Their songwriting doesn't always soar like their Hall of Fame inspirations, but the intense, super-saturated atmosphere is every bit as evocative as that advertised on the neon-lit cover. [Aug 2019, p.116]

Many of the early tracks feel over-packed with ideas, musical styles , thrusts of synth, bongos, spoken word and chemtrails of jazz. Later, though, when he settles into sparser ballad territory, there is a sense of him drawing into focus as an artist. [Aug 2019, p.116]

It's a winningly fluid mix of on-trend beats, intriguing cameos and subtle, Eastern-influenced melodies. [Aug 2019, p.113]

Birgy is a rare talent who, a decade into her career, might just be due her moment. [Aug 2019, p.112]

Amid the dominant electronics, the regular injections of big, sonorous basslines, clattering percussion and discordant jazz tones make for a thrilling ride that pulses with energy and adventure. [Aug 2019, p.112]

Heightened emotions stop Keepsake's soft-focus textures from slipping into the background. [Aug 2019, p.111]

Welcoming in the wider world as Goldlink's laid-back delivery flows with deceptive ease over Joke Ting's sinuous, tropical R&B, the Afrobeats-like bounce of Zulu Screams and Yard's captivating Caribbean riddim. [Aug 2019, p.111]

Not all of the dream-influenced Gold Past Life is sharp enough around the edges to propel Johnson away from cultdom, but the high-definition poignancy of Drawn Away and the title track's aggressive Bee Gees pastiche show him decisively pushing at the walls. [Aug 2019, p.111]

Possibly The Flaming Lips' most upliftingly utopian work since Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. [Aug 2019, p.111]

As haunting as it is enchanting. [Aug 2019, p.111]

An album that is very much more than the sum of its parts. [Aug 2019, p.108]

Transcends its hackneyed backstory on account of its sheer quality. [Aug 2019, p.108]

Stellar fifth album is a determined attempt to push back the genre's long-established boundaries, folding in everything from glitchy electronica and lysergic Americana to gnarled pop into their full-frontal noise. [Aug 2019, p.108]

It would be easy for Exiled to come across as a lame pastiche. That it's quite the opposite is testament to the quality of the songs--most notably C.S.A.M.'s anti-imperialism tirade and Brave New Church's attack on facism's resurgence--and the ferocious delivery. [Aug 2019, p.108]

It's an excellent album born out of modern dread. He's in his element. [Aug 2019, p.106]

There may be a lack of tub-thumping choruses, but he has an unerring ability to craft a warm, welcoming atmosphere. [Jun 2019, p.111]

Not an experience to be rushed, but it makes for quite a trip. [Summer 2019, p.112]

Yet for all the walks-ons, this remains a two-man show that celebrates the MC/producer relationship at the heart of hip-hop--and allows both talents to shine at their brightest levels. [Summer 2019, p.113]

This cracking 19-track collection, plus extensive 24-page booklet, cherry-picks the area's best club music from the mid-'70s, an exuberant, carnival-esque mishmash of local carimbo and siria styles with big-band brass and frenetic Afro-Latino percussion. [Summer 2019, p.119]

A record that lurks around the same eerie corners as Dead Can dance, or White Chalk-era PJ Harvey. [Summer 2019, p.112]

An unmitigated success. [Summer 2019, p.108]

He's smart to pair Angel Olsen with a beat from the understated end of Queen's playbook, but it doesn't always work with Camila Cabello sounding oddly generic on Find U Again. [Summer 2019, p.116]

A Bath Full of Ecstasy feels like a glorious concentration of Hot Chip's skills. [Summer 2019, p.111]

Destroyer attempts to shoehorn more incongruous elements into an already busy mix. [Summer 2019, p.108]

Quietly, and confidently, Two Door Cinema Club march on. [Summer 2019, p.116]

Scott's energy and enthusiasm burns as brightly as ever. [Summer 2019, p.116]

Transience finally give its long-serving creator the option of stepping off the road and retiring on a high. [Summer 2019, p.116]

Atlanta Millionaires Club radiates a warm Muscle Shoals glow. ... Yet there's the unmistakable shape of '90s R&B and gloopy modern-day hip-hop moving beneath the more classicist surface. [Summer 2019, p.116]