A new Social D album is always welcome, even if Ness' advance age is showing now more than ever. [Feb 2011, p.90]

Outside has a knack for taking these slow-building verses toward delayed rewards--by the time you reach the marrow of a tune, it's already the best Tapes 'N Tapes song you've ever heard. [Feb 2011, p.90]

Red Barked Tree is something of a letdown, oddly placid and even soothing. [Feb 2011, p.90]

When they do attempt to play things straight, it hits the mark with impressive accuracy, commanding your attention--and a few of your most limber-limbed dance moves. [Feb 2011, p.87]

It's an alarmingly great album in most ways superior to their ballyhooed debut. [Feb 2011, p.86]

Their fifth full-length Showroom Of Compassion shows Cake's key ingredients surviving their 20-year career unscathed. [Feb 2011, p.86]

The songs on The King Is Dead don't collapse under the weight of their lite-FM armor; conversely, they endure in spite of it. One way or another, the Decemberists write good songs, regardless of how they're gift-wrapped.

On this disc, which collects tracks from three limited-edition singles and adds a few bonus cuts, the group shows their range even more effectively through carefully (and wisely) chosen covers.

Seventeen years and eight albums into their career; The Grand Theatre Volume One is a welcomed second wind.

The real enjoyment of any Girl Talk album stems from picking out the first hint of a song, mentally scanning your iTunes and figuring out what it is in time to fully enjoy it before it's gone. Or, you could also just stop thinking and enjoy all of it.

III/IV is the director's cut of a moment in Ryan Adams' all-too-prolific career. It adds dimension in some areas, but may be too much information for causal fans of the singer/songwriter.

MC Rut are riveting, the rawness and intensity of their performance drenched in the pints of sweat they undoubtedly shed at every show.[Nov 2010, p.116]

Matt and Kim deserve albums that sound clean and ambitious, but in all of Sidewalk's studio processing, their endearing personalities--decidedly brash, raw and awesome--unfortunately aren't well-represented. [Jan 2011, p.93]

Instead of building on their strengths, frontman Jaz Coleman & Co. have backslid into subdued sogginess of the band's mid-period. [Jan 2010, p.91]

Though a giant-sized step in the right direction, Younger is not without its growing pains. [Jan 2011, p.92]

While the tracks are theoretically similar to the atmospheric vistas of other instrumental units, Jesu's melancholy--accidental or implied--offers a truly unique experience that deserves much more than background-listening status. [Dec 2010, p.114]

Anyone with an appreciation for smartass MCs and a little of Fender-tapping would do well to give TSOL a spin. [Nov 2010, p.116]

From the snarling romp of "USA" to the loping crawl of "new Low" or the rockabilly-tinged stomp of "Alive Or Dead", MC Rut are riveting, the rawness of their performance drenched in the pints of sweat they undoubtedly shed at every show. [Nov 2010, p.116]

The real strength of The Inevitable Past Is The Future Forgotten is the album's inherent variance--and the fact that droning waltzes like "Days Of Wrath" are able to seamlessly co-exist with ambient experiments like "The Threshold" make the album sound like a complete musical statement instead of a genre exercise.

Where the Postelles excel over Hammond's band is in how sublimely relaxed they sound.

While much of contemporary music fixates on flash and bang, it's refreshing to hear emphasis on what the singer is saying. With a lyricist this gifted, that more than suffices.

Choosing to keep the songs dark and dreary bogs down Mini Mansions. That criticism aside, the band know how to craft a song, letting it build and drop when necessary. [Dec 2010, p.114]

How they were able to construct an entire multi-layered universe (sonically, lyrically and with narration!) for listeners to get lost in-while writing some of the strongest and catchiest songs of their career-is anyone's guess. For the cookie-cutter bands and haters out there, that's what we call sweet revenge.

Chalk a point in the "win" column for the old school. [Dec 2010, p.116]

O (Disambiguation) is the first Underoath album in years that you'll walk away humming--even as you pick shrapnel out of your ears. [Dec 2010, p.118]

Orchestral additions are cool, but here they dominate both in terms of volume and notes-per-minute, transforming potentially aristocratic black metal like "The Cult Of Venus Aversa" and "War" into poorly layered sonic slop. [Dec 2100, p.111]

On Small Craft, the 62-year-old Eno has provided both sonic career overview, as well as an engaging experience for listeners wanting something both familiar and new. [Dec 2010, p.111]

Good Charlotte are multi-platinum scene superstars, but Cardiology might just be their best effort yet. [Nov 2010, p.112