Darnielle dresses songs of romance, heartache, and travel in elegant leaps of language. [Mar 2008, p.96]

At first it's too Linda Perry; soft-rock with feminist principles. [Mar 2006, p.96]

For a while, it seemed like they'd never leave the hipster ghetto, but this is a convincing exit. [Oct 2011, p.90]

It's a snappy, catchy hybrid, though one that irritates pretty quickly. [Apr 2003, p.105]

Deeply disappointing. [Jul 2003, p.114]

Enon inhabit a multi-coloured Seventies soaring pop universe but with... emphasis on crunching guitar breaks, electronic textures and skewed lyrics. [Sep 2002, p.118]

The Devil, You + Me is no milestone of experimentation, but The Notwist win extra points with their emotional restraint, lyrical maturity and elegantly complex arrangements. [Aug 2008, p.101]

So while it can get a bit too diffuse and self consciously complex, when the quartet breaks into something gorgeous (like the joyous tagliatelle of guitars that wriggles and wrinkles through "Uda Hah") you'll suspend your cynicism. [Jan 2010, p. 124]

The 19 tracks revisited here constitute a mixed bag, ranging from imaginative reinventions to faithful recreations. [Aug 2011, p.100]

Absentee's Dan Michaelson proves he could give Lee Hazlewood and Mark Lanegan a run for their money, but its not just his voice that plumbs depths. [Oct 2008, p.81]

A splendid showcase of their cavalier eclecticism, [Feb 2012, p.105]

A lack-Qluster addition to the Roedelius catalogue, perhaps, but fascinating in its own way. [Apr 2016, p.79]

Miller can't help occasional returns to his powerpop protocol. [Jul 2012, p.77]

It moseys a little too languidly. [Nov 2004, p.114]

Their approach is eclectic, esoteric, and not easy on the ear, though it does have a restless energy which suggests it might work better live. [June 2008, p.97]

An utterly gloomungous affair with barely a crack of light piercing the lowering clouds of misery. [Jan 2004, p.116]

A divine marriage of disco with discord that, while blatantly indebted to the mutant guitar funk of PiL, ACR, The Pop Group, Gang of Four, et al, enjoys the best of both disciplines. [Nov 2002, p.116]

While lyrics like "this is the hottest summer I can ever remember 'cause the world is on fire" leave little to the imagination, the final product is hard to dislike. [Aug 2023, p.26]

It's honest and immediate, but predictable. [Apr 2015, p.73]

He dips toes in the blues, country, R&B and rockabilly without ever really grabbing your attention. [Jun 2019, p.27]

There are traces of Rio's fantastic lipglossed silliness, but overall the arty party pop of All You Need IS now feels like an attempt to rescue a venerable British band long damaged by poor decisions. [Mar 2011, p.88]

Seductively decaddent, but a feeling that The Raveonettes are living on borrowed time persists. [Nov 2009, p.99]

On Reflection can't make any grand claims to originality, but charms with its clarity and light. [Jan 2019, p.25]

Vocalist Tim Kinsella strikes an intriguing balance between raw emotion and lyrical enigma. [Jun 2014, p.82]

There are epic power ballads, which just manage to avoid faling into Keane/Coldplay territory; there are terriffic, drone-laden stomp-rockers....The use of saxophone, however, is ill-advised, and Lightburn's voice can get a little ponderous. [Dec 2008, p.88]

It's both Gothic and arch, meaningless and amusing. [Nov 2006, p.110]

It will, rightly, go a long way to repairing Pete Doherty's reputation as a singer and songwriter of note. But half of it is a bit boring.

This is folk music given the widescreen treatment and a crisp, modern sheen. [Oct 2011, p.91]

Happily, the music Stewart's art rock collective make on their seventh studio LP tells a more playful and diverse story, incorporating vivid punktronica, delicate ambient moodscapes and icy chamber-pop. [Mar 2010, p.107]

When Trampin' doesn't work, though, it plods, though never as badly as the worst bits of Gung Ho. [May 2004, p.94]

It's likable enough, but pretty much interchangeable with the seven studio albums that preceded it. [Nov 2010, p.94]

Their no-frills shtick excites in small doses. [Apr 2011, p.89]

You don't need a working knowledge of baseball to appreciate this second installment of true-life sporting tales from Steve Wynn, Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey and Linda Pitmon. [Jun 2011, p.92]

The faux-naif schtick still grates somewhat, but there's also real substance, wit and heart here. [Nov 2011, p.91]

No real lost treasure, then, but some interesting baubles. [Apr 2013, p.89]

If you’re simply after retro thrills, though, these boozy anthems will provide you with one very happy hour.

Newman's a decent songwriter whose songs never quite ignite--their seemingly light touch feels rather hard-won. [Dec 2012, p.75]

The approach is scattershot, but the pace of his productivity means that you're never far from a great song. [Nov 2008, p.124]

While tunes like "Honeymoon" and "Trick Mirror" have a graceful Fleetwood Mac-style charm, they lack the lyrical bite that was one of her early USPs, and the vocal rasp heard on live performances seems smoothed off. [Sep 2021, p.25]

While the debut was full of witty, Sparksy songs, Yes, Virginia is awash with mawkishly earnest ballads that suggest Tori Amos after a spell at drama school. [May 2006, p.104]

Nikolaj Manuel Vonslid's choirboy vibrato lends a ghostly quality to these 10 pretty synth tunes, all of which fuse north European wistfulness and vaguely Oriental motifs in soothing manner. [Jul 2011, p.103]

It's a record that goes a long way toward breathing new life into the busted flush of English indie with a romantic Britpop sound that stands comparisons with The Smiths, The La's and New Order. But in order to complete that leap--and make a record that equals the impact of their first--the lead guitarist needs to give the songwriter a good, hard kick up the arse. [Jul 2011, p.78]

His avuncular, keep-it-moving approach prevents things from getting too deep. [Apr 2017, p.39]

Pete & The Pirates have a handful of great pop songs to balance out the weight of their obvious influences. [Mar 2008, p.97]

The result is alternatively maddening and satisfying. [Apr 2014, p.74]

Not quite essential, but a neat genre exercise. [Dec 2016, p.30]

Syrupy piano ballads remain a blind spot for Morris, who seems to be soundtracking ab imaginary Richard Curtis comedy n the sappy, soppy title track. But "rose Garden" is great, it's whopping Kate Bush-isms spliced with staccato mechanised beats. [Mar 2017, p.31]

A sometimes mystifying but often inspired work. [May 2018, p.22]

The production lacks [Timbaland's] invention and intricacy. [Aug 2005, p.87]

Sunny funk pours from most tracks, veiling the odd lyric about single moms, and the slowies are lit by noble torches. [Jun 2003, p.104]

A slightly disappointing attempt to hammer their quirks into a more commercial rock shape. [May 2004, p.99]

Some tracks sail a little too far into MOR but Meiburg takes care to balance these out with more robust moments. [Mar 2010, p.95]

Folila is an unhappy attempt to amalgamate two records, one that mostly swamps their playful sound with noisy overlays. [May 2012, p.65]

Overall there's a sense of a moment having passed. [Oct 2006, p.123]

At best superfluous, at worst that very thing he dreads most. Forgettable. [May 2005, p.113]

Yet vocal gymnastics cannot compensate for an unmemorable set of tunes. [May 2011, p.91]

It's not always successful...But older songs fare better. [May 2012, p.72]

There are some beautiful moments here.... Also some difficult ones. [Nov 2013, p.67]

For the most part, Ben Kweller simply suggests Jackson Browne reared on Weezer. [Oct 2006, p.114]

The result is a promising record that's much closer in tone and sentiment to an act like Hurts than they'd presumably be comfortable with. [Dec 2010, p.88]

[The] results [are] worryingly like a jam session between Ben Folds and John Bonham. [Apr 2006, p.110]

Wit's end is so sparse and downbeat that it occasionally verges on the drab. [May 2011, p.91]

A festive 10 tracks. [Feb 2019, p.29]

The album is rarely as memorable musically as it is lyrically. [Sep 2020, p.31]

Persist though, and there are countless fascinating poly-rhythms and concealed melodies in the sub-strata. [Jan 2011, p.91]

There’s a new sense of maturity, even kindness, starting with “More Power”, a song of odd, regretful sentiments, reputedly addressed to Noel and full of family references. ... Songs mostly remain Frankenstein stitch-ups, though: Jeff Lynne’s softly simulated psychon the Threetles’ “Real Love” seems the production template, when not mixed for terrace power, minus tunes. [Jun 2022, p.26]

Silver Lining finds her on top form as guitarist, writer and interpreter. [May 2002, p.108]

[His] voice bulldozes everything in its path, flattening melody and obliterating nearly every sentiment on this overzealous album. [Feb 2018, p.24]

It's an ingenious arrangement, featuring juddering, minimal percussion, spare piano chords and vocoders that soar to the edge of the studiosphere, worth the price of the album alone. [Mar 2012, p.84]

Finds itself caught between emulating the original's enviable qualities and overhauling its almost four-decade habits. [Aug 2023, p.36]

Contains flashes of his finest work. [Aug 2006, p.84]

Her blowsy voice now seems happier in those quieter settings. [May 2008, p.104]

Snotty wit can be heard on the droll "Down On Loving" or the splenetic "Parasites," probably the best examples of the Ramones-via-Replacements sound that defines the album. [Apr 2010, p.90]

She fails to stand out in a crowded marketplace. [Feb 2013, p.79]

Seductive, maybe--but it rather lacks character of its own. [Sep 2013, p.92]

Although at times it's a little too knowingly shambolic, the band nail the mood on "Peace Of Mind", while the outstanding Stonesy number "Anyway I Find You" finds a great bridge between their two styles. [Mar 2023, p.32]

The likes of "Sauchiehall Withdrawal" and "Diop" add a few crumbs to the collective's heaving table, but there's plenty here to chew on. [Jan 2018, p.22]

Cabic’s limited vocal powers are part of the problem. His dusty delivery is allusive when wrapped in instrumental swirls--asked to front up a song, it sounds merely flat.

The result is an impressionistic and intriguing set of instrumentals that draw on an eclectic set of influences from the obvious (Satie and Glass) to the surprising (gamelan and Robert Miles). [Jan 2018, p.24]

Magic Time ultimately reveals itself to be the sort of strangely mixed bag that will be all too familiar to those who've hung on with patient, fervent belief through the '90s and beyond. [Jun 2005, p.114]

Weird and sporadically wonderful. [Jul 2020, p.39]

The five new tracks that open proceedings, however, fail to add much to band's remit. [Dec 2007, p.102]

The once robust voice is thinner but still gruffly effective. [Oct 2020, p.39]

As a whole it feel overfamiliar, with little of the cohesiveness that made, say, Les Revenants so powerful. [Oct 2018, p.30]

Powerful and intriguing stuff, but the emotional spark never quite catches. [Feb 2017, p.21]

A bargin it might be, but the triumphs of yore tend to expose the new album's low-fi rockabilly and country strums. [Jul 2009, p.95]

Smith has skill and ambition galore, but too often settles for tasteful stupor. [Review of the Year 2023, p.32]

Nothing more than the uncomfortable sound of a band escaping their svengali. [Dec 2004, p.142]

Throughout, there's an ungainly combination of the leaden and the jaunty. [Aug 2009, p.102]

Let's Go eat A factory is not a brilliant album and of itself, but it does cast guided By Voices in a slightly different light. [Feb 2012, p.95]

Their debut's brevity and sharp hooks suggest a band with an acute sense of purpose. [Aug 2006, p.100]

The backing are stately, most elegant on the trumpet and Wurlitzer of 'Mississippi River Running Backwards.' [Oct 2009, p.108]

Warpaint does, however, fall somewhat short of the triumphant comeback The Black Crowes set their 10-gallons at.

Mr Beast, by Mogwai's normally formidable standards, underwhelms. [Apr 2006, p.96]

It's not a disaster, by any means.... It's just that, over 13 songs, it's abundantly clear that whatever the potency of this partnership, there's an old lack of range. [Jul 2005, p.89]

With every element wound so tight, the relentless pace grows exhausting over the long haul. [Jul 2010, p.108]

As is traditional, there will be those bemoaning the fact it's no Dopethrone, and "The Reaper," is over in an uncharacteristically brief three minutes, feels like a waste of a track. Still, Wizard Bloody Wizard offers enormous pleasures. [Dec 2017, p.26]

Barnes' lyrics remain a stumbling block. [Oct 2001, p.98]