For all there is to grind your teeth and hate about CocoRosie, there's much to love. [8 Oct 2005, p.45]

There's two ways for the devout Dandys fan to approach 'Odditorium...' . 1) it's their 'Kid A', a brave blunder into a new creed of experimentation into which they will hopefully one day re-work The Tunes. Or 2) what they really wanted to make was a week-long jazz opus played entirely on dying cats, but the record company made them put some proper songs on it.

These country-blues laments are seriously sleepy-eyed. [10 Sep 2005, p.66]

By teaming up with Godrich, McCartney has come out of his safety zone and challenged himself in a way not seen since his first solo album way back in 1970. But the feeling remains that the one person who could really inspire him to write one final classic record was tragically murdered in 1980.

His molasses-coated cooing works well along his sparse arrangements. [17 Sep 2005, p.58]

If you imagine the noise God makes just before he eats a slice of cheese on toast, then comparably, that’s how satisfyingly yearning the 65 minutes of 'Takk…' sounds.

The problem is Shawn Christensen's bellowingly unsubtle vocal style, which batters every last vestige of restraint out of its way as it strains for greater heights of veins-bulging volume-as-passion.

Just another mind-bendingly great, often dazzling SFA record. [20 Aug 2005, p.57]

Doesn't do a lot different from [Let Go]. [3 Sep 2005, p.74]

Covers all the same ground as albums by Le Tigre, Liars and The Rogers Sisters in the space of one spectacular 45-minute burst. [12 Nov 2005, p.45]

This is an album that you'll like rather than actually love.

Tinnitus never sounded so good. [3 Sep 2005, p.74]

His best yet. [3 Sep 2005, p.74]

So 'A Bigger Bang' is no masterpiece. As a loss leader to allow them to continue touring, it's not even as good as 'Don't Believe The Truth'. But it's the best record they were going to make, and a world with the Stones is better than one without them.

Freed of the need to sound how people expect them to, the seven piece get the chance to show that they can turn in proper, craft-standard pop when they need to.

'Plans' is produced within an inch of its shiny, whitebread life and the Cutie seem to have lost their faux-naive subtleties, becoming the non-thinking man's Coldplay along the way. [27 Aug 2005, p.74]

By freshening up his style without entirely abandoning it, West still has the rest of the rap world playing catch-up.

And though the change in volume might be ‘Howl’’s defining characteristic... it’s the shift in attitude that is its finest.

Completely lacking in imagination. [1 Oct 2005, p.47]

Inevitably, when the Prozac finally wears off the more 'thoughtful' numbers fall flat on their faces. [20 Aug 2005, p.58]

[An] impressive lo-fi debut. [27 Aug 2005, p.74]

Sounds like a collection of songs poised to steal the heart of anyone with a bruised soul. [17 Sep 2005, p.58]

Even when easing off the throttle, The Warlocks find ways to blow your mind. [10 Sep 2005, p.66]

Where 'The Remote Part' was their 'Green'-esque lunge into the spotlight, 'Warnings/Promises' is their full-blwon 'Out Of Time' spectacular. But with less twangle, more teeth. [5 Mar 2005, p.50]

All done in their trademark chirpy Camden ska way. [30 Jul 2005, p.49]

A record of sonic maturity and real beauty. [2 Jul 2005, p.64]

Taken as a full album in a single sitting, the drum-heavy tribal starkness of it all could be a little overwhelming; unrelenting, even; but the tracklist is just crying out to be dismembered and spread across your playlists like blood-spattering across a crisp white wall.

More over-produced introspection. [6 Aug 2005, p.56]