Blood pressures doesn't quite take charge of their joint destiny as decisively as it needs to, the cohesive chain smoking cool do their earlier albums diluted by sudden shifts in tempo and mood. [May 2011, p.104]

Despite including some familiarly-styled acoustic reflections, 101 is very different to 2007's New York-influenced Keren Ann. [May 2011, p.104]

Cat's Eyes are the sound of something beautiful in a state of slow decay. [May 2011, p.104]

Rather than gaining urgency Tomboy instead feels rhythmically constrained and sonically muted. [May 2011, p.100]

His fifth album finds him digging into the C-60 funk box, and sometimes misplacing his wonderful strangeness in the process. [May 2011, p.104]

It's a shame Eisold has lost some of individuality, but you can't fault him for hook-fueled momentum. [May 2011, p.110]

Not one of his career's frequent great leap forward, but still a thrilling delivery system for his formidable gifts. [May 2011, p.100]

Do you like reading poetry while folded into a big armchair in some sunny corner? You'll love False Beats And True Hearts. [Jun 2011, p.102]

Students of the 19080s Brit synth-pop and Gallic cold wave will find Austra a contemporary champion. [Jun 2011, p.97]

This crisply produced second LP sticks rigidly to the same mandate--big beats and bigger tunes--and feels a little dated as a result. [Jun 2011, p.97]

Brilliant! Tragic! soars on the crumbling wings of an Adverts-brand art-punk and Argos's much-improved bellow. [Jun 2011, p.96]

Anderson never sounds too like any of those people for comfort, she just projects a similarly high level of sinewy individuality. [Jun 2011, p.94]

From Mason Dixon's struttin' Southern boogie and the title track's exhilarating echo of the Stones' Soul Survivor, through to the adorably vulnerable Quiet Person--what a hoot. [Jun 2011, p.92]

Smother sees this singular and intriguing group still on the ascendant--limiting notions of normal music notwithstanding. [Jun 2011, p.92]

All-enveloping and omnivorous, it's hard to tell if this record wants to hug you or eat you, but it's blissful submitting to its embrace. [Jun 2011, p.93]

Wasted Light finds Foo Fighters at their boldest, their most vivid. [May 2011, p.101]

The blue-collar earnestness is still served in large dollops, but there;s a sense of over-reach about the whole thing. [May 2011, p.100]

Glasvegas retain their open-throated passion, anthemicism and the very distinctive Caledonian character of James Allan's voice, but these qualities are now sometimes a little lost in widescreen--like tears in rain, like synths in multi-track. [May 2011, p.105]

They've delivered their biggest surprise to date. A record that falls short for its constituent parts. [May 2011, p.100]

Deez is revealed as a one-trick pony in the nine variants that follow. [Jun 2010, p.102]

The result is an unexpected throwback to the pop noir of Foxx's 1980 debut Metamatic. [Apr 2011, p.104]

Withering, witty and clever. [Apr 2011, p.94]

Baenziger takes nothing for granted when it comes to arrangements. where the song demands it, electronic textures are favoured--instincts which bear rich fruit on Willis and Skinnybone. [Apr 2011, p.95]

If Kate Bush backed by MGMT appeals, Maguire's your woman. [Apr 2011, p.105]

If Diana Krall's Goodby and Norah Jones's Ill Wind are strikingly vulnerable, intimate performances of classics, it's perhaps the obscurer selections that stand out. [Feb 2011, p.107]

Certainly, Live On I-5 proves Soundgarden weren't covered by grand stadium stages. [May 2011, p.125]

Fourth album from the Kensington-born, Georgia-based garage rock queen's latest incarnation. [Jun 2011, p.100]

Out of retirement -- and on to the hard shoulder. [June 2011, p. 93]