A mature work from a fascinating man. [Oct 2005, p.110]

Brakes give the likeable impression of being a jokey jamming session at a party that got out of hand. [Aug 2005, p.98]

Given her almost unremittingly bleak subject matter, it helps enormously that she's blessed with a unique voice. [Oct 2005, p.108]

CocoRosie sound, blissfully, like no one else. [Sep 2005, p.102]

Any ad creatives hoping for mobile phone campaign music will be disappointed. [Oct 2005, p.102]

Those who thought White Ladder would stand as Gray's crowning achievement may now have to think again. [Oct 2005, p.104]

The combination... works just fine. [Oct 2005, p.114]

After the laboured Driving Rain, a welcome return of that definitive, love-it-or-hate-it McCartney effortlessness. [Oct 2005, p.98]

Uninhibited where "()" felt constipated. [Oct 2005, p.99]

A charged return. [Mar 2006, p.96]

A beautiful waste of time. [Sep 2005, p.88]

A triumph of majestic American pop uplift over bleak real-life adversity. [Oct 2005, p.112]

OOIOO instill Boredoms' cosmic clatter with an air of genre-bursting adventure and mischief. [Nov 2005, p.108]

Imagine Deerhoof without the jazzcore twist'n'turn or Stereolab with extra no-wave muscle and groove. [Jan 2006, p.126]

A slow-burning cracker. [Apr 2006, p.101]

A glorious melange of love, loss, regret, homesickness and romance. [Sep 2005, p.86]

Though not without the odd turkey, it is arguably their most satisfying work since 1978's Some Girls. [Oct 2005, p.100]

Recasting love songs as ghost stories, and with no recycled early '80s moves, The Coral's self-created world seems reinvigorated. [Jun 2005, p.96]

Frankly this sort of thing makes Athlete, Snow Patrol et al sound like fire-breathing berserkers. [Oct 2005, p.102]

Clapton's playing is still fluid. [Oct 2005, p.98]

Where Kloot's self-titled second had moments of glowing, maximalist production, here the sound is pared back. [May 2005, p.106]

The new approach... lets them explore their lyrical side. [Sep 2005, p.94]

[Doesn't] always make satisfactory listening. [Dec 2005, p.104]

Rolls by like a summery blast of mid-'60s AM radio. [Sep 2005, p.89]

Like a series of melancholy one act plays. [Jan 2006, p.131]

Through it all, Veirs' voice remains intimate but deadpan -- a la Suzanne Vega. [Sep 2005, p.96]

Surgery won't catapult the group into the realm of all-time greats, but it's certainly a move in the right direction. [Sep 2005, p.92]

Uneven but exceptionally inventive. [Sep 2005, p.92]

There are times when their admiration for R.E.M. burns a little too brightly... but overall this marks another step forward. [Mar 2005, p.100]

If you didn't know what the band have been capable of, this would be good enough. [Aug 2005, p.94]

Crowell employs his gift for setting complex ideas to twangy hooks. [Oct 2005, p.101]

Live drums and guitars give it a feeling of anarchic playfulness. [Aug 2005, p.101]

This is chic pop electronica. [Aug 2005, p.101]

At times they resemble The B-52's having a bitter row, at others a particularly violent Femmes. [Jul 2005, p.110]

Less has become more for Richard Thompson. [Sep 2005, p.96]

Throws out the genre manual and leaves every cell, body and soul, buzzing. [Dec 2005, p.100]

His gritty voice and folk-art lyricism ensure that these stylistic curveballs carry real emotional resonance. [Sep 2005, p.90]

Lovely. [Oct 2005, p.114]

A second rate version of the original. [Sep 2005, p.102]

The blend of Moulds old and new is highly successful. [Aug 2005, p.100]

Mraz is an entertaining smartass. [Feb 2006, p.98]

Theirs is really a taste worth acquiring. [Sep 2005, p.103]

A welcome drop in intensity. [Oct 2005, p.102]

Honeycomb is really closer to the Dylan of New Morning than Blonde On Blonde; an angry young man finally transformed by a new voice and outlook. [Aug 2005, p.95]

Experimental longueurs and lack of vocals mean this trip's not for everyone, but out-rock fans should get on board. [Aug 2005, p.109]

Whereas Eno's purest ambient music has such an organic abstractness the listener stops thinking about what is actually producing the sounds, Lanois favours guitars, which links his music more to established styles. [Jul 2005, p.110]

Too much of it passes by easily, leaving little lasting impression. [Aug 2005, p.101]

By focusing on the temporal, he reduces himself to simple protest music rather than timeless folk. [Aug 2005, p.104]

A tendency to indulgence... undermines the album's overall potency. [Aug 2005, p.96]

The heritage soul signposts multiply with almost hallucinatory rapidity. [Aug 2005, p.104]

Ounsworth's slurred vocals are a dealbreaker. [Feb 2006, p.92]

The best moments on this double CD are those which foreground Valerie Trebeljahr's sighingly lovely vocals. [Aug 2005, p.120]

Undoubtedly his definitive statement--not just as a guitarist, but as a songwriter and vocalist. [Jul 2005, p.96]

Fascinatingly oblique songs are plaed with confidence and laid-back precision, rather than smothered by a desperation to impress. [Mar 2005, p.96]

The Posies [are] now a surprisingly politicised act. [Aug 2005, p.104]

Tough, yet with just enough tenderness. [Aug 2005, p.101]

Corgan allows a surprisingly vulnerable side to appear. [Jul 2005, p.96]

What's disappointing is how evenly-tempoed and sedate the pace is. [Jun 2005, p.95]

His most lyrically sharp and melodically inspired material in years. [Jul 2005, p.99]

Brassbound is a far better played, better written and lyrically grown-up record than its brash, Brit-pop-punk predecessor. [Jul 2005, p.102]

Conjunto, corrido and jazz emerge from and mingle with R&B and pop as the band follow the story from innocent beginnings to the tragic, bitter end. [Jul 2005, p.98]

This is perhaps Eno's most personal record to date. [Jul 2005, p.102]

[Disc 1] is grunge-punk-metal boiled down to mere energy -- and calories don't rock. [Jul 2005, p.102]

By the third listen, Burner is starting to feel like a great 21st century pop record. [Sep 2005, p.103]

A compelling exercise in craft. [Jul 2005, p.96]

Not that much has changed sound-wise. [Jul 2005, p.114]

Finally, Embrace deliver a poignant and prolonged rush of blood to the head. [Oct 2004, p.116]

They lack a style or personality of their own. [Jul 2005, p.106]

X&Y is awash with cliches, non-sequiturs, and cheap existentialism; at times it all becomes nigh on unbearable. [Jul 2005, p.97]

They fare less well when they get ambitious. [Jul 2005, p.112]

A classic Fannies record with scant regard for prescribed notions of cool. [Jun 2005, p.104]

When the approach works, the results are bracingly exploratory; when it doesn't they're frustratingly half-formed. [Jul 2005, p.94]

Magnificent. [Jul 2005, p.100]

A sonic quantum leap. [Jul 2005, p.100]

They have clearly been rejuvenated by this beguiling collaboration, producing their best work for years. [Jul 2005, p.110]

Callahan is back on track. [Jun 2005, p.104]

Their best in almost a decade. [Jun 2005, p.100]

It's a noticeably urban record, an irritated rebuttal to the notion that dance music is dead. [Jun 2005, p.98]

Singer Paul Smith's blend of dry and witty lines would make Jarvis smile, but disappointingly, the album still likes a Take Me Out-sized hit single to beat the floppy-fringed competition. [Jul 2005, p.96]

Their most challenging record to date. [Nov 2004, p.102]

Funky, playful but sinister like the best children's stories. [Jun 2005, p.98]

[They] have made an evolutionary leap in rock. [Jun 2005, p.108]

[Audioslave] display[s] a welcome lightness of touch. [Jul 2005, p.96]

Mostly, Suit Yourself matches its predecessor's brilliance. [Jul 2005, p.100]

Typically, there are also infuriating moments... but overall, this marks a welcome return to form. [Jun 2005, p.106]

Frankly, you could get drunk just on the minutiae here. [Feb 2005, p.92]

Mostly it's just business as usual with Van in reasonably good form. [Jun 2005, p.95]

Their horizons have broadened. [Feb 2005, p.102]

Courageous eccentricity it is, then. [Jun 2005, p.106]

Arguably Plant's most Zeppelinesque solo work to date. [May 2005, p.92]

Never less than fresh-sounding and curious. [Jun 2005, p.110]

Another patchily edifying addition to the Cuomo enigma. [Jul 2005, p.106]

The melodies are so lush and the arrangements so stylish that you can't deny them. [Jun 2005, p.105]

It really is good. [Jul 2005, p.99]

Remarkably compelling to anyone with slightly more outre tastes. [Aug 2005, p.102]

An enjoyable, if surprisingly safe, collection of roots rock. [Jul 2005, p.102]

[Snaith] continues to explore a digital/analogue interface to mind-bending effect, balancing riotous abstraction with day-glo pop. [Jun 2005, p.97]