Ultimately, Afternoon X finds its strength in contrast: while the mostly languid pace suggests meditation, the lyrics reveal a theme of carpe diem. [Nov 2023, p.92]

Occasionally they get lost in their own jams - the meandering Tripping In The Graveyard definitely overstays its welcome. By contrast, Impermanence And Death captures the at their best. [Nov 2023, p.90]

Hyper-melancholic, ultra-vivid, CrazyMad, For Me showcases Thompson's off-beam pop skills, a distinctive voice in every way. [Nov 2023, p.86]

Traces lines to both Bill Callahan's downbeat philosophising and Jonathan Richman's crafted wit and primal rock'n'roll chug. [Nov 2023, p.94]

A wonderfully upbeat, Sherwood-produced comeback. [Nov 2023, p.89]

They're all done pretty straight, but then of course eh throws in his trademark "more is More" soloing, all Bluesbreakers-to-Cream-era Eric Clapton-style muscle and intensity. [Nov 2023, p.93]

The new focus on these songs' lyrics proves deeply powerful, a different and profound kind of high. Consequently, The Dark Side OF The Moon Redux is wholly valid, the unnerving, stirring adjunct Waters was aiming for. [Nov 2023, p.87]

Who's Next may not have been Pete Townshend's chose destination, but it encapsulates The Who better than anything before or since. It's the art=school provocateur, the bare-chested rock god and their virtuoso, brandy-soaked rhythm section at their peak. [Nov 2023, p.96]

Rodgers wears his now mellower, less macho persona well on Coming Home and Photo Shooter, but the writing input of an Andy Fraser or a Mick Ralphs, say, is sometimes missed. [Nov 2023, p.86]

Still adept at spectacular, if somewhat opaque intimacy, he enchants on My Red Little Fox, with its baroque recorders. [Nov 2023, p.85]

No Fixed Point In Space is as on point as it is off grid. [Nov 2023, p.92]

A joy. [Nov 2023, p.89]

Stasium's work put a spotlight beneath these 11 songs, brightening hidden corners until Bastards Of Young, Left Of The Dial and Kiss On The Bus sparkle like unworn jewels. [Nov 2023, p.103]

His bristling, unexpected arrangements draw new complexities from songs as familiar as Wade In The Water and Swing Low. [Nov 2023, p.87]

Smith often finds herself stuck in a musical straitjacket of tired R&B tropes, rarely able to break out of a narrow comfort zone. [Nov 2023, p.88]

The themes - anxiety, longing and dislocation - are familiar, but here Blonde redhead address their potent heartaches with renewed grace and strength. [Nov 2023, p.93]

Ultimately, it's Woods and Elucid who provide the intense, erudite, funny through-line. [Nov 2023, p.93]

Songs like the Breeders-worthy single Doubt reveal serious song-writing smarts. [Nov 2023, p.94]

It possesses a charm and innocence that's genuinely disarming. [Oct 2023, p.88]

Clever, involving, vital addition to one of the strongest discographies of the last 30 years. [Nov 2023, p.82]

To Bolero-riffed beat-pop, Soul Capturer beautifully exorcises today's digi-overload, while 22-minute Defeat finds hope in an entrancing oceanic ebb-and-flow, with all the child-like discovery of late'90s Mercury Rev. [Nov 2023, p.86]

Her jazziest yet, expressive alto-sax and hypnotic spoken words ladle emotional gravitas onto its fevered meditations and splintered storytelling. [Nov 2023, p.94]

High-end reference points for a record that spectacularly reconciles micro-detailed improv with deep-listening ambience. [Nov 2023, p.90]

A triumph of healing and connection, experimentalism balanced out by emotional heft. [Nov 2023, p.89]

The years have proven that the deceptive simplicity of their music only increases its potency, working hand-in-hand with their long commitment to the healing powers of brotherhood and melody.

Intimate, ambitious and just occasionally misfiring. [Oct 2023, p.82]

This album as a whole is a definitive statement by a peerless ensemble. [Nov 2023, p.90]

By the time the closing spiritual Requiem rolls around it's self-evident Russell is very much in a genre of one. [Nov 2023, p.86]