Swimming's arrangements and harmonies speak to a contemporary sensibility--one well aware that, for all the beauty of living in the moment, the moment still passes by. [Spring 2008, p.94]

Throughout Narrow Stairs, the band allows itself to open up, twisting and tinkering the same old style to their liking with mixed results. [Spring 2008, p.90]

There are some raucous shout-alongs (with pots and pans!), but the band keeps it cohesive as singer Van Pierszalowski steers them through thoughtful waters--standing boldly triumphant in the face of the rempest. [Spring 2008, p.89]

It remains instrumentally raucous, emotionally battered, and unaplogetically fun. [Winter 2009, p.100]

Full of enough gorgeous orchestration and swooping crescendos to make John Berry proud, the songs are as much ambitiously cinematic as they are heartfelt pop tunes. [Spring 2008, p.92]

Naturally, there are moments that regress into mere riffs on the band's million-old forerunners, but attitude intermixes with ambiance on Nouns in a special, timeless way. [Spring 2008, p.99]

Fair Ain't Fair offers more humanistic, good-humored songs than his previous records, and expansive numbers such as 'More Clouds' and opener 'Roots of a tree' reveal a man who is letting his talent breathe. [Spring 2008, p.103]

Supreme Balloon is homage to a certain tendency in electronic music practically dating back to its inception--one which Matmos most proudly, and justly, belong. [Spring 2008, p.97]

It may sometimes sparkle, but it never shines. [Spring 2008, p.102]

It is rare to come across a record that possesses such refinement and stylization, but The Seldom Seen Kid excels at both and was more than worth the wait. [Spring 2008, p.94]

While the record does nothing to offend listeners, it's excessively broad and does little to dramatically impress. [Winter 2008, p.94]

Flourishes of horns add to the traditional band instrumentation, giving Bragg a solid foundation on which to convey his message. [Spring 2008, p.92]

Elephant Shell is like a summertime record, easy and stress-free. [Spring 2008, p.92]

When El Perro Del Mar provides cinematic sadness, she's at her best, which is thankfully for the bulk of this album--a record that is in the end, a heartbreaking listen. [Spring 2008, p.103]

The synthetics have the heavy warp that most dance floors like to roick, even as they land somewhere between Meat Beat Manifesto, Gang of Four and Ghostalnd Observatory. [Spring 2008, p.100]

That this album eviscerates the armies of shoegazer-come-latelies is a trifiling accomplishment compared to the fact that for 74 minutes--with an overall tone of foreboding bordering on the haunting and disturbing--this album is impossible to turn off. [Spring 2008, p.92]

Cave's themes remain unchanged, but his songcraft prowess continues to grow, aided by the finest instrumental backing and production of any Bad Seeds album to date. [Winter 2008, p.90]

Kim and Kelly Deal have delivered their strangest record to date. [Winter 2008, p.91]

While the band still has its head in the clouds, or beyond, it has made its finest, most listenable album to date. [Spring 2008, p.98]

The final result sounds like the perfect accompainment to a Michel Gondry film: endlessly craetive, ceaselessly ambitious, yet extremely accessible at thge very same time. [Spring 2008, p.103]

The group's music is ghostly and ethereal, creating a sonic wall that is set against some of the lovelist, shimmering retro-electro-disco you've ever heard. [Spring 2008, p.102]

The tasteful kiddy nature and contrastingly mature metaphors, literary lessons and appropriate disdain, all end with a sense of urgency, making for an impressively full album [Winter 2008, p.100]

Attack & Release is a great accomplishment for both The Black Keys and Danger Mouse, who have proven good things can not only last, but sometimes, actually get better. [Winter, 2008, p.91]

The Sword akes the safe, oddly paradoxical decision to stay off the cutting edge. [Winter 2008, p.97]

In this Patriot Act climate, where tear-gassing protesters and tazing collegians have become customary security measures, stirring irritation seems only proper. [Winter 2008, p.97]

So even though the songs have great live potential and are manufactured with poppy punk precision, the end product doesn't quite fit the equation. [Winter 2008, p.95]

Trouble in Dreams pulls upon 2006's "Rubies'" emotional strings, and in fact, tugs deeper while still retaining the strange wall of declamatory description. [Winter 2008, p.91]

The reasons we love the Parisians-by-way-of-London rockers are only partially for their adolescent kitsch and filth. [Winter 2008, p.97]