The first half of the album presents a disparate sequence of songs, the punky “I Want To Tell You About Want I Want” mixing with a rather laboured piece about Virginia Woolf’s and Sylvia Plath’s suicides (“Virginia Woolf”). ... This second half finds Hitchcock at his most purposeful. [May 2017, p.46]

Good, clean fun. [Oct 2008, p.71]

The album’s eight tracks meander, but they never get lost. “Basin” for example sounds like Brian Eno’s Music For Airports might if it were scaled down to be played in an apartment hallway instead of a spacious terminal. [May 2023, p.51]

Even if the music remains fairly consistent, the concepts mark off more ambitious territories. [Oct 2011, p.60]

It takes a while to get on Friedberger's wavelength.... But his sheer love of a good tune is seductive. [Dec 2012, p.63]

Where Tuttle takes a more detached standpoint he’s less successful. Perhaps attempting to mimic corporate blandness, “Cambridge Drive Shopping Centre” mixes field recording of shoppers with a dogged guitar motif to fast diminishing effect. For the most part however he keeps cynicism at bay, a welcoming guide to his kingdom of everyday beauty. [Jul 2020, p.53]

Though some of the genre mixing does feel abrupt rather than fully integrated – for all its charms, “Asha The First” is a bit overstuffed – the album largely works, unified by Washington’s unwavering vision and exploratory spirit. [May 2024, p.58]

This compilation gives voice to many lesser known artists who sang of the elation and estrangement of moving from the dirt tracks to the streets. [Aug 2012, p.44]

For all its bounce, this is a claustrophobic, airless LP, and you have to wait until the last track to hear a human voice free from distortion. [Aug 2022, p.52]

While as bracing as ever, this sound is less striking now, and the album sees Psutka creating solid but less remarkable grooves. [Feb 2015, p.56]

The album encompasses a wide range of moods. [Sep 2021, p.55]

The best cuts come courtesy of Chi-town's Soundtrakk, whose Native Tongues love knows no bound, while newcomers Chris & Drop provide notably solid beatwork for 'Gold Watch.' [Apr 2008, p.71]

Jimmy and Swae kick gleeful and indistinguishable spring-loaded raps about nothing in particular. [Feb 2015, p.57]

His maniacal energy is infectious. [Nov 2008, p.77]

The new sound is taut and spare.[Sep 2015, p.50]

There's more here than nostalgia, with a range of styles and influences incorporated into Cabic's deceptively direct arrangements, and an afterglow that's testament to his talents. [#269, p.53]

A sound thrumming with bold analogue synthesizers and beefy rock drums. [#254, p.67]

Sometimes the album feels more like a document of studio experiments than a collection of fully realised, narrative-driven compositions, but they remain remarkably effective at imposing similarly conflicting emotions on the listener as on Herndon's avatar.[Dec 2012, p.65]

He doesn't sound very dangerous. Just glad to be out. [ Aug 2012, p.55]

Nothing has afforded him unlimited space to recalibrate after a period of upheaval and loss. [Nov 2015, p.45]

A perfectly pleasant pop record that at its best recalls the likes of Glassjaw (“FKA World”) and Hurl. [Oct 2023, p.56]

Extra Playful lives up to its title. [Oct 2011, p.63]

These are effective dancefloor tracks that contain secret burdens o f menace or anxiety. [Dec 2012, p.68]

Garden Of Delete feels more like an audio showreel than a traditional album. [Nov 2015, p.51]

Abstract hiphop-heads might be turned off by the slick machismo, but others will have some good dirty fun. [Oct 2011, p.65]

Marshall’s electronic, krautrock-ish backing tracks extended what Lanegan had previously laid down on previous albums Blues Funeral and Phantom Radio. Gargoyle however has more of an early 1980s UK electronic rock feel, with Lanegan’s rough vocal rasp sawing through musical timbres reminiscent of what was being played out at Manchester’s Factory. [May 2017, p.47]

The desire of the group to progress feels palpable here. [Nov 2015, p.55]

Patten's ability to conjure such urgency with out ever slipping into anything so easy as a typical groove goes some distance. [Oct 2011, p.65]

It might sound unbearably contrived, but the combination of crystalline guitar, sly time signatures and Kinsella's stream of consciousness lyrical musings makes for an unexpectedly coherent whole. [#229, p.68]

Gloopy Aphexian synths add a heady, after-hours quality to his itchy drum patterns, but the takeaway moment comes on the rather different closing track “Phosphorescence”, an endless plateau of serene deep house laced with jazzy keys, Mike Banks style. [Dec 2019, p.54]

His melody lines never go where they should; there is pattern here, but not he expected resolution. [Nov 2015, p.56]

The beats are straighter and more polished, and a degree of shine has replaced bedroom-engineered grit. [Dec 2012, p.75]

No More Normal showcases UK talent proudly, but bringing so much of it together, loses some of the character that might attract new listeners to UK music. Reaching for the historical weight of Soul II Soul, it ends up with the easy going vibe of The Brand New Heavies. [Apr 2019, p.59]

Totem is a pensive and heterogeneous offering, with glitchy and glittery textures, wandering melodies and echo. [Aug 2012, p.58]

It's a Mark McGuire record in the way he plunges into all his personal enthusiasms and arrives somewhere more interesting when he comes up for air. [Nov 2015, p.56]

Dance album of this level of consistent quality are rare. Yet ultimately, no groove in this album particularly reach out and little new, different or memorable is offered for the imagination. [Oct 2011, p.65]

A streamlined combination of motorik rhythms, electronic textures and tuneful choruses. [#242, p.72]

There's a lot going on and while he never rises to anything as wakeful as a melody or a solid riff, there's still a satisfying level of control that keeps him two steps away from the minimalism plus heavy effects tendency of similar acts. [Oct 2011, p.65]

The record crams a ton of sonic and thematic ideas into a small space and yet show almost no visible stitches. [Oct 2011, p.66]

If Boy falters, it's toward the end, where out of three softer focused tracks, only "Danceland" charms its way into the memory. [Mar 2014, p.53]

There's a much larger keyboard profile on this new album.... Whether this is a positive or negative shift depends on where you're sitting. [Apr 2013, p.48]

Retaining his passion and knowledge for psychedelic music in all its multifarious shifting forms, together with a long incubated yearning to steer his guitar sound in the direction of Jimi Hendrix, on Little Eden Saloman intermittently flashes back and storms straight ahead with a honed set of crafted songs and short-fused acid/garage rock explosions. [Sep 2021, p.62]

The emphasis now is on the delicate interplay between acousitc guitars, and vocals which sound somewhere between Jonathan Donahue and Syd Barrett. [#221, p.66]

Krlic combines a flexible approach with an impressive deftness of touch, and Excavation sees him feeling out new ways through the shadows. [Apr 2013, p.50]

A rewarding and self-consciously motley fest. [#227, p.60]

Occasionally the album misfires. [Mar 2014, p.59]

Idiology refuses to cohere so completely that it plays out as part of Mouse On Mars's very approach; the duo hop from style to style, treating them like so many stepping stones to no destination in particular. [#206, p.72]

Bonnie Prince Billy shows no sign of slowing down his slowness, despite, or perhaps because of, the misery. [Nov 2011, p.56]

The music is meditative and calm-inducing, though occasionally it leans a little too much towards Opal Records tropes, particularly the piano-led pieces. [Apr 2016, p.62]

Getting the full measure of this quickly hermetic collection depends considerably on how you shuffle and deal formats. [May 2008, p.57]

[Arthur Jeffes] often seems over-cautious. ... Yet when Jeffes reins in a tendency to over-orchestrate, he shares his father’s talent for painting delightful scenes with limited palettes. [May 2017, p.53]

The album never quite wallows in gross out carnage or tragedy or blame (though these are here, for sure), but spins these yarns, perverse detail at a time, with the laconic humour of a short story by Richard Brautigan or Thomas Pynchon, stopping just short of mockery. [May 2017, p.53]

Some might find the group's repetitive grooves too smooth a match for all Smith's spewing. But his bark infects everything around it. [Nov 2011, p.58]

Lack doesn't allow so much for meditation, forcing the listener to confront its continued presence through interjections of anxious vocal exercises and crashing echoes, industrial scrapes and human ululations. [Sep 2017, p.49]

When dealing with the more fully formed of the original songs, the album is extremely strong. [Apr 2013, p.58]

For just a few moments [on "Slow Your Roll"] there’s an unmistakeable sense that what’s already a decent album could have been a whole lot better, could have been inspirational. [Sep 2017, p.50]

Another big fat splat of technicolour vomit from Lightning Bolt drummer Brian Chippendale's solo project. [Apr 2013, p.51]

With none of the barking dogs found on "Son," Un Dia generally limits itself to guitars, synths, voice and percussion, a more intimate, insular palette of sounds that is sometimes too subdued to really egage. [Oct 2008, p.60]

On the third album by Bishop's trio with drummer Chris Corsano and guitarist Ben Chasny, the [Middle Eastern] influence is more explicit than ever.... "Spiro Agnew" brings the intercultural connection full circle, with an extravagant strut that calls to mind the grand drama that Turkish guitar hero and pioneer of saz rock Erkin Koray brought to his fuzzed out interpretations of lachrymose Arabesque ballads. [Feb 2016, p.58]

Sprawling spaciness is absent from A Foul Form which marks a return to the California shredders’ punk roots. The vibe is set by opener “Funeral Solution”: blistering guitar fuzz, punch drunk double drums, stumbling basslines and ragged vocals. [Sep 2022, p.48]

There’s one serious misfire, a skit where Crazy Titch reassures us that everyone in his prison block agrees you’re never “too gang to listen Stormzy”, but mostly his wariness lends the album a series of unresolved tensions more perfectly poised than any other grime album to date. [May 2017, p.55]

Color is an album of two halves, with gloomier hues on side two. [Nov 2016, p.53]

Is it fun? Well, yes, even if it does end up sounding like 15 different musical assemblages from an equal number of historical periods playing at once. [Feb 2016, p.59]

“Bounty” exalts the genre’s heritage with a lyrical pastiche of pop songs--Blondie’s “One Way Or Another” and James Brown’s “Get Up (I Feel Like Being A) Sex Machine” among them. “Flight 1235” acknowledges the shift in perspective and approach while insisting it’s his hard-earned right. [Aug 2018, p.52]

“In The South” is a mash-up with Gucci Mane and Pimp C that could’ve snuck on the back end of a posthumous UGK set. [Sep 2017, p.62]

“All Souls Hill” itself is almost in Bad Seeds territory – the two bands were formed the same year and almost certainly aware of one another. “The Liar” is a swipe at Donald Trump but avoids sounding latecomerish by turning him into a folkloric figure. “Passing Through” does the opposite, giving political relevance to an old song. [Sep 2022, p.52]

It all sounds wonderful, sparkling and glistening. Yet it doesn't make a dent that one might expect. [Oct 2008, p.56]

The weakest moments of this set are those that try to bludgeon the listener with noise. [May 2017, p.57]

Much like Mantronix, Injury Reserve’s strengths lie in their overall freshness, and the way they play with and reinforce hiphop’s borders. Phoenix is full of post-genre dynamics. ... Phoenix is a punch-drunk affair that finds Injury Reserve hurtling forward with a determined anguish. [Oct 2021, p.49]

It works best when blended with his more adventurous tendencies. [Nov 2011, p.64]

Once you make the adjustment and accept these songs for what they are, ther are moments of loveliness. But for the most part, one can onlyy wonder what attracted Russell to indulge in this sort of stuff given his more renowned output. [Nov 2008, p.68]

Black's pleasure at rediscovering these old songs in new company is infectious and makes the exercise engaging and worthwhile. [#252, p.62]

Human Energy is a rainbow emerging on a clear summer's day. [Nov 2016, p.61]

Although he wrangles these troublesome rhythms with aplomb, at times they bring out a cartoonish tendency that undermines his usual deadly poise. [Nov 2011, p.66]

It sounds like something struggling to be born, and probably not something you’d want to see grow up in your house. [Nov 2019, p.64]

“Sky Burial” gives us a melodic refrain of “I’ve been looking for you” bouncing over phantasmal electronic, squelching synths and a bass that almost clangs with detuning; “Dyma Fy Robot” revels in Metal Mickey vocals and a tumble of discombobulated percussion and trilling birdsong; “Tiny Witch Hunter” tangles helium-fuelled vocals with wailing sax and African rhythms. [Dec 2018, p.59]

Good Luck doesn’t betray Friday’s general aesthetic or artistic persona. On the contrary, it retains her darkly seductive, slightly edgy and risqué aura, but conveys it through a disparate medley of styles. [Apr 2023, p.53]

Despite their pop savvy, it's a surprisingly difficult listen. [Sep 2012, p.57]

Peeled back from its surrounding hype, The Sciences is a sturdy (albeit somewhat stationary) return to form. [Aug 2018, p.59]

It's the lighter, trickier touches that stick in the head. [Sep 2012, p.56]

This music is rebarbative glitch-puke, circuit-bent footwork with the joy scorched out, every now and then blitzed by what could be described as intelligent gabba. [Sep 2014, p.54]

The Brian Eno collaboration “Here Come The Warm Dreads”, despite having the cheesiest, winking at the camera/self-referential title, coalesces around a regal brass melody and popping rhythm section to created a solidly funky slice of spaced out dub. “Rattling Bones And Crowns” is sharper, darker take on the Rainford cut “Kill Them Dreams Money Worshippers”. [Dec 2019, p.52]

The low end may not cause subterranean trolls to bang angrily on their ceilings as with 1993's Earth 2, but the rich textures and Carlson's expressive leads provide plenty to luxuriate in. [Sep 2014, p.54]

Armed Courage, while enjoyable, isn't really a record anyone's gotta hear. [Sep 2013, p.50]

Suavely assembled big band pop. [#220, p.66]

There probably isn't a track here you won't be hearing in some club, park or block party throughout the summer, so you might as well start now. [#245, p.51]

Every now and again a ray of sun shines through, a warmth and homeliness that Buena Vista Social Club and its ilk condition you to expect, but more often they're glazed with a chill. [Sep 2012, p.62]

The six loose, expansive tracks on this collection offer a glimpse into the more convivial domestic recording scenario the band were enmeshed in at that time. Free from the need to shape these ideas into conventional structures you hear the band at their most Can-like. [Mar 2022, p.52]

Each piece is sturdily constructed, but a loose leaf informality allows the 18 tracks to hang without necessarily hanging together. [Apr 2020, p.53]

Blood Oaths Of The New Blues is a compelling argument for the virtues of grasping what's within your reach rather than grabbing vainly for the stars. [May 2013, p.60]

It should still be appreciated for its sonic density, its sustained mood of dread and the universality of its themes, at least one of which--the condemnation of usurers--is painfully relevant today. [Sep 2012, p.63]

It Should Be Us returns to the lunging bass distortion and nauseous slowed down beats of his instrumentals – the only voices to speak of rising from the churning depths as eerily pitched-down house vocal moans. [Jan 2020, p.73]

As a gesture of positive force, Commune is effective; as an instigator of evolution it falls somewhat short. [Sep 2014, p.59]

Ready To Die, in essence, a solid hard rock album, with all the good and bad that implies. [May 2013, p.59]

Balance[d] between the exquisite – lines aching with elegant age and restraint, chords feeling bruised and heavy with knowing (“Hymn”, “An Intimate Distance”) – and the slightly underdeveloped (“Bells”, “Innocence”). ... The Turning Year is calming and often very beautiful. [May 2022, p.44]

His music is closer to an upgrade of the wigglier, more luxurious end of Megadog/ Megatripolis 90s clip-on dreadlock rave, or more recently the hallucination holiday postcards of Call Super, than to anything genuinely raw and lo-fi like Kyle Hall, Jamal Moss or Karen Gwyer. [Aug 2018, p.66]

Expectations are, as ever, moderate for Tricky's latest album, and he doesn't disappoint. [Sep 2014, p.60]

Some of the lesser tracks are near indistinguishable from other over-hyped post Hypnagogic Pop projects.... But such fumbles are rare. [Sep 2013, p.52]