It may ultimately be as disposable as dime-store popping candy, its sugar rush still hits the spot. [Nov 2008, p.107]

This solid--if unspectacular--sixth managed a very respectable Number 3 (on the Billboard charts). [Nov 2008, p.107]

Producer Joe Henry has softened the originals' raw edges without compromising their acidic content. [Oct 2008, p.152]

His pure delivery--he scales the heights, but never over-sings--and cryptic/mystic worldview are still the main attractions. [Dec. 2008, p.100]

Licensed to offend, he's as pumped-up and provocative as ever. [Nov 2008, p.121]

Wearing their influences as badges of honour, the New Jersey quartet blast out affecting, soulful punk rock strewn with bitterweet memories of small-town blue-collar America. [Sep 2008]

This broadens his musical palette, with digi-dub, moody techno and deranged dubstep adding weight to Martin's winning sonic menagerie. [Aug 2008, p.132]

Fasciination is supposed to sum up their entire ethos, then it is as a quasi-futuristic act wrapped in BacoFoil. [Nov 2008, p.114]

'Midnight's' gut-wrenching sight of an ex not leaving a party alone is a case in point, but any of one of these 10 tracks is equally illuustrative. [Mar 2009, p.93]

Waiting for the Sunrise is a blissful alt-country album where the Hammond organ swells and pulses like it's being tickled by Al Kooper. [Oct 2008, p.152]

Squally closer 'The Dome' aside, he has a surprisingly light voice and--especially on the straight country of 'Doreen' and poppy 'The Banquet Styx'--a deft musical touch. [Oct 2008, p.152]

It's intimate, folkie, more Anglo than Mojave 3, not at all Slowdivey. [Dec 2008, p.108]

This eccentric experiment from indie-dance pioneer Steve Mason sees him embracing the '80s with fervour. [Aug 2008, p.132]

The gamble has paid off in a sometimes challenging but constantly rewarding musical odyssey. [July 2008, p.96]

Foward Russia! drop the post punk sound and art-school posing in favour of an emo reinvention.... It works best when they don't overcook it. [May 2008, p.134]

The truth is that Youngblood writes terrific, instantly memorable pop songs, their fashionable new-wave cool rubbing against an urgent, almost disco undertow. [Aug 2008, p.141]

There's no denying that CSS have grown in songwriting flair and musical sophistication. Unfortunately, this seems to have come at the expense of raw energy and quirky character. [Aug 2008, p.133]

Harmless fluff. [Nov 2008, p.114]

Something... is sumptuously produced art-rock, heavily influenced by Sonic Youth and Dinosaur, Jr., but presented with a fresh-faced optimism. [Sep 2008, p.141

There is the sense that with 25 tracks on offer here Hughes is spreading himself slightly too thinly. [Jan 2009, p.118]

Beautiful Future isn't quite as onsistent as it could be. [Aug 2008, p.138]

Stay Positive isn't so much of an instant gratification, but a record that reveals more with each listen. [Aug 2008, p.131]

Pleasingly, this is the Wire's best new music since their glory days in the late '70s. [Aug 2008, p.145]

As the title implies, it tackles the big issues, sometimes at the expense of melody, but there's a handful of very fine songs here. [Nov 2008, p.118]

At times, they still stray into Nirvana territory, particularly on 'Braindead,' but they do so with enough brio to get away with it. [Nov 2008, p.123]

The slacker boy wonder has grown up to be a man on a new mission. [Aug 2008, p.134]

It builds upn the spirit that made his debut, "Yours To Keep," so warm. [Aug 2008, p.136]

This good-humoured set is sometimes a little too comfortable, but it's hard to gripe when they play Hoagy Carmichael songs 'Stardust' and 'Georgia On My Mind.' [Aug 2008, p.140]

The disco squelch and vocoder melodies of Falcon Jab recall Discovery-era Daft Punk, but what gives this an extra dimension and warmth is Stroud's guitar playing. [Aug 2008, p.140]

Sure, there's a little too much filler, but this is pleasingly radio-unfriendly fare. [Aug 2008, p.140]

A draining, rewarding journey. [Aug 2008, p.143]

Former Simian singer Simon Lord and Wiseguys mainman Theo Keating fail to do justice to the idea. [Aug 2008, p.132]

Coppola resurrects her pop carrer as Little Jackie alongside DJ/Producer Adam Pallin, who adds hip-hop beats and faux-motown gloss to her R&B tunes. [Oct 2008, p.147]

There are one too many nondescript instrumentals. [Aug 2008, p.139]

Knapp can be as shrewdly sweet as Paul Simon or as drippy as a Sarah Records house band, dissecting heartache in teen-diary fashion--but the music is consistently grown up. [Dec 2008, p.108]

Matt Skiba's bitter lyrics still have an impressive sting, and with My Chemical Romance on hiatus, his misanthropy may yet secure a broader audience. [Aug 2008, p.135]

Taking into account the great things expected of those once promising likely lads, Romance At Short Notice offers only more disappointment. [Aug 2008, p.144]

Hercules And Love Affair are at their best when they cut loose and damn the consequences. [Apr 2008, p.110]

This, though, is accessible without compromise. [July 2008, p.106]

Their slow, brooding, impeccably delivered songs exude menace and promise drunken but regrettable sex, while the symphonic closer 'Waves' suggests they have the wherewithal and inclination to evolve. [Aug 2008, p.145]

The album finds them hamming up their debauched image to the point of self-parody. [Oct 2008, p.149]

As strident as the MC5 yet as playful as Pavement, White Denim sound like the best rock'n'roll party you've ever gatecrashed. [July 2008, p.111]

Compared to the Puppets' ornate '60s pop, Rascalize is straight Arctic Monkeys indie-rock, with echoes of The Coral. [July 2008, p.108]

So some bad habits die hard, but on every other level Viva la Vida... is an emphatic sucess--radical in it's own measured way but easy to embrace. [July 2008, p.95]

It seemed as if they'd perfected the balance of 2002's glowing "Neon Golden," but here manage to continue the evolution. [July 2008, p.108]

At Mount Zoomer finds them making a giant leap forward, its surfeit of innovation defying easy categorisation. [Aug 2008, p.145]

Shara Worden, aka My Brightest Diamond sings like a female Jeff Buckley on A Thousand Shark's Teeth, a blend of Tom Waits-inspired weirdness, ambient rock and neo-classical textures. [July 2008, p.113]

This is a catchy, cocky, Avril Lavigne-y debut, its surface gloss making up for an ultimate lack of depth. [Nov 2008, p.118]

In the end, though, to fixate on these 33 songs' serial flaws and occasional bad odours is to miss the essential point. The music amounts to a compelling period piece. [July 2008, p.116]

The Brummie veterans' 16th studio album is every bit as gloriously over-the-top and ludicrous as you might imagine. [Aug 2008, p.135]

It's a heady, exuberant mix, although the mystifyingly reduced vocal contribution of Jamie's husband Derek in turn reduces their uniqueness. [Nov 2008, p.123]

Silent Cry replaces genuine poise with serviceable pose. [July 2008, p.104]

It's an oppressive brew of heavy rock with pounding Kasabian beats, but Harvey, sounding agitated throughout, makes heavy weather out of it. [July 2008, p.108]

Adele's songs possess an ageless classification. [Mar 2008, p.105]

Once again, then, it's a case of could do better. [Apr 2008, p.115]

There's a welcome freshness here. [June 2008, p.137]

It's the bolder likes of 'In the Middle of the Night' and 'I Wish I Were' where she really leaves her mark, somewhere between Patti Smith and ghost of Edith Piaf. [June 20008, p.148]

The Fleetwood Mac-tinged 'Touch Me I'm Going to Scream Part 2' overcomes the overall air of pastiche. [July 2008, p.108]

Morissette is rarely dull, but she can occasionally be wearying. [July 2008, p.107]

Restrained, graceful and poised, the lady remains country music's finest ambassador. [July 2008, p.103]

Rather than sounding like musical magpies, The Fratellis are always their own men. [July 2008, p.100]

Though the younger Dylan hasn't the gravitas of those old masters, his best songs such as 'Will It Grow,' have an easy downbeat charm. [Aug 2008, p.135]

To Survive, however, ignites enough fireworks of its own. [July 2008, p.1112]

Orb nostalgists will find much to savour. [Mar 2008, p.108]

The subtle rhythms of Nigerian percussionist Lekan Babalola giving something new to Wilson's versions of great old songs. [Aug 2008, p.145]

Another almost note-perfect recreation of the same pre-Beatles R&B world, this follow-up smoothly mainstains the good work with songs that recall the likes of The Drifters and even early James brown. [July 2008, p.102]

His best since 2001's Here Be Monsters. [Jul 2006, p.114]

The creative tension between the two is their main strength. It's when one or the other gains the upper hand that things can go awry. [June 2008, p.143]

A 1991-2001 covers record is an odd move after just two solo albums, but he carries it off with unusual choices and twinkling instrumentation. [June 2008, p.137]

The Futureheads have found their way back by making their most emphatic statement yet. [June 2008, p.144]

They are still capable of arrestingly brilliant pop songs, but, judged against past achievements, Velocifero is a step backwards. [July 2008, p.102]

Everything is supercharged and melodic, like a poppy version of Nirvana. [July 2008, p.111]

It isn't any different to where she's been before, it's simply that quality levels remain uniformly high. [Aug 2008, p.139]

This is indie rock with plenty of funk, snaking basslines and wah-wah guitar. [May 2009, p.119]

A pure pleasure. [July 2008, p.101]

Patience, persistence and a good set of headphones will uncover fragile melodies here amid the maelstrom, though the guitar noodling can veer dangerously close to Mark Knopfler territory. [July 2008, p.101]

Always an intriguing lyricist, her divorce from producer T. Bone Burnett seems to have added a bittersweet dimension to her words too. [Oct 2008, p.150]

Big riffs and bigger choruses here will ensure continued American radio support, but Draiman's penchant for singing like a woodland animal startled mid-coitus won't stop the sniggers. [May 2008, p.130]

A perfect distillation of creatively experimental folk music in the UK today. [May 2008, p.126]

As this flits from widescreen country soul to palpitating Meat Loaf theatrics, the overriding impression is of a band that's having a blast. [July 2008, p.99]

At their best, as on Number 6 single 'Facination,' they are an invigoratingly upbeat experience. But too often they crash through the boundaries of good taste into out-and-out cheese. [July 2008, p.98]

It takes ?uestlove from The Roots to reproduce the kind of smooth, mellow-aged soul that made Green's name. [July 2008, p.102]

There's nothing wrong with the songs that make up its second act, save that each is as woozy, wistful and gossamer-fragile as the next. [June 2008, p.140]

Quirky and clever--even slightly sinister with in the murky darkness of Dragonslayer--rather than pioneering. [June 2008, p.146]

From Coldcut to DJ Shadow, every rap-era cut-up maestro owes a debt to Steven Stein. [Nov 2008, p.129]

They're one of European techno's most respected names, a status enhanced by this elegant follow-up to 2006's "Movements."

The best track here is named after a local town called Sheffield but the massive wall of guitars and tidal wave of drums and cymbals put you in mind of Happy Mondays or The Stone Roses in a tussle with The Jesus And Mary Chain. [Dec 2008, p.123]

Emergency is a confident second dose, not a lazy repeat. [June 2008, p.139]

No Way Down mischievously demands to be consumed whole at hazy after-hours sojourns. [May 2009, p.107]

The album is fine enough, undeniably modish and much better than you might anticipate. [June 2008, p.136]

Pitched somewhere between the Blues Explosion and Grinderman, it's an awesome racket, but the lack of time spent means the potential of 'Next Time' and the fevered 'New Meaning' have been lost in the rush to record. [July 2008, p.108]

Everything here is overdone, whether it's Nick Thorburn's thatrical vocals, the myriad pointless time changes or J'aime Vous Von Quitter's horrid La Bamba-style outero. [June 2008, p.142]

Unsurprisingly, the atmosphere is often weigted with doom, though there's an intoxicating impetus to the tar-like bass and woozy funk. [Aug 2008, p.140]

Although it holds together better than out-takes album might, newcomers should start elsewhere. [July 2008, p.101]

If we forget her Lenny Henry-esque Jamaican accent on the title track's Ziggy Marley duet, she's on sterling form. [Aug 2008, p.143]

Though a certain battle weariness has set in, many songs lacking The Wedding Present's trademark guitar bluster of old, Gedge remains wry, dry and wholeheartedly likeable. [July 2008, p.111]

Now reunited--minus Ibold--they are unlikely to win over many fans with this. [Aug 2008, p.135]

It all adds up to an impressive first step that ticks plenty of the right boxes, as does Duffy herself. [Apr 2008, p.100]