The trio's lyrical style is woven into a bewitching mesh of soul, funk and psychedlia by cut-and-paste guru Madlib. [Mar 2010, p.98]

IRM proves suitably unconventional thanks to the presence of co-writer and producer Beck Hansen, who plays fast and loose with Gainsbourg's breathy chanson, skipping from spiky percussion (Master's Hands) to lush orchestration (Vanities) even joining her at the mic for jaunty, '60s-flavoured duet Heaven Can't Wait. [Feb 2010, p 107]

Every so often, a newfound edginess gratifyingly creeps in, be that musical, on the gothic post-hardcore of "Plan A," or lyrical, on "The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future," a movingly detailed portrait of a suicidal girl. The signs of a band whose ambition may yet match their productivity. [Mar 2010, p.055]

This record, however, makes an indelible mark. [Feb 2010, p. 110]

The giddy result of years spent twisting and caressing orchestras of samples into a living, breathing organic whole, There Is Love In you brims with a playful sense of wonder, never more so than on centerpiece This Unfolds. [Feb 2010, p. 109]

The acoustic-only, antique-sounding folks songs of Realism are superficially less abrasive than 2008's Distortion, but beneath they still articulate black-humoured romanticism. [Feb 2010, p. 111]

It's to Bailey Rae's credit that never for one second does the album feel exploitative or mawkish, just truthful and real. [Mar 2010, p.94]

Slight by comparison with 2009's "Merriweather Post Pavilion," but not without it's own charm. [Feb 2010, p.116]

Citay's fourth album hasn't moved far from the excessive Black Sabbath/led Zeppelin grind of their self-titled 2006 debut. Dream Get Together does, however, show more finesse. [Mar 2010, p.98]

Produced again by former Arcade Fire man Howard Bilerman, here spare, lovelorn songs such as zithery vigil The Shore evoke an elegant melancholy, while the more rugged likes of Gold Rush dart forth on galloping drums, fiddles and banjos. [Feb 2010, p. 104]

This time around, though, she's more introspective, less shouty and the result is her most absorbing album since 2005's "Kidnapped By Neptune." [Mar 2010, p.106]

It's not as electric as some performances, but it's no wondder he had a heart attack soon after and retired...for now. [Apr 2010, p.126]

Although reaching a touching peak on melancholic closer City By The Sea, two albums in Good Shoes still lack a defining personality of their own. [Feb 2010, p. 107]

Erland And The Carnival is an exquisite update of the classic folk-rock sound of the late '60s, full of dark and lovely covers and originals starring tramps, carnivals, Derby Rams and death. [Feb 2010, p. 105]

As an album, it is an imposing structure, a statement to their architectural skill. Beneath their grand design, however, Editors exists in a grey area, mistaking the half-light for night. They're not quite masters of darkness yet. [Nov 2009, p.105]

Experimental yet entirely accessible, Transference proves that Spoon are of America's finest bands. [Feb 2010, p. 111]

If Noah And The Whale's The First Days Of Spring dealt with identical subject matter from a 20-year-old's perspective, 46-year-old Everett's tale is darker and more adult. And painfully brilliant. [Feb 2010, p. 104]

It's best when it's at its most trippy. Less effectove are the parping brass and chukka-chukka guitars on "Baby Can't Stop." Happily there's enough of the former to outweigh the latter. [Mar 2010, p.105]

It was produced by Blink-182's Mark Hoppus, a fact evident within five seconds of opener, "Worker Bee." [May 2010, p.126]

An inventive reworking of Squeeze's "Up The Junction" and a caustic cover of the Sex Pistols' "EMI" are reminders that, 15 years on from "I Should Coco," their passionate (Brit)pop still crackles with energy. [Apr 2010, p.112]

Her sweet vocals and country-ish musical tilt recall Cat Power, but with a fresh and affirming, rather than jaded, worldview. [Oct 2009, p.112]

They do what they do with admirable panache, ripping thorugh 13 buzzy little items in a shade over half an hour as though lives, or at least wallets, depended on it. [Mar 2010, p.105]

Led by a yearning frontman getting his Morrissey on, it's a debut that's boyishly and buoyantly charming. [Aug 2010, p.126]

Whether a fanbase reared on moshpit anthems is ready for such artful desolation remains to be seen, but as an exercise in skin-shedding and score-settling The Betrayed is brutally effective. [Feb 2010, p. 103]

Compared to the mulch churned out by far too many, Contra will cut through most of the stuff on the radio like sunshine through clouds. [Feb 2010, p 100]

Unfortunately, wit the exception of the catchy "Needing/Getting," there's little that's memorable. [Winter 2010, p.107]

It's a faintly embarrassing trifle that only a 69-year old ex-Beatle could get away with. [Apr 2010, p.120]