Another very good collection of tight playing and propulsive instrumentals.

Credit much of the album's dusky allure to the atmospheric production of John Parish, which lends a shadowy beauty, revealing new layers of subtlety lurking underneath the band's ragged guitar-pop approach; the focal point is still Van Dijk's searing vocals, which harness the extremes of both pride and desperation to devastating effect.

Stephin Merritt's the 6th's second album isn't nearly as dynamic as his Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs, nor is it quite as good as the first 6th's album, Wasps' Nests. It is, however, another crowning achievement for Merritt.

Their third timeless gem...

By turns breathtakingly radiant and heartbreakingly melancholy... the record is both comforting and challenging, its placid surfaces masking poignant meditations on resignation, dislocation, and loss.

This rather bizarre disc is something of a self-aggrandizing concept album. In song after song, Josie sings about how off-beat, sensual, and unique she is...

Though his solo tracks are fine compositions, its when Gerald mixes the dark drum'n'bass beats with sultry elements and star female vocals, does his production come alive and the album become worthwhile.

She bridges powdery lyrics and floating acoustics throughout the nine-track album, singing from an inner spirituality.

It is one of his best in years and is filled with witty, thoughtful songwriting and polished instrumentation that works together to make a seamless album, engaging the listener.

Ten confident and smart folk-pop tunes filled with fetching hooks and engaging melodies perfectly suited to his warm, winsome voice.

[rating only; no review]

A pleasant album of sublime mid-tempo trip-hop, reminiscent of easy listening groove music, and continually referencing the breezier, atmospheric side of Brazilian, Jamaican, French, and Indian forms.

Loaded with pop culture commentary and often directly naming social names, The Ecleftic is sure to stir up some emotions from not only the famous, but from the general public as well.

Naturally, it would have made more sense if it appeared in late 1996 or 1997, since it sounds like a simple step forward instead of a great leap into the unknown -- the kind of record that was bashed out in a few weeks by a band desperate to deliver a sequel to a hit record.

Even with the help of popular rap acts like DMX and Redman, L.L. Cool J has made the same album he did once before, with no new twists.

Though both the lyrics and the production are quirky, there is nothing dumb about them.... The melodies have brilliant pop hooks and Russell's voice soars.

One of the best New Order albums they never made.

Easily one of the best and most promising rock debuts since, well, Blind Melon's 1992 self-titled debut.

Whereas the first solo effort was somewhat lo-fi and reminiscent of Lou Barlow, Golden D, which is named after the musical chord, focuses on rock -- the hard and fast variety -- and suggests Sonic Youth and Sex Pistols.

Dave Alvin brings an authentic voice and extraordinary understanding to his chosen tracks.... This is the work of a scholar as well as a master craftsman.

It's clear that despite laudable ambitions, comeback albums should be focused and lean, not as flabby as this one.

It is the combination of street tales, social criticism, and self-awareness that made him a unique artist, for whom the term gangster rap truly does not do justice.

When he isn't heating up the dance floor with unlikely guests, Bracegirdle constructs spacy ambient tracks that cool things down.

Unfortunately, their third album Fragments of Freedom scraps most of their signature sound for half-baked experiments in R&B, acid jazz, and hip-hop.

A bakers' dozen of their most focused and cohesive songs. Where their earlier albums were eclectic to the point of being scattershot, this release manages to limit the band's style-switching to dreamy, sweeping epics like "Godless" and "Nietzsche"; sussed, sleazy power pop like "Horse Pills" and "Cool Scene"; and country and gospel ventures like "Country Leaver" and "The Gospel."

The harshest and most consistent album of their career.

It's another conventional rock record, thrashing guitar hooks and throbbing bass lines are in place, but frontman Max Collins has lyrically improved.

A vast improvement over the intriguing but rarely focused Let's Get Killed, David Holmes' third solo album benefits from his growing status as a producer to watch -- and specifically, from his ability to snag the talents of big-name vocalists.

This is much more melodic and poppy than most dance fodder sharing similar beats...

An all around flavor of melancholy as the loose guitars and laid back current result in the labeling of "Rainy Day indie."

His authoritative vocals demand immediate attention and his brutal array of battle rhymes are utterly breathtaking.... While the pugilistic MC shows growth as an artist, Canibus' vast potential remains largely unrealized thanks to bland production.

As the album unfolds, certain themes of regret, sadness, and longing run to the surface, but they're all coated in glittering pop melodies and big rock riffs that mask the emotions of the songs.... their best, most consistent effort to date...

Malcolm Middleton's moody musical constructions -- sometimes punchy, sometimes hallucinatory and somnolent -- positively glisten in the live setting, and serve due notice that the most important trait of the band is its sound.

He has moved on from the effervescent prettiness of his former band to make music for himself -- something the Verve might have done somewhere in time, but it wouldn't have been so honest or stripped as this solo jaunt

Like its predecessor, Golden Greats meanders a bit too much and it places a little too much emphasis on surface, but when the surface sparkles like this, it's hard to complain too loudly.

Smart, melodic, catchy songs that not only have strong, wonderful structures, but are graced with inventive, clever arrangements.

If there is a fault to this album, it is that it is too smooth; while the listener is surfing these waves of happiness and cushiony pop, an occasional desire for edges and bones surfaces.

It's some of the band's fullest-sounding work, rich with strings and keyboard flourishes... The Rising Tide is one of Sunny Day Real Estate's -- and 2000's -- most impressive albums.

The Deftones went soft, but in an impressive way, to twist around its signature punk thrash sound.

A distinctive work.... it's a remarkably beautiful album.

She sounds lonely and afraid in songs like "Jealous" and "Dancing Lessons," yet her fierce confidence overpowers such insecurity on the pinch-hitting "No Man's Woman."

Some of the smooth, spacey ballads that were characteristic of their 1993 self-titled release show up here, but more often than not LeBon is lost in a swamp of over-production.

Their most cohesive collection of songs to date...

France's Tahiti 80 seem so enamoured with their musical idols that they can barely voice a personal touch of their own.

There are moments of pop pleasure here, surrounded by spare, languid electronica sections, vaguely reminiscent of the High Llamas.

Quality Control hits all of the same highs as Jurassic 5's excellent EP of three years earlier...

There is undeniably something almost romantic about the duo's newfound acceptance of relationships, even if the main evolution is that they now view them as a necessary evil, rather than simply evil.

With an inspired cast of co-producers and guest vocalists, Movement in Still Life takes on electro-funk and breakbeat techno with plenty of room for nods to the kind of epic trance that made his name on dancefloors all over the world.

With their fifth record, Blonde Redhead finally emerges from the shadows of Sonic Youth's post-punk legacy by avoiding the expected detunings, distortions, and shrillness of the genre. The three-piece manages to create a record that is subtle, tuneful, and sublime.

Steve Earle proves again and again that he is the original alternative to the glossy side of Nashville.

The problem is that the album is perhaps too subtle for its own good, and even after repeated listens, it fails to connect on any meaningful level

Harking back to the glory days of late-'80s acid-house, it's heavy on dark club jams that work around a simplistic sample with diva theatrics and rapper freestyles. As such, most of these tracks work much better on the dancefloor than the living room.

It might not make for a great listen, but its swagger and white-trash style make it the second-best record in his catalog.

As on the first, the Bragg-written and sung music is the most convincing, since he captures the cadences and spirit of Guthrie's music. They sound like classic, weathered folk songs whereas Wilco's numbers are modern inventions, splicing music that is clearly theirs with Guthrie's words.

Highly recommended.

They might not be as unsettling as they were in their early days, but they still know how to mess things up.

The most alluring aspect of The Platform is the array of finely-crafted beats-

The record boasts a huge, smooth production and is considerably more varied and accomplished than its predecessor.

A fairly brilliant expansion of his debut, turning his spare, menacing hip-hop into a hyper-surreal, wittily disturbing thrill ride.

Rather than moving through a broad palette of sounds, moods, tempos, and styles, the two British DJs choose to remain consistent, signaling the development of a signature style and a certain sense of confidence.

This record is really nothing more than a collection of sharp, witty, well-constructed pop songs.

Definitely a treasure to be sought out, A South Bronx Story is essential for any hip-hop head, post-punk connoisseur, dance fanatic, or Luscious Jackson fan.

The first recording that the hardcore Stereolab fans need not own.... What was once endearing has mutated into the irritating, as the chanted vocals, simple organ runs and endless, pulsating rhythmic drones alienate listeners instead of mesmerizing them.

The songs are sharper, the production is layered, and the performances are as compassionate as ever, resulting in their finest album since Vitalogy.

The album lacks the visceral, immediate impact of the best beat poetry and frequently seems fueled by self-consciousness instead of stream-of-consciousness.

Melodic, wistful, whimsical, reflective, yet clever, the album showcases Hatfield at her peak, crafting fragile, endearing post-jangle pop songs that reveal themselves shyly and sweetly.

Messy, noisy, directionless, and painfully shy on both tunes and purpose... and winds up sounding a bit like a parody.

It has the same combination of sweetly sentimental ballads and endearingly gaudy dance-pop that made One More Time.

A dense, plunderphonic kaleidoscope of an album with giant, noisy jazz breaks and groovy electronic synthwork.

Constantly yields new musical surprises.

Much of This Time Around feels like a conscious attempt at furthering their craft, defining their sound, and honing their songwriting skills. In other words, it's a stab at maturity.

You can't tell if Wishville is the sound of a band losing steam or just being too self-conscious.

Although it is never overpowering, Dusty Trails is too well crafted to be reduced to mere background music.

The album has a more polished feel than its predecessor Up a Tree, as well as more of an electronica vibe...

Their brightest, most accessible album to date... the band is absolutely brimming with confidence and vitality.

To call Bachelor No. 2 a masterpiece may be overstating the matter somewhat, since an album this intimate and unassuming (but not unconfident) doesn't call attention to itself the way self-styled masterpieces do. However, it isn't hyperbole to call it the finest record Mann has made to date.

Their most accessible album to date, lacking the flights of fancy and exuberant bizarreness that have marked each of their albums.

The album is not the flawless statement against complacency the band seemed to strive for, but it succeeds at tearing heads off, shooting fascists, and quickly asking questions later with unbelievable fury. For these reasons alone, it easily serves as one of the band's highest marks.

A pleasant sound, to be sure, but not exactly what Young followers were expecting.

A return to their early-'60s Beatlesque sound...

A collection of more shimmering, weightless pop that is nostalgic for yesterday's visions of the future but remains on the cutting edge of contemporary music.

Even though you wouldn't call the sound upbeat, it is indeed mesmerizing, tranquil, and head-bobbing.

Even if it is a very impressive statement overall, Figure 8 isn't quite the masterpiece it wants to be -- there's something about the pacing that just makes the record feel long...

With Return of Saturn, No Doubt have made a terrific, layered record that exceeds any expectations set by Tragic Kingdom.

With Come to Where I'm From, Joseph Arthur shows a willingness to ease up on the stifling angst that dominated his previous efforts. To be sure, the album still has more than its share of gut-wrenching misery -- there's no shortage of lines like "I feel like taking a razor blade and on my wrist write an invitation" -- but this time out, the anguish is balanced by healthy doses of self-awareness and a winking sense of humor.

A remarkably spare and focused collection?

Reed genuinely seems to be stretching towards new lyrical and musical ground here, but while some of his experiments work, several pointedly do not?

MDFMK charts the same breakbeat industrial-thrash that has long been a staple of any KMFDM album, complete with ranting vocals, aggressive songwriting, heavy-metal chords that sound vaguely familiar, and solid programming that reveals a surprising pop sense.

Another handsome, shaded, and satisfying work from an artist that has reconnected with her muse.

Marshall?s sparest album yet, The Covers Album uses guitar and piano as the only foils for her malleable, emotional voice.

An interesting album, spooky in spots, but other than the terrific "Slow and Steady," this one's a curiosity.

This is music to listen to when you're either very depressed, in order to feel the camraderie, or when you're very happy, in order to mellow out.

A hit-and-miss affair.

Contemplative electronic mood-music in a minor key-

Overall, MACHINA meanders due to a combination of amorphous songs and precisely detailed production.

The most surprising thing about the album is that it sounds exactly like classic Steely Dan, but without feeling dated.

No matter whose music he was reformulating, however, Orbit worked gently, creating an album that, if it technically belonged beside Wendy Carlos' Switched-On Bach, actually was more reminiscent of Brian Eno's Discreet Music.