It does function gorgeously as a lush, entrancing mood piece, one that might pleasantly percolate along in the background, but could just as easily hold you rapt in the detailed folds of its layered, continuously evolving subarctic suites. [No. 129, p.61]

As a fan-pitched compilation of b-sides and one-offs, it's a winner. [Summer 2008, p.100]

[Lopatin] knows how to integrate plangent tones with somber piano chords to give the title track a plaintive, wistful quality, making sure to throw enough glitch in so that it doesn't get stranded on Windham Hill. [#82, p.59]

As lovely as that sounds, April loses momentum under such a reserved approach.

From The Valley To The Stars has some fine moments, but it looks awfully unflattering in the light of its less distracted and infinitely sharper predecessor. [Summer 2008, p.102]

Black Eyes gives barely a hint as to what this band achieves onstage. [#59, p.84]

What Phases lacks in structural coherence it makes up for in the stirring depth of the individual performances. These are worthy outliers. [No. 149, p.61]

Nothing Has Changed makes his entire discography sound more consistent than it actually is. [No. 116, p.52]

There are moments that could've been excised, but BJM demonstrates a most robust path when its psychedelia lasers fix onto a starting point and add to the established theme. [No. 141, p.55]

Mouseman is essentially another 17 tracks for completists hankering to mine the singer's ceaseless compendium of songs in search of new nuggets. [#85, p.58]

Let The Dancers Inherit The Party is slickly produced, dramatic and cohesive but still has the drawback of sounding derivative and overly familiar. [No. 141, p.55]

To make the perfect album, we suppose, that elusive thing that the beauteous hooks on "The Light of F=Day" and "Met Your Match" certainly makes strides toward. [#86, p.53]

Fairly golden and never uninteresting. [#73, p.110]

Baby 81 finds BRMC back in control of the street corner, cigarette squints and rock'n'roll swagger intact. [Summer 2007, p.90]

Results are varied.... Luckily, Deerhoof's blahs are better than most people's best. [No. 116, p.57]

While it lacks the singular impact of their still flawless debut, it's still an object of languorous beauty, rather like the band itself. [No. 105, p.57]

Her built-in fanbase will exult in the sulky ruminations found here. [#52, p.101]

With Four Tet, more is generally more. [Summer 2008, p.105]

Improbably enough, the resultant record could last you winterlong. [No. 94, p.58]

Sounds far richer than the one-off project that it is. [#74, p.97]

Folkier and less prone to rocking than [Ryan Adams], she's also more dedicated to preserving an overall country feel to the music. [#59, p.88]

More of the same, yes, but good enough to make longtime fans crank the volume on the way to their divorce hearings while younger converts learn that the rock wasn't born last year. [#55, p.83]

Swing Lo Magellen sounds forced and cluttered... highlights a dearth of skill when it comes to self-editing. [No.89 p.54]

There's an ever-so-slight improvement upon what has come to be expected of GBV and related releases of the last 10-12 years. [No. 94, p.58]

Its wide-open sound is full of giant guitars, processed keyboards and retro beats, suggesting a meeting between Lee Hazelwood and Ennio Morricone at the Brill Building. [No. 141, p.57]

Brock and Co. manage to entertain and amuse as often as they don't. [No. 118, p.51]

The album refines rather than revamps the Decemberists' approach; it's the brightest panel of a triptych, not a new exhibit. [#67, p.95]

When Slo Light want to pound pulses, it does so expertly. [No.106, p.53]