Glover's wit and dexterity confirm he's the real deal. [Jan. 2012 p. 119]

A series of shiveringly atmospheric compositions that will appeal to fans of Godspeed You! Black Emperor.[Jan. 2012 p. 119]

Oldham has been so far ahead of the folksy Americana pack for so long that it now sounds like he's even caught up with himself. [Jan. 2012 p. 119]

The songs are embedded with reflection and romance... This is how Christmas records are really done. [Jan. 2012 p. 118]

Ultimately Smile is a case of what might have been, and after all this time that's probably only to be expected. [Dec. 2011 p. 140]

Disc five means you can now hear it in its aborted "quadrophonic" surround sound mix. [Dec. 2011 p. 145]

This reissue underlines how much Achtung Baby's high-wire triumph owed to an era in flux and it's as excessive as it needs to be. [Dec. 2011 p. 138]

This debut collection of lo-fi chillwave-esque electronics and introspective song fragments locates itself deftly between Animal Collective's strung-out post-rock and the drum machine-powered sketches of Casiotone For The Painfully Alone.[Dec. 2011 p. 137]

Anyone able to go to sleep without checking the wardrobe for monsters is unlikely to find much of interest here. [Dec. 2011 p. 137]

Rizzle Kicks are a pop prospect with a winning charm you just can't teach. [Dec. 2011 p. 137]

A roaring cosmic-rock romp, equal parts Muse-esque space station stomps and jitterbug Krautrock rhythmics. [Dec. 2011 p. 137]

A giddy blend of nostalgia and invention that'll do just fine for starters. [Dec. 2011 p. 136]

There are moments of exquisite melancholy to treasure. [Dec. 2011 p. 136]

The Devil's Rain is very silly indeed. [Dec. 2011 p. 136]

A collection of loose - in fact, very loose - rock-n-roll with at least one foot in the '60s. [Dec. 2011 p. 136]

New Blood again finds him working with a full orchestra, this time on selections from his own back catalogue. [Dec. 2011 p. 136]

As long as you're up for more mood and texture experiments there's plenty of interest. [Dec. 2011 p. 135]

A charming little diversion from the cares of the modern world. [Dec. 2011 p. 135]

Beyond the just-add-tears euphoria it also shows a band capable of a rawness that their self-created, slightly precious, image masks. [Dec. 2011 p. 135]

Fallen Empires is typically and unashamedly arena-friendly bombast ... leavened by leader Gary Lightbody's often appealing insecurity.[Dec. 2011 p. 134]

When Green is good here, he is very good, and the mis-steps are minor niggles.[Dec. 2011 p. 132]

Humor Risk is another casually monumental achievement from one of the great singer-songwriters of the day. [Dec. 2011 p. 130]

There's a welcome '60s pop feel to the material, proof that Lynne doesn't need anyone else to show her how it should be done. [Dec. 2011 p. 129]

It's focused, punchy and beautifully poetic. [Dec. 2011 p. 129]

There's enough to help fans rekindle the love affair. [Dec. 2011 p. 129]

Dense swirls of electronic noise, baleful, twanging gothic country guitars, lyrics that never quite reveal some horrifying secret - fans of Lynch's films with find themselves on familiar ground. [Dec. 2011 p. 129]

To hard-hitting R&B and funk akin to God Foot-era James Brown, Jones can strip paint and soothe with equal aplomb. [Dec. 2011 p. 129]

If an album's ever demanded the description "plangent" or "mellifluous", it's here. [Dec. 2011 p. 128]

His debut combines melodic dubstep with a dose of Timbaland-style R&B. [Dec. 2001 p. 127]

Imagination and maturity abound, energy less so, although it bodes well for the next album. [Dec. 2001 p. 127]

A bright and breezy sophomore that occasionally hints at darker themes. [Dec. 2001 p. 127]

They don't sustain the quality of songwriting throughout, but this is a promising start.

Boundless and ecstatic, this is house music at its very best. [Dec. 2001 p. 126]

He's turned his back on electro flourishes in favour of a melodic approach... It works. [Dec. 2001 p. 126]

The sound is at once distinctively British and uniquely African, encompassing vivid live field recordings and heavily processed electronica. [Dec. 2001 p. 126]

Both Ways Open jaws is just smug enough for you to wish it was wired shut. [Dec. 2001 p. 125]

Harper recreated herself as a sultry electro diva ... it's a role she plays with panache on this full-length debut. [Dec. 2001 p. 125]

There is only one real slip - Stephen Fry's mood shattering appearance on the title track. [Dec. 2001 p. 123]

Truly, Believers is nothing short of divine. [Dec. 2001 p. 123]

Some tracks are more outre than others... but throughout his sustained, idiosyncratic vision is absorbing. [Dec. 2001 p. 123]

Getting close to these chilly, inscrutable songs is like trying to hug statuary, but their marbled beauty is impressive all the same. [Dec. 2011 p. 123]

By packing 21 tracks onto a half-hour running time, he never gets stuck too long in one grove. [Sep 2011, p.104]

It's his intermittent, embarrassing rapping [that is the problem]. [Oct 2011, p.113]

At 14 tracks long, it could have done with some editing: there are too many soggy R&B diversions. [Oct 2011, p.113]

Their debut album marks a major hike in ambition. [Sep 2011, p.116]

Occasionally it's so insane that you can't help but be swept along with it. Mostly, however, it's so over the top the more likely reaction is to run it off and make sure you don't hear it again in a hurry. [Dec. 2011 p. 122]

Ceremonials is quite some achievement: an accomplished pop record infused with intelligence and imagination... It offers the final, conclusive evidence that she's a pop star to believe in. [Dec. 2011 p. 118]

Techno meets dubstep in this dark twist on electronica. [Dec. 2011, p. 126]

There's preciousness here, but so what? Craftmen out to care. [Sep 2011, p.114]

His music might be expertly crafted in a bland, jazzy kind of way, but ... it still ends up being mainly about him. [Nov. 2011, p. 149]

Occasional voyages into proggy oddness (Future Crimes)bring some esoteric intrigue to their indie insouciance, but, ultimately, this band wants you to have as much fun as they so clearly are. [Nov. 2011, p. 143]

All told, this is a mind-blowing and powerfully emotional album, however you (or she) want to label it. [Nov. 2011, p. 143]

This world music/indie rock mix is countered by the affecting melancholy of their quieter moments. [Nov. 2011, p. 143]

Suffice to say, the issues addressed here are as big as the music. [Nov. 2011, p. 142]

Their vampiric draining of the past cleverly becomes an energizing indie infusion. [Nov. 2011, p. 142]

Lonely, Dear offers another helping of sweet melancholy on Hall Music. [Nov. 2011, p. 142]

Punching way above her 20 years, like a wild child Loretta Lynn, it's the sort of country music that belongs in those dives where they've got chicken wire to stop the flying glass. [Nov. 2011, p. 142]

It's all pleasant enough, but sadly, there's too little here to set the pulse racing. [Nov. 2011, p. 140]

While it's impossible to shrug off the feeling they've been here before, [Inside The Ships] remains involving. [Nov. 2011, p. 140]

Having already been feted by everyone from Thom Yorke to Mark Ronson, this second album arrives with an infectious gait that's nigh-impossible to resist. [Nov. 2011, p. 140]

If last year's Spanish El Turista was Josh Rouse embracing his new European home with a vengeance, this time around he's deployed his resources with more subtlety and made a better record. [Nov. 2011, p. 140]

While Josh Davis has valiantly refused to photocopy his pioneering 1996 debut Endtroducing, this fourth album could use its mystery and cohesion. [Nov. 2011, p. 139]

Scintilli slowly builds an all-absorbing world, [with] tension between fear and beauty. [Nov. 2011, p. 139]

This latest offering from former Hare Krishna disciples Taraka and Nimai Larson finds the Brooklyn-based sisters in typically mind-altering mood. [Nov. 2011, p. 139]

If Pajama Club resembles anything, it's a Neil Finn solo album, although Dead Leg and Can't Put It Down Until It Ends are as well-crafted as anything he's offered since Crowded House's pomp. [Nov. 2011, p. 139]

This follow up to Psychic Chasms displays similarly exhilarating aural ambitions. [Nov. 2011, p. 139]

The third album from James Morrison isn't the musical enlightenment that its title suggests, but rather another sturdy, if predictable, collection of soul-tinged, Radio-2 friendly pop tunes. [Nov. 2011, p. 139]

Toronto outfit, The Weekend, have been hailed as one of the most exciting new sounds in modern R&B -- hype that, on the basis of this equally startling follow-up, seems entirely justified. [Nov. 2011, p. 138]

Here, at last again, is the Ryan Adams of Heartbreaker - creating a uniformly strong collection of songs, singular in mood, each articulated by a voice that, whilst more lived in, remains a lovely instrument. [Nov. 2011, p. 137]

Monkeytown presents mutated dance music, ranging from satirical mutoid rap, warehouse ragga and even jump-up ambient. [Nov. 2011, p. 136]

Classy cross-pollination of techno and dubstep.[Nov. 2011, p. 136]

With Mariachi El Bronx II, the Mexican wing of The Bronx have moved swiftly to reinforce their authenticity. [Nov. 2011, p. 136]

Gonzales works with subsonic electronics, shoegazey ambiance and lush orchestration to create a wildly ambitious, often visionary record. [Nov. 2011, p. 136]

This is a thrash of real poise: precise, inventive and recklessly fast when necessary. [Nov. 2011, p. 135]

The Hunter represents them at both their most concise and their thrilling best. [Nov. 2011, p. 135]

A warm, spirited pop record that holds its own against everything else in their canon. [Nov. 2011, p. 134]

It's not that Audio, Video, Disco isn't on several occasions, a blast; it's that it's a blast from the past.[Nov. 2011, p. 132]

Bad As Me is as accessible as it is intelligent. At their heart, these are classic pop songs. That they're coated with his trademark wonder and weirdness makes them more special still. [Nov. 2011, p. 130]

It's heavy stuff, and there is a real rawness at the heart of standouts Where I Found You, Before The Bridge, Give Us The Wind and The Great Fire - all a little hard to swallow at first, but ultimately quite remarkable. [Nov. 2011, p. 128]

While the country-slanted Keeper doesn't stray far musically from what's gone before, the mood is more upbeat. [Nov. 2011, p. 128]

Long thought missing in action, it's good to report that his first album in more than a decade finds him in surprisingly rude health. [Nov. 2011, p. 128]

It's stunning stuff. The bar for the next Grizzly Bear album, already high after Veckatimist, is raised another notch. [Nov. 2011, p. 128]

Jessie, "The Devil" Hughes merges tub-thumping keyboards, '70s glam stomp and the sense that music making is a bit of a hoot on his solo debut. [Nov. 2011, p. 128]

This third full-length solo record is a rich blend of different genres that, despite its rampant eclecticism, never jars. [Nov. 2011, p. 128]

Big Troubles' flair for offsetting a gritty riff with a mesh of melodies is showcased throughout. [Nov. 2011, p.127]

There's a little more in the mix here [than in her solo debut album], dabs of lap steel on Babylon and elsewhere, gentle harp flourishes on Song For Next Summer, but this is barely less lovely than its predecessor. [Nov. 2011, p. 127]

Black Rainbows is the right album at the right moment. With its rich, layered sound and its hugely enjoyable preening, it is unashamedly Suede-esque. [Nov. 2011, p. 127]

Recalling Kate Bush and the enigmatic chamber music of Penguin Cafe and North Sea Radio Orchestras, the way is full of mystic visions, and the deathly conclusion is bittersweet. [Nov. 2011, p. 127]

The most powerful moments are frequently the most stripped-down, underlying the fact that Feist is surely one of the best singers working today. [Nov. 2011, p. 126]

Formerly one of the finest melodicists of his generation, this assured debut secures his position as one of our finest artists. [Nov. 2011, p. 124]

Music this uplifting, this inspirational, belongs among the stars. [Dec 2011, p.120]

Well-intentioned, no doubt, but it's a clunky, unconvincing listen where even the few musical highlights are far between. [Oct 2011, p.130]

The bombast is blunted by a lyrical clumsiness, but if you've stopped to analyse them, then you've already missed the point of The Subways' exuberant pep. [Oct 2011, p.130]

It's a mixed listen. [Oct 2011, p.128]

Another great find from Bella Union, there's not a weak moment on this engaging debut. [Oct 2011, p.124]

[Mangini's] speed is not in much evidence on A Dramatic Turn of Events, though, where prog-metal riffs give way far too easily to pianos and technical indulgence. [Oct 2011, p.120]

There's something ageless about these songs that make them art-school tasteful rather than genuinely unsettling. [Oct 2011, p.112]

Biophilia is a wonderful record in the most literal sense; it overflows with wonder. [Oct 2011, p.111]