McLamb's vocals still sometimes fall the wrong side of the impassioned/histrionic divide, but this is a far more coherent album than its predecessor. [Sep 2013, p.104]

A follow-up that's both more consistent and more predictable. [Sep 2013, p.104]

It's all tastefully executed, but there is painfully little to get excited about here. [Sep 2013, p.104]

At times, there's tantalising echoes of Radiohead at their most accessible alongside more soulful diversions. [Sep 2013, p.104]

Rock N Roll Animals is a particularly curdled creation. [Sep 2013, p.104]

A big talent but no Billie Holiday. [Sep 2013, p.102]

Magna Carta... Holy Grail isn't a dreadful record but it's a redundant one. [Sep 2013, p.103]

Contradiction incarnate, Yeezus is Kanye's most Kanyeish LP yet. [Sep 2013, p.103]

Far out just got further away. [Sep 2013, p.102]

Their sixth learns from those mistakes [on their fifth album], sounding rougher, tougher and altogether more like the raucous joy of their live shows. [Sep 2013, p.102]

It's slightly more accessible than his previous work. [Sep 2013, p.102]

10 years if touring, recording and a recent divorce have provided enough grit, soul and burr with the sort of peculiarly exquisite pain that's grown up enough to register life's grand futilities. [Sep 2013, p.101]

Thicke's record is wonderfully, brilliantly uncool, a ties-round-the-head, Grandma-friendly wedding reception anthem; and there's more where that came from. [Sep 2013, p.101]

Cole's beats may differ but she speaks the same language of shadows and longing. [Sep 2013, p.100]

It's an ugly brute of a record too, but one you can't stop looking out. [Sep 2013, p.100]

A great man still making great music. [Sep 2013, p.99]

Embracism is like a night in a dingy club with someone you've just met reeling through emotions with each additional drink. [Sep 2013, p.99]

Here he crafts some intoxicatingly beautiful music all built around the sparkling chime of his 12-string guitar. Inevitably it recalls The Byrds. [Sep 2013, p.99]

True, the Estelle-sung can't Wait sounds out of place, but elsewhere this is an estimable example of making things just like they used to. [Sep 2013, p.99]

This second album us far from flawless, with too many songs outstaying their welcome. [Sep 2013, p.98]

There's little outright originality, but they're melodically strong and the male-female vocal interchange between Andreas Pallisgaard and drummer Jaleh Negari is captivating. [Sep 2013, p.107]

Some detached ambient pieces remain, but at its best it makes for luxuriant listening. [Sep 2013, p.106]

Infectious and effective as it is, Moderat II is never quite as overwhelming as it threatens to be. [Sep 2013, p.106]

Songs such as Painted Indian and Everything's Fine offer a Balearic-tinged euphoria that ends up sounding like the band are at a party they were forced to go to. [Sep 2013, p.106]

It's the same stark template of vocals, acoustic guitars and assorted surprising adornments, but they save themselves from the overworthy trap by those voices. [Sep 2013, p.100]

If there's a flaw, it's that Mathe's songwriting is more conventional than the arrangements. But there's no denying the emotion behind his heartfelt croon. [Sep 2013, p.97]

It's an album that more than makes up for Franz Ferdinand's extended absence. [Sep 2013, p.96]

There's a sense of make or break here, but it's clear what they deserve. [Sep 2013, p.109]

With its shoebox percussion and no-budget production, Sleeper is a work of desolate, cracked genius. [Sep 2013, p.108]

Where You Stand finds the quartet catching up with themselves and displaying real depth and maturity. [Sep 2013, p.108]

The Ghost Of The Mountain is the sound of a band trying to settle on a style. [Sep 2013, p.105]

Downright terrifying fusion of bass music, pagan folktronica and snarling guitars. [Sep 2013, p.104]

Her peculiar melodies weave their way around rugged pirate radio house/grime grooves in a manner that flirts with silliness but manages to stay intriguing and enticing instead. [Sep 2013, p.104]

A collection of delicate, woozy and otherworldly electronics. [Sep 2013, p.99]

A record of rivers and trees rather than streets and skyscrapers, it's a blissful and quietly cosmic experience. [Sep 2013, p.98]

If there's a fault, the self-consciously retro production doesn't push her far enough. [Jul 2013, p.106]

The notoriously repressive Ceausescu-era authorities clearly didn't know what to make of Rosca, but his music sounds fantastic today. [Jul 2013, p.109]

Some of the more straightforward rockers show signs of fresh thinking. [Jul 2013, p.97]

Their eighth record underlies their enduring problem: the songs are adequate but anaemic; the playing is slick, seamless and the wrong side of polite. [Jun 2013, p.94]

The third album since the band's 2007's reunion is low on overt politics, but high on autumnal jazz, Bacharach-ian swing, easy-going funk and relaxed charm. [Jun 2013, p.93]

These songs won't set the charts alight, but they're no insult to Adamson's memory and will fill the gaps between the fan favorites well at the band's shows. [May 2013, p.96]

The Savage Heart is the Revue's third album and is comprehensively their best to date. [Nov 2012, p.98]

Rather too many hats, perhaps, but still an impressive showcase. [Mar 2013, p.105]

At times it verges on beautiful classical pop. At others, it's like listening to a taxing piece of modernist musical theatre. [Aug 2013, p.105]

Dark and greasy, The Other Life is where Shooter's past and present finally come to terms with each other. [Aug 2013, p.105]

Magnetic sounds like a TV talent show judge's idea of rock music from a band capable of much better. [Jun 2013, p.98]

This is a ludicrously enjoyable record, shedding Razorlight's US-targeted bluster and awkwardly stalking that curious mid-70s musical patch where pub rock and glam shaded into punk. [Aug 2013, p.97

It's a frustratingly inconsistent affair. [Aug 2013, p.97]

The experimental approach drifts into plain old messing about more than once, but when he gets it right, it's superb. [Aug 2013, p.99]

They are by turns wistful, quirky and very, very beautiful. [Aug 2013, p.100]

Marchant is at his best on the more forceful material. [Aug 2013, p.99]

The Argument is a wondrous thing, full of its own joy. [Aug 2013, p.99]

A few pop-soul cliches creep into the album's cluttered middle section. But the rest is 21-st-century electronic pop delivered with style and ambition. [Aug 2013, p.106]

The whole thing is raw, exhilarating and completely compromised. [Aug 2013, p.102]

It's the overall sense of joie de vivre which makes Where The Heaven Are We such a triumph. [Aug 2013, p.101]

Deep is the word here. [Jul 2013, p.109]

[Cohn reprises] his thick, often indecipherable Midwestern accent, but with spot-on timing and flashes of surreal wordplay. [Aug 2013, p.104]

Occasionally slightly Gallic, but consistently intoxicating, it's a trip definitely worth taking. [Aug 2013, p.103]

The austerity of the songs occasionally makes the listener feel as though they have stumbled upon some hand-scrawled diary entries. [Aug 2013, p.102]

Stick with it, though, as the last song, the elegant memorial Somehow The Wonder of Life Prevails, turns out to be a piece of quiet and hugely emotional brilliance. [Aug 2013, p.100]

Only Haim's contribution to Red Eye enlivens the tedium. [Aug 2013, p.99]

Too much of This River is more The Commitments, less The Bar-Kays. [Aug 2013, p.98]

His ambitions, and trademark gruff delivery, are here assisted by a new generation of drum'n'bass producers. [Aug 2013, p.96]

He is a great storyteller and Still Fighting is littered with broken war veterans, bruised lovers and others thrown on to life's scrap heap. [Aug 2013, p.95]

It takes a while to adjust to the darkness generated by these songs of loss, age and adultery, but once you have, you won't want to leave Shah's night visions behind. [Aug 2013, p.104]

For the most part, though, there are too many soggy love songs such as the interminable Give It Back To You and too many moments where they cross the line between smart and smart-arse. [Aug 2013, p.94]

At times his magpie approach lacks focus, but when it all clicks Blunt achieves a transcendental beauty. [Aug 2013, p.95]

The more you ignore Bell X1, it seems, the better they get. [Aug 2013, p.94]

What could so easily be just another folky Americana album is lifted high above the norm by the sheer strength of Porterfield's quite brilliant songwriting. [Aug 2013, p.96]

A lot to take in, then, but a lethally brilliant concoction. [Aug 2013, p.107]

A breezy, rangy collection of songs that give the impression of a man keen to make a move without over-analysing too much. [Aug 2013, p.102]

There's something about these piledriver riffs that remains powerful yet lacking in punch. [Aug 2013, p.96]

A touch more light amid the shade, though, and this would be a more redemptive listen. [Aug 2013, p.95]

Added to this unlikely musical melting pot is singer is Nikolaj Manuel Vonsild's falsetto, occasionally reminiscent of both Arthur Russell and Antony Hegarty. [Aug 2013, p.107]

Vocally, Fogerty still shreds, and this lively album omits enough of his gems to hint at a sequel. [Aug 2013, p.97]

Desperation proves that only modest mellowing has taken place in the interim. [Aug 2013, p.103]

It's quirky without being kitsch, and another fine addition to Smith's varied back catalog. [Aug 2013, p.105]

It's not all restrained and even if in parts it sails too close to generic Americana, there's much evidence here that O'Donovan is one to keep an eye on. [Aug 2013, p.103]

Tomorrow's Harvest delivers oceans of spare, mellow and melodic electronica, but what it doesn't offer is much in the way of surprises. [Aug 2013, p.98]

Oddly compelling, even if the coldwave atmosphere seldom rises above freezing-point. [Aug 2013, p.101]

It ditches classic thrash for bland classic rock. [Aug 2013, p.96]

Writhing and urgent, it's the record that might make them stars. [Aug 2013, p.101]

It's strong medicine for sure, but also an astonishing record that will haunt you long after it's finished playing. [Aug 2013, p.98]

If his production has lost a little funkiness it's gained buckets of emotive power. [Aug 2013, p.100]

A dazzling alloy of vintage progressive jazz and synthetic digital funk fired by unashamedly cosmic aspiration. [Aug 2013, p.106]

It's not a bad album, but In The Warzone lacks the broad allure of what made Transplants interesting in the first place. [Aug 2013, p.106]

Spacehopper is out there, yes, but not so out there that you can't still admire it from Earth. [Aug 2013, p.106]

As it stands, the lack of genuine emotion here does the musical invention shown on Turbines a disservice, and ultimately delivers Tunng's least satisfactory album to date. [Aug 2013, p.107]

Palms is a heavy, explorative listen. [Aug 2013, p.96]

Sistrionix doesn't always keep up the consistency, but Deap Vally have enough swagger to fill in the gaps. [Aug 2013, p.96]

Mischievously sexy. [Aug 2013, p.94]

At its best when following pop inspirations on Torn Maps or Turtle, it's still a challenge--just less so than the 11-minute jazz-rock freak-outs of old. [Aug 2013, p.95]

The results may not add to a fanbase that struggles to extend beyond the UK and the good folk of Belgium and Germany, but Editors give themselves a new lease of life here. [Aug 2013, p.94]

With Electric, Pet Shop Boys have succeeded spectacularly. [Aug 2013, p.92]

The plush, throbbing synths and twinkling tension that filled Feel It Break are conjured again here, but there's a subtle shift this time in the dynamic and Olympia's power lies in its marimba-infused percussion. [Aug 2013, p.93]

Between The Walls is a fascinating insight into the creative process that crackles electrically between Taylor, John Coxon, Charles Hayward, and Pat Thomas. [Aug 2013, p.93]

By the end, they're almost sounding like their own band, rather than a Thin Lizzy tribute act. [Jul 2013, p.100]

The Grenoble DJ/producer's third and best solo release, may feature some ropey lyrics, but the sultry dominatrix voice in which she intones them helps her get away with it. [Jul 2013, p.108]