While there are moments of buzzing, high-flying bliss on Githead's third LP, one can't escape the sensation of horizon-hugging deja vu. [Jan 2010, p.94]

Raditude seems intent on establishing itself as a now album, sacrificing any sort of cohesive vibe for a pop-friendly disc designed for car stereos to be turned to 11.

Molina & Johnson's treasures are there, as long as you listen closely. [Jan 2010, p.95]

Sure there are some lulls; but the face-melting trash that surrounds these tunes proves the band still have it in 'em to, well, slay. [Dec 2009, p117]

That's how much of of this album feels--confusing....Our advice? Stick to the disc's first half; it's where you'll find the best songs. [Nov 2009, p.114]

Built off of two piano chords or a single guitar riff, Felix'a music is as ho-hum as their vocals, and without diversity in the songs' chord structure, the album blurs together until what's left is a coffee-table coaster. [Dec 2009, p.113]

This is a test

Tellingly, 'Angelika' and 'Maria Leonza' only get comfortably loose and silly when halfway finished. With a Strokes-y guitar part and a driving backbeat, the innovative '16th & Valencia, Roxy Music' is hopefully what Banhart will be in the future. [Dec 2009, p.108]

The emotional tension between his folksier-Damien Rice brogue and her crystal-clear lilt, especially on 'The Verb,' keeps the listener enamoured, even if the singers no longer are. [Dec 2009, p.117]

Sainthood was produced by Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla and Howard Reddekopp, allowing the album to take on aspects of both its predecessors while still feeling new, and per usual with this duo, impressively skillful. [Dec 2009, p.114]

What We All Come To Need finds Pelican mastering their post-metal craft while indulging the ambitious curiousities that hinted at on 2007's "City Of Echoes."

While all the riffs and parts are brillantly performed, they rarely if ever repeat one, and none stick in your head after the band is gone. [Dec 2009, p.108]

The wicked dueling guitars of Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel are about the only saving grace, but even the wildest arpeggio run can't save Congregation from near-total damnation. [Dec 2009, p.116]

Fortunately, the androgynous-voiced experimenter went back on threats of scrapping what is by far his most versatile collection. [Nov 2009, p.106]

The second full-length from the New Zealand duo is pulled almost entirely from the second season of their HBO series, but little is lost in translation. [Nov 2009, p.109]

Sure the plot has been done to death and you know what's going to happen; but the personalities involved draw you in like a rubbernecker gawking at a highway accident fromth safety of his car. [Nov 2009, p.105]

Welcome back ladies. The world's more fun with you in it. [Nov 2009, p.114]

While it may seem as if Geneva is all over the musical map, the opposite is acually true--the map's just been redrawn. [Nov 2009, p.114]

Mo Beauty becomes difficult to wade through as Ounsworth ventures further from his indie-rock roots. [Nov 2009, p.114]

The disappointing thing about New Moon is that it could have been better.

The album runs out of steam toward the end, but the first few tracks are gold. [Nov 2009, p.109]

Embryonic is an album full of little revolutions--a trippier, noisier, more experimental journey than the Flaming Lips have taken in forever. [Dec 2009, p.116]

Blue Record truly depicts a band at the peak of their powers. [Nov 2009, p.106]

Dark Touches has its catchy moments, but sticking a song in the listener's head is not the same thing as creating important music. [Nov 2009, p.109]

Where "Hexes" reveled in a sludgier sentiment, all the while anchoring Wasif's emotional yearnings, The Voidist opts, for the most part, not to disguise anything. It arrives bare-chested and howling

The collection as a whole has a transitional feel, as though Jamie T is still finding his way between the two poles of his primary inspiration. Yet with his propensity for both engaging storytelling and hooks, he's too talented not to figure it all out in spectacular fashion.

Air build a soundtrack to the movie in your head that always eclectic and often lovely. [Nov 2009, p.106]

As ever, Martsch prove capable of anthropomorphizing a bent string and imbuing it with more emotion than many bands' vocals and lyrics. [Dec 2009, p.112]

The Danish duo of Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo begin their fourth full-length, In And Out Of Control, with a satisfying "Bang!" and never slow, even through the darkest of subject matter

As it stands, Barlow has only evolved in his mastery of subtle acoustic guitar interplay and flirtations with pop. [Nov 2009, p.109]

When the dark, somber and damn loud refrains of 'Ego Death' kick in, it sounds like these guys could completely take over indie rock. [Nov 2009, p.106]

It sounds like, well, another solid Mission Of Burma record. [Nov 2009, p.110]

Some may quibble with the sparse nature of the album; but it feels like a natural destination in Fink's songwriting travels. [Nov 2009, p.109]

Gosling and Shields play all the instruments on the disc and sing along with the kids choir--which sounds like a recipe for disaster but in actuality it's both compelling and surprising well-rendered.

After blowing out of the gate with the blondie-tinted delight 'Ecstatic Appeal,' Pearl ends up coasting on fumes. [Nov 2009, p.114]

The album creeks through 13 unlucky tracks that range from minimalist, Leonard Cohen-esque piano dirges to demented waltzes with equal aplomb. [Nov 2009, p.109]

It still feels like they have a bit more work to do before their albums are consistently exciting from start to finish. [Nov 2009, p.109]

The bulk of Somewhere Gone brings to mind a bummed out, burned out Neko Case. [Nov 2009, p.109]

1372 Overton Park is a fresh progression for Lucero that still retains their unpretentious Southern Charm. [Nov 2009, p.110]

brand new eyes astonishes from start to finish. [Oct 2009, p.111]

In no uncertain terms, Crash Love is an accomplishment that raises the bar for them as musicians and writers.

These clattering seat-inducers plow through both rational song lengths and all hopes of a settling conclusion. [Oct 2009, p.110]

The majority of this disc expertly locates that elusive bull's eye between art and accessibility. [Nov 2009, p.106]

It's hard for many Brand New superfans to admit, but it's entirely possible that the band simply wrote a good album this time around, not a great one.

When the music these guys create individually is already so great, why would anyone mind having it mixed together? [Oct 2009, p.106]

Wolf's delivery is more restrained as he refrains from his usual outbursts of energy. [Oct 2009, p.115]

He's created the "good, good pop record" he threatened with "Arm's Way," wisely getting out of his own way and letting the simple but undeniable pleasures of the Motownish title track, the synth-happy '80s pastiche 'Tender Torture' and his latest Brian Wilson homage, 'On Foreigner,' with its massed Beach Boys harmonies, shine through.

Rain Machine is an introspective album that rings more of Malone's earlier influences than of boundary pushing inventiveness--but that's not a bad thing.

New Leaves benfits from Kinsells'a vibrant looping and somber monotone lyricism. [Nov 2009]

Sea Wolf's second effort, now realized by a more traditional band lineup brought together during a few years of touring behind his previous record, extends the reach of Church's pastoral folk sketches.

It seems silly to declare Time To Die too well put together, but it's not always the shapest knife that gets the most use. [Oct 2009, p.110]

Johansson sounds more in her element in this one, starting off strong with the bittersweat bounce of 'Relator.' The only misfire on Break Up is an overly arty rendition of 'I Am The Cosmos' by Chris Bell of Big Star. [Oct 2009, p.115]

Central Market could prove to some that contemporary classical music can be more epic than post-rock, more dangerous than metal, and have more to say than the most verbose MC-even if most of his songs don't have any words.

Shit rules so hard. [Oct 2009, p.108]

Once you get inside this static, it's the ideal place to hang out. [Oct 2009, p.106]

Don't get too far ahead of yourself--a sing-along is virtually impossible since deciphering HEALTH's lyrics is quite a challenge. They may have mature a bit, but some things will never change. [Oct 2009, p.110]

If Love Drunk's overall enthusiasm and high-energy pop doesn't win over even the snarkiest of reviewers after a few listens, then they probably don't have a heart. Everyone else will love it anyway. Pop-rock like this is popular for a reason.

Turner's third solo release shows how versatile he is as he single handedly bridges the gap between Brian Fallon and Billy Bragg. [Oct 2009, p.115]

As long as there's a hunger for heavy riffs, Monotonix will satify. [Oct 2009, p.111]

On paper this may sound bleak--and in many ways, Curse Your Branches is--but ultimately there's a level of solcae in Bazan's sadness that's remarkably reassuring and, stranger yet, satisfying. [Sep 2009, p.106]

On their fourth full-length, the Used have delivered not only the definitive album of thier career, butarguably one of the best records you'll hear in 2009. [Sep 2009, p.109]

Not every song hits the mark, but the Monkeys should be applauded for spreading their wings and not dropping like stones. [Sep 2009, p.100]

Ellipse is balanced but doesn't break ground. Fans of her past work will likely find little to quarrel with, but they won't be challenged, either. [Sep 2009, p.105]

Crafted with peaks at the beginning, middle and end, Watch Me Fall is the album Jay Reatard made so we can watch him do the opposite. [Sep 2009, p.108]

It's a tidy package that's well-planned and executed, but with a few pop songs so well written, it's easy to want the band to shift directions and let the post-rock go by the wayside. [Sep 2009, p.100]

It crushes with more speed, weirdness and sheer sonic weight than "Hope For Men" and the band's punkier debut, 2005's "Shallow." [Sep 2009, p.108]

It's dizzyingly brilliant, and evidence of how tall these Lions have grown. [Sep 2009, p.102]

With more focus on Knopf's reedy voice, acoustic guitar and piano/synth progressions, Intuit sets itself apart from Knopf's day job with aplomb. [Sep 2009, p.108]

The album doesn't stary too far from what made MUTEMATH such an enjoyable listen, but it's nuances cement Armistice as the band's best work to date. [Sep 2009, p.99]

The London-based compulsive hair-dyer follows 2007's soulful breakout "The Magic Position" with the luxurious sounds of The Bachelor, the first half of a double album to mixed results. [Sep 2009, p.108]

Hot Mess has everything you hate to admit you love about Cobra Starship. [Sep 2009, p.104]

Where a lot of new bands drop the ball is not quite capturing the state of bliss that made so many of those hippue classics what they were. But that's not a problem on The Ruminant Band. [Sep 2009, p.104]

They might be moonlighting, but they've officially stepped out of Black Mountain's shadow. [Sep 2009, p.105]

With primarily organic instrumentation and warm, low-fi production, nothing is forced--although in some instances, the tracks feel a little too barren, and overall there's not much to distinguish between the songs. [Sep 2009, p.108]

Young has a good chance at becoming a worthy replacement for the Postal Service; he just needs to monitor the ratio of sugar to substance on subsequent efforts. [Oct 2009, p.111]

The band are able to overcome the production errors through Gourley's elastic vocal counterpoint, bassist Zachary Scott Carothers' pocket-groping lines and licks so gooey they recall a time when Keith Richards could speak in complete sentences. [Aug 2009, p.110]

The duo of Mc Eyedea And DJ Abilities have always possessed more potential than they've realized and By The Throat doesn't change that balance. [Aug 2009, p.110]

There's no denying the quartet know how to work a mighty groove as well as set up atmospheres similar to bands remanded to the faded pages of old record-collecting magazines. [July 2009, p.126]

The Most Serene Republic play it incredibly safe while maintaining thier baroque-rock rep. [Aug 2009, p.111]

It's one of their strongest albums, which is saying a lot for a band who've been workhorses for the past two decades. [Aug 2009, p.106]

Listening to American Central Dust ultimately feels a bit too much like working on an assembly line. [Aug 2009, p.114]

He abetteed by vibrant backdrops full of guitar-driven samples, which push the disc closer to rock than hip-hop and keep the energy high. [Aug 2009, p.106]

Walls tends to fade into the background during its instrumental moments, dulled by textures and emotional ebbs that aren't very distinctive. Better are sharper rock songs. [Aug 2009, p.115]

Shawn Christensen's vocals are buried in the mix, while songs fly by with no memorable structure or hooks. [Aug 2009, p.115]

Wilco continues to reign in their experiemntal fuzz, focusing more on pretty melodies, upbeat toe-tappers and sweet acoustic numbers for their seventh full-length. [Aug 2009, p.115]

This album isn't going to change the way you think about metal, but Killswitch Engange aren't Mastodon; they just want to get the pit going, and this album will surely acomplish that. [Aug 2009, p.108]

Farm isn't the kind of Dino record that has a keeper single like 'Start Choppin'' or 'Feel The Pain.' Instead, it boasts some of Mascis' biggest departures under the Dino name. [Aug 2009, p.110]

Octahedron will appeal to elderly prog fans immune to attention deficit disorder, who have the patience to let its charm gradually unfold. [Aug 2009, p.111]

This is crushing, calculated and catchy, light years beyond the three-chord snarling if Dalle's past. [Jul 2009, p.130]

A few throwaways aside, Beacons is a welcome kick in the tush. [Jul 2009, p.131]

It sounds like all those summers hanging at the cottage with Lemmy Kilmister and Lars Frederiksen finally made him realize there's more than one way to blow out your vocal cords. That makes Old Crows/Young Cardinals a welcome reinvention. [Aug 2009, p.106]

They're still delivering more aural discovery and attitude than both their weary, uninspired colleagues and the legion of fumbling neophyte upstarts combined. [Jul 2009, p.130]

Battle For The Sun takes the best elements of thier sound and focuses it into a cohesive listening experience--there's no filler to be found. [Jul 2009, p.130]

The signature '97's twang takes a backseat to finely tuned pop songs. The downside? It falls short of going anywhere new musically. [Jul 2009, p.130]

Pariah isn't without its merits, and diehard fans will likely find few flaws anywhere. But for the casual listener, the album might seems a little less "Of The Room" and a little more "Rent." [Jul 2009, p.126]

Indictments abound on The People Or The Gun, Anti-Flag's seventh full-length that proves Pittsburgh's politically aware punks haven't lost their bite nor bark. [Jul 2009, p.122]

He and his mercenaries swing cleverly from noodly instruments to introspective acoustic ditties, but never settle down long enough to let their concoction congeal. [Jul 2009, p.127]

His sharp lyrics take awhile to sink in, But when he throws all standard rules out the window, it sounds like hip-hop from the future. [Jul 2009, p.122]