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.