Swedish chanteuse returns with guns blazing. [March 2011, p. 96]

For all its romance, this is a record at the sharp end of mortality. [March 2011, p. 96]

Chillwave premier goes in search of the funk. [March 2011, p. 95]

Cherished Canuck crooner recruits Metallica's producer. [March 2011, p. 95]

Can a band that has been as good as defunct since the 1980s truly recapture their spark? The answer appears to be yes. [Apr 2011, p.98]

The stated modus operandi--everybody is leading and following--results in some fascinating new angles and delicious surprises on familiar material. [Apr 2011, p.107]

Tell Me is a pure and earnest amble through heartbreak, Bluegrass-tinged, with Seldom nods to anything approaching modern. [Apr 2011, p.106]

Only on the title track's cavernous '80s-era bass synths does Jaar come close to being conventional. [Apr 2011, p.105]

They write about what they know. Once that was dashed hopes and broken hearts, now its families and what sounds like pages from a diary. [Apr 2011, p.104]

Uneasy listening at its ghost-in-the-machine best. [Apr 2011, p.104]

Its mood affecting. its melodies haunting, Fading Parade is spellbinding. [Apr 2011, p.101]

While White Wilderness lacks the edge of Emerald City it's an inspired set of songs decorated by Minna Choi's imaginative orchestrations. [Apr 2011, p.101]

Ben Chasny's annual solo folk extravaganza. [March 2011, p. 95]

A band featuring such like-minded oddballs as Sufjan Stevens lend nice textures to the psychedelic swirls of Olympic Portions and Hovering Above That Hill, but simpler fare is more memorable. [Apr 2011, p.101]

Expanding on the rolling grooves of 2009'a Song Of The Pearl, The Gathering is a sonic monster. [Apr 2011, p.101]

This long-rumoured debut is a thing of stark intimacy, rendered by just Pearson's rustic voice and roughly picked guitar, with an occasional smear of wintry violin or doleful piano. [Apr 2011, p.100]

Very sad and very beautiful. [Apr 2011, p.100]

The vocals of core dynamic duo Alisa Xayalith and Thom Powers instantly proffer more light and shade, while the punchy garage of Kraut Of All Of This, distorted, gliding My Bloody Valentine-lite of Frayed And Spank, or thundering Chemical Brothers detonations at the heart of A Wolf In Geek's Clothing all point to far more than just obscure psych records in their collection. [Apr 2011, p.100]

What Did You Expect is a breathlessly exciting debut, it's giddy raunch'n'revisionism hard to resist. [Apr 2011, p.100]

The overall effect is like being trapped in a lift with McFly on a sugar-rush. [Apr 2011, p.98]

This album more than does him [Vic Chesnutt] justice. [Apr 2011, p.98]

The sequel to 2006's Gamelan Into The Mink Supernatural lays needling waves of in-the-red euphoria and cymbal-saturated pummeling, with the occasional scenic feedback plateau to catch one's breath. [Apr 2011, p.97]

Though there are also moments when TDD's seemingly random amalgam of influences and styles doesn't quite work, Fuckarias rocks like a bastard and frontwoman Linnea Jonsson has all the poise and tone required of a top-notch pop singer. [Apr 2011, p.97]

It's rocky Americana: swaggering and infuriatingly satisfying. [Apr 2011, p.97]

Parts & Labor have made their best album yet. [Apr 2011, p.95]

Drawing elements from both [previous albums], Horses And High Heels is a similarly accomplished if more playful affair. [Apr 2011, p.94]

Conor Oberst regroups with the band that made him. [March 2011, p. 94]

Whether Liam Gallagher's band is the start of a new story or a diverting subplot to an on-going saga remains to be seen -- and you can imagine where the smart money lies. [Mar. 2011, p. 92]