Becs is something of a return, then, but equally it demonstrates that the guitarist's approach to pop composition has developed considerably over the past 13 years. [May 2014, p.83]

What makes this set so compelling is its mapping of the rapid shifts in Davis's music within shorter periods. [Oct 2015, p.68]

In Cauda Venenum is a peculiarly convincing example of retro rock but that’s not to say the album is anchored to one particular scene or era. ... What’s also helpful is that frontman and bandleader Mikael Åkerfeldt has one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary rock, an impassioned croon whose soulfulness defuses any potential for pomposity. [Dec 2019, p.57]

Guerilla Toss’s music is now disarming in its earnest post-digital exuberance and cutesy directness, while a fragile thematic framework holds it all together. In the process of getting here, they traded their convulsive rock progressions for slowly decaying walls of texture and Kassie Carlson’s Auto-Tuned vocals. The effervescent bangers “Live Exponential” and “Mermaid Airplane” are especially awesome. [Apr 2022, p.56]

Even more than on past outings, Kirby seems drawn to a sense of disconnect, refusing to let the elements of each track interact with one another. Yet Dead Empires is also rich with experiments and surprises. [Nov 2013, p.60]

A lovely collection full of ethereal evocations of the past. [Feb 2016, p.60]

An album that for the most part is ebulliently nasty pop, the monumental “Big Steppa” and the gleefully foul “No Face” in particular will be irresistible to anyone raised on Trina and Missy Elliott, daring us to switch off as the party spirals out of control. [Nov 2022, p.73]

The Clearing isn't a work of artfully suspended melancholy which leaves the listener wanting and wondering00it gestures ahead toward comfort and resolution. [Jun 2015, p.48]

The director has previously been namechecked by Lopatin as an early idol. Consciously or not, he applies a more vivid psychedelic impulse to a comparable tying together of sound and vision. [Aug 2017, p.56]

Springtime’s music feels free, but never carefree, full of spontaneity, acidity and momentum, sputtering in a thousand different, noisy directions at once. [Dec 2021, p.56]

A thrilling affair. [#252, p.63]

It's not so much a return to first principals as a 3D reboot of the homicidal stoner aesthetic established between 1991-1995 with Cypress Hill, Black Sunday and Temples Of Boom. [Nov 2018, p.52]

Even beyond this shared ending/beginning, the new material flows like a continuation of the previous album, but with a more progressive and tenser edge to it. [Apr 2022, p.56]

Sometimes he might repeat tricks, but his is a freedom few will ever know. [Feb 2016, p.60]

As Jackie Lynn, Fohr’s voice still occupies center stage, but it does so within synthesized set pieces crafted for her to inhabit. Like a hotel decked out with themed rooms, each song on Jacqueline has its own fine-tuned palette and nostalgia-tinged lighting scheme. [Apr 2020, p.49]

Deftly slice through seemingly disparate arenas--the fertile intersection of past and present, acknowledging both without succumbing to the whims of either. [Aug 2017, p.56]

Their newest struts and froths like the wild-eyed offspring of Deerhoof and Thundercat, raised in the swamps on little but No New York and toadstools. At turns, it’s impossibly upbeat--something like a Martian single parent’s go-to motivational album--and spasmodically funky, in the best tradition of Bernie Worrell-era Talking Heads, flipped on 45. [Nov 2018, p.54]

Despite the celebratory atmosphere, the group's air of menace remains intact. [Sep 2014, p.54]

Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!! sees Cave at his wittiest and most relaxed, though perhaps also most detatched. [Apr 2008, p.53]

Strike a rich vein of form. ... This record lacks a stated motif, but finds the musician digging into the American primitive style (which has often been at least in the orbit of his playing) more keenly than before. “Celerity”, “Enville” and “Vellum”, deft instrumentals all, sit ably in Fahey/Basho territory. [Apr 2020, p.50]

Throughout In These Times McCraven displays a preternatural ability at composing outside of 4/4 time, his oddly metred pieces built upon ear-catching melodies and dynamic rhythmic interplay. ... In These Times encompasses the fire and natural eclecticism found in the best contemporary jazz.

It’s heavyweight stuff delivered with a beautiful lightness of touch. [Nov 2022, p.73]

It’s gorgeous stuff, but whether the future she imagines is entropic or hopeful, it’s hard to say. [Mar 2024, p.57]

Sweet Heart Sweet Light isn't the best thing to bear the Spiritualized name but when Pierce aims for epic emotion as on "Get What You Want," his affectingly plaintive vocal sandwiched between Visconti strings and buzzing organ, the continued potency of his vision is evident. [Mar 2012, p.65]

A warmer, more deeply hued record than previous productions. [Jun 2015, p.49]

He’s grown up, but he’s done so better than most, and crucially Mellow Waves hits you not just with ravishing sonics, but with a plangent heart, a sense of emotional growth that fulfils the promise Cornelius’s music has always had. [Aug 2017, p.57]

A rewarding new departure. [#242, p.72]

With the addition of these elegant bent strings, it is as though perfumed air has been allowed to seep into what was formerly a hermetically sealed canister. This (now non-) trio's music is that much better for the enhancement. [May 2011, p.58]

To Be Kind is even moodier and more desolate than 2012's The Seer.... The more structured, traditional tracks don't cut quite as deep, largely because they echo other groups, at times overtly. [May 2014, p.68]

If there’s fun in her music, it’s somewhere between the anaesthetising effect of especially her more electric noises and the ecstatic release in her vocal, both too honest to be anything else but awkward. Fundamentally sociopathic. [Nov 2018, p.55]

As you try to sift through the dense crosstalk of twittering beats, your ears are beguiled ever deeper into Konono's rhythmic threshing machine. [#253, p.52]

There are no radical leaps forward from the previous album, but that matters not a jot. The soil in this territory is rich, the flora is fragrant, and the echoes of the past harmonise together like happy memories. [Dec 2017, p.51]

The Pyrrhic pleasures of their Confield-era tracks00all those advanced-topology rhythmic angles--remain in the first half of "tac Lacora," sharpened by being somewhat tamed, pushed into the pulsing exhilaration of the second half. [Nov 2013, p.65]

With this score, Greenwood might have set out in the footsteps of the masters, but he ends up forging his own path. [Jan 2015, p.64]

If you prefer your African music to be more dancefloor-friendly, Batida's Portuguese take on Konono has plenty going on. [Apr 2016, p.54]

Her ability to overdub against herself, creating the illusion of live interaction, is startling and thrilling to hear. Too often, one person music has a certain sterility and airlessness, but Thackray’s work is loose and groove-oriented, shuffling with an energy that brings to mind Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah albums while singing about opening one’s third eye. [Jul 2021, p.71]

The album's so-called simple songs might be ambiguous enough to leave you wondering what they're about, even as you're thinking that they were written just for you. [Jun 2015, p.49]

Given the unequaled brilliance of their SST era, it;s tempting to compare and contrast, but those who do so risk missing out on the often excellent music the Kirkwood brothes are making now. [May 2011, p.60]

Most intriguing are the hi-tech elements that flicker past, adding a hint of touch screen technology to the contemporary urban space. And the snatches of pirate radio speech--now Wen's signature--are engrossing. [May 2014, p.69]

Combining live ensemble performances by an 11-piece instrumental group, string quartet and four vocalists, with brief AutoTuned solo interludes, this is above all, a collective music. [Sep 2023, p.60]

The tracks likewise evoke the futuristic and the arcane, but the brute force with they are delivered makes them some of the unit’s most exhilarating work to date. [Oct 2022, p.40]

This is not the Wand record to spin while you do the chores, but it is, the one you might spin when you're looking for reasons to keep on living. [May 2014, p.69]

Continuance is one of the better examples of their prodigiousness, its delights ranging from the piano glissando of “Reese’s Cup” to the fuzzy jazz fusion keyboards of “Kool & The Gang”. [Apr 2022, p.59]

The quartet sound vital here, powered by a passion that is infectious and thrilling. [Dec 2017, p.52]

Lipstate's ability to evoke surprising antecedents strengthens her music's universality. [Jan 2015, p.67]

They actually have something fresh to express. [Apr 2012, p.62]

Sol Invictus is a looser, more relaxed record than its predecessors, occasionally dropping into a lounge ballad mode that suits Patton's vocals. [Jun 2015, p.52]

They [Born On A Gangster Star and Quazarz Vs The Jealous Machines] can be appreciated either together or apart from each other. [Aug 2017, p.58]

Marks a return to the kind of intricately interleaved rhythms, seamless progressions and aching harmonies that characterise their earlier sound. [#245, p.69]

Despite the dubious company he keeps, McMahon's ambient folk pop remains beguiling. [May 2014, p.70]

Sonic Citadel is a showcase for titanic, incisive riffs, gnarly yet immediate, accessible. [Oct 2019, p.56]

Uniquely for Martin’s music, In Blue isn’t dominated by its low end – it’s the precise absence of warmth, the way Chen’s heavily echoed vocals swim in among the grainy textures and hypnotically simple melodies (so much of this recalls the dankest 1990s hiphop in vibe and directness), that makes the set so compelling, a perfect soundtrack to derailment and decay. [Jan 2021, p.70]

Moving between diverse musical contexts, with self-assurance yet also unflagging inquisitiveness, open to the unexpected even within the familiar contours of Ruby My Dear or ’Round Midnight, Smith continues to renew and transcend his legacy. [Dec 2017, p.58]

It’s an impressive whole, even if a few of the individual parts don’t hold up to scrutiny. [Jul 2021, p.70]

It evokes so many emotions in a single track, and wrestling with its bittersweetness affects you in the gut. [Apr 2012, p.67]

They [Born On A Gangster Star and Quazarz Vs The Jealous Machines] can be appreciated either together or apart from each other. [Aug 2017, p.58]

Volume X [is] their best album since 200's The Red Line. [May 2014, p.70]

His bringing the audience in to the creative process only intensifies its authenticity and demonstrates his desire to emulate the endeavours of his family, his own version of working in a team that shares the labour of shifting piles of dirt and stone, or raising the foundations of a new building. [Dec 2021, p.58]

Lamentations is a gently devastating and cathartic listening experience. [Nov 20, p.54]

This miscellanea contains premonitions of Pylon’s future greatness and fills in the gaps of a catalogue overdue for reassessment. [Jan 2021, p.94]

A set of songs syruped in late 1960s and early 70s pop and rock nostalgia, yet still manage to sound unique. [Sep 2023, p.64]

The highlights are many, making the hour of its running time pass effortlessly. [Jul 2021, p.70]

An air of devotion does indeed hover over this music, filtering through the stately intonation of Anima Brass and the a cappella singing of The Macadam Ensemble, as well as the quiet concentration of Malone’s own playing. Yet it emanates not from the rarefied air of religious sentiment, but from the composer’s passionate dedication to sound itself, and her respect for its potential capacity to realise, as the title of the concluding piece puts it, “The Unification Of Inner & Outer Life”. [Mar 2024, p.50]

Perpetual Now has tangential relationships to house, techno, dub, ambient and psychedelic minimalism, but manages to plot a coherent and personal path between them all, with each of its four long tracks given space to breathe and expand. [Dec 2022, p.66]

An album whose sustained brilliance reveals both an artist liberated from the need to try too hard, and finally armed with more to express than sarcastic teenage angst. [Jun 2015, p.55]

The Kadanes have created a collection of songs of which they can be proud. [#246, p.62]

Pussycat is as excoriating and pitiless as anything Jenny Hval has produced to date and just as unflinching in its analysis of gender politics (the Wire-ish “Sex Machine” manages to be funny, poignant and upsetting) plus Hatfield cranks out some cathartic Ragged Glory solos (which could easily go on for twice as long as they do) and proves herself a fearlessly uninhibited vocal stylist to boot. Good work. [Aug 2017, p.61]

The pleasures of Reachy Prints are deceptively complicated, and it's another masterclass in how lightness needn't be thin or naive. [May 2014, p.72]

Each listen evokes a different feeling. At times there is a feeling of contentedness. [Oct 2019, p.55]

He introduces a dirty P-funk bassline to an endless whorl of hi-hats and swelling chords on “Ocean 1”, sounding tougher and sexier than ever, and the album’s middle section lays out long, uninterrupted trails of conga drums and Latin jazz piano, reaching a radiant crescendo on the title track. [Sep 2020, p.62]

Although this record is Rhys’s most polished to date, he does squeeze in moments of strangeness – subtle and paired down, bubbling beneath lush production and melodic arrangements. [Mar 2024, p.52]

There's an appealing openness and lack of guile to much of Sign. [#215, p.66]

Bringing further gravitas and grace to mundanity, he continues in the business of poetically detailing everyman strife and significant moments. [Oct 2019, p.50]

A hushed treasure. [Jan 2015, p.71]

The guitar duels still give plenty of heat and smoke, but they're more smouldering and linear than Comets' intemperate explosions. [Mar 2016, p.46]

The eight pieces here function as a drummer’s showcase, certainly, but Contact’s wilful limitations conceal an eclectic approach. ... Time spent immersed in Contact will reap reward. [May 2020, p.52]

He cites Frank Sinatra and Disney soundtracks as influences, and creates gorgeous music that paired with the vibrant visuals, disguises the horror within the film itself. [Sep 2019, p.56]

Balancing the 31 minute title song is “Heart And Soul” – another surprise, in that it’s contemplative and piano based, written by former bassist Derek Spaldo, who, for geographical reasons, has largely taken his leave of the band to make way for Andy Cush. It’s the epic title track that carries the whole thing though, making One Step Behind another step beyond for these Peoples. [Oct 2019, p.52]

All the ingredients required are present: sonic invention, surprise, risk taking, fun and adventure. [Mar 2024, p.56]

Almost overpowering in its anthemic positivity, Constant Future is unfashionably fearless, and all the better for it. [Apr 2011, p.58]

Earth may no longer startle, but against the odds Carlson survives, and this engaging dignified music is both testament and soundtrack to that survival. [Feb 2011, p.50]

Glover’s voice is intimate and unguarded, as if every song were being run down for friends, but it’s hard to imagine them sung in any other way, without losing the burr of nostalgia suffusing them. [Dec 2021, p.58]

Nothing here sounds forced, and Bailiff's continued use of effects doesn't so much obscure as communicate the heartfelt content of her songs more effectively. [Nov 2012, p.70]

Thankfully, Underneath The Pine burns brightly at both ends. [Feb 2011, p.51]

This album is not about re-using their old sounds. Most of the tracks offer something different and work well to complement the story being told. [Sep 2019, p.54]

A total blast from start to finish. [Dec 2021, p.59]

Effervescent retro fun with a core of righteousness. [Nov 2013, p.66]

Their second album offers something new and exciting. Their music is intricate and complex but also intense and fierce with bold, contrasting sections. [Aug 2021, p.55]

It is an utterly twisted delight. [Feb 2012, p.68]

A terrifically engaging collage of incompletion and one of the most blazing returns of 2021. [Dec 2021, p.59]

Will To Be Well has a vivid inner life. [Aug 2014, p.49]

The sound sources themselves are not of intrinsic importance – it’s what the musicians do with them that matters – but in opening up these questions, these wonderings, Under~Between does much to create its imaginative worlds. [Apr 2021, p.51]

With mute on, Smith can project a tender fragility through a single lingering note, reminiscent of Miles at his most thoughtful and noirish circa Ascenseur Pour L'Echafaud. Smith's more strident statements convey an emotional rawness. [Apr 2016, p.65]

Banned is brimming with great ideas and fascinating sound – moments of gorgeous melodicism and soulful playing, all dressed in vivid sonic poetry. Lightman and Jarvis’s voices blend, stack and play off each other beautifully. [Aug 2021, p.58]

Whatever your take on Tibetan Buddhism, this is done with powerful sincerity and musical sensibility. The Albanian born Kodheli in particular does a remarkable job, and I defy anyone to listen to Anderson’s voice for an hour and not become a better person. [Oct 2019, p.48]

Diggin’ In The Carts is the most inventive video game music compilation in living memory. [Dec 2017, p.67]

This may be a mini-album, but it's so well turned, so successful in completing what it sets out to achieve that, far from marking time in his discography, it could end up being one of his key releases. [May 2008, p.55]

A poised and playful opus of 11 tracks dominated byt the sound of maxed-out 1980s 8-bit videogame soundtracks zapped 300 years into the future. [Mar 2016, p.47]