Pop's dirty-bassed rock may expand T.'s audience, but it's diminished his art. [Sep 2005, p.170]

Vanderslice's detached delivery of this riveting material, combined with the somnolent string arrangements, makes Pixel Revolt feel like a chilled-out remix of a book-on-tape recording. [Sep 2005, p.158]

As edgy as singer-songwriter pop gets. [Oct 2005, p.158]

Nuanced, sophisticated pop somewhere between Ben Folds and Spain. [Oct 2005, p.168]

Idlewild undeniably sound like a once-great band helplessly slipping into their confusing middle years. [Sep 2005, p.164]

Most of the songs... aren't nearly as interesting as the album's title, offering only random snippets of truly engaging music. [Sep 2005, p.156]

Too often, Kasher is lost in his screamy, overdramatic posturing. [Sep 2005, p.154]

Second-rate Shins. [Aug 2005, p.164]

There's some decent stuff in the second half. [Sep 2005, p.164]

A great summer album. [Oct 2005, p.170]

Dizzying psychedelic bong-fodder that requires neither psychedelics nor bongs. [Aug 2005, p.176]

Bland and undistinguished. [Aug 2005, p.178]

Exactly what you'd imagine. [Sep 2005, p.170]

Not many albums make you smile so much your face hurts. [Oct 2005, p.156]

It's ridiculously ambitious--and consistently surprising. [Aug 2005, p.164]

Laid-back and largely instrumental glitch-pop. [Jul 2005, p.186]

Immediately memorable. [Aug 2005, p.164]

Fire's beauty often feels distant and untouchable. [Sep 2005, p.164]

Some of the most engaging music of his career. [Aug 2005, p.172]

Electrified certainly isn't the most original album you'll hear this year, but crunchy pop like this doesn't have to work very hard to impress the indie set. [Jul 2005, p.176]

The most accomplished work of Grohl's post-Nirvana career. [Aug 2005, p.174]

Damn odd. [Jul 2005, p.186]

Everything's emotional whole is greater than the sum of its individual musical parts. [Aug 2005, p.176]

Too many tunes struggle to remind listeners of their catchiness. [Aug 2005, p.166]

Remarkably cohesive. [Aug 2005, p.176]

Provides enough thrilling moments to make sense on or off the dancefloor. [Sep 2005, p.168]

Don't Believe The Truth strips away the layered excess of albums like 1997's Be Here Now to revisit the streamlined pomposity of the group's earliest discs. [Jul 2005, p.182]

There's nothing on Everything Ecstatic the likes of Madlib haven't already done better. [Jul 2005, p.186]

The music is mostly an interesting hybrid of unlikely elements and naggingly catchy tunes. [Jul 2005, p.186]

[They] clearly sound alive with the possibility of redefining punk song structure by writing 11-minute flamboyant guitar dirges that have as much in common with My Bloody Valentine as they do with '70s arena rock. [May 2005, p.170]

May be the weirdest record Malkmus has made since Pavement's Wowee Zowee. [Jul 2005, p.174]

Overall, the band seem to be running long on ambition and short on ideas. [Jul 2005, p.172]

Typical electronic fare mixed with a captivating rock sensibility. [Jul 2005, p.186]

Some of [Daniel's] stripped-down material sounds gaunt. [May 2005, p.166]

Doesn't make many lasting impressions. [Jul 2005, p.182]

Considering how strong a songwriter Bazan has proved himself to be on the last few Pedro discs, the results here are mildly disappointing. [Jun 2005, p.164]

This is a sensational place to get acquainted with the immortal wonder of drones. [Aug 2005, p.178]

Exactly what you'd expect from the involved parties. [May 2005, p.138]

Full of beautifully manicured pop that's often atmospheric and always dramatic, though it certainly wouldn't have hurt to toss in a few truly memorable choruses. [Jun 2005, p.164]

The Raveonettes sound creatively liberated. [May 2005, p.174]

Their uncalculated sound puts them a step above their shamelessly careerist peers like the Von Bondies. [Jul 2005, p.182]

A grab bag of great ideas, instead of a truly great album. [Sep 2005, p.170]

For the wide-awake, it's a crashing bore. [Aug 2005, p.164]

A fine distillation of everything New Order have been. [May 2005, p.176]

A devastatingly beautiful collection of songs, and in some circles, it could be the best album released this year. [May 2005, p.124]

Plays out like a sequel to BF5's last album... with one key element missing: humor. [May 2005, p.172]

Jayne shrouds his more subversive content in Laughter's Fifth's tambourine-tapping, upbeat numbers. [May 2005, p.164]

If they don't make you get down, they'll certainly get your attention. [May 2005, p.124]

There are no real surprises on Bleed, but as a return to the steady Garbage ferocity of old, it's first rate. [May 2005, p.134]

The Sunlandic Twins feels like a surprise party that could make a broken-hearted birthday boy smile. [May 2005, p.124]

Packed with timeless rock songs. [May 2005, p.174]

Abounds with ADULT.'s trademark terse tension you can dance to--albeit as if in a straitjacket. [Apr 2005, p.128]

Open Season takes debonair glam flourishes--screaming strings, slow-building lounge-act dramatics--and contrasts them with edgy riffs and subtle hooks. [May 2005, p.172]

Much of the album reflects a tension between melancholia and euphoria that sounds more like an epic battle between Fischerspooner's love for New Order and Pet Shop Boys--but with beefier, disco-fied beats. [May 2005, p.174]

There isn't one song on Elevator as undeniable as "Bandages"... No, there are 12 of them. [May 2005, p.172]

Arguably his most solid collection of folk-based tunes. [Apr 2005, p.116]

Intensely bizarre cartoon music. [May 2005, p.178]

The first five tracks just feel like the opening act for the stripped-down, twangy acoustic trilogy that closes out the album. [May 2005, p.172]

Going "conventional" may be the strangest move the Residents have ever made. [May 2005, p.178]

[Sheff's] uncompromisingly literate songs provide unusually rewarding payoffs. [May 2005, p.124]

Long live the king of hip. [May 2005, p.132]

For all of his wild swinging, Jones never fully connects. [May 2005, p.136]

Where, say, Franz Ferdinand can fill dance floors with a jagged, arty sense of danger, the Bravery are more vanilla in their approach (read: They're Duran Duran). [May 2005, p.132]

Unfortunately, everything is so finely polished on Alternative To Love that his brand of rock lacks any grit. [Apr 2005, p.124]

The results are hit-or-miss. [May 2005, p.132]

The more realized updates of [Her Majesty] that crowd out the backed of Picaresque reveal a wit so bizarre and vaudevillian beauty so ultimately endearing that by the end, Meloy's sprawling form of theatrical folk has us all. [Apr 2005, p.116]

Hotel is all vacancy. [Apr 2005, p.128]

Sounds anemic. [May 2005, p.138]

A must-hear. [May 2005, p.138]

The Queens have officially given us the first legitimate Album Of The Year candidate for 2005. [May 2005, p.130]

They sound like Devo playing Nazi military waltzes. [May 2005, p.138]

Chirpin Hard makes you feel like you're getting chased by a swarm of giant mosquitoes in a scrolling Mega Man hellscape circa 1992, while Church Gone Wild is a nerve-shattering whirlwind of atonal chaos. [May 2005, p.168]

Pathetic. [Jul 2005, p.182]

Not as memorable as Tarwater's peers like The Notwist. [May 2005, p.138]

Dense soundscapes that seemingly start in progress and stretch invisibly, yet infinitely, in all directions. [Apr 2005, p.118]

Gira spins riveting yarns like a charismatic neighborhood storyteller. [Jun 2005, p.164]

Will make you thankful your stereo has an easily accessible off button. [May 2005, p.136]

Conjures images of an organic commune in an alternate galaxy. [Jun 2005, p.164]

Not as overtly catchy (or cheesy) as Discovery, Human After All nonetheless is a hilariously cold and mechanical work that makes Kraftwerk sound like Curtis Mayfield. [May 2005, p.138]

Kaiser Chiefs melt their influences into something entirely non-derivative--and thoroughly fun. [May 2005, p.172]

12 tracks that are so feeble and lifeless, it's actually painful to put effort into reviewing them. [Jun 2005, p.160]

Noisy pop-punk that's bratty with pogoing entitlement. [Apr 2005, p.124]

Only the album-ending title track tones down the noise, and even then, it's about as restrained as early Husker Du. [May 2005, p.132]

VV naturally still resembles PJ Harvey prepping for a catfight in spots, but her vocals on standout pop nugget "Rodeo Town" reveal vulnerability reminiscent of the original tough cookie, the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde. [Apr 2005, p.126]

Sweet without being saccharine. [Mar 2005, p.124]

Unlike earlier efforts, the Capitol Years steer clear of the lo-fi aesthetic and indulge in some studio time to craft a hushed acoustic affair like "Let Them Drink" or to get the right sound on the slowed-down sludgeworthy riff of "Nothing To Say." [Apr 2005, p.124]

There's generally more of the same here, but Doves' alternate influences this time around... don't exactly add up to a great band "stretching out." It's more like they're grabbing at straws. [May 2005, p.134]

It's already the most riveting album of 2005--provided you're ready to carve a wide enough hole in your consciousness to accept it. [Mar 2005, p.130]

Both Sole's most accomplished album and his least distinctive. [Apr 2005, p.130]

Taken individually, Damon & Naomi's songs possess distinct personalities.... However, when consumed as a whole, The Earth Is Blue metamorphoses into a thin musical mist. [Apr 2005, p.116]

An engaging disc. [Mar 2005, p.122]

Most of Ward's quiet, contemporary folk songs are mere sketches, mediocre if not unmemorable. [Apr 2005, p.126]

Consistent--and consistently funny. [Apr 2005, p.124]

These songs are silly without being cloying. [May 2005, p.134]

These impressive vocal arrangements suffer when Ida leave them alone in the spotlight. [Feb 2005, p.88]

He's never sounded more confident. [Mar 2005, p.134]

His world-music diversions should challenge even those who aren't pedestrian Iron & Wine fans--but that's what EPs are for, right? [Apr 2005, p.116]