While Derdang Derdang has killer hooks aplenty, they're all too often obscured by stop-start rhythms and the unhinged-sounding vocals of Sam Windett. [Apr 2006, p.119]

Occasionally there's a little too much going on... Overall, though, Gartside remains intriguing. [Jul 2006, p.116]

Steele may be in thrall to [Brian] Wilson and The Beatles, but his talent is precocious enough to give him his own very singluar voice. [Aug 2006, p.112]

A hideous mess of electro noodling and maddeningly obtuse, tuneless vocals. [May 2006, p.126]

Smooth and intermittently sublime it may be, but their previous weirdness is much missed. [Jun 2006, p.117]

The Great Western is arguably stronger than either of the last two Manics albums. [Aug 2006, p.116]

What was once the musical equivalent of a blokes' night out has morphed into a proper gang. [Sep 2006, p.108]

It's heavy-duty stuff, and all the better for it. [Mar 2007, p.115]

Their 11 post-punk/hip-hop songs are brittle, but catchy and fun. [Sep 2006, p.107]

A work of dazzling scope and grandeur... It is impossible to imagine any other band making music quite like this. [Aug 2006, p.106]

It's all wilfully haphazard, though the fact that they never sound like they're taking things too seriously happily dispels the whiff of pretension. [Sep 2006, p.110]

A notch above an off-cuts collection. [Aug 2006, p.116]

It sounds as you would expect: a desolate dreamscape punctuated by nervous drum machines. In other words, it's a bit Kid A. [Aug 2006, p.110]

The sound of a band growing old comfortably. [Sep 2006, p.110]

Like Coldplay rummaging through a charity shop, it's a patchwork of moods and styles all stitched together by Dangerfield's heart-on-sleeve exhortations. [Aug 2006, p.113]

It makes a dignified final addition to the American Recordings series. [Aug 2006, p.109]

You'll waste time expecting actual songs to arrive, but the obligation to trance out is irresistible. [Sep 2006, p.107]

Her sauntering melodies struggle under the weight of their worthy load. [Aug 2006, p.110]

It's difficult to imagine Carraba's earnest tenor appealing to anyone over the age of 20. [Sep 2006, p.107]

It's like 10 years of treading water never happened. [Jun 2006, p.118]

Essential listening for mall rats everywhere. [Aug 2006, p.113]

Rap rarely comes more unedited and spontaneous. [Oct 2006, p.125]

All [the tracks] are powerfully intimate. [Aug 2006, p.114]

It's [his] spin on social commentary that singles Drew out. [Jul 2006, p.116]

At its worst, only the quality of the backing band distinguishes it from pub rock. [Jul 2006, p.112]

Much of it is an inventive, hio-hop-inflected delight. [Jul 2006, p.112]

This lack of reinvention... does not mean lack of invention. [Jul 2006, p.108]

There's nothing fancy about her songs... but there is magic in the way she sings them. [Apr 2006, p.112]

Think Spiritualized with a Native American obsession. [Dec 2006, p.133]

Devoid of Hannon's penchant for the smugly esoteric, this is by far his most approachable album. [Aug 2006, p.111]

A confident return. [Jul 2006, p.115]

Feel[s] like an album to be admired rather than enjoyed. [Jun 2006, p.115]

There are moments... as good and chart-friendly as anything by Royksopp or Mylo.... But most of the time they prefer to trade in dreary whimsy. [Jun 2006, p.116]

Luckily, Lif's mental agility and provocative rhymes are matched by the production skills of... El-P. [Jul 2006, p.115]

It's hugely rewarding. [Jul 2006, p.118]

Their most mature album to date. [Jul 2006, p.118]

[She] remains comically kooky. [Aug 2006, p.116]

Comes across like a refresher of the best mood music of the last 40 years. [Aug 2006, p.110]

The results are enticingly hypnotic and reassuringly unhinged in places. [Jun 2006, p.117]

Their music lacks any trace of sophistication or nuance. [Apr 2006, p.112]

At times the '60s girl-group feel can prove grating, but there's enough here to suggest a future beyond the indie ghetto. [Jul 2006, p.112]

The River In Reverse's soulful arrangements and warm textures are no surprise. [Jul 2006, p.113]

One album might have served better than two. [Jun 2006, p.116]

Surely a man of his talent has more to offer than this? [Sep 2006, p.109]

Weird and wonderful. [May 2006, p.129]

[They] have stretched their wings. [Jun 2006, p.119]

Textbook soft rock. [Jul 2006, p.111]

A pleasure, featuring some of his most winging music since [Roisin] Murphy's Ruby Blue. [Jul 2006, p.118]

Many of the collaborations are jarring. [Jul 2006, p.115]

It could be high art. It could be utter bollocks. Either way, it's lovely when it's over. [Jun 2006, p.119]

The bulk sounds little different from most of what passes for mainstream country these days. [Jul 2006, p.113]

These broiling drum-led riffs offer curdled cries, much volume and even humour. [Aug 2006, p.113]

If It's Never Been Like That sees them rocking out by their own standards, they're still a sweat-free prospect by most others. [Jun 2006, p.118]

This is an album steeped in classicism while still creating its own world. It just lacks the killer song. [Oct 2006, p.127]

This homebrewed, spacious music can still sound pretty blissful, but the quality songs have a directness and variety that will please David Gray fans as much as the acid folk devotees. [Jul 2006, p.119]

It's neither deep nor meaningful, but Broken Boy Soldiers succeeds in sounding like four guys having fun making music; albeit music that's as elegant as it is raucous. [Jun 2006, p.108]

It's frustrating when you know they can do better. [Jul 2006, p.116]

Powder Burns could be a sister album to Black Love, [Afghan Whigs'] career high. [Jun 2006, p.114]

Music that sounds completely out of time, made by an often incredible string band. [Sep 2006, p.108]

It sounds lovely. And yet it is also crying out for Fraser's otherworldly quaver to give it a much-needed extra dimension. [Jul 2006, p.114]

It's good to have his unique groove back. [Jun 2006, p.116]

Sexsmith's best record since his self-titled second album of 1995. [Jun 2006, p.119]

This is essentially a couple of singles spread way too thinly. [Jun 2005, p.110]

St Elsewhere rivals Gorillaz' Demon Days for sheer inventiveness. [Jun 2006, p.109]

A revelation, brimming with passion and some of the best melodies Young has penned in the last 30 years. [Jul 2006, p.113]

It's prevented from turning fancy by its grounding in some rudimentary rock dynamics. [May 2006, p.122]

While there are hints of tiredness, Grandaddy are not leaving us with heads bowed. [Jun 2006, p.116]

Their cut-ups... work best when at their most odd. [Jun 2006, p.117]

Represents a career high for the Chili Peppers. [Jun 2006, p.106]

A richly rewarding listen. [Jul 2006, p.114]

Snow Patrol are on their way to becoming essential. [May 2006, p.120]

An astonishingly moving distillation of Eastern European melancholia with elegant histrionics a la Rufus Wainwright. [Dec 2006, p.141]

The breakbeat-based tracks offer obvious comparisons with like-minds such as Prefuse 73. [Jun 2006, p.113]

Simpatico is too bland to stand. [Jun 2006, p.113]

No great leap forward. [Jul 2006, p.113]

While these acoustic poems are often twee and contrived, the woman remains ultimately unpretentious. [Jul 2006, p.114]

[It] is a lusher and less challenging listen than recent efforts, but it's also curiously featureless, the sound of a group drained of passion and fresh ideas. [Jun 2006, p.118]

Far from rocket science, but immense fun nonetheless. [Jun 2006, p.117]

A mightily heavy and punky album. [Jul 2006, p.119]

Despite [their] obsession with the everyday... The Rakes are never mundane. [Sep 2005, p.118]

[Secret Machines] have pruned back the vast sonic expanses of 2004's full-length debut album, focusing instead on brevity and melody. [Apr 2006, p.120]

The 37-minute length is not the only thing about this album that's slight. [May 2006, p.116]

It might not add up to a must-have, but it's good to hear Springsteen with the pressure off. [Jun 2006, p.112]

A winning combination of party grooves and Bush-baiting politics. [Jun 2006, p.113]

This is music precision-built for vast stadiums. [Aug 2006, p.112]

It's got some fine, graceful tunes. [May 2006, p.128]

It's all perfectly competent, but rather generic. [Jun 2006, p.119]

Mixes his distinctive whinny toothlessly low. [May 2006, p.131]

Sounds like the work of a man touting for soundtracks. [May 2006, p.131]

The band's ability to rock out at the drop of a hat proves a pleasant surprise among the dopey reverie. [Jun 2006, p.115]

There's nothing desperately new here, but it's all sharply enough executed. [Jun 2006, p.114]

It's true that none of the tracks here quite scale the heights reached early in his career.... But... James is at least trying to move beyond what he's achieved already. [May 2006, p.124]

A winning mix of melody and melancholy. [Aug 2006, p.111]

The Dolls tighten their musical corset with beguiling style. [May 2006, p.123]

Alas, from [the first two tracks]... the pair slip first into mediocrity and then the standbys of those who have run out of inspiration: backwards recording and pointless noodling. [Jun 2006, p.115]

Pleasantly pointless. [Aug 2006, p.116]

Despite the hysterical crowd response, Live From Dakota is as meat'n'potatoes as its creators. [May 2006, p.130]

Hard work but worth the effort. [Oct 2005, p.117]