An exciting, evocative album. [Dec 2010, p.94]

It's searingly sincere, earnestly aching stuff, but when The Thermals hit the melodic bullseye, yours will be the next heart that breaks. [Dec 2010, p.94]

Despite some uneven quality control, here's proof that this veteran MC still has things to say. [Dec 2010, p.94]

Lyrically, the pair stitch together vaguely gothic turns of phrase, yet devoid of any emotional insight or narrative point. [Dec 2010, p.95]

Blurry Blue Mountain is as idiosyncratic and left-handed as ever, pregnant with moments of mercurial magic. [Dec 2010, p.104]

The resulting album is an impressive country-soul-meets pop hybrid, with Pritchard's powerful honey-toned vocals framed by some deft and sometimes dramatic production touches from White. [Nov 2010, p.108]

Ghostly lullabies from the Birmingham, Alabama two. [Jan. 2011, p. 105]

It's when Duffy and co stop trying so hard that the album fairs best. [Jan. 2011, p. 100]

This 18-song miscellany reminds us that talent loves the company of talent, one-off duets with Ray Charles and Dolly Parton underlining Jones's seemingly effortless ascent to premier league status. [Jan. 2011, p. 97]

A third Rick Rubin-produced album -- cover versions but the comeback continues. [Jan. 2011, p. 97]

It's Green's pitch-perfect delivery, his ability to switch from sublimely giddy pop joy to earnest moments of heartache and convince utterly in both instances, that make The Lady Killer a treasure. [Jan. 2011, p. 96]

Overall Tron: Legacy is but faint clanging, drowned out by rent-a-string-section romanticism; like sad robots banging on a sound-stage door. [Jan. 2011, p. 95]

Wonky beats and shimmering twisted tech melodies. [Nov. 2010, p. 109]

His throaty, gnarled vocals--best showcased on the meandering, Dilla-esque Cloudlight--lend his music a gothic mood. [Nov 2010, p.109]

The "sonically exploratory" nature of Hurley occasionally serves Weezer's boredom threshold better than it does the songs. [Nov 2010, p.103]

Much of the album's charm lies in its simplicity, often paring back the instrumentation to focus upon the group's strongest elements. [Nov 2010, p.96]

On tracks such as The Day That The Earth Stalled and The Resist Stance, frontman and sometimes professor palaeontology Greg Graffin's folkish lilt and incisive anti-capitalist lyrics ensure Bad Religion never become cartoonish, while guitarist and label owner Brett Gureqitz's frenzied soloing reminds that after 30 years Bad Religion still strive to show those bands who are half their age--and twice as wealthy--how it is really done. [Nov 2010, p.110]

From the title track's monolithic defiance down, this one's an out-of-the-blue, anti-establishment classic. [Nov. 2010, p. 106]

It might be another album indebted to the '80s, but the sound of discovery has seldom been such fun as is. [Nov 2010, p.107]

Wyatt has a knack of making happy song sound melancholic, but conversely brings some wry levity to the lovelorn ennui of jazz standard. [Nov 2001, p.103]

Remorselessly absorbing debut from stars in waiting on dub-step's Def Jam. [Dec. 2010, p. 107]

The New Yorkers' debut is retro but refreshing. [Dec. 2010, p. 106]

This band's charms are elusive, indeed, but uniquely compelling. [Dec. 2010, p. 99]

Musically, the influence of dubstep is readily apparent. [Dec. 2010, p. 99]

The Stockholm group return; their cement veneer hiding a riptide of emotions. [Dec. 2010, p. 100]

Maryland pop-punks are shamelessly commercial and ruthlessly effective. [Dec. 2010, p. 96]

Aficionados will hear a master ambient craftsman in his element. [Dec. 2010, p. 95]

Slick but foxy music from under pop music's best-maintained fringe. [Nov. 2010, p. 109]

If Elvis Costello's an all-timer it's because he knows what high seriousness is about. [Nov. 2010, p. 103]

A teeming sonic bricolage of absurd/disturbing found vocals, bizarre musical fragments and their own art-funk chops, it suggests kinship with Robert Ashley, Aphex Twin and Eno & Byrne. [Sep 2010, p.97]

Jones's fans with long memories will certainly want to hear the first four tracks, but the robustness, of sound, modernity of arrangement and cool, hard, clarity of distinctive delivery that once suggested her style would always sound fresh just fades away. [Nov 2008, p.110]

Ex-Orange Juicer bounces back, against cruel and unbelievable odds. [Oct. 2010, p. 96]

A missed opportunity, but there's still plenty of time to get back on track. [Sep 2010, p.92]

Lights does have its moments: the strident "Uner The Sheets" and the odd sounds of the Frankmusik-produced "Wish I stayed" stand Out. But when they're placed next to the overwrought, cliched ballad "The Writer" or the dodgy Europop of "I'll Hold My Breath" it adds up to a rather bland listen. [Apr 2010, p.92]

It's still a safe record, however, neither spasm of petulant experimentation hell-bent on commercial suicide, nor return to the good old days beloved by original fans but viewed warily by the new. [Nov. 2010, p. 94]

The Age Of Adz, by contrast, is problematic for its mind-boggling ambitions, as Stevens harnesses his folkier songcraft and complex orchestration to electronica. [Nov. 2010, p. 100]

Death, love, the ghosts they leave behind: these are grand themes, and Hegarty channels their spirit with magical grace. [Nov. 2010, p. 100]

With Halycon Digest, Deerhunter are dealing in an altogether different kind of tension. [Oct. 2010, p. 90]

Intelligent, funny, heartbreaking atl-rock, Hornby lyrics music and vocals by Folds. [Oct. 2010, p. 92]

Avoiding the experimentation of their earlier work, No Age's second album-proper delivers winningly subterranean pop, bruised and vulnerable tuneage haunting their feedback racket reveries. [Oct. 2010, p. 97]

Crush is a thrilling, giddy conflagration of hot and cold currents. [Oct. 2010, p. 97]

After all this time, Eric Clapton finally sounds at peace with himself; secure even. [Oct. 2010, p. 88]

Never willfully ramshackle or unfocused, Women tread the line between discord and delight with deceptive style. [Sep 2010, p.96]

There's no desperation here, just the sound of a fortunate man having a huge amount of fun. [Oct 2010, p.95]

Blacc's wise-beyond-his-years tenor, sounding eerily alike a young Bill Withers, perfectly fits I Need A Dollar's dignified mourn. Elsewhere, he skillfully evades mawkishness or trite sentiment on the moving Momma Hold My Hand. [Sep 2010, p.106]

The worst thing you can say about this record is it's low on surprises. [Sep 2010, p.103]

DFA DJ/engineer's gangshow debut. [Oct. 2010, p. 95]

System Of A Down frontman is caught trying too hard. Again. [Oct. 2010, p. 101]

Thirteen years after they retired Swans return with thunderous tour de force. [Oct. 2010, p. 104]

Strings, gospel choirs, outeros inspired by Queen--the Manics' 10th album cranks up the drama, but in their hands grandiose needn't be a dirty word. [Oct 2010, p.94]

But from the off, the sounds here always convince. [Oct 2010, p.96]

Grinderman 2 finds the group continuing their musical voyage inot the id. [Oct. 2010, p. 91]

It's not easy to make Sabbath-style proto-metal sound fresh, but Black Mountain have a way of writing songs that go to the places you hope they will without descending into cliche. [Oct. 2010, p. 92]

Heart-melting second album from Icelandic folk minstrel. [Oct. 2010, p. 92]

Kurt Cobain-worshipped Glaswegians' break 20-year silence. [Oct. 2010, p. 92]

It all adds up to more willful magic from Plant. [Oct. 2010, p. 94]

False Priest is a blur of swings and roundabuots, the sheer ambition of its crazed vision propelling it through any lull. [Oct. 2010, p. 96]

The Austin Doors ramp up the psych-pop tunes. [Oct. 2010, p. 97]

Flamingo is, for all intents and purpose, the next Killers record. [Oct. 2010, p. 106]

Premiership stuff! [Sep 2010, p.103]

The album is a masterclass in elegiac navel gazing. [Oct 2010, p.90]

His previous album Midnight At The Movies was good, perhaps not Americana Music Award-winning good, but I'm not in charge. This one, However is way better, an album I wanted to play again as soon as it was done. [Oct 200, p.101]

Les Savy Fav hunker down to return to what they do best: a masterful combination of post-hardcore energy, tight white funk and playful art-school abstractions. [Oct 2010, p.104]

It's been worth the wait. [Oct 2010, p.103]

This is not the James of Sit Down vintage, which means there's still life in the old dogs yet. [Oct 2010, p.103]

With Klausener diving headlong again into elemental metaphors, No Ghost could easily become Garvey's album of 2010. [Jul 2010, p.94]

New York's post-punkers are mooder than ever. [Oct. 2010, p. 90]

Three LPs in a year is only a good idea if you have enough songs. [Oct. 2010, p. 94]

Almost impossible to replicate in the studio, this is the level of energy and conviction which drives the album as newly buoyant Thompson discovers his second wind. Scintillating. [Sep 2010, p.93]

Isla feeds on Steve Reich mathematics, Radiohead dread, African desert grooves and ECM northern melancholy to travel into a new, chiming cavernous sound-world that is both exotic and hypnotic. [Nov 2009, p.100]

Familial is an acoustically plucked, feet-on-the-ground record, Selway's fragile and inviting voice a delightful match for his slightly anxious, if misplaced, self-doubt. [Sep 2010, p.98]

Papa Roch no doubt think there's venom in songs like Hollywood Whore--and they're certainly more visceral heard live here--but these ears just hear the low-IQ goofiness of Motley Crue combined with the stylistic similarities of rockers-by-rote Nickelback. [Sep 2010, p.96]

Man Alive is daisy-fresh, and reaching levels of unexpected bliss on the album's three ballads. [Sep 2010, p.99]

US party band !!!'s fourth is a holiday record, full of movement and heat and things that feel tired and cheesy at home, but are good, sleazy fun when you're away. [Sep 2010, p.98]

They've surpassed the Nancy Sinatra/Lee Hazelwoood comparisons to create an intense, fluid sound that's uniquely their own. [Sep 2010, p.96]

Rivers is a record that will haunt you long after you've heard it. [Sep 2010, p.99]

Creativity sometimes croaks when domestic bliss walks in, but not here. [Sep 2010, p.96]

Special Moves/Burning might just serve as a fittingly monolithic monument to their work to date. [Sep 2010, p.98]

Clocking in at under half-an-hour, the album proves a short, sweet delight. [Sep 2010, p.92]

Gently is how Carey does it, and he does it well. {Sep 2010, p.102]

The gap between theoretical mind-blowing freakout and actual indie underpinnings remains acute, however, as Venusia and Valley Of The Calm Trees suggest Klaxons may just be Mansun with a faster processor. [Sep 2010, p.103]

Her voice packs a punch, her songwriting is solid, and the album--while a little over-polished--is bursting with confidence. [Jul 2010, p.94]

Bare bones it may be, but it's still recognizably David Gray. [Sept. 2010, p. 102]

Where 2008's 2 was frazzled and powerful, this one feels soporific, moderate, even a little slight. [Sep 2010 p.94]

The Final Frontier, its scratchy, clattering intro resembling The Mars Volta and signifying that this national institution's quest for adventure remains unabated. [Sept. 2010, p.98]

Despite a few bright spots--a Beach boys-style makeover of I Got Rhythm and a swooning I Loves You Porgy--the album falls short of either artist's legacy. [Sep 2010, p.93]

It might sound like a stunt, but results in a deeply felt and surprisingly enjoyable exploration of American Vernacular music. [Sep 2010, p.93]

Black City is the devil leering over Asa Breed's shoulder, a seedy, dirty place--but a fascinating one, too. [Sep 2010, p.99]

Surrounded by punchy horn and a rhythm section that knows its Duck Dunn and Al Jackson, Jr., this is one Paperboy who delivers. [Jun 2010, p.102]

On her fourth album, Melua does her damnedest to break out of her self-imposed schmaltz trap. [Jun 2010, p.94]

While initial listens don't suggest a classic like Kiko, one gets a feeling that this as a work that will reveal layers over time. [Sep 2010, p.104]

Truly devoted fans will certainly savour such standouts as the glistening, blissed-out "Ballad In Urgency" and feel-good bluegrass nugget "Downtown Money Waster," but less patient Crowe-watchers may find this a rather long, just occasionally indulgent goodbye. [Sep 2010, p.98]

On "It's A Party" and on the album's title track they just about manage to nail the right combination of Black Crowes-ish bluesy swagger and no-brainer air-punching party anthems. The fact that such a combination has been done to death--and more memorably, and many years ago--loses Buckcherry points. [Sep 2010, p.106]

This latest sheds much of the lo-fi fuzz and spur-of-the-moment sloppiness that characterises previous records, allowing the myriad hooks and melodies to stand out bolder, brighter and all the more pleasing. [Sep 2010, p.106]

For all its intimations of rootless drift, The Suburbs finds Arcade Fire back home, and so much happier for it. [Sep 20110, p.90]

Regardless of these felicitous connections, however, Hoop remains her own invention and the appeal of her biographical details doesn't lie so much in the glitzy endorsement of Waits as in the fact they chime so perfectly with her melding of Kat Bush sensuality and Mary Poppins whimsy. [Dec 2009, p. 95]

From the vogueish cat on their album cover to the deliberate non-production, Crazy For You comes wrapped in a hipster cloak, but Cosentino is no slacker. [Sep 2010, p.98]

Mines dips and twists spindly, telescopic guitar lines, taut coils of rhythm and controlled electronic pulses. [Oct. 2010, p. 100]