It all feels so much more intentional than before, the mix of pop and experimentation they've long striven for. [May 2004, p.99]

A brooding collection. [May 2004, p.108]

Her jazz-tinged voice soars; the music manages to be both wonderfully austere and subtly strange. [Jun 2004, p.98]

Beautifully written, played and sung, but just once it would be nice to hear a bit of distortion, a fluffed note and some real soul. [Jun 2004, p.96]

There's a bolder choice of material.... Her playing has loosened up too. [Jun 2004, p.100]

Small, perfectly formed and wonderfully refreshing. [Jun 2004, p.105]

Nothing short of remarkable. [Jun 2004, p.102]

His best work in many a long year. [Jun 2004, p.105]

There's no sense that there's any real passion. [Mar 2005, p.99]

A happy mess of ideas, fun and riffing. [Jul 2004, p.122]

Seductive, breathy and forlorn, [Trebeljahr] sounds like a more ethereal Sarah Cracknell. Oh, and the songs are top drawer, too. [May 2004, p.104]

[The DFA's] desk work on Automato's impressive debut raises the profile of their proteges. [May 2004, p.98]

What elevates The Veils above pleasant distraction... is [Andrews'] extraordinary, chameleon-like voice. [Mar 2004, p.113]

The raggedy, pared-back approach puts the spotlight right back where it should be: on Moorer herself. [May 2004, p.106]

If you were charmed by early Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, or simply fancy a bonkers tune-fest, this inspired, lo-fi rock is for you. [Apr 2004, p.114]

A real disappointment. [Apr 2004, p.118]

Pretty yet inconsequential, like a collection of half-finished spy film themes. [May 2004, p.108]

Imaginative. [May 2004, p.101]

[There's] a raw, anxious quality reminiscent of '80s US cult favourites Violent Femmes. [May 2004, p.104]

45 bonkers minutes. [Jun 2004, p.103]

He's shot truer and more heartfelt arrows than these. [Jul 2004, p.122]

A great leap forward. [Oct 2003, p.113]

Reserve space and time for it. [Feb 2005, p.104]

If only the Stones would make a record like this. [Jun 2004, p.94]

Instead of the darkness and foreboding that infects Johnson's original '30s recordings, we get a thoroughly gentrified version of the blues. [May 2004, p.100]

The sex tracks themselves are more scary than seductive.... [But] the dancefloor tunes are far more slinky. [May 2004, p.107]

For sheer bravado and imagination it's something that few bands will top this year. [Oct 2003, p.109]

Addictive R&B hooks and all-dancin', all-lovin' subject matter boosted with hot production tweaks. [Jun 2004, p.107]

There's a gnawing gutlessness at work here, which ultimately sells him short. [Feb 2004, p.101]

Barrera's vocals lack the sneer to carry the heavier moments, and a couple of songs are little more than lame US rock-lite. [Oct 2003, p.106]

An otherworldly, richly cinematic adventure. [May 2004, p.98]

Even on a daft live album, he refuses to coast. [May 2004, p.106]

It's often fascinating only in the details. [May 2004, p.110]

A funk-driven return to familiar ground, laced with dark imagery, beefy hooks and sharp vocal trading. [Jun 2004, p.97]

Splendidly queasy listening. [May 2004, p.100]

Even more delicate and autumnal. [May 2004, p.104]

Ambitiously wide-ranging. [Apr 2005, p.118]

The joyful whole has a depth and swagger that is as life-enhancing as popular music should be. [Mar 2005, p.100]

About as personality-free as rock music gets. [Apr 2004, p.115]

One utterly badass album. [Jul 2004, p.116]

They've sadly cranked up the wackiness. [Apr 2004, p.108]

Extends the with-strings concept of last year's Lead Us Not Into Temptation and is equally arresting in its breadth of content and creativity. [Apr 2004, p.107]

Stevens is... smart enough to offset the egghead subject matter with a batch of deceptively simple tunes. [May 2004, p.108]

[Saloman's] sharply observed tales of lost love and hopeless hopes fit Lord's airy vocals snugly. [Jun 2004, p.102]

Another complex, atmospheric set. [Apr 2004, p.120]

Pawn Shoppe Heart is a party album, albeit soundtracking the sort of party where too much alcohol causes lifelong friends to come to blows. [Feb 2004, p.96]

It's Prince, it's Eno, it's PiL, it's The Coasters and all at once. At times, that jars. At others... it's as exhilarating as a kiss. [Jul 2004, p.124]

The most ebullient British debut since Elastica. [Mar 2004, p.102]

A sublime collection that surpasses its predecessor. [Apr 2004, p.121]

Part Sly Stone, part raving Baptist minister, Cee-Lo proves he's every bit as exceptional as his neighbours. [May 2004, p.100]

The only area in which JC tops Justin is cheesy double entendres. [Jun 2004, p.96]

An impressively thoughtful album. [Oct 2003, p.103]

Like other scary experiences, it's also frequently exhilarating. [Mar 2004, p.107]

Previous albums threatened to impress but always came with bits missing. This is the finished article. [Dec 2003, p.130]

[His] gravel-like vocals envelop the album, while his well-travelled eyes ensure the lyrics are filled with knowing experience. [Mar 2004, p.109]

That they've been forgotten for 30 years seems almost a crime, because they've got just about everything real soul music needs. [Feb 2004, p.118]

His rudimentary songwriting skills and questionable quality control render this an exasperating experience. [Apr 2004, p.110]

There is something unceasingly engaging about Trans Am. [Apr 2004, p.122]

The album heats up nicely, with songs like Line It Up far easier to warm to than former Pavement buddy Steven Malkmus' solo work. [Feb 2004, p.105]

Swinging, scratchy indie-pop, with see-sawing melodies, emotive vocals and frustrated tales. [Jul 2004, p.127]

The albums are interchangeable, neither one being the stylistic leap that was Is A woman in comparison to its predecessor, Nixon. [combined review of both discs; Mar 2004, p.112]

Both albums are lovely in the way that only Lambchop can be lovely. [combined review of both discs; Mar 2004, p.112]

He's beginning to develop his own sound as well as his own voice. [Mar 2004, p.111]

Where once they clanged, Neubaten now purr, the pervading mood of restrained grandeur, leavened with itchy, almost pop touches. [Apr 2004, p.110]

Far from rehashing her debut, she's made an older and wiser sequel, where the quiet magic of each song gets stronger with every listen. [Mar 2003, p.101]

A screw is definitely loose somwhere, but so what? [Oct 2004, p.128]

All of the elements that make the band great--the Shadowsy guitar solos, James Skelly's Eric Burdon-meets-Jimmy Corkhill croon, the breadth of imagination--are well lubricated, but the songwriting has rocketed. [Aug 2003, p.106]

Isn't for the meek. [Mar 2004, p.110]

Even its most unlistenable moments command attention with a ferocity that most musicians get nowhere near. [Mar 2004, p.98]

His production is masterful enough to demonstrate just why he is hip hop's hottest new property. [May 2004, p.111]

An ambitious and surprisingly accomplished album. [May 2004, p.104]

There's little new stylistically... but the results are remarkably strong. [Feb 2004, p.98]

All told, one weird trip. [May 2004, p.102]

Verity Susman's wayward, fragile Nico-lite vocals will either delight you or drive you nuts. [Mar 2003, p.102]

Darnielle's striking way with a phrase makes songs about Milky Ways for breakfast and smelly flats into things of quiet wonder. [Mar 2004, p.107]

Intriguing, stylish stuff. [May 2004, p.111]

[Makes] two known quantities thrillingly new. [May 2004, p.101]

Lostprophets inhabit that old-fashioned place where the young are alright and must overcome the cynicism of the jaded oldster at all costs. [Feb 2004, p.104]

If a brace of previous albums hinted at genre-defying transcendence, Obrigado Saudade attains it. [Mar 2004, p.107]

Baby Monkey has nothing of the danger, adventure or indeed chemical frisson that defined rave culture--it's just smug sonic wallpaper. [Mar 2004, p.113]

So intimate and sad you can almost see the candles flickering. [Mar 2004, p.110]

Air thrive on existing at an otherworldly tangent and their cosmic bent is never far away here. [Feb 2004, p.99]

Wretched. [Dec 2003, p.124]

The B-side was never meant to bear this much relentless inspection. [Feb 2004, p.113]

For all their generic tendencies, these are fertile minds. [Sep 2003, p.106]

Twista's overshadowed by West, but with jacked-up soul tunes such as Overnight Celebrity the result, who cares?

Starsailor, then: not very exciting, but damned reliable. [Oct 2003, p.117]

Three's still something fresh about Stereolab's brand of trippy space pop. [Mar 2004, p.112]

While Nightfreak... is not spattered with great songs, it does have its moments. [Feb 2004, p.101]

Possessing neither Cuomo's melodic nous nor the self-absorbed misanthropy that makes Weezer's best work so compelling, Wilson's power-pop never exceeds cynical expectations. [Apr 2004, p.120]

There's less of Califone's rootsy side here and more floaty mood-pieces or doomy dance grooves. [Feb 2004, p.98]

A gorgeous, near-religious record. [Feb 2004, p.100]

THe jazzy stylings are a mixed blessing... [but] her fans will not be disappointed. [Mar 2003, p.101]

[A] strikingly stark and innovative debut. [Sep 2003, p.102]

Masterfully crafted and shot through with outlaw energy. [May 2004, p.101]

This is as cynical a mish-mash of popular trends as you can imagine. [May 2004, p.106]

Finds his muse back in rudest health after the relative disappointment of Rock N Roll. [Feb 2004, p.98]

Whereas Wanderland at least felt like Kelis was moving in a new direction... Tasty seems retrogressive, a step back into a more conventional landscape of guest raps and heavy basslines. [Mar 2003, p.106]