This music has been cunningly hand-crafted, despite the album's larger ensemble sound, and at times the songs come off like incantations. [No. 95, p.57]

Tunng has taken one analog-age lesson very much to heart by making Good Arrows nice and short; it's 11 songs clock in at 43 minutes, and only one is an outright dud. [Fall 2007, p.108]

While Cox’s narratives make little sense (much of the time, he’s not even singing so much as wailing wordlessly), the music is surprisingly accessible.

Though I generally partake in the Kool-Aid, some of Pollard’s post-GBV stuff has admittedly either gone over my head or missed the sweet spot. Brown Submarine’s pleasures, however, are inarguable.

These are not tunes created with an eye on the top of the charts, but it only takes about four bars to realize that they should be up there. [No.86, p.56]

Inhabit[s] some weird middle ground between The Teaches of Peaches and Prince's 1999. [#58, p.98]

Mutilator continues Thee Oh Sees' unprecedented, mind-melting hot streak. [No. 121, p.61]

No Wow is mechanical yet sexy, and a soulful, grinding groove is key. [#67, p.102]

Packed to the brim with moments of tonal and melodic transcendence. [#86, p.51]

Like his labelmates in Alabama Shakes, Booker takes inspiration from the past to make huge artistic leaps forward. [No. 143, p.55]

The mixed-bag effect of White Knight reaches its best moments on Runt's partnership with R&B shouter Bettye LaVette on the salty soul of "Naked & Afraid," and his teaming with Nine Inch Nails' film composition team Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross on the crushing, cinematic "Deaf Ears." [No. 143, p.61]

What sounds like downcast spaciousness is actually riddled with layers of sound complementing the expected morose and heartfelt topics. [No. 121, p.61]

A comeback triumph that exchanges the desiccated roboticism of its predecessor for the vital, maniac, seductively imperfect epic exuberance. [No. 109, p.55]

This California band seems to be one of those rare times when the major labels get it right. [#50, p.80]

Matangi ends up being worth the wait, which in this case is high praise indeed. [No. 105, p.58]

Yes, this album is a turophile's dream, but only the most black-hearted cynic could resist joining the party. [No. 141, p.61]

Wratten makes the kind of albums most of us would record if the defection of a muse and lover still haunted us years later--and if we could write unabashedly pretty songs. [#52, p.109]

Despite the disparate source material, each Suitcase disc feels organic, like a "real" Guided By Voices album.... Even a casual fan will find enough gems spread among the hundred songs here to justify spending the $50 to purchase Suitcase. [#47, p.107]

Hardly reserved for advanced listeners, End Times Undone is effortlessly familiar and fresh. [No. 112, p.57]

It doesn't feel resolved by the unexpectedly bone-chilling ending, beckoning another listen. [No. 104, p.59]

A sensational album by a band willing to take risks, Both Lights offers an exhilarating glimpse at pop music's future. [#86, p.52]

Pond manages to use just about every trick in the psych-rock playbook to create energetic, borderline-unstable earworms that bury themselves deep in your brain for days. [No. 101, p.59]

This is a lovely, bittersweet and nuanced album. [No. 95, p.59]

It's a weirdness that works. [No. 111, p.53]

Bazan's ability to write compelling, catchy tunes remains intact. [#68, p.100]

Building considerably on the subtle expansion of 2006's "Bring It Back," the powerhouse Re-Arrange Us is both natural progression and quantum leap. [Summer 2008, p.107]

This new one sounds happily like a distillation of the best of Slowdive. The effects--and the effects pedals--are still dreamy. [No. 143, p.61]

While every cut is identifiably Spoon and the album will satisfy hard-line fans of the band, a fiery R&B element is now a significant component. [#55, p.88]