Ambulance Ltd have good ears and an even better imagination: They run their influences through a filter of solid gold. [Apr 2004, p.126]

There's something about the precision of the gear changes and the crisp efficiency of Rob Schnapf's production that hits the spot, however derivatively. [Apr 2004, p.134]

A torrid album that marries old-school rap aesthetics to punk-rock concision. [May 2004, p.127]

It's music that's all cleverness and fury from a distance, but when studied up close, it turns out to be pretty hollow. [Apr 2004, p.126]

Lord’s voice is breathy and sweet without being tiresomely innocent or fragile -- it’s Candyland by way of Troubletown.

Since 1995, Jenkinson's been treating his laptop the way death-metal bands treat their guitars, and it's no longer radical, just annoying. [Apr 2004, p.136]

The ponderous lyrics sound cribbed straight from A Mighty Wind, and LeMaster's nasal whine is hard to take. [Apr 2004, p.134]

Though not as ambitious or original as the [White] Stripes at their best, the VB's indelible punk-rock blues parks a new car in the Motor City garage. [Apr 2004, p.136]

[Adebimpe's] singing is consistently riveting, and the oddball mix gives it room to flourish. [Apr 2004, p.138]

Destroyer's slickest synthesis yet of ornate hooks and cryptic poetics. [Apr 2004, p.127]

An unexpected delight. [Apr 2004, p.132]

The band's debut struts and flirts like the best-looking guy at the bar. [Apr 2004, p.126]

For computer music, it's all astoundingly warm. [Apr 2004, p.139]

Where his pals Outkast seem like genuine freaks of nature, he sometimes seems apologetically weird.

Paired with the Kids’ fidelity to verse/chorus pop, Pryor’s boyishly confident, hopeful delivery can sound pro forma, even mindless.

The electronic dance-rock gets the pop job done. [Mar 2003, p.119]

Too often... the results sound messy and carry a hint of prog-rock pomposity. [Mar 2004, p.115]

Many of the songs here could be Peppers tracks, except for the absence of Anthony Kiedis's vocals. [Apr 2004, p.128]

The crisp acoustic production is too unerringly tasteful... but that's forgiveable. [Mar 2004, p.120]

Often translates into little more than spliced Dubya soundbites and “spooky” found sounds (helicopter blades, police sirens) played over dour, noncommittal loops.

The best ’80s-revival funk made by white Canadian hip-hop kids since, like, ever.

Even Monsoon’s best moments are marred by barely audible vocals and dull lyrical abstractions.

Keeps the orchestral Americana on an ambient, after-hours simmer. [Mar 2004, p.123]

Funnier, angrier, weirder. [Mar 2004, p.123]

The mood of Jones's second album is more or less the same, if slightly friskier. [Mar 2004, p.118]

Her coy delivery suggests a seething everywoman concealing her rage under an ominously bright surface.

Etheridge backs up her verbal cliches with musical ones. [Mar 2004, p.117]

More mature, more focused, and a little less fun. [Mar 2004, p.115]