Quietly dazzling. [Nov 2009, p.100]

The forensic approach to recreating the airbrushed sounds of '70s AM pop ahs paid off--there's not a single weak track on this addictive, exceptionally polished LP. [Apr 2010, p.98]

Lyrically her songs are as politically charged as ever, musically they're laboured experiments in style. [June 2010, p. 94]

Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons have knuckled down alongside relative newbies Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer to make a half-decent rock'n'roll record. [Nov 2009, p.90]

Still totally themselves, Madness have made the album of their career. [Jun 2009, p.100]

Things dip slightly in the middle when Jackson's reedy vocals are exposed against a mid-tempo backing, but it's a minor quibble. [Jul 2009, p.98]

Quality control dips during the last quarter, but this is a reassuring step forward. [Nov 2009, p.94]

In truth, despite Diana Krall as producre and accompanist, this is hardly jazz. Instead, it's another nigh faultless array of ballads, immaculately dressed by arranger Johnny Mandel (a deluxe edition has backings by Krall's quartet.0 [Dec 2009, p. 92]

A decent return, Alice mostly impresses despite the limiting permutations of their angst. [Nov 2009, p.94]

The honesty of these performances infinitely more important than any finessing. [Oc 2009, p.108]

Too much of the rest meanders through trickling streams of acoustic guitar and somnambulant vocals without ever detaining you for long. [Nov 2009, p.97]

Leader Joseph D'Agostino drops vowels with a schizoid, Malkmus-esque charm (somewhere between a meltdown and a bong pipe), while the band see-saw between going for the jugular and a surprisingly touching melodic tinkering. [Dec 2009, p. 90]

Recorded in analogue, Echo Kid is his love letter to '70s AM rock radio. [Jan 2010, p. 93]

Charitable largesse aside, it's a must-have for fans of anyone involved. [Sep 2009, p.98]

Lyricwise everything is simple, ready for sing-along consumption and sometimes you can almost visualise that bouncing ball heading a long the bottom of some YouTube screen. [Feb 2010, p. 95]

With little in the way of banjo now, nearly every song comes steeped in acoustic piano, while the vocals are pitched to eke out every last chunk of substance from well-honed lyrics. [May 2010, p.93]

His exhilarating meld of hip hop beats and mesmeric grooves proves that should he reform his old band, it's not because he needs to. [Nov 2009, p.95]

It is the sound of an introverted man reaching out to the workd and speaking uits language. [Oct 2009, p.102]

Her voice is a capable blend of vibrato and latterday R&B melisma, but also suggests a diffusion-range Amy Winehouse - something exacerbated as processed show-tune verses often leap into artless pop choruses. [Dec 2009, p. 96]

Illuminated, with its wistful wordless vocals, keening melody and swooping strings, is arguably a career peak. [Sep 2009, p.102]

It's all tawdrily familiar. [Oct 2009, p.102]

Kelis' involvement in the brooding title track can't save it from its fundamental dullness, warped, tetchy ska of 'Saga' fails to get under your skin, They're better on the camp, ecstatic single 'Raindrops,' and the hollering soul jive of 'She's No good.' [Oct 2009, p.98]

This record is way better than we had any right to expect. [Oct 2009, p.99]

Realised with friend Chet JR White in San Francisco on reel-to-reel tapes, the songs grab from Phil Spector, Beatles, Beach Boys, JAMC and Spiritualized, and are all the more enticing for it. [Jan 2010, p. 103]

Between My Head And The Sky is an intriuing record, crackling with an excitement that most new artists would struggle to generate. [Oct 2009, p.97]

Unmap transcends such mood geometrics thanks to Vernon's mostly wordless incantations. [Oct 2009, p.99]

The alien instrumentation here is systematic rather than fundamental--atmospheric colour that shows Hawley's current mindset rather than confirming some fundamental musical shift. [Oct 2009, p.94]

Geographic's signature--naive oreintal pop meets introverted occidental indie--is bewitchingly realised here in 12 gossamer songs. [Nov 2009, p.101]