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]

There are few moments where Director's Cut offers anything close to a bold deconstruction. [Jun 2011, p.95]

Their polemic backed-up by their abundant charms, not least the plentiful guitar heroics of frontman Rick Rizzo, evoking both the lyricism of Neil Young and the artful amp abuse of Sonic Youth in their thrilling scree. [Jun 2011, p.106]

Finely etched narratives telltales of aging wunderkinds and tragic figures, the deeds of those famed and flawed, while the music moves in manifold directions, from powerpop to scuzz rock to alt country. [Jun 2011, p.106]

Coffey's new solo album is split 50/50 between space-funk rock guitar features and more grounded tracks as he becomes the servant of singers on five of the 11 tracks here. [Jun 2011, p.106]

Civilian [is] coming on like an odd, but most welcome hybrid. [Jun 2011, p.106]

Occasionally, as on the stuttering, beats-at-war-with-the-tune One And Lonely, it's not so successful, but in the main it's easy to feel both the width and the quality. [Jun 2011, p.106]

While The Gate is not as persuasive as 2007's Nightmoves, the good stuff more than makes up for comparatively effortful takes on Stevie Wonder and EW&F material. [Jun 2011, p.105

Though the bleak, froideur-laden Going Wrong and Milky Blau also impress, here are moments when W reneges on Doorway's great promise. [Jun 2011, p.105]

The Dodos switchback moods and rhythms never settle and that's the prime joy of No Color. [Jun 2011, p.105]

It isn't as urgent as Crazy rhythms, but follows from 1986's The Good Earth with a sparkling, rolling and guitar strum-driven understatement between third and fourth LP Velvets, a minimalist Neil Young and their cheerleaders R.E.M. [Jun 2011, p.105]

Cantrell's voice exudes greater purity than Wells's and she has some tricks up her sleeve, one being an original that gives the album its title, a song that namechecks Wells and other country icons such as Maybelle Carter and Martha Carson. [Jun 2011, p.105]

A festival friendly selection of gossamer reggae-lite that even jacks a riff from U2's Bad On I'll Be Waiting, although the mood is more a love up, unplugged Boomtown Rats, with Franti carefully to ensure his unflinching positivity doesn't become too wearing. [Jun 2011, p.104]

[It results] in bubblegum thrash paeans to laziness and forgetfulness, multiple blasts of fiery milquetoast defiance stuffed with beguiling observations on the minor tragedies of everyday life. [Jun 20111, p.104]

Laurie is best on standards such as St James Infirmary and Buddy Bolden's Blues, playing piano on them with strength and sensitivity. [Jun 2011, p.104]

She's simply not being fed the right material, or getting to work with a sympathetic producer. Hudson is a soul singer not a modern R'n'B one. [Jun 2011, p.104]

Originally intended as a YouTube offering, The Palace Guards teeters between alt country and folk rock in a diverse and totally appealing manner. [Jun 2011, p.103]

Harvey's softly purring voice hardly leaps from the speakers, but his identity is stamped strikingly on Rhymeless, with its malevolent appropriation of "all the songs you never sang to your little ones." [Jun 2011, p.103]

Lollipop finds songwriter Curt Kirkwood, as ever, rearranging rock history into new shapes that fit his wonderfully warped vision, delivering some of the Pups' most compelling tuneage yet. [Jun 2011, p.102]

Booker responds with young and evergreen playing, a typically euphonious mixture of economy, precision, warmth, color and melody on tight groovin' instrumentals. [Jun 2011, p.101]

The remainder unfurls in similar fashion: laudably spirited, often astoundingly catchy and entirely indebted to the past. [Jun 2011, p.101]

Good album, clever guy. [Jun 2011, p.100]

The simpler numbers--sun-dappled Dust On The Dancefloor, sweet love ballad Our Hearts Burn Like Damp Matches--are much better. [Jun 2011, p.100]

More symphonic in structure than Herren's previous work and richer in melody and theme, it eschews loops in favor of fuzzy interference and acoustic vibrations. [Jun 2011, p.97]

Darkly neurotic, it captures the on-the-road loneliness and sense of dislocation perfectly. [Jun 2011, p.97]

The Magic Place is her most fully involved album, suffused with the warmth of fond memories and a deep, dream-like resonance. [Jun 2011, p.96]

Their orchestral meditations on aging are convincing and beautiful. [Jun 2011, p.96]

So, was Tony Bennett exaggerating when he called lang, "the best singer of her generation"? Yes, but on this form only a little. [May 2011, p.114]

By the end, you are left wanting more extreme flourishes. [May 2011, p.114]

His score for this Murakami adaptation is just as striking, referencing Vaughan Williams and Shostakovich in a manner similar to such 20th century Japanese magpie composers as Hayasaka and Hashimoto. [May 2011, p.112]

The Youth split their sound into four clear component parts: piano, drums, percussion and guitar-screes that separate out beautifully and merge grimily--just like the kids in the film itself. [May 2011, p.112]

Collected together the fear might have been that the sound would be found wanting. yet from 1996's Nenette Et Boni to 2009's White Material here is a sound always pulsing with the same intimate warmth of Denis' films. [May 2011, p.112]

This is an album that stands up to the touchstone indie classics it references. [May 2011, p.112]

An impressive debut that crackles with vitality. [May 2011, p.112]

Robertson sings each with a parched intimacy that seems unaffected by the passing of time. [May 2011, p.111]

For the most part it works,Moody, Standard And Poor is a fine exercise in pre-punk '60s garage energy given added zest from the dynamic interplay between his and former Edsel man Sohrab Habibion's dueling guitars. [May 2011, p.110]

Though the Vivs pride themselves on DIY charm, they're becoming scarily cogent. [May 2011, p.110]

Their music is an improbably addictive miasma of chopped-up spoken-word fragments and spectral electronica. [May 2011, p.110]

Fleshed out by two drummers, strings and brass, it's as infectious and disarming as it is genre-defying. [May 2011, p.109]

This still requires a certain kind of listener: namely, people who find Michael Cera's movies charming. [May 2011, p.109]

More often than not, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that recent Animal Collective albums have loomed large in The Luya's collective subconscious. [May 2011, p.109]

He transforms the bi-hearted bop of randy Weston's Little Niles into a plaintive musical love letter that, like much of what surrounds it, demands repeated listens. [May 2011, p.108]

A beguiling marriage of tradition and modernism. [May 2011, p.107]

This stuff is not only good, it's (mostly) weirdly good. [May 2011, p.106]

A craftsman-tough album about decision times. [May 2011, p.106]

The record is starting to sound worn. [May 2011, p.105]

Her's a downhome collection that's low on dBs but as impactful as anything he's done. [May 2011, p.105]

With its onus on hooks, the result is an enjoyable, lightweight pop album. [May 2011, p.104]

Longtime fans might be appeased. Others may find themselves a trifle bored. [May 2011, p.104]

There was mmuch to anticipate, but it falls short of the promise. [May 2011, p.114]

The very subtlety of Hon Hoopkins' production may be why it sounds so unique. [May 2011, p.114]

From captivatingly woozy opener State Of new York to the languid euphoria of Everything, this challenging but addictive record cocoons the listener in chloroformed candy floss. [May 2011, p.109]

There's much that's familiar about Demolished Thoughts, but Beck's arrangements draw fresh new pleasures from those elements. [Jun 2011, p.96]