Here, as elsewhere, Thing of the Past is as educational as it is delightful. [June 2008, p.148]

While it makes for an impressive sound, it's hard not to yearn for more than the occasional flirtation with a second dimension, such as the sitar-driven 'Deer-Ree-Shee ' or the heavy riffed Krauturock-inspired groove that serves as the second half of 'Never/Ever.'

But even knowing that [it's inspired by a Sam Shepard play], it's impossible to tell what's going on. [June 2008, p.149]

It just about lives up to the hype. [May 2008, p.136]

Muddy production means the literate lyrics often get drowned out by the surrounding racket, but otherwise this is a raw treat. [Mar 2009, p.105]

Their forays into electronica work best.... Sadly, there are too many one-dimensional guitar-pop songs that expose Jackson's flat, robotic voice. [May 2008, p.136]

The Age Of The Understatement is a frustrating thing shot through with clear signs of its authors' gifts, but too beholden to its influences where it should be stidendt and distinctive. [May 2008, p.125]

Craig David seems to have accepted he's destined to occupy the middle of the road. Trouble is, it's still not clear which road he's on. [Dec 2007, p.115]

The results remain defiantly out of the ordinary. [June 208, p.145]

Invoking the spirit of minimalist commposer Steve Reich, Hebden crafts music of fragile beauty fron the simplest sonic palette. [June 2008, p.142]

Home Before Dark offers a dignified and, yes, hip addition to the Neil Diamond canon. [July 2008, p.110]

A bigger budget and they'll get really interesting. [May 2008, p.135]

A little less light and a little more shade, though, would make them a far more fascinating proposition. [June 2008, p.138]

Mostly it's quality urban pop that achieves its goal, but by sacrificing her personality. [Apr 2008, p.107]

Third will probably be more admired than listened to and, you suspect, this suits Barrow, just fine. [May 2008, p.131]

Midnight Organ Fight more than delivers on its promise: tons of spiky energy, proper tunes and a real lyrical bite to the likes of The Modern Leper. [June 2008, p.149]

While 'New King' and 'Time Can Be Overcome' are heartland country-rock classics, the funk-flecked 'Trans Canada' and feedback-frazzled 'Shower Of Stones' take a cue frrom dub-punk icons Fugazi. [Oct 2008, p.141]

Lidell's gospel hollars are impressive, but the music verges on pastiche. [May 2008, p.136]

Hard Candy is the sound of pop's ultimate superbrand consolidating her success. [June 2008, p.134]

An album frontloaded with highlights, and probably too self-consciously cool to charm the mainstream, even when the energy fades there's still enough diversity here for most people to find a favourite. [June 2008, p.146]

There could be no finer tribute to a departed friend. [May 2008, p.135]

'Scare Easy,' the single, and 'Bootleg Flyer,' reminiscent of Petty's classic 'American Girl,' are the standouts on this collection of rough and ragged, feel-good country-rock. [July 2008, p.107]

His first album in five years is a very musicianly affair, stronger on feel than memorable songs but still a fitting vehicle for one who turns 60 later this month and has nothing left to prove. [June 2008, p.148]

This Kind Of Love is unlikely to rekindle fresh interest. [July 2008, p.111]

Their second album is high on brio, if short on innovation. [July 2008, p.102]

There are missteps, but consistency was never their selling point. [June 2008, p.138]

Elbow have hardly stepped out of their comfort zone here, but then their comfort zone has always been oddly unsettling. They're still burning: slowly, maybe, but stronger than ever. [Apr 2008, p.114]

This slick set taps the same pop bounce of 2004's "Calling Out."

Here his long-established yet lumpy backers The Blokes too often impede his thoughtful lyrics. [Apr 2008, p.102]

It's all over long before the lack of variety can become a problem. [June 2008, p.148]

Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement are indeed funny, but over the course of an album they're musical enough to withstand repeated plays. [June 2008, p.138]

See You In Magic happily throws in every hoary old cliche in the book. [June 2008, p.149]

The opening first half of their fifth album is hard work, constructed songs high on atmosphere but lacking memorable tunes, easy to admire, difficult to love. Thankfully, they contary buggers save the best til last. [June 2008, p.138]

Halfway through, though, Gonzalez's self-indulgence gets the better of him and you're left with half-baked ideas and little else. [June 2008, p.145]

Konk is the perfect example of the modern indie record: bright, breezy, demanding no great investment from its listeners but enjoyable to jump around to. [May 2008, p.128]

It's a mess, but a glorious one. [Apr 2008, p.107]

His band's 13th album won't bring him the stardom he craves, consisting of amorphous drones in which the creative energy has been reserved for the titles. [May 2008, p.126]

This second installment is immaculate, an artful, emotional tour de force that underlines their "American rock's Radiohead" status. [May 2008, p.130]

This live effort confirms what many suspected of Ditto all along: she makes for a terrifically ballsy rock star. [May 2008, p.134]

He's getting better with age. [Aug 2008, p.140]

The 50-year-old's songwriting blue streak continues on Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!, a triumphant album that merits all three exclaimation marks. [Apr 2008, p.105]

Even when the spare, fractured arrangements seem a bit aimless, the girlish harmonies keep on charming. [May 2008, p.126]

While there is no denying the heady rush of the band in full flow, predictability creeps in over 45 minutes. [Apr 2008, p.113]

Two years pm, this follow-up wavers between bouts of overblown, Arcade Fire-aping drama and Pavement slacker rock. [May 2008, p.139]

Uniquely weird, as usual. [May 2008, p.130]

With its grunted refrain and tinkling xylophone, this strange group manage to out-weird even Waits himself. [May 2008, p.141]

Until the follow-up to 2006's excellent "The Crane Wife," this makes for an adequate stopgap. [May 2008, p.136]

There's a naivety and nostalgia to his evocation of woozy times on Northern beaches that is uniquely loveable--the perfect music for a summer's day. [May 2008, p.140]

It was a smart move [to enlist Tim,] Goldsworthy's attention to detail forcing the band up a gear. [July 2008, p.101]

The world may have moved on but they haven't, so '80s funk backdrops merge with Sweet pea Atkinson and Sir Harry Bowen's classic soul vocals and some biting surreal lyrics. [May 2008, p.141]

Fray's acute sense of geography, both local and emotional, guides the band's hectically directionless indie rattle down some alluring paths. [May 2008, p.137]

If Kylie's musical ambitions extend further than play-safe good times of X, she's keeping them, like everything else, to herself. [Dec 2007, p.108]

More variety is needed and it's all been done before, but rarely with such a sense of fun. [Apr 2008, p.108]

Last Night is a welcome return to the dancefloor following 2005's patchy rock-dance experiment "Hotel," though it still feels as if Moby is struggling to live down the 10 million-selling "Play." [Apr 2008, p.112]

Danger Mouse's effect is apparent, the sparse guitar-and-drums template fleshed out with organ and banjo. [May 2008, p.126]

Redeemed, revived, irresisitable: it seems R.E.M. were only sleeping after all. [Apr 2008, p.99]

There's not an original thought in the quartet's heads, giving them free reign to gleefully exhume the corpses of Black Sabbath and Kyuss with hulking riffs and bear-like voices. [Apr 2008, p.107]

Their thrillingly angry seventh album is a more furious companion piece to "American Idiot," raging at both social injustice and the self-righteousness of the punk underground. [June 2008, p.138]

Life With You brims with both songwriting confidence and, the lovelorn title track withstanding, righteous anger. [Oct 2007, p.105]

Shine A Light balances the hamminess with proper rock 'n' roll. [May 2008, p.132]

It's good to have them back. [Apr 2008, p.102]

Ultimately, you're left wishing that Panic at the Disco had more to say about their own generation, instead of mimicking that of their parents'. [May 2008, p.134]

Some of the Americanisms grate, but The Heavy dirty eclecticism wins the day. [Dec 2007, p.121]

They can't sustain the quality over an entire album, however, and the inspiration dries up halfway through. [Apr 2008, p.112]

This follow-up's newfound glossy production sheen suggests that is the intention [to move toward the mainstream]--but the creativity within is far from diluted. [Apr 2008, p.109]

Singer and girl-Iggy Jemina Pearl's the star, bringing admirable conviction to her tales of boredom, drug-taking and, in the case of the Perky 'Food Fight,' "extra cheese in your face." [Apr 2008, p.102]

Anyone bored by the kitchen sink will find much to love here. [Feb 2008, p.97]

This is a fine follow-up to 2005's "No Wow." [Apr 2008, p.108]

{Bejar's] fondness for drenching songs in production so muddy that they end up as little more than smears of noise. [May 2008, p.130]

DeVotchKa's preference for songs that don't necessarily result in feverish fopsweat actually serve to highlight much mongrel charm. [Apr 2008, p.107]

It's singing their filthy lyrics in thick French accents that spoils the party. [Apr 2008, p.115]

[A] terrific collaboration on DeLorean's life story. [Mar 2008, p.108]

Yet for all the sharp hooks and rhythmic twists, the album sags in the middle. [Apr 2008, p.127]

It feels as if they are making music for the sheer pleasure of it, and it's this that proves the record's abiding charm. [Aug 2008, p.143]

At its best, it makes for exhilarating listening, as on 'Crimewave' and the bleep-funk soundclash that drives 'Air War' and the unexpectedly tender 'Courtship dating.' [June 2008, p.138]

It's always catchy, but all 20 tracks are so short everything feels throwaway, and the free-association lyrics go from amusing to aggravating in an instant. [Apr 2008, p.107]

It's an undeniably chin-stroking effort, songs revolving with quiet, Dire Straits-ian grace around a pedal-steel guitar, while a variety of vocalists take his musical atmospherics and run with them. [May 2008, p.135]

The Dodos are too uptight to freak-out totally and the clash between slacker lyricism and unpredictable acoustic outbursts lends an intriguingly split personality. [July 2008, p.101]

He sing-raps stream-of-consciousness tales that, coupled with instrumentation from his brother Josiah and Doug McDiarmid, create contagious songs. [May 2008, p.141]

It's a finely textured, quietly hypnotic collection showcasing her guitar chops inside mellifluous, complex songs. [Aug 2008, p.139]

There's a slightly dated stadium-house feel to th rest.... Still, when he thrills, he truly thrills. [Apr 2008, p.108]

There's nothing essential here, but there's nothing to dislike either. [Apr 2008, p.115]

The result are a joy, exuding the same casual charm that has always characterised his best work. [Sep 2008]

Superabundance us a celebratory affair--a hugely likable and intelligent pop album that sings with human warmth and, ultimately, quiet defiance. [Apr 2008, p.106]

A quarter of a century on, that still holds, right down to the same old ponderous rhythms, Daniel Ash's screaming guitar fuzz and Peter Murphy's ridiculously portentous vocals. [Apr 2008, p.102]

His fourth album is another trough, low on songs and over-reliant on meandering guitar jams. [Apr 2008, p.112]

It's the best thing either has done in a decade. [Apr 2008, p.116]

While the maverick spirit that drives this pair is admirable, it doesn't make the end result any more enjoyable. [Apr 2008, p.102]

With the exception of 'Hummingbird,' they indulge in far too many sixth-form mioments. [July 2008, p.98]

A dense, innovative follow-up to Canadian MC Rollie Pemberton's promising 2005 debut. [Apr 2008, p. 112]

Battered by love yet ever hopeful, and with a fetching drawl to match, her story songs might occupy familar alt-country terrain, but surrounding herself with some top LA session men helps give Asking For Flowers that extra bit of class. [May 2008, p.130]

Thier relentless pursuit of "the craic" is wearing, evocative song titles not hiding the fact Dublin-native Dave King's lyrics lack the romanticism of Shane MacGowan. [June 2008, p.138]

Transnormal Skiperoo is as quietly joyful as its title. [Nov 2007, p.148]

Magnificent Fiend recycles a lot of hairy late-'60s/early '70s rock moves. [June 2008, p.149]

Move over, Devendra Banhart: there's a new bunch of bohemian music kooks in town. [Apr 2008, p.115]

They'll have to evolve quickly to avoid being tarred with the copyist brush, but for now it's just dandy. [May 2008, p.135]

The results are psychedelic, frequently surreal and occasionally brilliant. [Mar 2008, p.99]

The Dallas-born singer is still making music that's deep and unorthodox. [May 2008, p.141]