A promising, satisfying debut.

If this is the relatively bummed-out Minus 5 album, it's still full of great songs played with genuine enthusiasm and imagination.

The Prefuse of past years is replaced by plenty of airy distortion (reminiscent of his work with the Books and his side project, Savath + Savalas), and nods to the hip-hop beatwork of his early Warp records.

A deeply satisfying hard rock record.

It may never fly in the conservatory, but the music of Clogs is sure to make the bar set feel a little more cultured.

Generally good but occasionally uneven.

It's much more stripped-down and loose compared to the glossy polish of The Joy of Sing-Sing.

[Moffat] exposes a seething rage that was only occasionally revealed on the earlier albums. In the minds of some Arab Strap fans, this is a breakthrough; others, sadly, hear a betrayal.

By pulling back on the "wow" factor and demanding less from the listener, Coldcut have delivered their first album that will be listened to twice as much as it's talked about.

Another quirky and eclectic Lilys set.

While Swearing at Motorists are clearly at ease in a variety of musical styles, it's tempting to yearn for fatter hooks, more fleshed-out arrangements, or just a cathartic chorus to sing along with at the top of your lungs -- which was what made the Replacements' similar tribulations ultimately so inviting.

Though there are hooks galore to be found on Flat-Pack Philosophy, the tempos have eased up a bit so that Diggle's and Shelley's guitar parts have more room to interact with one another.

The set ends on a gentle note in "Where We Start" -- so much so that it may make some scratch their heads and wonder where the cranky, diffident Gilmour has wandered off to, but others will be drawn into this seductive, romantic new place where musical subtlety, spacious textures, and quietly lyrical optimism hold sway.

Just about any of the album's selections would have fit perfectly on a vintage 120 Minutes episode.

Kristofferson is dead-on here, razor-sharp, economical in his language, and to the bone in his insight.

Busts open half-lidded Velvet Underground fetishisms with squalls of Blue Cheer guitar, and further channels the heady sounds of the late '60s with a moodily dwelling organ.

A set of tracks that sound akin to an amalgamation of John Frusciante's early solo work and the great Skip Spence.

Hard-Fi's desire to create something solid enjoyable in the midst of everyday monotony is what makes Stars of CCTV an enjoyable first effort.

Another very interesting and beautiful album.

Drum's Not Dead is undeniably interesting, but somehow unsatisfying.

Once you reconcile yourself to the idea that Lerche has made a jazz-pop record, the songcraft, laid-back approach and Lerche's sweet vocals might just win you over.

One gets the sense that this is an album recorded with white gloves, and the calculation behind the tunes is nearly tangible.

It gets a little long in the tooth in places and samey-sounding.

The inclusion of guest vocalists... keeps Etiquette from engaging on the kind of one-on-one basis that made Pocket Symphonies for Lonely Subway Cars and Twinkle Echo such selfish pleasures.

This volume is a success and points the way toward new and compelling -- if still amorphous -- territory between rhythmic and electronic improvisation.

As with past NoW releases, In a Space Outta Sound boasts an emphasis on sound architecture that requires expensive stereo equipment (or bucket loads of narcotics) to fully appreciate.

It doesn't rate with the best of Clem Snide, but Bitter Honey is a pleasant diversion and a nice way to fill the space between the group's releases.

The way that Mystics bounces back and forth between its ethereal and zany moments gives it a disjointed, uneven feel that makes the album a shade less satisfying than either Yoshimi or Soft Bulletin.