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]