Jun 2012, p.118]

From Coldcut to DJ Shadow, every rap-era cut-up maestro owes a debt to Steven Stein. [Nov 2008, p.129]

Nothing here is essential, but there will always be enough completeist to warrent airing of Dylan's old laundry. [Nov 2008, p.127]

The Convincer slots in smoothly behind 1998's Dig My Mood. [Oct 2001, p.126]

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

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

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

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

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]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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]

What this collection leaves you wanting--and what Goldfrapp do most wonderfully--is weirdness. [Mar 2012, p.116]

It's a deeply Manchester album: melodic yet substantial, uplifting and acceptable to football fan and student alike. [May 2002, p.109]

All life's disastrous lows are here on a career-high album. [Nov 2014, p.121]

Kozelek's less-than-euphoric vocals become wearying after a few tracks, though the band shuffle basic resources with some brio. Worth the wait, but only just.

For a band who sing so often about matters of the heart and emotional connection, much of Trouble Will Find Me sounds oddly on autopilot. [Jun 2013, p.106]

However appealing Sugar Mountain may be to some, the storytelling alone will prove too much for others. [Jan 2009, p.127]

Completists will be delighted that songs as good as Cars Can't Escape and Kicking Television have been rescued from the dead zone of soundtracks and bonus discs but there's a lot of competent Americana and superfluous concert material to get through. [Jan 2015, p.139]

While she could let her hair down a little more, this record finds plenty of sweet spots between melancholy and euphoria. [Summer 2020, p.107]

It's a pleasant listen but never quite sparks. [Jul 2013, p.100]

This third LP for the label is both gritty and polished, sung and played with the certainty of an artist who's been doing it forever and will keep on doing it until they're stopped. [Jul 2014, p.107]

Co-produced in the US by Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor, Twin Shadow is assured hipster status in his adopted New York home. [Jan 2011, p.142]

Yet tracks such as Moody, You're No Good and UFO are far more than mere sample food, and these original recordings recall The Slits given a rudimentary disco makeover. But where their British peers revelled in sloppiness, ESG's rhythm section is as tight as the JBs in bondage gear.

Takes the first steps towards some sonic nirvana.... But overall, it's still not quite the record you know they could make. [Jul 2004, p.116]

These songs display such moustache-twirling camp that they exert a lively pull despite the undead atmospherics. [Dec 2004, p.136]

While there is greater subtlety at play than when he was in Gallows, he still sounds at his most thrilling on the more aggressive material. [Oct 2015, p.104]

Not quiet as good as 1970's Live At Leeds, but it's still a riot. [Jun 2018, p.119]

Celebration Rock delivers more of the same good-time guitar-pop anthems about girls and night on the tiles, delivered at breakneck velocity and near-deafening volume. [Jul 2012, p.104]

This is his best in aeons. [Nov 2008, p.121]

My Father Will Guide Me Up a Rope to the Sky isn't all cranium-crushing bleakness, just mostly. [Nov 2010, p.116]

He's a terrific piano player, a gift put to exquisite use on this collection of old jazz standards. [Jun 2009, p.132]

Classic Roots. [Oct 2006, p.126]

But for a little judicious editing, it's a pleasure we could have shared with him. [Oct 2012, p.99]

The Eastern motifs on Infinty are trite. Ultimately, it's not enough to derail this engrossing record. [Jun 2011, p.116]

The Dallas-born singer is still making music that's deep and unorthodox. [May 2008, p.141]

To hard-hitting R&B and funk akin to God Foot-era James Brown, Jones can strip paint and soothe with equal aplomb. [Dec. 2011 p. 129]

The tragedy, once again, is that nothing here approaches greatness. [Mar 2008, p.103]

This is essentially a couple of singles spread way too thinly. [Jun 2005, p.110]

Despite the slight air of "tell me something I don't know" hanging over proceedings, both musically and lyrically, there is an earworming swagger here. [May 2018, p.112]

There's a wobbly quality to La Havas's toplines that means they can get lost in the more densely instrumented tracks, yet the sparser finger-picked guitar numbers give her songwriting space to shine. [Aug 2020, p.108]

Unsurprisingly, their music proves equally mysterious, the lava-like bass and shuddering beats suggesting a familiarity with dubstep's experimental margins. [Aug. 2011, p. 116]

After a couple plays, his just-crawled-out-of-bed falsetto and homemade designs start taking root. [Nov 2002, p.102]

Rejoice is sparse, just drums and bass, with Masekela's flugelhorn providing the fluidity and freshness that elevates it above the park kickabout it might've been. [May 2020, p.100]

As richly rewarding a work of brilliance as it is, Crack The Skye will nonetheless be beyond the ken of all but those with the most open of minds--or pre--attuned ears. [Apr 2009, p.107]

There are exquisite moments here, mostly the simpler ones, but not as many as there should be. [Dec 2002, p.100]

Though not without merit, the reliance on other people's melodies (and words on the Caroline Says-pilfering Distortions) can become trying after a while.

Europe is a more mainstream, although melancholy, affair, all about exile and extended youth. It's sometimes too much... But when Allo Darlin' snag hooks and get hopeful, they're wonderful. [Jun 2012, p.96]

Strangely engaging.

As the exclaimation mark in their name suggests, their every sentiment is exaggerated, but they do do careening anxiety rather well. [Nov 2008, p.110]

This is cosmic R&B. [May 2013, p.95]

Unexpectedly vibrant, like riot grrrl with tunes. [Oct 2002, p.100]

These BBC radio sessions from the period don't offer many revelations. There's still a thrill to be had from listening to them rattle through this selection of--mostly--non-originals though. [Jan 2018, p.117]

The overlong 'Faith/Void' aside, this is another absorbing collection. [Apr 2009, p.100]

He mostly rises to the occasion. What the vocals lack in beauty, they make up in expressiveness. [Mar 2015, p.112]

It's 10 tracks are produced by veteran Chicagoan No ID, who provides a consistently soulful feel for the rapper's reflection on family, fatherhood and fidelity. [Sep 2017, p.110]

Dawson's vision is exceptional; his sound is harder to follow. [Dec 2019, p.109]

Sound[s] like out-takes from [Daft Punk's] Discovery. [Jun 2005, p.118]

There's too little oomph to suggest they'll bother the scorers. [Jul 2017, p.114]

A dramatic, wide-screen, expertly executed, even genuinely executed thrilling rock record worthy of an audience way beyond nu-prog’s regular constituency. [Apr 2007]

Rodriguez digs deeper into rave and party culture here. [Jun 2020, p.97]

Occasionally, Byrne subtly expands her musical palette with strings and woodwind, but never at the expense of her own guitar and vocals. [Feb 2017, p.111]

The accompanying impression of sincerity is enough to save unashamedly sentimental tunes such as Wedding Party and Two Children from mawkishness. [Jul 2012, p.96]

He's still more traditionalist than outlier, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. [Jul 2020, p.19]

His sometimes-still-too-warbly voice is the main instrument on this follow-up, but it's pockmarked with new friends' influence. [May 2013, p.96]

Savages are still best viewed in the wild, then, but Silence Yourself documents a spirit and passion that could never be background music. [Jun 2013, p.98]

With her debut, the former member of art-noise cult Gowns sounds like she would quite literally rip out her heart as a sleeve adornment if it served her creative purpose. [July 2011, p. 111]

It might not add up to a must-have, but it's good to hear Springsteen with the pressure off. [Jun 2006, p.112]

A curious document, but one that serves as a reminder of Hegarty's ability to catch the light live. [Sep 2012, p.97]

Unsurprisingly, the atmosphere is often weigted with doom, though there's an intoxicating impetus to the tar-like bass and woozy funk. [Aug 2008, p.140]

It's clear Russell was a true renaissance man, as at home with thoughtful guitar pop as he was with New York disco. [Dec 2008, p.143]

The gauzy production effects on Lamplight are among the few concessions to modernity, though the opening credits theme proper--where Zeffira breathily channels chanteuse Francoise Hardy--is hauntingly gorgeous. [Apr 2015, p.98]

The disruptions continue on these post-classical keyboard pieces given extra depth by textured electronics, which create an underlying tension befitting the album's brief to examine possible ecological futures. [Jun 2017, p.109]

It's familiar, but immaculately done, and by far the most focused work this band has managed thus far. [Sep 2002, p.100]

The pomp they derive from taking dour post-rock to a rave--notably here in Prisms--is satisfying. [Nov 2013, p.101]

The only gripe here is that the odd longueur makes Historian solid rather than spectacular. [May 2018, p.107]

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this template leaves little room for subtlety, yet what the duo's first lacks in brains it makes up for in sheer noisy exuberance, displaying on Crazy/Forever a common thread with the once majestic ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. [Dec 2009, p. 116]

They've long threatened to make an album that would propel them to metal's major league. This might be it. [Jun 2013, p.95]

More familiar than freaky. [Jan 2019, p.114]

Color Theory is a record that weighs heavy with low self-esteem and personal tragedy. [Mar 2020, p.122]

An excellent return. [Dec 2012, p.109]