The project pushes him into new and different directions, with beat band ballast ('Ate It Twice'), horn-laded soul ('Ready To Pop'), orchestral gloom (the title tracks) and pleasingly weird mini-epics ('Still In Rome'). [Oct 2008]

A square-jawed, piano-based, falsetto-flecked collection of sediment sentiment. [Oct 2008, p.109]

A slushfest it isn't....Melodically sussed, wryly observed post-60s pop nuggets are humorous, trenchant and reflective. [Nov 2008, p.104]

It's as though they've kept the whole catch, driftwood, prize-fish and all, rather than sorting through it. [Oct 2008, p.100]

Buoyed with emotional heft and supernova guitar riffs, their second album is wired around a maturing songcraft and the studio savvy of grunge producer Butch Vig. [Aug 2008, p.112]

It's not a groundbreaking record, largely because Tricky himself broke most of the ground here 13 years ago. [Aug 2008, p.103]

With 15 tracks, there a good deal to like. [Oct 2008, p.112]

Day After Tomorrow finds her in fine form, the famous falsetto is an octave or two down but the conviction that she brings to the songs is as strong as ever. [Oct 2008, p.106]

At their indie-disco feyest they can elicit comparisons with Hot Chip, but Lightbulbs trips the dark fantastic in its own deadpan style. [Sep 2008, p.110]

She gives each song an unforced intimacy. [Feb 2009, p.115]

It's full-bodied baroque. [Oct 2008, p.109]

Brodericks' augmentations tend to eclipse Rngle's sometimes evanescent songwriting. [Jan 2008, p.101]

Here nothing has changed as she melds all these influences ub a tribute to her now beloved New York. [Dec 2008, p. 100]

Let It Die's first six tracks find The Shaky Hands joyously rocking it up - like the less self-consciously arty Wilco, pre-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - while the more reflective mood that settles over the album's second half is a wistful reverie rather than a spiritual malaise. [Feb 2010, p. 102]

It's a beautifully rounded affair though--sometimes elegiac, at others uplifting, no matter how dark its heart. [Dec 2008, p.112]

Emiliana is blessed in her musical collaborator Dan Carey, with whom she calibrates an acoustic-led chamber trip-hop with plenty of room for her voice to breathe. [Nov 2008, p.111]

The band sound like they're striding into the mainstream, leaving Desveaux sounding more of a sweet, upbeat pop-rock songstress than she should. [Apr 2009, p.109]

At its best, as on 'Heartbreaker,' the singing has the deadpan charm of Talking Heads or Kraftwerk, adding to the likeability of men who know its better to be a robot than a hippy. [Oct 2008, p.108]

Instrumentals with texture and surface but not much substance make the LP trail off in a sequence make the LP trail off in a sequence of audio watercolours possibly in need of a big screen and some diverting pictures. [Nov 2008, p.112]

That Lucky Old Sun is easily Brian Wilson's most consistently enjoyable, moving solo albums; indeed you have to go back to "Surf's Up" itrself to hear a Beach Boys long-player as good. [Spe 2008, p.99]

Only a fraction of the songs here reach a truly memerizing apex. [Sep 2008, p.110]

Joe Henry's production is spot on, giving Crowell's vocals ample breathing room while acknowledging his excellent support team. [Oct 2008, p.106]

The cover of P.J. Harvey's 'The Desperate Kingdon Of Love' encapsulates the album--restful, intoxicating, sounding gorgeous. [Oct 2008, p.102]

Slime & Reason practically revels in its juicy sense of freedom. [Sep 2008, p.112]

The Peth prove they're no mere cracked actors. [Oct 2008, p.110]

In Anderson's own context, it's slight, awkward stuff. [Oct 2008, p.110]

Forth is a good, but not great Verve album, then, its glimmers of brillance all too brief. [Sep 2008, p.98]

So far they make phrases rather than lyrics and sounds rather than songs, but they have a nice semi-chaotic way about them. [Sep 2008, p.108]

In these crop-to-fit times, omnivorous, visionary pop is at a premium, and there's all the more reason to prize an omnivorous visionary pop record like the Week That Was. [Sep 2008, p.96]

There's little original in the likes of 'Psychosocial' 'Snuff' or "All Hope is Gone,' but the bludgeoning guitars are crisp, the overload of percussion suitably crunchy and a sense of bravura and commitment that's lacking in many of today's metal bands runs throughout. [Nov 2008, p.118]

Matthew Sweet returns with a tenth tune-fest that's equal parts sunny delight and cathartic, Posiesesque bluster. [Oct 2008, p.106]

The sunshine's grim down their way, but their best songs allow a glimmer. [Apr 2009, p.109]

You know how it sounds: the same as ever. [Oct 2008, p.110]

He and Lucille are still as one and the guitar licks come exquisite and often. [Nov 2008, p.119]

Fed is something of a lost classic. [Sep 2008, p.123]

Once they settle in, Cats In Paris could be a hyper-modern Stackridge. [Sep 2008, p.98]

They return with an eleventh album on which they seem to have distilled every good idea into these 14 short, smart songs. [Sep 2008, p.106]

He can make a sweet music, as on the soulful warble of 'Georgia,' but on most of the other occasions when Votolato's choppy riffs and off-beam melodies threaten to seduce you, Whitney's caterwaul butts in again. [Sep 2008, p.110]

'Welcome To The Third World' is a likeable pastiche of post-Chic funk, but tiresome country skits and Musee D'Nougart's 15 minutes of ambient fart-around are less welcome. [Oct 2008, p.110]

The Stills still aren't sure of their true identity, but at least those Interpol comparisons are way behind them. [Jan 2008, p.101

The arrangemnts are smartly constructed, Campbell's guitar is economical and crisp, and his interpretibve skills and singing are as sharp as during his commercial peak. [Sep 2008, p.112]

It's hard to love anyone as self-absorbed as Wainwright, but it's impossible not to admire his ability to craft enduringly engaging music. [Nov 2008, p.112]

Against this highly contemporary but ever-wacko sonic backdrop, the Upsetter orates magisterially. [Sep 2008, p.98]

Its highlights peaking above those of its predecessor even if the quality of the often plasticky beats means it's a little more uneven. [Nov 2008, p.108]

Their first full-lengther is a seemless, beat-driven shadowplay, wherein luminescent passages of prog-pop uplift are stalked by eerie, intense atmosphere. [Sep 2008, p.106]

Irma and producer Scott Billington have devised the perfect setting. [Sep 2008, p.1000]

True, there are some facinating arrangements on songs written during a summer in Berlin. But those songs, bar the first and last track sound oddly wanting. [Sep 2008, p.108]

All serious stuff--but it never quite sounds that way because the Levs provide rugged anthems for crowd consumption. [Sep 2008, p.111]

Though still in thrall to the synthetic '80s new wave ttemplate as perfected by Devo, Fasciination is nevertheless the sound of a band who've finally found the space to nail their own sound. [Nov 2008, p.119]

That bravery and those haunting songs make for an album that, while not the very best Oberst has made, buttresses his growing reputation as the best songwriter working today. [Sep 2008, p.102]

His delievry now possesses a wry, self-deprecating warmth which, along with Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker's unobtrusive production, suggests a man coming to terms with it all and who realises he's as much a part of this mess as anyone. [Sep 2008, p.110]

On its own perhaps a little on the skinny side for a new Oneida full-length, but as an appetiser ffor the triptych's next instalment--due early next year--this'll work just fine for now. [Sep 2008, p.102]

Malakian's Scars On Braodway further explore his love of machine gun guitars, bongs for breakfast, scatological lyrics and permeating sense of paranoia. [Sep 2008, p.108]

Waiting in Vain mines a harmony-rich seam of sticky-fingered country rock and blue sky FM pop. [Oct 2008, p.109]

Alice still makes Marilyn Manson sound like Mickey Mouse. {Sep 2008, p.112]

The highs, lows and bitter aftermath are all documented, in some of the classiest electro-pop of the past 20 years. [Aug 2008, p.102]

There are great albums that are nose-to-tail singles, but 22 Dreams is not one of them. Settle in for the duration, however, and expect a genuine trip. [June 2008, p.104]

The space disco of 'I've Underestimated My Charm (Again)' and Listen To Your Body Tonight' are destines for repeat plays on this summer's festival circuit. [Aug 2008, p.106]

It all becomes a bit of a grind--and not entirely in a sexy way. [Aug 2008, p.103]

With Fate, Dr. Dog have begun to deliever the sort of super-confident songs that, up until now, have proved frustratingly out of reach. [Sep 2008, p.108]

It's all tenderly delivered and definatly indie--both sonically and spiritually. [Oct 2008, p.113]

'Beautiful Summer's' spectral chamber rock and a take on Fleetwood Mac's 'Over & Over' prove there's life in the franchise just yet. [Aug 2008, p.103]

Stay Positive has consistently stronger material than its preecessors and, perhaps more importantly, is sequenced to maximum efficacy. [Aug 2008, p.100]

Neither sparkly nor weird enough. [Sep 2008, p.110]

Mellencamp croaks a sequence of raw, all but nihilistic yet far from self-pitying first-person tales about, well, death mainly, leavened by the odd rather forlorn reference to the life, love and freedom elements of the title. [Nov 2008, p.111]

The Allstars have that same dynamism plus a similarly brutal rhythm section, which sounds like a billion wasps playing Sister Ray in your brain, but they have found some missing ingredients, such as melody and variation. [Sep 2008, p.112]

Sometimes erratic and headstrong, at others whimsical and somewhat listless, it ultimately sounds like an unsatisfying curio. [Nov 2008, p.110]

So does the pairing work? The answer, from the first, strutting beats of Modern Guilt's opener, 'Orphans,' is a gleaming Yes. [Aug 2008, p.104]

¿Cómo Te Llama? is not a bad record, just so unrelentingly average that you wonder how in this age of music biz recession, it could be worth anyone's 14.99. [Aug 2008, p.112]

[A] gem-filled recording. [Aug 2008, p.111]

Sexsmith's mournful voice and lyrical skills, so admired by the likes of Elvis Costello and Neil Finn, detail a world of love and hopeful expectation. It all makes Exit Staretgy... an almost infinitely rich and subtle album. [Sep 2008, p.98]

Nude With Boots alternates between their trademark, skin-crawling sludge rock, and more accessible, almost anthemic moments. [Aug 2008, p.106]

Away from the atmosphere and visuals of live performance, over an hour of such dense and highly personal account of pain and beauty on the threshold of death is particularly demanding; a pity it's not available on DVD. [Aug 2008, p.103]

This sort of works, but clearly their obsession lies with the lyrics. [Sep 2008, p.106]

An impressive debut. [Nov 2008, p.109]

Though she occasionally loses focus Leila mostly pulls off this ambitious album and ends on a high note with 'Why Should I?' [Aug 2008, p.106]

A more charming and seductive album you're unlikely to hear this year. [Nov 2008, p.116]

The songs are beautifully crafted in that Davies/Weller/Doherty English tradition. [Aug 2008, p.103]

Hercules And Love Affair exist in that mighty unreal demimonde where dancing and art are not mutually exclusive. [Apr 2008, p.105]

There's still some beautifully glacial music....but now, occasionally, the Arctic exploration party becomes simply a party. [Aug 2008, p.103]

The Watsons' approach is softer, and more affecting, than wry, tack-sharp Lewis. [Aug 2008, p.114]

Digi Snacks is pleasingly lean on fillers , and finds RZA again at his peak as a producer, effortlessly balancing the slow burn bangers wirh tracks of soulful uplit. [Sep 2008, p.110]

On record, it's nutty maze-rock with hair-raising highs and the odd dead end. [July 2008, p.112]

Any number of Zutons and Corals have already trod this path, and to keep up Kane will have to try harder than insering words like "insane" and "psychotic" into music that sounds as if it was made by James Shelley's naive young cousins. [July 2008, p.101]

Clean, reverbed electric guitar chime and twang gorgeously and the production is simple and simpatico, but it's Berman's strange yet archetypal-sounding tales of gulible skinsmen and prisons built from sweets that keep you coming back for more. [July 2008, p.108]

While they fight shy of radical "Kid A"-style reinvention, hats should be doffed to Coldplay for at least having artistic cojones to mess with a winning formula. [July 2008, p.101]

This belated reunion has developed further into thr most affectingly sad, sweet, sepia sound rooted in Marcus's forlorn vocal and delicate ripples of detail--jazzy-to-motorik rhythm and haunting synthetic drones. [JUly 2008, p.102]

The resulting oestrogen charge--an operatic Tori Amos with a dab of Jane Siberry--is terrific when Worden reins in the "hello trees, hello sky" imagery, wincingly precious when she fails. [July 2008, p.110]

The piano-led 'New Beginnings' is one of several sombre mood pieces on what is the most ambitious work of the band's 40-year career. But fear not, headbangers: 'Revelation,' all chugging rifferama and panto villany, prove that Priest are still mad for it. Metal, that is. [July 2008, p.100]

O resoounds with the lustily imparted vocals of Kianna Alarid and Neely Jenkins, while the band's signature instrumental palette--fizzing guitars, chunky '60s organs--has expanded into a thick sonic cheesecake. [Nov 2008, p.109]

'Where to Here,' Slippery Slope (easier),' and 'In My Arms' are equally deadly writing, with gripping melodies and sing-out performances that seem to have benefited from listening to his pal Rufus Wainwright--and from arrangements by Wainwright's latest producer. [Sep 2008, p.112]

The band remains shackled to that wearying off-beat pulse that cauise trhe likes of 'Fire,' 'Vision' and the title track to tire. [July 2008, p.112]

She has the voacl talent of a young Alison Moyet, and thankfully this debut lives up to expectations. [Mar 2008, p.112]

This muscular, everyman rock could have been produced at any time in the past 35 years, but has charm and character nevertheess. [Apr 2008, p.104]

They've made their finest LP since 1995's "The Charlantans." [June 2008, p.112]

This misfires more than its hits home. [June 2008, p.108]

Heard back to back they almost make sense, but the sequencing here amplifies the disjointed feel of an album that facinates and frustrates in equal measure. [July 2008, p.108]

The Ottawan's new record abounds with moments most arresting for the crazy chutzpah with which she'll shoehorn a line of verse into a line of music whose rhythm puts the stresses on all the wrong words. [July 2008, p.104]