They share a love for the kind of heady jams previously lost in the mists of the '70s psychedelia, Shadow's On Behalf's shimmering harmonies and loose-knit rhythms drawing inspirations from such exponents of starry-eyed soul as David Axelrod and Rotary Connection. [Oct 2011, p.130]

Richard Feerless's far-ranging and impeccable influences are combined to create something new and exhilarating. [Oct 2011, p.131]

Twenty years, five discs, but Nevermind is always more than the sum of its parts. [Oct 2011, p.133]

Oregon four-piece serve up a conceptual gem. [Oct 2011, p.128]

Oregon trio deliver harmonious indie bliss-out. [Oct 2011, p.127]

British rapper ups the stakes with boundary-stretching pop turn. [Oct 2011, p.94]

Mockingbird Time, the band's first album in eight years, places them right back in the hazy glow of Laurel Canyon sunset. [Oct 2011, p.123]

Frontman Brian Fallon serves up a mostly restrained and as a result more resonant set as an opening salvo for The Horrible Crowes. [Oct 2011, p.123]

Killer Sounds feels like a missed opportunity. [Oct 2011, p.120]

Fresh-faced wunderkind aces his debut. [Oct 2011, p.118]

In the end, the try-everything approach works out: if only because Girls' scatterbrained classic rock patchwork is so idiosyncratically odd. [Oct 2011, p.124]

Poetess-godmother of punk compiles own Best Of. And she's still sustaining. [Oct 2011, p.137]

He never sounds hurried, but Gentle Spirit overflows with ideas, albeit ones mostly from circa 1972. [Oct 2011, p.131]

This follow-up proves a slightly less ramshackle but equally engaging electro-powered soundclash that even finds Bell adding the odd new twist. [Oct 2011, p.130]

Freaky electronica from West Coast bass maestro. [Oct 2011, p.130]

Two of Everything is a smorgasbord of delights and unexpected touches. [Oct 2011, p.130]

Their debut...has all the right soul/pop/early Motown moves, plus enough retro fizz to get any party started. [Oct 2011, p.130]

Charming without being cloying, Paradise is the work of a band beginning to stretch their wings.

Uneasy listening from honey-tongued, dark-hearted singer.

Miracle Fortress' version of the '80s manages to push the decade's bookends together, fusing the analogue synthetics of early Mute records and proto-shoegazing's disorienting, ecstatic swirl of noise. [Oct 2011, p.127]

As giant a leap on from the lo-fi oddness of 2009's Gather, Form & Fly as it was possible to make. [Oct 2011, p.124]

Nicholas Drain Lowe, now 62, remains sweetly lethal with a tune. [Oct 2011, p.124]

Elsewhere they veer off into roboid electro, but a certain lack of variety costs points. [Oct 2011, p.124]

As rock, soul and funk steep together, the overriding sense is that Kravitz would prefer to be the leering loverman than the seer. [Oct 2011, p.124]

It feels like a splash of teenage aftershave: a pass at sophistication, not the real deal. [Oct 2011, p.123]

It's the heart of the matter, and the song that sets the bar. [Oct 2011, p.122]

L.A.-based quintet unleash positively euphoric debut. [Oct 2011, p.120]

It's undeniably infectious, maddeningly so at times. [Oct 2011, p.120]