It's on those songs that strike a chord with Elliot personally that he's most convincing. [May 2009, p.103]

Repo is a brightly coloured series of aural non sequiturs, its lard-legged beat science peaking with distorted synth-funk jam 'Ultra Vomit Craze.' [May 2009, p.109]

The Jeff Buckleyesque epic 'Larkspur' and the desolately pretty 'It Hits Deeper' raise the bar for sensitive creatives everywhere. [May 2009, p.103]

Cumulatively, the combination of Ashworth's sub-Bill Callahan levels of vocal animation and the mid-paced songs with tolling chord changes can err towards the enervating rather than the enigmatic, but funkier beats and mellotron give White Jetta a lift. [Jun 2009, p.96]

The results are truly beguiling. [Jul 2009, p.104]

Everyday Demons ticks all the hard rock boxes. That there isn't a single orginal idea on display here doesn't actually matter. [Mar 2009, p.105]

It's Blitz! succeeds because YYYs have managed to mix the human and the electronic, the emotional and the artsy, the fashion-forward and the oddly retro. [May 2009, p.94]

After nearly two decades, this man and this woman still turn heads. [Apr 2009, p.100]

A surfeit of wilfully sibilant '80s keyboard sounds notwithstanding, there's little to dislike. [May 2009, p.103]

The result is fabulous, Ogerman framing Krall's sultry, languorous delivery with arrangements that are opulent yet don't swamp her voice. [Jul 2009, p.93]

Mostly A New Tide is high on big tunes and low on character. [May 2009, p.108]

Apart from the comprehensive compilation aspect and the rich live presence, this double CD also pauses to capture the remarkable way he welcomes 20,000 people to his fireside. [May 2009, p.98]

The effete Norwegian's music is becoming too unobtrusive for its own good. [Apr 2009, p.103]

More than great, this is well worth hearing for the Tex Mex No Way I'll Never Need You, Lone Star barroom rocker Just About Time, beautifully-sung After The Storm, and state-of-the nation border ballad Homeland Refugee. [May 2009, p.101]

Black Cascade meshes razor-throated fundamentals with panoramic sweep, its four thunderous riff odysseys wreathed in soulful desolation. [May 2009, p.109]

Welcome to Mali celebrates its artificiality, flaunts its illegitimacy and waggles its infidelities in your face. Amadou & Mariam have just damned authenticite to an eternity in caducite. [Dec 2008, p.98]

It's captivating stuff, with the gnomic lyrics adding to the implied oppostion between the natural world and the machines used to make the record. [Apr 2009, p.108]

It's the songs--funny, literate, doomed--which get under your skin. [Apr 2009, p.100]

Cheeky, but delightful. [Apr 2009, p.106]

By turns acoustic intimate and theatrical-loud, this spellbinding work peaks and soars with all the warmth and wonder of some great romantic adventure, demanding and rewarding total immersion in its magical narrative. [May 2009, p.110]

Beyond the singles-"Melody A.M." lapsed into a latterday jazz-funk. This album sometimes tends the same way, but interest is reignited by Royksopp Forever--ELO with dancebeats--and the tracks where Lykke Li and The Knife's Karin Dreijer-Andersson approach Robyn's unhinged lager-umlaut Europop berserkersim. [May 2009, p.104]

It is Mastodon's ability to blend such grandstanding flourishes with a powerful sense of songcraft that suggests Crack The Skye might be some "Master Of Puppets" breakthrough for the Atlanta quartet. [May 2009, p.98]

Kicks may take its leads from The Rolling Stones, David Bowie and Orange Juice but these songs about Glasgow and girls still manage to invest the skinny-tie shuffle with some fresh contemporary verve. [Apr 2009, p.98]

Ten is a classic of the grunge era, its super-sized anthems and introspective pieces powered by Eddie Vedder, a Jim Morrision for the plaid shirt brigade. [Apr 2009, p.116]

So that's Obits: rapid tunes, powerhouse performances, great album. [May 2009, p.104]

Klang is a step in the right direction. [May 2009, p.69]

White Lies naivety is emphatically brokered by their songs ability to rouse and inspire. [Feb 2009, p.109]

It is simply beautiful. [May 2009, p.96]