A rare second album that matches a brilliant debut. [#54, p.76]

Not quite essential but is damn close. [#58, p.97]

One of 2000's most consistently compelling listens. [#48, p.95]

[Rossen] passes on Grizzly Bear and Department of Eagles' carefully manicured sprawl in favor of focus and immediacy. [No.86, p.57]

With the release of Old Ramon, Kozelek shows he's capable of sustained inspiration.... It's Kozelek's most successful LP: consistent, heartbreakingly sad and filled with gems that will linger in his fans' psyches. [#49, p.85]

El-P splits the difference between old-school bruisers, cyber-punk dystopias and misanthropic noir. [No.88 p. 55]

Although one of his most accessible, it's not constrained to formula. ... It was worth the wait. [No. 134, p.54]

Vega rarely got the opportunity to be heard beyond the underground, so clarity--in passing--was essential. And all the more piercing for it. [No. 146, p.61]

The group has dropped folky fingerpicking and bucolic string melodies in favor of episodic compositions full of complex horn and percussion textures. [#60, p.117]

It is, by any measure, a lovely, lovingly made record, its 13 tracks coming to enveloping climaxes via mystifyinng, electrifying turns of phrase. [No.99, p.51]

She didn’t play nice and didn’t take kindly to notions of acting “ladylike,” and Full Circle is her victory lap. [No. 129, p.57]

Despite lyrics contending with crippling anxiety, suicide and relationship strife, what ultimately emerges in a celebration of the defiant act of loving and living fully in the face of a world gone mad. [No. 143, p.59]

A quartet of droney sameness [in the second half] essentially grinds Moonlight's funkiest ingredients into a sluggish, repetitive pulp. [#68, p.111]

Feels is layered as no other Collective album before it. [#70, p.87]

Different Every Time is a two-CD overview illuminating Wyatt's strengths as a musician, politically outspoken performer, singer, bandmate, leader and composer. [No. 116, p.61]

Its palette remains expansive. [No. 123, p.61]

Takes a baby step toward the mainstream. [#69, p.108]

MCII never quite gets to the point of pastiche, but its fondness for grunge-era distortion and '60s-style harmonies makes it entirely contemporary. [No. 98, p.53]

Almost every inch of The Worse Things Get is stout and strong-willed. [No. 102, p.52]

Ultimately, Olsen shows she can still be gripping, but with a much greater sense of presence. [No. 106, p.57]

Ambitious, risky and occasionally rambling, this is a song cycle best absorbed in a start-to-finish listen. [#73, p.93]

Listening to Coyne retreat behind the faux-Power Rangers horror-movie shtick he's created here is puzzling and ultimately disappointing. [#55, p.73]

A gorgeous record brimming with unhurried songs. [#61, p.108]

Snaith crafted Out Love with all the care of a handwritten mixtape. [No. 114, p.52]

The toxic muse behind Pussycat's bitter melodies and crunchy guitar solos is recognizable as the man who's made so many of us feel as dejected as a woman in a Hatfield song. [No. 142, p.57]

Basinski has proven remarkably capable at existing far outside of his own legacy, his uncanny ability to wring entire worlds from his famously deep tape archives proving more remarkable with each subsequent release. A Shadow In Time is no exception. [No. 139, p.53]

The beauty of Pleasure's vintage danceteria lies in its sharp 21st-century focus and Lerche's consistently reliable songwriting skills. [No. 141, p.59]