While they never quite manage to better the decayed teen-idol horror-pop of Deerhunter, another band preoccupied with the thin membrane between dreams and nightmares, at their best they keep the listener from Playing I Spy with their influences. [Mar 2011, p.107]

Don't bet against them lighting up the indie firmament in 2011. [Mar 2011, p.106]

Yet whatever they're singing about, be it bad donkeys, clouds or river snakes, they make a spine-tingling noise. [Mar 2011, p.106]

Produced by the ever-tasteful T-Bone Burnett, Ray Charles wouldn't have been disgraced by the earthy mix of soulful blues and gospel. [Mar 2011, p.105]

True, he lacks bandmate 50 Cent's raw charisma. But his leisurely delivery carries weight. [Mar 2011, p.101]

As super cutesy as a Hello Kitty hair-grip. Best avoided, in other words. [Mar 2011, p.101]

Electronic outfit return after a decade and a half. [March 2011, p. 114]

Super Furry Animal ditches band and experimentation for the simple life. [March 2011, p. 114]

Milwaukee songstress's first offering. [Feb. 2011, p. 123]

There's a slightly scattershot quality to 21 that suggests that Adele is not quite the mistress of her own destiny. Greatness is tantalizingly within reach, though; perhaps she just needs to grab the wheel, and quickly. [Feb 2011, p.106]

Stronger on revved-up dancehall than coffee-table soul, it's on the collaborations they really come into their own. [Feb 2011, p.125]

A handsomely crafted affair of aching sincerity and a light pleasing soulful touch. What's missing are a couple of standout tracks to get the ball rolling. [Feb 2011, p.124]

Zeroes QC bristles with ideas, assimilating elements of Krautrock, electronica and post-punk to dazzling effect. [Feb 2011, p.124]

His fifth and final Streets album turns into his best since "A Grand Don't Come For Free." [Feb 2011, p.123]

It's hardly original, but is frequently beautiful. [Feb 2011, p.123]

Beach House may get all the headlines for this style of music, but Spokes seem destined to make waves of their own. [Feb 2011, p.123]

Well-connected New Jerseyite's fifth solo album. [March 2011, p. 117]

In a word, charming. [Feb 2011, p.123]

Give this album a very wide berth. [Feb 2011, p.120]

There's nothing to diminish his status as a nearly great, albeit mostly unheralded, American songwriter. [Feb 2011, p.120]

London Sessions is a solid memento of the group at their peak, albeit closer to a Peel session than a live album. [Feb 2011, p.120]

It's equally ambitious, forceful and joyous as Courtney Love's high water mark. [Feb 2011, p.118]

They have expanded their joint sabbatical into an album that ram-raids its way through baroque pop, garage rock and Byrdsian harmonies. [Feb 2011, p.118]

There is slick virtuosity to all the playing here but it is her warm, witty presence that shines through. [Feb 2011, p.118]

The conveyor belt of vocalists means an album-long identity crisis, but there are good things here. [Feb 2011, p.117]

Just Because, Youth and Poverty and the simmering Finale show there's genuine craft here too. Thrilling. [Feb 2011, p.117]

Second album confirms sonic wizard's wizardry. [March 2011, p. 116]

Crucially, as well as nailing the sound perfectly, they do so with a winning passion. [March 2011, p. 117]