You'll fall for Peter Broderick's humour and ingenuity in the end. [Nov 2012, p.90]

While the mix of influences could produce self-indulgent noodling, songwriter Kevin Parker's ear for a tune keeps the songs focused. [Nov 2012, p.106]

Tracey Thorn dispatches these carefully chosen covers and four new tracks with realism and a lightness of touch. [Nov 2012, p.106]

[The album] is full of reductive, radio-friendly hard rock. [Nov 2012, p.86]

They already had the style, but with this bold step Elliott Brood now have the songs. [Nov 2012, p.95]

Imagine the grumpy Northern bastard child of BBC Radiophonic workshop wonk Delia Derbyshire and horror-proggers Goblin. [Nov 2012, p.94]

This collection of 12" releases from the last year is breathtakingly beautiful. [Nov 2012, p.98]

This debut album is free of the scowling raps that made grime such an abrasive prospect the first time round. [Nov 2012, p.104]

A welcome outing from an overlooked talent. [Nov 2012, p.105]

In this case, less is more. [Nov 2012, p.106]

Even when the music flags, Smith sings his way through these hillbilly anthems and barroom laments with eerie, unwavering conviction. [Nov 2012, p.111]

An album that's--unusually--both disorienting and immensely tedious. [Nov 2012, p.103]

These skeletal blues are for addicts only. [Nov 2012, p.98]

This is furious but slick metalcore, but none the worse for that. [Nov 2012, p.103]

Emotions are high, though their impact could be heightened if the band's post-hardcore sounds was less generic. [Nov 2012, p.103]

It's less primal scream, more yawn. [Nov 2012, p.112]

While cleverly mocking late-20s thwarted ambitions and McJob drudgery, Wolf offers little by way of an alternative, his lyrics ultimately as hollow as the cynical Generation X irony of the '90s. [Nov 2012, p.112]

There is promising variation in places. [Nov 2012, p.111]

For the most part, it works. [Nov 2012, p.108]

Tucker's inimitable vocals are savage and exhilarating throughout. [Nov 2012, p.108]

To a saucer-eyed teenager with a head full of pills stood amidst Deadmau5's immersive, impressive son-ET-lumiere experience, watching everything "going right off," it'll probably sound amazing. Maybe the rest of us should just wait outside in the car until the show's over. [Nov 2012, p.105]

Mostly Strapped is unified by a fuggy atmosphere, likeably odd guitar details and some immediate choruses. [Nov 2012, p.105]

Lurking beneath are the electronic pulses of post-rock and the occasional ripple of slip-slide jazz, ensuring that while Runner is approachable, it's always one step ahead. [Nov 2012, p.104]

Whenever the album bares its claws, such as on Joe's Cult and the soaring Horses, it demonstrates just how good it would have been with a dash more daring. [Nov 2012, p.104]

It's as if Swervedriver never left us. [Nov 2012, p.103]

Rock this clinical just isn't exciting. [Nov 2012, p.103]

The Connection is a stylistic leap, that shows surprising restraint, and--whisper it--maturity. [Nov 2012, p.102]

Jimmy's Show is filled with richly melodic songs, filled with whimsical lyrics about tea, sailors, table tennis and Ford Escorts. [Nov 2012, p.102]

The tales of love, loss, life and death on his 14th album are embellished with brass flourishes for the first time, which only adds to the sense of drama. [Nov 2012, p.102]

His version of Hey Joe curls around your ears like smoke before you notice what it is. Alice In Chains' Got Me Wrong works because Mehldau doubles the rhythm section on piano, giving it a real kick up the backside and sounding not unlike the great Neil Crowley. [Nov 2012, p.101]

She's good and snarky on Charmer. [Nov 2012, p. 101]

With arrangements pared back to the bone, it's that strange, slurred voice where all the attention is focused, meaning there's no hiding place at all. [Nov 2012, p.99]

Clever, but not clever-clever. [Nov 2012, p98]

The lyrics on British Lion are at best workmanlike, tackling vague concepts with a deadening succession of cliches. [Nov 2012, p.98]

The songs here are a familiar mix of wry life observations and clever covers. [Nov 2012, p.96]

Time for another rethink. [Nov 2012, p.96]

In the end, it's all a bit too sensible. [Nov 2012, p.95]

Storm & Grace is a likeable record if not a startling one. [Nov 2012, p.92]

An epic, in no way ironic record whose tart electronic tones belie its emotional warmth and musicality. [Nov 2012, p.90]

Boys Noize forged a path through the same noisy colours [as Justice and Digitalism] without ever acquiring the cultural baggage. [Nov 2012, p.89]

Often the orchestra feels under-used on what, for the most part, are some disappointingly inert reinterpretations. [Nov 2012, p.89]

This ends up as a thrilling victory of an album because at its heart it has the same great swirling mass of melancholic energy that drove their debut. [Nov 2012, p.88]

It's heartening to see a band still in the grip of an ideas overload 11 albums in. [Nov 2012, p.94]

No Doubt have always been a platinum-haired party band, but, over 20 years into the game, such platinum pop perfection feels far less forced. [Nov 2012, p.108]

It's playful rather than facetious, and the combination of sweet pop tunes and mean distorted guitar is as winning as it ever was. [Nov 2012, p.104]

Halcyon casts a formidable spell. [Nov 2012, p.96]

Some tracks still sound ripe for Christmas rom-coms. But the best see veteran producer T-Bone Burnett, Tom Wait's guitarist Marc Ribot and Krall's husband Elvis Costello rough up her seductive keys with some electric Americana fuzz. [Nov 2012, p.99]

This folk-rooted album is ideal for listeners who think they're tired of folk music. [Nov 2012, p.94]

La Futura is better when ZZ Top and producer Rick Rubin mess with the formula. [Nov 2012, p.112]

Ellison's reliably single-minded approach will appease seasoned Flying Lotus followers, but Until The Quiet Comes might just attract new followers. [Nov 2012, p.95]

Powerful soul medicine best taken a track at a time. [Nov 2012, p.101]

The lyrics aren't exactly sunny but the furiously cathartic Silver Age is his strongest work since Copper Blue. [Nov 2012, p.102]

The fifth album actually proves refreshingly unburdened by fashion. [Nov 2012, p.101]

Everything is invigorated by both the quality of songwriting and singer Adam Stephen's wrenching trouble-he's-seen vocals. [Nov 2012, p.108]

The result is persuasive, likable grown-up pop without that off-putting jazz-hands factor. [Nov 2012, p.99]

It's a job well done.... But a few tracks sound too much like functional mix fodder. [Nov 2012, p.91]

Lytle's melodic warmth provides a protective layer against the heartbreak and horror. [Nov 2012, p.101]

There's months of listening here. [Nov 2012, p.108]

There's clarity on The Haunted Man that comes from the sense of physical boundaries being pushed, of personal space being tested to its limits. [Nov 2012, p.97]

Piano-led ballad rock songs tell their own story of heavy-duty emotional drag but Hansard's voice carries such weight you can forgive him. [Jul 2012, p.102]

The ensemble take more risks with Gabriel's own songs, pulling them into bold new shapes. [Jul 2012, p.100]

A startling discovery. [Jul 2012, p.115]

The fun doesn't always translate to the listener. [Jul 2012, p.113]

A welcome surprise. [Jul 2012, p.113]

The overall effect is not dissimilar to a less arch Rufus Wainwright, although the quality of songs does tail off slightly toward the end. [Jul 2012, p.113]

The Walkmen are inching closer to the mainstream, while remaining utterly distinctive. [Jul 2012, p.112]

Two Wounded Birds are an exotic rarity; a band that performs pastiche without sounding anything other than utterly authentic. [Jul 2012, p.112]

There are 14 tracks in total and three fewer would have made for a tighter set--but it's hardly a deal breaker. [Jul 2012, p.112]

Like those '70s Teutonic adventurers tracks such as Treten, with its aerated harmonics and oddly motorik beat, aim for mind-expanding mantric intensity. [Jul 2012, p.112]

It's practically impossible not to fall just a little bit in love with both the singer and her beautifully fragile music. [Jul 2012, p.112]

The occasional glimmer of pop genius seen in the albums past is mostly absent, with plodding piano ballads in place instead. [Jul 2012, p.112]

Five albums along and Hot Chip continue to outdo themselves, not to mention most of their peers. [Jul 2012, p.111]

While his debut's defiantly un-PC lyrics take inspiration from '90s gangsta mavericks such as Three 6 Mafia, the electronic murk that surrounds them on tracks such as Get Yah Head Bust is utterly of the moment. [Jul 2012, p.110]

A load of rubbish. [Jul 2012, p.110]

A low-light delight. [Jul 2012, p.110]

The sense of the singer reclaiming a little of himself with these meditative jams is unmistakable. [Jul 2012, p.109]

Saulnier's wild-man-on-a-rampage vocals are no longer hidden behind the unfettered sequel of his equally uncivilized guitar. [Jul 2012, p.109]

Each songwriter is honored, and often improved by Rumer's thoughtful readings. [Jul 2012, p.109]

Add some successful diversions and you'll find a gloriously grown-up spectacle here. [Jul 2012, p.108]

It sounds like [he's having a lark]. [Jul 2012, p.108]

This follow-up boasts a more cohesive sound but without sacrificing the duo's Eastern-influenced allure. [Jul 2012, p.108]

It's a tough listen--although that might be the point. [Jul 2012, p.108]

Beneath the distractingly high-pitched, multi-tracked vocals and tastefully tribal drama, there's nothing more threatening than a synthesized Florence + The Machine. [Jul 2012, p.107]

Maybe not vintage Willie, but entertaining enough. [Jul 2012, p.107]

Synthetica's relentless efficiency feels a tad mechanical. [Jul 2012, p.107]

While Mair's wistful voice can carry the weight, it occasionally makes all the impact of a light mist. [Jul 2012, p.107]

They have made an amazing album about how amazing pop music can be. [Jul 2012, p.106]

The threesome's Orcadian tribute is a remarkable modern-yet-ancient mini-musical. [Jul 2012, p.105]

A strange, spooked and deeply involving record. [Jul 2012, p.105]

An experiment in performance art that'll put you in touch with your inner Brian Sewell. [Jul 2012, p.105]

For a record that strives to sound disembodied, it has a powerful grip. [Jul 2012, p.105]

More quality control wouldn't have gone amiss. [Jul 2012, p.104]

Celebration Rock delivers more of the same good-time guitar-pop anthems about girls and night on the tiles, delivered at breakneck velocity and near-deafening volume. [Jul 2012, p.104]

The album's slow, soporific pace can mean it sounds similar from song to song, but Okumu's voice pivots everything. [Jul 2012, p.104]

Derivative/ Certainly. Mesmerising? Definitely. [Jul 2012, p.104]

It's a welcome return. [Jul 2012, p.104]

She's at her most compelling when the rhythmic cross-currents come with a deep dark undertow. [Jul 2012, p.103]