A bleak and occasionally beautiful debut. [Oct 2009,p.102]

The trio have delivered thier most tuneful collection yet. [Oct 2009, p.106]

A more effective synergy arrives as the musicians rein in the melodrama, proffering a subtler, shimmering folk rock canvas for Chesnutt's emotional daubings. [Nov 2009, p.91]

A darker set altogether, through more direct than its predecessor, Forget The Night Ahead manages to marry both crushing noise and sparse elegance. [Nov 2009, p.100]

The two CDs move forward with an eerie dread and romantic wonder; violin, piano, bass, celeste, cello creating an alternate wordless narrative to normal Cave blather. [Oct 2009, p.115]

The highlights: beautiful 'Hemingway's Whiskey;' spooky 'The Guitar;' and his moving, midtempo, backporchy cover of best friend Townes' 'If I Needed You.'

Where Dizzee Rascal's deliberately diverse third album "Maths & English" found him flirting with more mainstream pop styles, this leaner, punchier fourth record comsummates that union to entirely gratisfying effect. [Oct 2009, p.96]

'Just Breathe,' 'Amongst The Waves' and 'The End' make this one of Pearl jam's most satisfying albums. [Oct 2009, p.96]

Richey Edwards has his words set to the best music his bandmates have made since their last album together. [Jun 2009, p.97]

Simple, repetitive, often unsettling, Sort Of Revolution refuses to succumb to the obvious. [Jul 2009, p.93]

Overall it's pleasurable, audacious even, but hardly world changing. [Sep 2009, p.102]

The Afro-ising influence of Vampire Weekend on Precisely The Dodos' musical sector leaves them sounding emblematic only of early-Noughties blowsiness--as passe as their name suggests. [Oct 2009, p.108]

There's an absence of audible heat, no palpable anguish or tantrums. [Oct 2009. p.108]

Even introspection is realised on a gargantuan scale, with the climatic rock symphony Exogenesis. Over the top? For Matt Bellamy and Muse it's the only way to go. [Oct 2009]

What's so impressive about Man on the Moon, however, is that it's a complete vision, designed to be listened to as a whole. [Dec 2009, p. 92]

This 4-CD box is the monument to both the cult and the art. And it's great. [Oct 2009, p.117]

Braxton ventures far from the strictures of traditional rock. Indeed, he's cleared passport control and stepped into the realms of modern classical music. [Oct 2009, p.103]

With these less-then-cutting-edge elements Wilson manages to conjure that's diverse and full of drama. [Oct 2009, p.97]

Initially baffling, Manafon richly replays further decktime. [Oct 2009, p.96]

Esteemed guests such as flautist Michael McGoldrick, accordionist Phil Cunningham and fiddler John McCusker ornament the arrangements exquistely, while the Knopf's ever-tactile guitar continues to say more with three notes than most do with 20. [Oct 2009103]

Slaraffenland are a complete surprise. Unfettered yet poptuneful, they harmonize constantly--with a melodic cool, more churchy than surfy--but plough those vocal lines into dense, dynamic texture with fierce drums marching as to war. [Jun 2010, p.103]

Russell sings with heartfelt authority, while Calexico's cool elegance balances the emotional ticket. [Oct 2009, p.106]

But judicious daubs of strings, piano, female backing vocals and even a band (on Roll On, a surprise boisterous finale) reach out and the lyrics follow suit - venturing out into snow is a metaphor for change. [Jan 2010, p. 104]

No boundaries are being broken this around, but Living Colour still hold their own. [Jan 2010, p. 102]

At the risk of sounding trite, I couldn't wait to Turn It Off. [Oct 2009, p.97]

Every song on Two Dancers reflects the meticulous intelligence of master stylists. [Sep 2009, p.90]

It's surely their most eclectic. [Oct 2009, p.103]

The sixth Dublin-based Mexican metalheads is an awesome thing in which every trick in the jard-rock manual is applied to the duo's Latin rhythms and acoustic wizardry. [Oct 2009, p.107]