Reviews by owen

I always said of Nick Cave songs that I'd like them more if someone else was singing them, but that's not true in this case. This is too theatrical for me; I don't like Lemper's delivery. Split was the least objectionable.

I liked this even more than Low-Life. Several great tracks on here, and Hooky's bass is great.

Love a bit of Kraftwerk. Europe Endless is the best track on here, but they're all good.

This is a precursor to the greatness of Pet Sounds, especially on side 2. In fact I think you could Please Let Me Wonder on that album without it feeling out of place. Brian's arrangements are starting to show a maturity that wasn't there in previous Beach Boys releases. A very strong four. RIP Brian.

Fourth of, I think, six Elvis Costello albums on the list. Much like Blood & Chocolate, I like this when reviewing in isolation (but 6 is definitely too many)

Not easy listening for sure, but absolutely worth the effort. Mouth's Cradle was amazing, and I really loved Triumph Of A Heart too.

Was trying to place where I knew Revival from, then realized Aldous Harding did a (great) cover of it. And Desire Lines outro reminded me of Pixies No. 13 Baby. Overall, this was the kind of thing I like.

He just has the most irritating voice. If they switched out the singer, this could be a higher score, because I quite like the instrumentals. Edit to add: it would be nice if the drummer would learn more than one beat.

This was pretty decent, but not as good as yesterday's Ghostface Killa. The beats were pretty good, I was less excited by the rapping. A middle-to-high three.

This was my favorite of the Wu Tang solo projects we've had so far. I liked the production a lot.

Bernard Edwards' bass makes this for me. Of course Nile Rodgers is no slouch either.

I thought this was reasonably good. I liked her voice more than others here seem to (she sounded a bit like Laura Marling on the first track).

I like Lana Del Rey's languorous voice. I enjoyed this album, though I don't think it's her best - I like NFR or There's a Tunnel more. Solid four stars.

This is just really good, isn't it? Atmospheric and moody, with some killer tunes. Among the Cure's best.

Not really my thing; I find the vocal style pretty cheesy. Still, I don't hate it, so it's not a one.

Near the beginning of this album I was ready to give it a three, but it wore on me as it went on and the I try to Ever Since The World Began tipped me down to a two.

This wasn't what I expected at all; I thought it would be indie folk-ish, but turned out to be grungier and rawer than I expected - that's a good thing - this was a great listen. My only minor complaint would be that I felt the album could afford to be a little shorter.

Enjoyed this a lot; super funky. I loved Happy Feelin' - amazing bass playing.

I have a ton of nostalgia for this album which I bought and intensively devoured when it first came out. I'm not 100% sure I'd give it five stars if I came to it fresh today - it's not as good as, say, Massive Attack's best. But I greatly enjoyed the revisit, so five stars it is.

His wavery voice is intensely irritating (strange - doesn't bother me at all when Joanna Newsom does it, but drives me crazy here). Shame, as it ruins instrumental music I suspect I would quite like otherwise.