The punk grooves of 'Laugh Track' or 'Seeing Hands' and the near-perfect Phnom Pehn pop of 'Mr. Orange' or "Monsoon Of Perfume' bookend a set that grows in strength with each play. [Feb 2008, p.110]

In The Future showcases a group who knows exactly what they're doing. [Feb 2008, p.101]

Not even Cat Power can turn an album of cover versions into anything more than a facinating detour from the main journey, but Jukebox is a precious waste of time nonetheless. [Jan 2008, p.98]

The Truckers have always been a direct band but this time there's a kind of foreplay, where each song gives the other time and consideration. [Mar 2008, p.100]

It makes poetic sense but, like many autobiographical songwriters, he knows the stories so well he fails to tell them. [Feb 2008, p.112]

The sudden shifts between smooth/jarring and soft/hard make for an uncomfortable but compelling ride. [Mar 2008, p.113]

Ther are moments of greatness, opening track 'Spit at the Stars' for one, though mostly it's pained adolescent observations about missing you already which doesn't cut it in the big adult world. [Oct 2007, p.92]

It exudes an organic, direct feel from which it gains its considerable charm. [Feb 2008, p.112]

It's faux-naif orch-pop that crashes and thunders. [Feb 2008, p.108]

Generally, the undistinguished R&B pop and trite lyrics he and his long-term bandmates come up with bear no comparison to the salty good cheer of 'It Don't Come Easy' and 'Photograph.' [Feb 2008, p.100]

Angels Of Destruction continues a rich tradition forged in the bars of their hometowns. [Feb 2008, p.105]

Sprawling and dense as it may be, but amid its deranged lyricism and brutal soundscapes, 8 Diagrams vindicates The RZA's devotion to the collective ethic. [Feb 2008, p.100]

An alternative greatest hits compilation, it proves that the old sound of tomorrow can still make the grade today. [Dec 2007, p.100]

Jean's sonic scope is breathtaking, complemented by imaginative lyrics. [Dec 2007, p.102]

The idea remains more brilliant than the performance can hope to be; because Wainwright is very good but Judy ia unassailable. [Feb 2008, p.98]

Another impressive cocktail of Eastern-inflected drones, mantra-like vocals and thick slabs of empyrean noise guitar. [Dec 2007, p.100]

Unsurprisingly for a 2D project, it's all a little flat. [Dec 2007, p.121]

The rethink has paid dividends. [Nov 2007, p.90]

Every so often an album comes along that's so original it's difficult to accurately liken it to anything else--even Efterklang's last album, "Tripper," is left behind by Parades. [Nov 2007, p.106]

Rather than sounding like an '80s soft-rock rehash, they have worked with up-to-the-minute beat merchants Timbaland and Nate 'Danja' Hills to create a dramtic, contemporary pop concoction. [Dec 2007, p.98]

The follow-up to 2003's "The Diary Of Alicia Keys" has lots of confidence and volume, but less of the shades in between. [Dec 2007, p.98]

Ire Works is a thrillingly hostile racket containing 13 wild bursts. [Dec 2007, p.110]

Whatever is behind Sigur Ros's ineffable Nordic magic, it doesn't appear to be powered by electricity. [Dec 2007, p.98]

Far from sounding like the future, however, Situation is valiantly old school in its belief that the best rap is cultural commentary, poetic and from the heart--the modern blues basically. [Nov 2007, p.108]

There are some very bad lyrics on this album. [Dec 2007, p.99]

Earthy, reassuringly calloused country and bluegrass is its currency. [Dec 2007, p.110]

In the end you're left with a creeping sense of missed chances, made more painful by the fact the Babyshambles have so obviously raised their game. [Oct 2007, p.88]

An album of great emotional depth and uninhibited artistry. [Nov 2007, p.96]

There's even hit-single potential--'Feathers' is unabashed radio-rock--that could make this weird bunch into the biggest cult band in the world. [Dec 2007, p.109]

Tankian has created a forward-thinking album that swerves convention. [Dec 2007, p.98]

It's better to simply let La Cucaracha happen and enjoy how much Gene and Dean toy with and transgress musical forms while still playing them to a high degree of invention, proficiency and sincerity. [Dec 2007, p.99]

Hourglass plays the "I, an artist" card with equal earnestness, a collection of electronic songs that mix dungeon-master sexual predation with angst-ridden introspection. [Nov 2007, p.104]

The most remarkable collaboration since Norah Jones and the Foo Fighters is also one of the best albums of the year. [Nov 2007, p.92]

Any goth undertow is easily outweighed by post-rock grandeur. [Nov 2004, p.95]

The appealingly titled Oblivion With Bells continues Karl Hyde and Rick Smith's desire to capture the Freon-and-neon static of modern life. [Nov 2007, p.92]

The CD reveals R.E.M. still have plenty of fuel to throw upon their smouldering career. [Jan 2008, p. 100]

Stone pens 14 of the 15 songs and has clearly overstretched herself; the material is bland and only on sublime, transcendental 'Baby,'featuring Betty Wright and a cappella showcase 'Go Back To Your Life' do we hear the Angie of old. [Nov 2007, p.96]

The whole thing sounds effortless, and not always in a god way. [Dec 2007, p.109]

The joyous next single, 'Let Me know,' along with dark gems such as 'Primitive' and 'Movie Star,' make this close to a modern synth-pop classic. [Nov 2007, p.90]

Both artistically and in terms of a new business model, In Rainbows is a necesary masterstroke. [Dec 2007, p.96]

Unsurprisingly, Necessary Evil falls short of her prime's pop perfection, yet it provides a fair compendium of her career. [Oct 2007, p.90]

Condon has a tendency to over-emote vocally, but even at its most melodramatic this music's rhapsodic swirl is undeniable. [Nov 2007, p.104]

Widow City is the Furnaces' punchiest set to date. [Nov 2007, p.104]

Mostly it looks like there's a new kid in town. [Dec 2007, p.98]

It's hard to imagine a record more original or full of life, from any artist of any age, emerging this year. It's that damn good. [Nov 2007, p.91]

Mantaray, however, displays a passion and conviction that shows an artist unhappy to rest on her numerous laurels. [Sep 2007, p.102]

The immediately obvious aspect of Magic is there hasn't been such a musically dramatic Springsteen album since "Born In The USA;" and like that album, this is a State of the Union address disguised as a pop record. [Nov 2007, p.88]

She sings of global suffering, emotional loss and female power in a way that's occasionally overwrought--but always packs a punch. [Oct 2007, p.92]

It's a wholehearted, utopian and irrefutably exciting record. [Nov 2007, p.94]

After a corkingly good start with 'Don't You Wish It was True?,' the album dips into Creedence by the numbers for several cuts with only the gospelly 'River IS Waiting sounding fresh. [Nov 2007, p.92]

Their studio albums have been moving away from virtuoso instrumentals toward vocal songs, of which this album has some excellent examples. [Dec 2007, p.104]

The Dap-Kings lent their powerful Muscle Shoals-esque funk licks to Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen and even Robbie Williams. But they work best together in their Brooklyn studio, as 100 days proves. [Nov 2007, p.100]

An album that values discreet whimsy over Wicker Man portent, it succeeds on its own puckish terms. [Sep 2007, p.109]

It's a brave and brilliant refocusing of her energies, virtually a rebirth. [Oct 2007, p.91]

It's charming, understated and has to be heard in context. [Oct 2007, p.100]

'I Remember' and 'My Dearest Friend' are intimate, sad and soft.... More songs like these, and he would have a classic album on his hands. [Oct 2007, p.98]

Aside from the occasional mistep this is a finely balanced collection. [Nov 2007, p.92]

In Our Bedroom After The War aims for a more dramatic sweep than its predecessor but falls a couple tunes short. [Nov 2007, p.108]

He's a master of umbral moods, and in this respect at least, In Our Nature is a worthy successor to the phenomenal "Veneer." [Oct 2007, p102]

Striken, sorrowful balladry is the meat of this fine album. [Feb 2008, p.102]

For every glimpse of a hook or a memorable melody, there's a stretch of unfocused, sample-strewn electronica, all skittering art-techno beats and wilfully obtuse instrumentation. [Nov 2007, p.95]

Two Gallants make good on their promise with this third LP. [Oct 2007, p.94]

Joni Mitchell delivers a counter-intuitive, brilliant artistic response. [Oct 2007, p.90]

A strong contender for soul album of the year. [Oct 2007, p.98]

'Dancing On Our Graves' pumps out a footstomping rhythm but there's no happiness here, just bleakness, and all the more convincing for it. [Mar 2008, p.112]

Harte's mixture of charisma, vulnerability and errant tunefulness holds everything together. [Nov 2007, p.95]

It is her most intense, but perhaps also her most pleasurable excursion yet. [Jan 2008, p.104]

The World is Yours falls too short. [October 2007, p.102]

Once Upon A Time In The West treads a similar path [as "Stars Of CCTV"], though this time Richard Archer and co have packed in more guitar wallop and catch-all harmonies. [Oct 2007, p.90]

It's a shame Drastic Fantastic disappoints. [Oct 2007, p.92]

Much of All The Lost Souls is far more icky-yucky than its predecessor. [Oct 2007, p.90]

The material is of consistently luminous order. [Oct 2007, p.90]

The best of these songs are easily a match for Broken Social Scene. [Nov 2007, p.106]

It may be that RW are out to capitalise on previous use of their music in shows such as "The O.C." and "Weeds," but Rogue's voice--as angelic and tender as those of Buckleys Tim and Jeff--is a joy throughout. [June 2008, p.103]

Lyrically, he may occassionally jar but it's hard not to be uplifted when he lets rip on the opener 'Setting Forth' or when he and Sleather-Kinney's Corin Tucker chime on 'Hard Sun.' [Dec 2007, p.100]

They offer up a wonderful lysergic carousel of communal singalongs, spiked pop and tribal hoedowns. [Nov 2007, p.95]

Let's Stay Friends is a triumphant fusion of graft and glimmer. [Nov 2007, p.96]

High On Fire's fourth album sees them once again on thunderous form. [Nov 2007, p.95]

The Western lands proffers a winning cocktail of shimmering guitar harmonics, grand sweeping choruses, drums that avoid funk like the plague and solemn, psychogeographi lyrics from the Ian Curtis school. [Oct 2007, p.94]

Frustratingly, that search [for plaidits] and presumably producer du jour Ethan Johns--has led them into the uncomfortable territory of bombastic, charmless "October/War"-era U2. [Oct 2007, p.92]

An album of mischievous melody, fairground keyboards, cut'n'paste aural collage and an undeniable love of pop all but buried in junk shop Dadaist clatter. [Oct 2007, p.106]

The album sounds squashed and claustrophobic, but lacks the sense of play that still characterises his clever, incident-packed rhymes. [Oct 2007, p.106]

The tune count is down and it's sometimes a little too Mr. Motivator, but these sonic smiles can still be infectious. [Oct 2007, p.106]

Happiness Ltd is all about neat production, inventive time changes and romantically inclined witticisms. [Oct 2007, p.92]

Bluefinger marks an artistic rebirth for the king of quiet/loud. [Sep 2007, p.110]

There's the unmistakable whiff of eternal under-achievement that pervades cute but forgettable ditties like 'Share Of Men' and 'Heartbroke.' [Oct 2007, p.98]

They still pack a metallic, tight-as-you-like punch that's more than ready for 10 rounds with Yow's gnarled voice. [Oct 2007, p.98]

Autumn of the Seraphs is some of their punchiest work, packed with euphoric melodies, wry lyricism and subtly enhanced grooves. [Oct 2007, p.99]

Fireworks teems with drama. [Oct 2007, p.102]

Black Lips conjure not only the riffs of the early garage squallers, but their very spirit. [Dec 2007, p.108]

North Star Deserter is unrestrained and always affecting. [Nov 2007, p.106]

In Europe, Manu Chao shifts albums by the millions, but there is little here to make one think Britain is missing out. [Oct 2007, p.104]

Oodles of unashamed, unabashed fun, Going Way Out is perfect music to sculpt pompadours to. [Oct 2007, p.99]

Scialfa's writing wipes away any celeb-gossip patina through the universality of convincing detail. [Oct 2007, p.92]

'Leather Prowler' is as dank and industrial as you'd hope--but the emphasis is now on songwriting. [Sep 2007, p.112]

more ambitious and more accessible than the sonic paranoia of 2005's "Burner." [Dec 2007, p.109]

'Mother May I?' and AdRock's 'Oooh Girl' are the most engaging and enetertaining of a solid selection. [Oct 2007, p.106]

Lifeline is a classy record that never outstays its welcome. [Sep 2008, p.98]