Differs markedly from 2003's Radio Blackout... with vocals and punk-pop structures replacing the glam-tecnho clunk of yore. [Sep 2005, p.120]

More often than not his approach feels too clinical to really engage. [Apr 2006, p.120]

Showcases her luminous vocals, rich lyrics and subtle arrangements. [Sep 2005, p.120]

The whole never manages to lift off. [Oct 2005, p.120]

Children moan, accordions groan and Bjork's disembodied voice occasionally growls into earshot. [Sep 2005, p.114]

[An] album of considerable grace and poise. [Apr 2005, p.116]

If you dance easily at weddings then this album is very good news. [Aug 2005, p.129]

The melancholy is relentless and ultimately rather suffocating. [Sep 2005, p.115]

Very New York and strongly redolent of the whole DFA/LCD sound. [Jul 2005, p.114]

A wildly energetic record. [Jul 2005, p.120]

Mostly the results are pleasingly wry and wise. [Sep 2005, p.118]

In shifting from decks to band, he has also checked the imagination which marked him as an original. [Sep 2005, p.114]

A nice enough idea, but being much quieter and more pastoral, it is also somewhat anti-climactic. [Aug 2005, p.128]

There's little that's newly inspired and, aside from the understated Always Tomorrow, nothing superior to past glories. [Aug 2005, p.132]

He certainly pushes the right commercial buttons. [Mar 2006, p.108]

Sounds at once familiar yet new. [Aug 2005, p.127]

This unassuming record certainly deserves as much attention as [his] former big noise. [Sep 2005, p.116]

His mutation into Hank Williams may be unlikely, but it also proves to be rather charming. [Aug 2005, p.126]

An epic backdrop for that next Pacific Coast Highway road trip. [Jun 2005, p.102]

What it needs is some incident--a clanging glockenspiel, say. At least that would liven up proceedings a bit. [Aug 2005, p.129]

The Understanding raises their game, mainly with its careful attention to one key musical detail: great tunes. [Aug 2005, p.132]

If not Elliott's most inventive album, The Cookbook is certainly her most colourful and entertaining. [Aug 2005, p.124]

Stevens's love for the region, its people and legacy is palpable and infectious enough to send the curious scuttling straight towards the bookshelves to discover more. [Aug 2005, p.137]

Glows with retro colour. [Jul 2004, p.110]

A blistering song set with the playful spirit of '80s Prince. [Jul 2005, p.115]

An unpolished gem. [Feb 2006, p.104]

There's... plenty for the merely curious to enjoy. [Aug 2005, p.142]

A most pleasant surprise. [Jul 2005, p.122]

So retro it's pratcially an historical document. [Mar 2005, p.100]

A red letter day for fans of classic songwriting. [Aug 2005, p.132]

The bulk of the album is pure Kano--deft wordplay and a range of musical reference points. [Jul 2005, p.115]

[Her] voice [is] as clear as a Great Smoky Mountain stream. [Aug 2005, p.127]

There's nothing as heroic as Smashing Pumpkins' Tonight Tonight, but Now (And Then) is a surprisingly successful attempt at emotion. [Jul 2005, p.113]

Music of stark, placid beauty. [Apr 2005, p.121]

A too-well-buried treasure. [Aug 2005, p.129]

Brassbound is more convincing than their debut.... But it's hardly adventurous. [Jul 2005, p.113]

A self-contained gem. [Jul 2005, p.112]

There's nothing here that's especially revolutionary, but Dressy Bessy... do power pop better than most. [Sep 2005, p.115]

Despite some affecting songs and intriguing production quirks, it lacks that kind of magic [of his 1970s albums]. [Jul 2005, p.113]

[Disc 1] is impressive stuff--the sound of a muse regained. Pity the acoustic disc is nowhere near as good. [Jul 2005, p.109]

Less lush than their previous affairs, but still rich in Beach Boys-like vocal harmonies. [Jul 2005, p.120]

Works on the age-old theory that if it ain't broke, don't fix it--and it is all the better for it. [Jul 2005, p.120]

In spite of some good songs... the band's urge to be monumental at the expense of their vulnerability is ill-advised. [Oct 2004, p.122]

While the icy Joy Division guitar chords and singer Davide Jones's faux-cockney delivery never sound entirely natural, their energy is compulsive. [Jul 2005, p.113]

A substantially more visceral and emotionally rewarding experience than both its predecessors. [Jul 2005, p.106]

Monkey Business proves that less could have been more. [Jul 2005, p.110]

With each release, they tweak and slightly reinvent their wheel--and use it, happily, to keep on trucking. [Jun 2005, p.112]

Very possibly, an even better album than Elephant. [Jul 2005, p.108]

Cut, copy and paste this definitive record into your world. [Jul 2005, p.115]

Pleasant, but it's never particularly special. [Jul 2005, p.120]

The attention does wander over two CDs... but vigorous renditions of Bring It On and Get Myself Arrested are reminders that Gomez's psych-blues revivalism really was quite special. [Aug 2005, p.128]

Butler's attempts at the old guitar dramatics are hopelessly overwrought. [Jul 2005, p.115]

Almost entirely instrumental, but full of a subtlety often obscured by words. [Jul 2005, p.114]

Pointless drifting that fails to grip even on repeated listening. [Jun 2005, p.118]

The Gallaghers sound more comfortable than ever in their skins. [Jun 2005, p.102]

Immediately satisfying. [Jun 2005, p.120]

A band clearly in awe of Jarvis Cocker's lyrics and the sound of spiky guitars. [Jul 2005, p.119]

There's... a luxuriant, bubble bath-like quality to proceedings so often lacking in imitators. [Aug 2005, p.134]

A diverting synthesis of analogue old-schoolery and modern genre-hopping. [Nov 2004, p.117]

[Danger Mouse's] stunning flourishes... help place Demon Days notches above any vaguely electronic release in recent memory. [Jun 2005, p.104]

Compared to their early work, disappointing. [Jun 2005, p.118]

A muscular piece of work... [but] a tangible sense of genuine passion is, ultimately, absent. [Jul 2005, p.112]

Far less commercial, but also far richer. [Aug 2005, p.129]

Stuffed with little revelations. [Jun 2005, p.113]

Common's best album so far, one that proves hip hop can be both smart and mainstream. [Jul 2005, p.114]

Costa's capable of holding her own, making the most of [Prince's and Lenny Kravitz's] skills while imposing her identity. [Sep 2005, p.115]

Opinions will still be divided--Murdoch as literary giant or self-important art school berk?--as, over 25 tracks, there's evidence of both. [Jul 2005, p.129]

The Secret Migration shows a group in complete control of their cosmic idiom, familiar by now yet still seductive. [Jan 2005, p.120]

Rarely are albums this thrillingly original. [Jul 2005, p.120]

Here, they are hitting their stride. [Feb 2005, p.98]

There's little here that lingers. [Jun 2005, p.111]

Though Strange Sensation guitarist Liam "Skin" Tyson is no Jimmy Page, Plant can still strut with the vigour of a man half his age. [May 2005, p.114]

It's a bewitching formula. [Jun 2005, p.120]

Hints that Cuomo may be approaching some sort of personal epiphany about his place in the world. [Jun 2005, p.116]

A lot of the goofy teenage kicks have been replaced with more tiresome sex raps. [Sep 2005, p.115]

The sort of tunes The Beautiful South mislaid on the nation's pub jukeboxes years ago, often tinged with a soulful alt-country lilt. [May 2005, p.116]

Captures her in full, unrepentant swing. [Jun 2005, p.111]

An acquired taste. [Jul 2005, p.119]

A winning combination. [Jun 2005, p.120]

Another marathon slog through the alt-country undergrowth. [Jun 2005, p.118]

A familiarly kaleidoscopic whirl of retro-futuristic sounds. [May 2005, p.111]

There are songs here that count among the best they've made. [May 2005, p.119]

Sketched out over a dozen songs, the idea doesn't quite hang together. [May 2005, p.114]

At times, a work of considerable beauty. [Jun 2005, p.108]

It's just artful karaoke. [Jun 2005, p.116]

Reveals a keen mind at work. [Nov 2005, p.123]

Seventy minutes of mind-bending, head-spinning hip hop is a lot to take in one sitting, but this is nevertheless hugely inventive stuff if taken in smaller doses. [Jun 2005, p.116]

A patchy affair. [Apr 2005, p.124]

Some rather ordinary, slightly tuneless indie rock. [Jul 2005, p.112]

A calmer work than its harrowing semi-classic prequel, Blinking Lights... is also less startling or focussed. [May 2005, p.109]

He has finally shed some of his ironic detachment. [Jun 2005, p.111]

In time, Devils & Dust will be regarded as an inspired stopgap. [Jun 2005, p.105]

[Her] reinvention, no matter how calculated, has worked wonders. [Aug 2005, p.127]

Smith's greatest talent lies in his surreal, witty wordplay and avuncular tone, and the way they combine to make what could be the usual rap anger sound both intimate and strangely uplifting. [Feb 2005, p.95]

Most is all too predictable and finds Autechre stuck in an experimental rut. [May 2005, p.121]

As good as it should be. [Jul 2005, p.120]

A welcome change of gear. [Jun 2005, p.118]