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]

Gira's seventh solo outing finds his sardonic-toned vocals little changed however, and lyrically, if he's not "walking through fire," he's asserting the "the scars still remain." So no change there. [Nov 2007, p.104]

Defiant cosmopolitanism doesn't come much more feisty, or compelling than this. [Sep 2007, p.104]

Challengers ultimately proves to be the group's finest hour. [Sep 2007, p.112]

This band brings a grubby beauty to a sound imbued with the insidious durability of the Buckingham-Nicks Fleetwood Mac. [Sep 2007, p.105]

Andorra arrives in reverberant, sun-drenched spumes of falsetto vocals, crunching guitars, pulsating drums, jingling sleigh bells and fluttering flutes. [Sep 2007, p.109]

Ear Drum confirms Kweli's position as an icon. [Oct 2007, p.106]

Three decades on, the Mekons are a veritable institution, but as Natural proves they're a still-evolving and effective one. [Sep 2007, p.105]

HIs essential charm flows through raise-a-glass choruses tinged with melancholy. [Oct 2007, p.91]

The superb Ditherer belies its title with head-on immediacy even if it giddily ignores the confines of triangular rock. [Sep 2007, p.108]

John B Sheff's wavering, sometimes overwrought, vocal takes getting used to, but it's worth it for songs like these. [Mar 2008, p.108]

Molina devotes will yearn to bask in this full bloom of Magnolia. [Oct 2007, p.91]

The Pretties turn in a brand new album of mostly original material recorded the righteous way on analogue gear, displaying considerably more energy and invention than most what's around today. [Nov 2007, p.108]

Just a quick read of the titles on this 12th album shows Chuck has lost none of his sloganeering, rebal-rousing wit. [Oct 2007, p.106]

They have emerged with identity still intact, marrying melodic '60s songwriting to Doorsian melodrama and garage rock mentality. [sEP 2007, P.110]

Prince's 26th album will be remembered more for its method of distribution--a reactionary tabloid's covermount CD--than for being tighter and more tuneful than 2004's "Musicology" and last year's "3121." [Sep 2007, p.113]

The Con rockets beyond even their own high standards. [Mar 2008, p.103]

This would be a strong set if they culled three tracks, shortened a few others and rearranged the sequencing. As it is, this record suffers from a distinct mid-album crisis. [Dec 2006, p.103]

The result is an unusual and likeable mix of country rock, rockabilly and excellent ballads. [Nov 2007, p.102]

He sometimes gets it right: the rare restraint of Positively 4th Street and Gates Of Eden hints at the fine album this might have been had Ferry and co given us more Dylan and less esque. [Apr 2007, p.108]

This is a shape-shifting beast, its classic pop sensibilities leavened with occasional samples or stretched into epic, groove-based jams. [Apr 2007, p.96]

Flute and horn fight for breath alongside swampy vocals, and a heavy-handed rock bombast doesn't hide a dearth of hooks or memorable pop melody. [Sep 2007, p.110]

A coffee table record. [Jun 2007, p.114]

The Long Blondes sound pleasingly frayed around the edges. [Dec 2006, p.118]

An eerily oneiric album of light, space and silence. [Jun 2007, p.100]

After a few spins its beautifully arranged songs get scratched into your soul. [Jun 2007, p.100]

Mirrored explodes with twisting grooves and obtuse angles. [Jun 2007, p.102]

Connoisseurs of punk's darker corners and post-punk's experimental extremes will have their socks rocked off, totally. [Apr 2007, p.108]

Like [Brian Wilson's] Smile, it extends the language of pop, setting a fearsome standard for anyone equal to the challenge of matching his limitless invention. [Jun 2007, p.98]

Many longtime listeners... are sure to be disappointed with the radio-friendly production and sheer innocuousness of [the] lyrics. [Jun 2007, p.104]

The tunes dry up alarmingly. [Jun 2007, p.108]

Volta bristles with life. [Jun 2007, p.102]

The results are urgent, direct yet cerebral, drawing on some familiar touchstones. [May 2007, p.114]

Everybody ultimately suffers from a dearth of catchy melodies. [Jun 2007, p.112]

[Their] first [album] to sound authentically beaten up. [Jun 2007, p.101]

Existing fans are well served. [Jun 2007, p.112]

A lot of artists are creatively bankrupt by their third album. But being still only 23, you suspect Patrick Wolf is just coming into his own. [Mar 2007, p.99]

Here's a concept Tori: less is more. [Jun 2007, p.108]

Baby 81 finds a band evolving past expectations into a newly intriguing proposition. [Jun 2007, p.101]

Beyond is the better-produced natural successor to 1987's epochal You're Living All Over Me. [May 2007, p.104]

It's definitely in the family tradition. [Oct 2006, p.112]

The music... still has the from-odd-angles of Smog records, but now there's exquisite light amid the shade. [Jun 2007, p.114]

Although the album is marred by its over-consistent tone, almost any one of these songs taken in isolation--played of the closing credits of The Sopranos, say--would rightfully be hailed as a lost classic. [May 2007, p.118]

This is unmistakeably the Arctics, only stronger, harder, sharper, faster.... An extraordinary and fulfilling sequel to their debut. [May 2007, p.100]

Full of regret, hard-won wisdom and DIY pop artistry, No Need To Be Downhearted transcends bog-standard indie to build a world of sophisticated melody and ingenious arrangements. [May 2007, p.112]

An album that can only add to her legend. [May 2007, p.112]

Best of all is Sleep Together: like Radiohead playing Kashmir, and brilliantly led by former Japan keyboard player Richard Barbieri. Yes, prog lives--and Porcupine Tree are its leading players. [July 2007]

There's a sense of going too far, of antic hilarity tipping into something more revealing. [Apr 2007, p.104]

Cassadaga is an album to warm souls, rally minds and break hearts in equal measure. [May 2007, p.110]

The sound might be spacier and more panoramic, but there's still some grit in the mix. [May 2007, p.110]

Seduces with a mixture of whimsical beauty and compelling mystery. [Jun 2007, p.101]