It's the vocals of Jana Hunter, an apprentice of freak folk luminary Devendra Banhart, that provides Nootropics' bewitching focal point, the group's gothic meld of gliding guitars and spectral synth noises resembling the Cocteau Twins on a comedown. [Jun 2012, p.107]

While he's not breaking any boundaries, when Moore keeps the tempo up.... he's as good as any other would-be Moroder, even if the title track's lyrics and FM swagger owes as much to US soft rock behemoths Foreigner as it does to Studio 54. [Jun 2012, p.107]

Even utterly dedicated Albarn fans will be hard-pushed to force themselves to play it more than once. [Jun 2012, p.107]

Cutler's surgically meticulous programming skills and ear for mesmeric melodies.... elevate this follow up to 2010's Emerald Fantasy Tracks above simple ['90's techno] homage. [Jun 2012, p.106]

It makes you feel like you've stepped into a funhouse built by Picasso out of neon light and awesomeness. [Jun 2012, p.106]

Rather kite-flying itself, Kweller prides shooting the breeze over true direction, but there are enough emotional gusts here to ensure he regularly soars. [Jun 2012, p.106]

At times, strangely purging - and almost euphoric - most of MMXII still sounds like the end of civilisation as we know it. [Jun 2012, p.106]

Strangeland isn't much of a diversion from their fame-bringing formula. [Jun 2012, p.105]

This follow-up sees them up the ante slightly. one Man Army is packed with big songs, windswept harmonies, swashbuckling choruses, and less appealingly, big guitar solos when all you wanted was a key change. [Jun 2012, p.105]

He thrives when bringing gravitas to the sparse blues of Soul Of a Man and extraordinary tenderness to the Low Anthem Charlie Darwin. [Jun 2012, p.105]

It's one boringly pedestrian plod after another. [Jun 2012, p.104]

A wonderful album. [Jun 2012, p.104]

Things often get a bit messy, the meandering 12-minute title track with its extended percussion battle being the most jarring example. [Jun 2012, p.104]

Hawley wields his guitar with fresh zeal, unfurling long, turbulent solos while his chocolatey baritone is less Roy Orbison, more Mark Lanegan. But the songwriting lags behind the sound. [Jun 2012, p.104]

Another gem. [Jun 2012, p.104]

A return to heavy, complex and vicious riffing, though Sam Carter's sporadically tuneful vocals still offer respite. [Jun 2012, p.100]

An utterly furious assault of gritty doom riffs and whisky-addled power, chugging, twisting and thundering with an energy the band have not found in years. [Jun 2012, p.100]

Like a musical Bill Hicks, Snider's easy humour expresses his nonetheless serious message with a grace and poignancy few can muster. [Jun 2012, p.96]

This is the work of a band who are beginning to realise they don't always need to bark so loudly to be heard. [Jun 2012, p.103]

An exquisite, unexpected gem. [Jun 2012, p.102]

Serviceable camp pop as it is, there's little here to attract anyone who hasn't already bought into Gossip. [Jun 2012, p.102]

This sequel to 2011's Interplay again taps a renewed interest in minimal wave's glacial harmonies and pattering beats... though it's the man who triumphs over the machines. [Jun 2012, p.101]

Foster's voice sounds as beautifully eerie as ever; imagine a ghost from a Deep South 78 brought back from the dead. Little else here, however, sounds avant-garde. [Jun 2012, p.101]

Ultimately, it's good to know they're out there straining every nerve, vein and eyeball, even if those who'll want to listen to it more than twice are surely few. [Jun 2012, p.101]

Fixers keep their cosmic meanderings well anchored with strong pop hooks throughout. [Jun 2012, p.101]

Fans of Fleet Foxes will find much to enjoy on his seventh album: there's a backwoods feel to much of his material and no shortage of sublime melodies. [Jun 2012, p.101]

Despite its grandiose title [the album] is actually more concerned with sound than ideas, an experiment which proves more intriguing as a concept than it does as a complete listening experience. [Jun 2012, p.100]

The relentless macho intensity would be oppressive were Hill and Morin not having so much fun pillaging everything from punk to crunk. [Jun 2012, p.100]

Choice of Weapon is absurd, brilliant and stupidly good fun. [Jun 2012, p.100]

What comes across is a band still in love with music, not necessarily their own. [Jun 2012, p.99]

This 11 track-LP is bursting with energy and invention. [Jun 2012, p.99]

Spx's voice is a thing of wonder - rich, deep and stomach-tighteningly emotional. [Jun 2012, p.99]

Music [that is] deeply evocative of sitting on a magic rug. [Jun 2012, p.99]

A wealth of quality material. [Jun 2012, p.99]

Bloom is one of those rare records that skirt close to perfection, an effortless and intriguing listen that can't help but drag a more significant audience into Bloom's orbit. [Jun 2012, p.98]

Strange, but strangely compelling, too. [Jun 2012, p.97]

Themes of fun, sun and beach-bum ennui pervade, but even if it fails to reach the summery stoner highs of their previous record, there's no denying The Only Place's indomitable West Coast pop-rock melodies and sugary thrills. [Jun 2012, p.97]

Europe is a more mainstream, although melancholy, affair, all about exile and extended youth. It's sometimes too much... But when Allo Darlin' snag hooks and get hopeful, they're wonderful. [Jun 2012, p.96]

The [album] may be icily impressive ... but long before the end you're left wishing that 2:54 would occasionally pull back the curtains and let a little sunshine in. [Jun 2012 p.96]

In the past, they have demonstrated the power to leave people flattened: Valtari, however, just falls a little flat. [Jun 2012, p.94]

Laughing Party proves a pleasing surprise. [Jun 2012, p. 104]

[Soulfly has been] churning out "world metal" for 13 years - with, it should be said, diminishing returns. [Apr 2012, P.101]

They've re-emerged, stronger, more focused and full of headspinning ideas. [May 2012, p.106]

Ultimately, 1992-2012 does its job so well that it's hard to see the point of A Collection. [Mar 2012, p.114]

While 1992-2012 is no substitute for the seamless ebb and flow of dubnobasswith myheadman and Second Toughest In the Infants, there are some glorious moments. [Mar 2012, p.114]

A lot of the songs are too eager to please... when they stop trying too hard - like on the woozy, out of phase Holes - they create something far odder and infinitely more interesting. [May 2012, p.96]

Harvieu has an energy in her music that shows that nostalgia doesn't have to chain you down. [May 2012, p.97]

It's still fun scuzzy garage rock, and that'll do for most for now. [May 2012, p.98]

If the themes ate familiar then at least Clock Opera imbue them with a twisty, nervous heroism instead of indie's usual fatalist whingeing. [May 2012, p.94]

Unafraid to be both beautiful and sad. [May 2012, p.95]

Fans will enjoy this career-spanning double live album. [Apr 2012, p.94]

A frustratingly dull affair. [May 2012, p.109]

Issues of assimilation aside, [sounding similar to Spoon] the songs are excellent. [May 2012, p.109]

At 38, Rufus's star moment appears to have finally arrived. [May 2012, p.108]

Despite moments of brilliance, at 15 songs long the self-obsession sometimes grates. [May 2012, p.108]

When he's on this sort of excitable form, no one, Albarn included can keep up. [May 2012, p.108]

Fascinating thumbnails of the blissful, abstract funk which was to come. [May 2012, p.115]

An enchanting snippet of life in the left-field. [May 2012, p.106]

Fans will crave more drones and dreaminess (Deep War and Lioness (Requium) are half-hearted attempts) and newcomers less stoner arrogance. [May 2012, p.106]

Seeker Lover Keeper is frequently less than the sum of its parts. [May 2012, p.105]

Superb. [May 2012, p.105]

Tasteful as well as gifted. [May 2012, p.105]

Saloon-bar rockers such as Split Decision sound tired and hackneyed alongside a beautifully downbeat cover of Dylan's Standing in the Doorway... the peaceful life suits her. [May 2012, p.105]

The songs here are supremely catchy and delivered with the kind of sleek sheen you'd expect from a Katy Perry or Kesha record, but it's the inventive instrumentation and surprising twists they take that give Happy To You its edge. [May 2012, p.104]

The 17 loose, grungy guitar-led songs here ... sound full of renewed energy. [May 2012, p.103]

A bewitching, urgent, magical debut. [May 2012, p.103]

Funny Girl is so good it makes you think a parallel career as huge stars ought to be in the offing. [May 2012, p.103]

Wonky restores the Hartnolls' reputation among electronic music's greats. [May 2012, p.103]

Best of all is Cruisin' FDR, which oozes carefree joie de vivre... as it transposes the Californian lifestyle to the East Coast, where even the dark sky is grey "in a beautiful way." [May 2012, p.102]

Energy levels stay firmly in the red throughout and, perhaps, unsurprisingly given the subject matter, it sounds as though the pair had enormous fun in making it. [May 2012, p.102]

Attempts to keep one foot in the streets and another in the mainstream, and largely succeeds. [May 2012, p.102]

Kwaito beats and highlife guitars mesh with hip hop and dubstep, while love songs crash into mordant political satire. [May 2012, p.102]

He's re-engaged the formula of sweet, James Taylor-ish vocals, lyrical inoffensiveness... and a laid-back Jack Johnson-like musicality where 5/6 embraces cruise ship reggae. [May 2012, p.101]

Heartbreaking Bravery's pop sensibilities take Moonface out of his bizarre world and into a place much more accessible. [May 2012, p.101]

In upbeat mode, he's made of stirring stuff, but the real wonder here is to be found when he drops a gear into hushed beauty and sun-dappled loveliness. [May 2012, p.101]

There is a prevailing, bleary charm in its warmest moments - Eveningness, White Galactic One - that make Lockett's latest well worth investing in. [May 2012, p.101]

The problem is that when they do attempt something different [as on some parts of this album] things go horribly wrong. [May 2012, p.100]

The uninitiated may find the unrelenting nerve-soothing a little too much like anaesthesia. [May 2012, p.100]

Each of the 10 songs are beautifully simple, sounding like they've been passed down in a Welsh oral tradition from generations long forgotten. [May 2012, p.100]

Feels like reconnecting with a well-loved school friend on Facebook and finding that he's barely changed his clothes, let alone his ideas: a pleasure but not quite a thrill. [May 2012, p.100]

Super absorbing. [May 2012, p.99]

It's a pleasure to get lost in. [May 2012, p.99]

While it's less draining than some of his earlier work, it still speaks the language of lamentation. [May 2012, p.99]

It sounds clever, rather than engaging. [May 2012, p.98]

[Songs] worth revelling in. [May 2012, p.98]

Even the album's most compelling moments... aren't strong enough to save it. [May 2012, p.98]

Evans the Death manage to make humdrum, everyday existence sound quite magical. [May 2012, p.96]

Mesmerising. [May 2012, p.96]

[Locked Down] offers a vivid reminder as to why his myth has endured for so long. No one else comes close to sounding like this. [May 2012, p.96]

Near-perfect "Prairie Gothic". [May 2012, p.96]

The arch, sometimes claustrophobic Macaroni demonstrates Conn's muso-like command of often juxtaposed genres. [May 2012, p.95]

Shiny slabs of US radio rock. [May 2012, p.94]

Makes a perfect case for music as therapy. [May 2012, p.91]

It's 10 years since MHS were hailed as the next big thing, and with this album MacIntyre may finally repay those hopes. [Feb 2012, p.108]

She's made an album that deserves to linger in the limelight--passionate, powerful and possessed of real star quality. [Feb 2012, p.98]

Joyously propulsive... [Yet] there's little deviation from a straightforward palette of sticky basslines and boom-bap rhythms. [May 2012, p.95]

If anything the sisters take too traditional an approach, and where their live shows are freewheeling and fun, Tell Tales sounds mannered and prim. [May 2012, p.95]

Ultimately, Iradelphic never really amounts to more than the sum of its parts. [May 2012, p.94]