The spare production on their second album is less indebted to the post-punk era. [July 2010, p. 129]

Abrasive and addictive, the duo have together discovered a chemistry that not only excites themselves, but almost anyone else who experiences it. [Aug 2010, p.122]

It's still a quietly engaguing offering blessed with a lyrical lightness and organic Tucker Martine production. [Jul 2010, p.135]

There is, too, much, that is pretty and whimsical, but less substantial. Another accomplished set, but the real Fyfe Dangerfield should stand up. [Mar 2010, p.98]

Led by the strident vocals of the younger Klara, it is, however, the strength and surprising maturity of the pair's songwriting that makes The Big Black And The Blue such an impressive first effort, not least on the gorgeous Ghost Town. [Feb 2010, p. 105]

Her debut skips frrom glam-disco and bubblegum punk, to quavering piano laments and cabaret ditties. All the while, her imaginative reach is complemented by a winning pop savviness. [Mar 2010, p.105]

Downtempo triumph from Seattle indie journeyman. [July 2010, p. 135]

Elson's theatrical but appealing voice adds genuine drama to the darkly brooding Stolen Roses, while the title track is a handsome murder ballad. [Jul 2010, p.133]

There are few voices in contemporary alt-country quite so adept at wresting consolation from the depths of despair as Hinson's sonorous baritone. [Jul 2010, p.133]

This is a fantastic record, one of the year's best, but perhaps one that suggests that Murphy has said what he needed to say. [Jun 2010, p.122]

Infinite Arms benefits from a mixture of expansive pondering--Factory, for example, coul easily become a staple of emotive TV dramas--and such lonely romance as Way Back Home, which twinkles like fireflies. [Jun 2010, p.129]

Fans will debate stand-outs but Brothers will shiver the spine of anyone in love with unsanitised rock'n'roll. [Jun 2010, p.128]

Though his voice remains vintage, his creative spirit has been rejuvenated. [Jul 2010, p.127]

Often sad yet always warmly sympathetic, it's a well-weighted, smartly observed collection of attractive pop. [Jun 2010, p.132]

Having been dumped by their label, and in turn voluntarily dumped this scheduled third record's first draft, Simon Franks and Tom Disdale have taken their time, entice Madness's Suggs and Mike Barson into cameos and emergwed altogether stronger. [May 2010, p.112]

Stick to the main text: until they invent time travel, there's no better way to inhale the decadent air of the early '70s. [Jun 210, p.137]

Reggae-rap soundclash fails to catch fire. [July 2010, p. 136]

I Got Your Number is a sexy, snarling glam rocker, Wonder recalls Smashing Pumpkins at their sunniest and Stuck In A Rut has the strut of prime-time Black Crowes. [Dec 2009, p. 110]

A delightfully different gang of fuzzy funk rapscallions. A solution worth soluting. [Jun 2010, p.118]

High Voilolet features 11 tracks; five are good, six extraordinary. [Jun 2010, p.116]

The eight tracks and 31 minutes of the Night Train EP/mini-album, recorded during the Pefect Symmetry tour, should sate the faithful. [Jun 2100, p.127]

Latin, their third album, turbo-charges post-punk, lolloping Karutrock and primitive electro.

Largely the results are first-rate. [Jun 2010, p.132]

It's a qualified success, he rocks harder here than he has done for years, but there's still plenty of fat left to trim from the bloated ballads. [May 2010, p.121]

The vibe remians woebegone but with the combination of lush arrangements and gallows wit add layers of transcendence previously only hinted at. [Jun 2010, p.131]

Thier fourth album is a step back in the right direction. [Jun 2010, p.120]

His fourth album finds him backed by a band for the first time, and collaborating with songwriters. The result sit somwhere between Buck 65 and Everlast, alebeit more erudite lyrically. [July 2010]

Sparky debut from trio in thrall to US post-hardcore. [July 2010, p. 135]

Alt-rock supergroup create new genre: stoner AOR. [July 2010, p. 132]

Not as instant as the old stuff, but there's more substance here. [Apr 2010, p.116]

Heaven Is Whenever proves The Hold Steady are capable of messing with the script without diminishing their core appeal. [Jun 2010, p.125]

Your Future Our Clutter is the Fall's finest in years. [Jun 2010, p.133]

They pare their sound back to delicate guitar work, shimmering ambience and heart-tugging harmonies, making them now as easy to love as admire. [Jun 2010, p.120]

Fans of experimetal electronica will be [happy], though Radiohead devotees should exercise caution. [Jun 2010, p.124]

In its crunchy guitars, rich harmonies and fist-pumping choruses, there's a warmth and positivity that, while occasionally too smooth, shows an admirable disregard for current trends. [Jun 2010, p.128]

As armistice appears to exist on this sixth album; the more ethereal elements of the band's sound have been reined in, but so has much of the agresion, resulting in a smoother ride that allows Moreno's melodic ear to shine and seduce. [Jun 2010, p.123]

It's the interplay of textures and surfaces that facinates, only faltering on the choice of guest vocalists. [Jun 2010, p.120]

Essentially, it's another Dixie Chicks record with Robison's more expressive vocals replacing Maines's twang. [July 2010, p. 129]

A rewarding curio. [July 2010, p. 128]

The dense guitars and plaid shirts scream "grunge redux," but the attitude is pure hair metal circa 1987. [Aug 2010, p.116]

Wordy troubadour's sixth and finest effort. [Sept. 2010, p. 118]

Naturally, they can't resist chopping and changing course at the drop of a hat, but the melodic sheen clearly serves notice of more mainstream intent. [Oct 2010, p.120]

Though not without charm. thier debut rarely yields anything distinctive. [Apr 2010, p.120]

The main impression left by Nobody's Daughter represents no great surprise: that for all her raging intelligence, Courtney Love is only as good as her collaborators. [Jun 2010, p.121]

This third album won't appease the doubters, the sound of their previous Billboard chart-crashing album now polished until it gleams like chrome. [Jun 2010, p.120]

Emphathetic, female-friendly and always one step removed from the Nashville machine, Carpenter brought a welcome touch of class to country music in the early '90s. Though she's nowhere near the force of yore, those same attributes shine through on The Age of Miracles. [Jun 2010, p.132]

There's a human message: No matter where you are, the party's what you make of it. [Jul 2010, p.124]

The four-piece, fronted by Valerie Trebeljahr, rarely ever risk bereaking a sweat on Our Inventions. Theirs is a world where icy electro clicks and surges in sublime slow-mo. [May 2010, p.122]

There's a brief slump with One Last's fey melodies, but it's not enough to derail proceedings. A serious talented young band. [Jun 2010, p.119]

It's unswervingly catchy stuff. [Aug 2010, p.116]

At its worst Etheridge is a sub-Springsteen mistress of the lyrically obvious. But when she hitches a poetic directness to a thumping tune on The Wanting Of You and Company, she's in a league of her impassioned own. [Aug 200, p.119]

Soulful debut from Omaha's answer to Duffy. [July 2010, p. 136]

There's nothing of similarly instant appeal [of 'Torn'] to be found on Come To Life, despite the presense of three tracks co-written by Chris Martin. [Nov 2009, p.114]

Nothing quite matches that burst of bile ['Crying Blood'], but the title track--choir and all--is heavenly. [Jul 2009, p.118]

An impressive album with lovely songs, but greater originality is needed. [Apr 2010, p.112]

Priapic pub rock of the very highest voltage. [Apr 2010, p.106]

For all her searing honesty and her undisputed craft, her voice is too frigid too often and she seems strangely melody-phobic. [Apr 2010, p.119]

As mesmerising as it is innovative, Swim is a record you want to dive in to. [May 2010, p.120]

It's a flabbergasting, intense album that demands intense listening. [May 2010, p.123]

My Best friend Is You fall over itself to broaden Nash's bard-of-the-piano template. [May 2010, p.113]

He's back where he really belongs with the T-Bone Burnett-produced Country Music. [Jun 2010, p.132]

Inevitably, the revolution zeal dissipates, but their crowd-pleasing instincts remian intact. [May 2010, p.117]

Immaculately crafted, and with a smattering of good songs, it's also disappointingly samey, with all too little standing out and demanding to be heard. [May 2010, p.125]

It offers some crunchy, very manly rocking, with riffs, choruses, everything. [May 2010, p.126]

Unashamedly and undeniably in the thrall to '70s pop, The Apples In Stereo have a merry tune in their hearts. [July 2010, p. 128]

As the tempo drops, however, their shortcomings as songwriters become obvious. [Aug 2010, p.124]

Gifted '60s casualty delivers first record in 14 years. [July 2010, p. 131]

Shelby struggles to get her dues outside conventional country circles, but Tears, Lies And Alibis is far from conventional. [Nov 2010, p.111]

The album evokes not claustrophobia but space and freedom: an exhilarating screw-the-consequences leap into the bizarre. [May 2010, p.110]

There may be tears if he later goes elctric, but for now this falls just the right side of pastiche. [May 2010, p.127]

Newcomers might well benefit from starting nearer the beginning, but this is one space saga that's worth persevering with. [Jun 2010, p.120]

With Amidon's intimate, unshowy voice inderpinned nu melodic, folky guitars, minimal electronics and elegant strings of post-classical arranger Nico Mulhy, its ability to beguile is considerable. [May 2010, p. 112]

His fifth album is typically protean. [May 2010, p.118]

A highly original two-disc set that as precious as it sounds, adpats poems from such diverse sources as ee cummings ans Gerald Manley Hopkins. [May 2010, p.124]

This freewheeling third record is picthed just the right side of sobriety. [May 2010, p.112]

His first studio album in sedven years is an indigestible hotchpotch containing everything from heavier-than-thou riffing to ill-judged tilt at Puccini's Nessun Dorma. [May 2010, p.126]

Orkenvandring and Sauerkraut evoke the motorik thrum and ringing guitar melodies of Neu!, splashed with Balearic colour and cloosely attuned to the squishy ambience of the hour just before dawn. [May 2010, p.125]

The vindication of this luxury raw Power is it bestows still greater kudos on Ron's band. [Jun 2010, p.140]

Fans of Owl City and The Postal Service will relish such good clean fun, quite literally when Dadone warbles, "Don't let the bathwater get too high" on Starring. [Oct 2010, p.107]

Yet for all Stride's laddishness, this is a sophisticated album that never coasts or repeats itself. Making pop sound this effortless, this joyous, is no easy task. [May 2010, p.124]

When backing singer Becky Jacob's voice is brought tot he fore, it wraps around Linday's like a warm hug, leaving you feeling that Tunng are the band you'd most like to watch sunrise over the stone circle with. [Apr 2010, p.114]

On I Speak Because I Can, her great leap forward after 2008's captivating Mercury-nominated debut, Marling deploys an archaic folk patois with convincing gravitas. [Apr 2010, p.118]

Turns out that melancholy is his band's key constiturnt, however for without it the result is a bit too sugary. [Apr 2010, p.112]

Here Lies Love stacks up as an oddly entertaining, off-beat treat. [May 2010, p.126]

It's good, but then again no better than a genuine, crackly, long-forgotten B-side or buried album track that a specialist reissue label might have unearthed. And there, ultimately is the rub. [Jun 2010, p.127]

While it won't lift him beyond cult status, it's typically enjoyable. [Apr 2010, p.112]

For their sixth album, the quintet have finally made theor cranky Americana into fully fledged classic rock. [May 2010, p.118]

Now fully reinvented as a quietly reflective singer-songwriter blessed with good taste and emotional insight, his second solo album, Women And Country, is more than worthy of the family name. [Jun 2010, p.132]

It's simple fare, true, but wholly enjoyable for it. [Jun 2010, p.124]

The result is disjointed but fun--and way more entertaining than Chinese Democracy. [Jun 2010, p.131]

There's nothing here that hasn't been heard before from countless others, but it's put together with impeccable taste and--importantly--a skilled ear for a tune. [May 2010, p.118]

Outbursts sees them returned to a duo and the acoustic cut'n'thrust of old. [Apr 2010, p.120]

Like most of his albums of the last decade, NonStopErotik covers all his stylistic bases. [May 2010, p.115]

Three Wu-Tang MCs join forces; bring the pain. [July 2010, p. 136]

There are slamming riffs to be found, but they're still wrapped within synaspse-melting mathcore that requires a PhD to genuinely appreciate. [May 2010, p.112]

Coconut is overly polite by comparison to 2006's Derdang Derdang. [Apr 2010, p.106]

Mostly this is the swingingest easy-listening country you can shake a cocktail at. [May 2010, p.127]

Ten Thousand and One Injuries works best when the frenetic pace eases up a little. [May 2010, p.122]