Holmes is scrabbling throught he ashes of Vegas strip supper-club jazz to craft a decidedly 21st century soundtrack, mourning its passing while happily rifling its pockets. [Album of the Month, Feb 2002, p.90]

The album takes on an airbrushed blandness that drowns out both the odd outbreak of compositional quality and the promise of adventure offered by the guests. [Dec 2001, p.104]

An enjoyably bad-ass record. [Feb 2002, p.102]

With a couple more new songs, this could have been a great second album rather than a stop-gap release. [Jan 2002, p.90]

A sprawling, instrumentally dazzling work which all but spurns pop songwriting. [Jan 2002, p.99]

The only gripe is that at 38 minutes, Insignificance is too short. [Feb 2002, p.92]

The thread which binds is Merchant's seductive, bittersweet voice, something which quickly finds the richer you, than nourishes it. [Dec 2001, p.104]

It's a puzzler.... Given brilliant execution, no doubt we'd still have come out with out hands up. Instead, it's patchy and the worst comes first. [Dec 2001, p.114]

This album stumbles on the lower slopes of her ambitions. [Mar 2002, p.101]

Hood have crafted a singular meeting of modern electronics, carefully layered arrangements and more conventional rock melancholia. [Dec 2001, p.96]

A satisfying, and often very moving, body of work. [Dec 2001, p.100]

Since I Left You fuses dozens of different styles -- and over 600 lovingly reconfigured samples -- into one riotously enthusiastic, awesomely seamless whole. [May 2001, p.116]

Tired, frightened-sounding and hopelessly misjudged.... Hugely disappointing. [Dec 2001, p.116]

There's a narcotic quality to these drifting ballads, one that perfectly suits these shell shocked, terrorised times. As the world gears up for the Apocalypse, I shall take comfort in Bavarian Fruit Bread -- a very haunting, beautiful record. [Nov 2001]

Listening to Bob Wratten is as necessary as a good cry. [Jan 2002, p.91]

Represents a giant leap backwards. [Nov 2001, p.112]

It's a pleasant place to hang out, though it occasionally feels like you're listening to a piece of fake history, a one-for-ourselves indulgence by a big band whose major work you've not heard. [Nov 2001]

Instrumentally complex and inventive. [Nov 2001, p.98]

Much of Get Ready is less a call to arms than the sound of an old man wheezing out of a creaky armchair. [Sep 2001, p.108]

Protest music that doesn't protest too much -- a music with such a joy and wit to its outrage that it acquires a universality beyond its subject matter. [Nov 2001, p.98]

The Sparks take the nascent country rock of their obvious influence and extraploate every last ounce of plangent guitar chime and yearing vocal polyphony until they ring afresh. [Nov 2001, p.100]

Like the band's best '80s output, Lilac6 is the work of a bona fide songsmith. [Nov 2001, p.108]

A heartily uplifting brew of scruffy street style, swear words and stammering pop tunes which sweat musical history. [Sep 2001, p.99]

His relentless intelligence is itself a consolation, bearing gifts of order and sly humour -- though not so many haunting tunes as on, say I'm Your Man. [Nov 2001, p.100]

Death Cab weave together smartly taut guitars with vivid observational lyrics to create perfectly crafted pop songs, stunning in their simplicity and beauty. [Apr 2002, p.96]

We could probably live without at least one of the three lengthy, slightly prosaic tracks that tail-end proceedings, but stand-outs Cup Of Coffee and Androgyny more than compensate. [Nov 2001, p.116]

Somewhere in there Brown's murmurous vocals and the lyrics tend to get lost. [Sep 2001, p.99]

Could well be her finest yet. [Oct 2001, p.128]