Shows that they can still craft radio-friendly rock with aplomb. [May 2012, p.93]

Fizzing with ideas, their future looks bright. [May 2012, p.93]

Fans of No Age and Best Coast will recognize the formula here - but what the band lack in originality they compensate for in energetic spark. [May 2012, p.93]

A concentrated shot of charisma, undiluted and intoxicating. [May 2012, p.92]

Memphis soul is tapped by JTE ... the regret and pain of his songs harking back to the days when drugs had him thrown out of his father's band. [May 2012, p.91]

A record that is a highly-concentrated shot of sound. You might lose your mind, but Black Dice never lose the plot. [May 2012, p.91]

ILY,IC is marred by the wrong kind of heaviness: Jon Philpot's ponderous vocals or the histrionic art-school thump of Idle Heart and Kiss Me Crazy are reminders that there are other bands (School of Seven Bells, Active Child) doing this sort of dark drama with more guile. [May 2012, p.91]

Too often the reworkings of the songs are either not different enough, or ... just plain boring. [May 2012, p.91]

The [same] sort of Clash-meets-Green Day agit-protest skate-punk Anti-Flag have been making since 1996. [May 2012, p.90]

In accommodating all those guests Mariam too often has to take a back seat, so destroying much of the couple's special chemistry, the very thing that sets them apart. [May 2012, p.90]

Alabama Shakes' nods to vocal giants past never overshadow the fact that their music has a raw, aggressive style that is completely their own. [May 2012, p.90]

While the grooves here prove to be equally minimal [to Headhunter], his debut LP is driven by a febrile, wildstyle energy at odds with dubstep's cavernous soundscapes. [May 2012, p.90]

If surprises on Intersection are few, even rarer are the disappointments. [Mar 2012, p.105]

Sadly most of these forgettable songs tend to evaporate on impact. [Apr 2012, p.101]

Dead Set On Living is gritty, punk-metal. [May 2012, p.94]

Leaving no room for nuance,it's a relentlessly dark wall of sonic aggression. [Apr 2012, p.101]

Mountain Echo isn't original, but Marie's voice oozes control vulnerability. [Apr 2012, p.98]

Father Creeper proves ambitious, but it's easy to get lost amid the clatter of African rhythm. [Apr 2012, p.98]

The songs themselves, delivered via polished neo-soul and roots-reggae arrangements, seldom push beyond the retro comfort zone. [Apr 2012, p.98]

The Keychain Collection isn't far removed from James Blake, though the subtle melodies are all his own. [Apr 2012, p.98]

DVA's full-length debut Pretty Ugly feels more late night than early morning, cutting a swathe through dubstep, future soul and jittery electronica. [Apr 2012, p.98]

An astonishing, envelope-pushing vision that mocks the idea of bluegrass being a revival genre. [Apr 2012, p.94]

MDNA's dirty dozen rank it her best since, in all sincerity, the career high of 1998's Ray Of Light itself. [May 2012, p.88]

Packed with songs of delicious but unsettling despair. [Apr 2012, p.98]

More cultured chill-out from the East London alchemists. [Feb 2012, p.110]

It's Envy's quietest moment, a hazy cover of Bowie's Letter To Hermione, which is the real diamond in the rough here. [Apr 2012, p.105]

There are so many ideas battling it out here it takes numerous listens to make sense of it, but persevere and this is perhaps their strongest set to date. [Apr 2012, p.101]

Weirdly timeless, even now. [Feb 2012, p.117]

As albums by models go, it's a blinder. [April 2012, p106]

This is a starry-eyed celebration of yearning on a US factory floor, as idealised by British spa town punks. [April 2012, 105]

It's a little one-paced and unlikely to win prizes for originality, but King Con has enough kooky charm to entertain, if not enchant. [April 2012, p.107]

Glistening, handcrafted pop. [April 2012, p.106]

An altogether more polished affair [than debut, Good Evening]. [April 2012, p.106]

They've kept their distinctive sound. [April 2012, p.106]

It's not all politico-provocation; pretty duet Honeysuckle and minimalist piano ballad The Oldness counterbalance the more outspoken moments nicely. [April 2012, p.107]

Quirky nods to power pop, jazz, and even sci-fi dub suggest a restless, Beck-like future. [April 2012, p.107]

They've still got the moves. [April 2012, p.106]

Jannis Noya Makrigiannis clearly has his own agenda allowing his haunting songs to develop at leisure. [Apr 2012, p.106]

Deftly blending the celebratory and contemplative, Bainbridge has created a dance album that works as much on the mind as on the body. [Apr 2012, p.99]

Like over-keen Masterchef contestants, they chuck everything onto the plate to show off their skills, resulting in a charmless mess of congealed ideas. [April 2012, p.105]

Tennis' obvious strength is in their constant stream of deftly-executed melodies. [April 2012, p.105]

This wonderfully bleak record exists in a cocoon of early-hours introspection, with melancholy guitars rippling around the pair's half-whispered vocals. [April 2012, p.105]

Forget diminishing returns, The Something Rain keeps Tindersticks' value high. [April 2012, p.105]

[Common] delivers something fresh and vibrant by applying his seasoned skills to old-school breaks, classic hooks and a measure of eclecticism. [April 2012, p.104]

A tad more focus and she'll be there. [April 2012, p.102]

A rich and varied album, fans of Sonic Youth's less abrasive, song-based output of recent years will find much to savor here. [April 2012, p.102]

He never strays outside his comfort zone, but the strongest moments ... have a familiar charm. [April 2012, p.102]

Uncomfortably personal, but it sounds irresistible. [April 2012, p.102]

Still on polyhedric form. [April 2012, p.102]

A spontaneous, short, sharp stab of a record but one that might have been great had it not sounded so rushed. [April 2012, p.101]

It's lacking some of his scabrous wit, but this is Merritt's most enjoyable album for years. [April 2012, p.101]

You'll have to search long and hard for a more original and distinctive album this year. [April 2012, p.100]

While they chug along merrily, they lack the great songs that would distinguish them from the herd. [April 2012, p.98]

Another quirky, engaging curio.[April 2012, p.98]

It's beguilingly slapdash, but its brevity - seven songs in 23 minutes - nonetheless makes this a frustrating listen. [April 2012, p.98]

An album rich in kaleidoscopic colour to contrast the diluted greys of its sleeve, marked with the expert touch of true masters of their art. [April 2012, p.96]

Field's tough but tender holler, adventurous arrangements and razor-sharp rhythms combine to ensure these breezy tributes to Motown, classic rock, and psychedelic soul always hit the right note. [April 2012, p.94]

United as a trio, their talents flare up to blinding effect. [April 2012, p. 94]

Powerful, atmospheric, but not for the fainthearted. [April 2012, p.94]

Fizzes with poppy yet streetwise energy. [April 2012, p.94]

There is a uniform strength to its material... Wrecking Ball doesn't have a dud. [April 2012, p.92]

This mix of fearlessness, craft and believability is irresistible. [April 2012, p.90]

There's no faulting the brilliant playing, but by restricting themselves to exploring a fairly unevolved musical form they forever repeat its limitations. [April 2012, p.90]

It retains the same soft, celestial charm that has lit up the songwriter's earlier releases, merging classical strings, gentle guitars and subtle electronics. [April 2012, p.90]

Elegant strings and bass, recorded by pianist and composer Hauschka, creep like ivy around this all-consuming debut. [April 2012, p.90]

Their rough edged-folk has been planed a little smoother, and a breakthrough seems feasible. [April 2012, p.90]

Hypnotic electronic grooves. [April 2012, p.90]

Having been criticized for lacking emotional resonance with his lyrics, Bird addresses the problem [here]. Worth the wait. [April 2012, p.90]

[An] accomplished work of depth and distinction. [April 2012, p.88]

A Victim Of Stars is the ideal primer to an almost three-decade solo career, with the bait of one impeccable new track. [Mar 2012, p.117]

It bristles with roaring guitars and the whiskey-guzzling howl of Ben Ward. [Mar 2012, p.105]

Their debut drips confidence, Mary's glass-shattering whoops and wordless exhortations on Long Highway and Try Colour set against the sort of brooding, stadium rock riffs even the Edge hasn't dared use since The Joshua Tree. [April 2012, p.98]

Derivative, but there's artistry and some rattling tunes among the noise and confusion. [March 2012, p.112]

Simultaneously melancholy and charming.[March 2012, p.112]

The lean on their punk metal roots as rawness and straightforward riffing dominate in an album that, despite missing Keenan, does recall their early-'80s heft. [Mar 2012, p.105]

They try full blown techno, then revert to indie dance type, suggesting they are still too esoteric to cross over, but, even so, this record widen their appeal. [Feb 2012, p.111]

Utilitarian is hardly an artistic leap yet is indisputably still Napalm Death. [Mar 2012, p.105]

Far from being aural wallpaper, this is ambient music that's both engaging and engrossing. [Mar 2012, p.112]

The instrumentals can feel sketchy, but the vocal tracks shine. [Mar 2012, p.106]

Tauter, tighter and leaner, it's at its best when epic choruses collide with soaring guitars. [Mar 2012, p.105]

Andrea Ferro's growls and Cristina Scabbia's soaring melodies just about rescues this from sounding as dated as its influences. [Feb 2012, p.107]

It's quite brilliant. [Jan 2012, p.124]

The sequel gets off to a spotty start with lightweight songwriting and dated production....The '00 material, however, represents a creative revival. [Mar 2012, p.117]

What this collection leaves you wanting--and what Goldfrapp do most wonderfully--is weirdness. [Mar 2012, p.116]

The harmonies never reach the heights of say, Toro Y Moi--though Night In The Ocean's fusion of hip-hop thud and buzzing shoegaze guitars shows a welcome willingness to try. [Mar 2012, p.113]

An arresting record for challenging times. [Mar 2012, p.113]

[Producer Andrew Weatherall] helped bring out a kind of claustrophobic, harmonic distortion. [Mar 2012, p.113]

The sheer volume of ideas bustles everything along. [Mar 2012, p.113]

Touring with Coldplay have clearly done little to dim the scale of Meiburg's ambitions. [Mar 2012, p.112]

He likes to temper the euphoria with a much darker undertow. [Mar 2012, p.112]

Without breaking any new ground, Glowing Mouth shows there's a bit more of them than that [sounding like Coldplay's Chris Martin]. [Mar 2012, p.112]

Groundbreaking and mind-boggling. [Mar 2012, p.111]

It makes for an affecting, beautifully measured, very grown-up affair. [Mar 2012, p.111]

The idea of crossing over is approached like somebody running onto a motorway wearing a blindfold. [Mar 2012, p.111]

Not everything works, but there's a painful honesty throughout that befits a songwriter with no desire to lapse into a complacent middle age. [Mar 2012, p.111]

He beefs up his sound with thumping drums and strings and what emerges sounds epic in comparison. [Mar 2012, p.111]

Opener Into the Night sets the tine with its robotic glitterball soul music, while Undecided fantastically tweaks the Roland 303 to Olympian levels of ecstasy. [Mar 2012, p.111]

The Internet still feels like an important first step, not only for its willingness to test the limits of current hip hop/R&B, but as proof that Odd Future is more than just a one-man show. [Mar 2012, p.108]