The bona fide release is a triumph, there's an understated elegance about Logos, which dabbles in Kraut-and math-rock and slacker-styled electronica. [Nov 2009, p.91]

At best, Oye and Boe capture loniness in a saue way and both are wonderfully fluid guitarists. But they can also be overly precious. [Nov 2009, p.92]

Impressive as it all is, a genuine follow-up to Illinois feels overdue. [Dec 2009, p. 92]

Like the second series of their HBO sitcom, from which most of the tracks here are culled,...Freaky feels a little rushed, but there's still plenty to love. [Dec 2009, p. 95]

Here, Scott 'Spiral Stairs' Kannberg's music feels more direct and unguarded than might have been expected given the more crafted, at time arch, music that has hallmarked his two groups. [Dec 2009, p. 90]

Her jazzy instincts and surreal lyrics perfectly offset the music's mosaic minimalism. [Sep 2009, p.92]

It's Converge's energy that impresses first, their brutal, full-blooded fury, the sheer physical assault; listen closer, however, and you'll find a group as inventive and progressive in their riffage as Slayer or Metallica at their early apex, a compulsive complexity to their chaos. [Feb 2010, p. 100]

On Trapped Animal they bring that approach to bear on a wider range of styles--dancehall, digi-dub, roots reggae, lover's rock - although the title track and Reject stand out as the most originally shaped punky pop songs. [Dec 2009, p. 95]

New Clouds is poised between towering psych-noise and ambient beauty, intermittently etched with quicksilver. [Nov 2009, p.101]

With the group of temporary hiatus, Ounsworth spreads his wings here, delivering a solo set that combines his gift for melody with more adventurous instrumentation and stylistic detours, waltzing between deft piano balladry (Holy, Holy, Holy Moses), high-drama orchestral-pop (That Is Not My Home), and lilting, horn-bolstered calypsos (South Philadelphia Drug Days) with grace, confidence and wit. [Jan 2010, p. 90]

Espers III is brilliantly atmospheric, more chilling than chilled but also, frequently, very beautiful. [Dec 2009. p. 94]

It's themes may be familiar, but its fine, dazzlingly outlandish music is fresh and utterly fearless. [Nov 2009, p.88]

Baroness's second full-length somehow tops their powerhouse debut for riffs, songwriting and cohesiveness. [Feb 2010, p. 101]

It's surprising how straight down the line this album is. [Jul 2009, p.94]

The results make for a chilling and captivating experience, with the unexpected musical flourishes in stop-start songs. [Sep 2009, p.104]

"This is a song for anyone with a broken heart," Fink sings on 'Blue Skies' and the break-up album of the year is complete. [Sep 2009, p.98]

An unshamedly fun album. [Sep 2009, p.104]

As ever, it's best to not to take them too seriously. [Nov 2009, p.90]

The album's seven-minute epics, Done and Tomorrow, chase their melodies to powerfully dramatic heights, pocket symphonies that stir and haunt with graceful, emotive crescendos that beg lighters waved aloft. [Feb 2010, p. 104]

The music is taut, the vocals, if anything, under-emoted, and the overall feeling is that of a muse rediscovered. [Jun 2009, p.108]

It's funnier than the Crue. And that's no mean feat. [Jul 2009, p.106]

There's a kernal of quality to Goodnight Unknown that renders Barlow's obsessive self-absorption palatable. [Nov 2009, p.102]

It's all about Rosanne's voice. And she's rarely sounded better. [Nov 2009, p.96]

Bonfires is an honourable epitaph. [Feb 2010, p. 100]

It is a slow-growing treasure that reveals a little more of itself with each listen. [Nov 2009, p.94]

Dead Man's Bones turns out to be a decidedly beautiful thing. [Nov 2009, p.93]

More so than on predecessor The Spell, the Procession's ominous, gothic-baroque sound now suggest angular German Expressionist cinema and the raven wing atmospheres of Edgar Allan Poe as readily as The Bad Seeds. [Dec 2009, p. 94]

Cameos by Vampire Wekend's Ezra Keonig and Tamil rapper M.I.A. add to a joyous but knowing smorgasbord that will play equally well in a Lilongwe disco or Shoreditch/Brooklyn trend hole. [Oct 2009, p.107]