The album is most notable for the man's glorious undiminished tones. [Oct 2011, p.98]

The frat-boy humour is wearing a tad thin. [Oct 2011, p.97]

[Bridges] convincingly inhabits a batch of mostly self-penned story songs that radiate a weary gravitas and wry existentialism. [Oct 2011, p.96]

From the title's Depression-era jokes onwards, Cooder protests like it's 1939. [Oct 2011, p.96]

Studded with occasional gems...it's also weighed down by a handful of jokey throwaways and partially realised pop numbers among its 24 tracks. [Oct 2011, p.94]

Where her self-titled debut was intense and socially conscious, things are groovier now. [May 2011, p.107]

As the Crow Flies feels like a more personal work. Both a soundtrack to dreamlike childhood summers and an imagined government guide to the cycles of the seasons, complete with liner notes by historian and folklorist Ronald Hutton. [Sep 2011, p.101]

This is resilient, tough, exultant music that just didn't push thorough a t the time. [Sep 2011, p.113]

Nothing unfamiliar, yet distinguished by granite totem-pole vocals and mesmerically ominous axe. [Sep 2011, p.97]

Stars offers deep dreamlike comfort, undercut by the melancholy violin of founding member Noel Sayre, who tragically died during the album's recording. [Sep 2011, p.96]

The cosy and intimate songs, sung in the disarming, high-pitched tenor so admired by Sufjan Stevens, are pleasant enough, but it isn't until the Cajun-tinged shuffle of Ophelia and late-night bar lament You Belong To Heaven that it gels. [Sep 2011, p.95]

The results are melodic, gently atmospheric indie rock that often fits the neo-shoegaze paradigm. [Sept. 2011, p. 101]

They return with an album that tries hard to please, its brace of ultra-catchy, bubblegum dance-pop tracks constructed from teh same building blocks as Tom Tom Club's playground. [Sept. 2011, p. 98]

A lot happens on Eleven Eleven -- all of it good. [Sept. 2011, p. 106]

Track by track, these are nuggets of brilliance. As a whole, it's baffingly eclectic. [Sept. 2011, p. 106]

Stranger Me is accurately titled. It's both intriguing and entertaining throughout. [Sept. 2011, p. 106]

The long, swirling guitar patterns remain, as the bandleader enjoys letting a groove stretch right out before demonstrating his blues-rock credentials. [Sept. 2011, p. 104]

California five-piece coming soon to a stadium near you. [Sept. 2011, p. 100]

Everything you could want from a wizard, a true non-star. [Sept. 2011, p. 100]

In the end, caution and Horn's glossy production smother the early Yes's spirit of oddball experiment. [Sept. 2011, p. 98]

Metheny returns with a beautifully understated acoustic album whose virtue is its bare-boned simplicity. [Sept. 2011, p. 98]

Third album proper for San Fran psych quartet. [Sept. 2011, p. 98]

The reference points suggest Cerebral Ballzy care little for innovation, but they've nevertheless created the best US punk debut for some time. [Sept. 2011, p. 98]

Hearts is meta-shoegazing, a melody-driven dive into mist, where focus is difficult. [Sept. 2011, p. 97]

It's music for dreaming, the keyboard equivalent to shoegaze, reinforced by its song titles and vocals mostly mixed beneath the waves to gorgeously woozy effect. [Sept. 2011, p. 97]

Reliably familiar punk pop by enduring Japanese trio. [Sept. 2011, p. 96]

Viva Brother lack much of Blur's charming artyness and all of the Gallaghers' battering rock immensity and football terrace touch. [Sept. 2011, p. 96]

Two Of Everything is a sure-footed progression from 2009's self-titled debut, thanks to the warm co-production of Dan Auerbach (Black Keys) and the pair's willingness to push the sonic envelope into the outre zone, even embracing bagpipes. [Sept. 2011, p. 96]

For a record about a lonely planet, it makes all the right connections. [Sept. 2011, p. 96]

Fab follow-up to 2009's Tomorrow Is Alright from the San Franciscan collective. [Sept. 2011, p. 95]

A striking mix of rock and electronics on Philadelphia group's second record. [Sept. 2011, p. 94]

Canadian power-poppers celebrate hyper-melodic 20th birthday. [Sept. 2011, p. 94]

She's got soul all right. [Sept. 2011, p. 94]

Where the previous LP put them on a higher plane and widened their audience, this broadens the palette and consolidates their status. [Sept. 2011, p. 92]

The boy done good, again. [Jun 2011, p.100]

Duets with Stevie Nicks and the latest country sensation, Colbie Caillat, lift the proceedings--but the tracks that stand out are those where he sings with more personal reflection. [Jul 2011, p.114

In less accomplished hands it could have spiraled into pastiche. Instead, by being so dedicated to the past, Wilson has shaped a delicious future. [Aug 2011]

It's sometimes easy to lose sight of the humanity in Randy Newman's songwriting. Some redress is afforded by an album which--as with its 2003 predecessor--sees 67-year-old Newman pare back songs spanning four decades to voice and piano. [Jun 2011, p.92]

The tone is wistful and serene more than sad and heavy, but principal singer Nona Marie Invie still sounds like a femme fatale, with a coiled, spectral charm that suits the band's name. [Jun 2011, p.104]

On first impression If By Yes sound floaty and melodic. Ideal for backdrop sounds at classy fashion outlets. Yet it;s more than that. [May 2011, p.109]

Young set up a tour with a fine country band playing at state fairs and rodeos. This set includes live, countrified version of Re-actor, Old Ways, Harvest, even Buffalo Springfield and five previously unreleased songs. [Jul 2011, p.120]

The more successful versions tend to be of recent, less iconic songs--John The Revelator, Fragile Tension--but, despite the invention throughout hours of listening, not one version matches the original. [Jul 2011, p.112]

There are moments when things don't quite work as they should. But the Blind Boys, left to their own devices on the funky Jesus, Hold My Hand, do what they do best. [Jun 2011, p.104]

These are his silkiest arrangements yet, but shadowy undercurrents ensure the tension never lets up. [Jun 2011, p.104]

2 is the sound of war, famine and pestilence wiith a spoonful of sexual frustration; often silly but always fun. [Jul 2011, p.106]

For this album she as worked with a breathtaking array of collaborators, with varied results. [Jul 2011, p.115]

Imelda May can voice rockin' blues, slap-bass rockabilly and smoky torch jazz and she can do it incredibly well. [Nov. 2010, p. 102]

They've fleshed out the colourful sketches that make up the bulk of their last album. [Feb 2011, p.96]

It's difficult to ignore Total's hoovering synths, filtered drums, glam rock rhythms and punkish snarl, such is its fizzing energy. [Jul 2011, p.115]

A sameness about these developments diminishes the album's appeal, but given a presence in the ether, airwaves, clouds and such, the Pierces' obsession could become addictive. [Jul 2011, p.114]

Reaching a jubilant, freak-flag waving climax with the garage sloppiness of Where We Go, what's left is a quieter set of herbal spirituals that continue to link strands of country, folk and blues with the group's own beautifully wayward sense of direction. [Jul 2011, p.105]

EAR PWR have concocted a gorgeous chillwave gem. [Jul 2011, p.115]

They only operate in one gear but it;s a sound that's full of passion, piss and vinegar. [Jul 2011, p.115]

The resulting record is one that softens with repeated listens, even if it's so full of bad juju you may initially feel compelled to burn it at the stake. [Jul 29011, p.112]

There's less jamming than on earlier NMA releases, more insistence on songwriting. [Jul 2011, p.108]

If Bruce Springsteen or Steve Earle had created these blue-collar character sketches Here We Rest would be a return to their very best. At 32, however, Isbell seems to be just warming up. [Jul 2011, p.107]

Intense and moving. [Jul 2011, p.105]

Genre-hopping in style with one-woman band Merrill Garbus. [July 2011, p. 114]

Hotly tipped Ipswich rapper's expansive debut. [July 2011, p. 112]

Those who've found White Denim's previous albums a little too cluttered and clattery for comfort should find that D is a good deal more accessible, yet it also ends up being their most thrillingly off-kilter record to date. [July 2011, p. 112]

Austin's "newgrass" prodigy moves ever onwards. [July 2011, p. 108]

Canadian indie-songsmith producer, illustrator comes blinking into the sunlight. [July 2011, p. 108]

The New York boy-girl duo make sweet love to a musical memory. [July 2011, p. 107]

Nelson sounds edgy while Ali Jackson's percussion solo probably looks good on TV but bores aurally. [July 2011, p. 107]

Pearl Jam grungemeister reveals self to be shameless romantic. {July 2011, p. 106]

Dan Bejar's surprising mix of slinky '80s soft rock and sophisticated disco. [July 2011, p. 106]

Air Museum sees the Brooklyn duo largely trade computer manipulation for the studio, processing instruments using analogue gear. [July 2011, p. 105]

Certainly, these times demand an earnest folk-punk poet of the poeple, but Turner's tracts are a little too woolly to truly connect. [July 2011, p. 105]

The Lou Reed-approved alt-country band's sixth album. [July 2011, p. 105]

Peripatetic post-Americana quintet release their Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. [July 2011, p. 104]

What he does less of these days, regrettably, is production, upon which his outside-the-box reputation rightly rests. [July 2011, p. 103]

Intriguing ninth album from Sam Prekop's Chicagoan pop exoticists. [July 2011, p. 103]

Like a brand-new gadget, it might look smart but Leisure Seizure's obsolescence is built-in. [July 2011, p. 103]

Circuital sees them negotiating their place in the world with heartening vigour. [July 2011, p. 103]

German electro poppers making a play for the festival crowds. [July 2011, p. 102]

Nicks co-produces with Dave Stewart and Glen Ballard. [July 2011, p. 102]

The Errant Charm lacks the edge needed to be more than a counter-cultural accessory. [July 2011, p. 102]

Radical tech rockers' microshift to the center ground. [July 2011, p. 100]

Specialists in Transatlantica hone their songcraft. [July 2011, p. 100]

Bon Iver's musical palette is a far broader, full blown band affair. [Jul 2011, p.98]

Ultimately, in a sea of indentikit singer-songwriters, Sproule's willingness to push just a little bit further counts far more in her favour than against it. [Jun 2011, p. 102]

A convincing musical narrative for young life in the UK today. [May 2011, p.104]

They fare best on delicate, forlorn ballads like Walk The Backstairs Quiet and Epping Forest--tales of suburban longing which are brave enough to include some quite splendid guitar solos. [Jun 2011, p100]

It's still high camp stuff, but Wolf's world suddenly seems like a more welcoming place. [Jun 2011, p.97]

Sure, there is a handful of magic that could cause significant flame damage to a dancefloor somewhere, but, beyond that, Jessica 6's toil to sculpt killer from filler is an endeavour that only occasionally pays off.

Toronto punk sextet's third LP is an epic soundtrack. [July 2011, p. 104]

["2012 (Bury Our Heads)" is] a brief downer and nestled among a clutch of songs that demonstrate how far the band has come since their 2003 debut. [May 2011, p.107]

They scrunch together Animal Collective-style off-kilter tech pop, new wave, ghetto bass and even twisted tango. [Jun 2011, p.97]

Bella Hardy takes a bold leap of faith on her third album, devoted entirely to a rich songwriting talent only hinted at on her previous two. [Jun 2011, p.103]

Unsurprisingly, these aren't in the same league as the Sun stdio classics, but these alternate and usually starker versions do allow us intimate seats at the creation of standards. [Jun 2011, p.114]

Alegrias bends gems from his Byzantine catalogue into new shapes. [Jun 2011, p.97]

It's the quality of the material--not just the three vocal takes each by Jack White and Norah Jones, but also the supple and atmospheric instrumental interludes-- that elevates Rome beyond Pastiche and into the realm of cinematic enchantment. [May 2011, p.105]

Sounding this simple is not always easy and for fans of pop with depth, Pete & The Pirates are a treat. [Jun 2011, p.100]

While her impressively expansive band needs little bidding to cut loose, Carthy's lush vocals, and cryptic lyrics keep you on your toes. [Jun 2011, p.103]

Given the right mood and lighting, it is almost magical; in stark sunshine, less so. [Jun 2011, p.100]

Fans will love the touching, piano-led title track, replete with the great man's Jack Russell terrier Gizmo barking at the end, while Stand Amazed finds Martyn at his rural front door, marveling at "the panoply of beauty" before him. [Jun 2011, p.103]

The results are as rich and organic as electronica gets. [Jun 2011, p.97]

Acquaint yourself with this successor to 2009's Notes From The Treehouse and it doesn't take long to see what Bella Union honcho Simon Raymonde saw Laurent-Marke. [May 2011, p.112]