A musical vigil primed to cut a path from bedside to festival stage. [Dec 2009, p. 111]

While there is plenty to admire in the ambition, there's little to love, as memorable hooks prove to be at a premium. [Oct 2009, p.116]

At 20 tracks long, Imperial Blaze suffers badly from a lack of editing, however, Paul also spends hald the album in ballad mode. [Nov 2009, p.111]

Daft, complex, and beautiful, it's also his best yet. [Jul 2009, p.133]

He's not quite established his own sound, but that will surely come. Meanwhile, Braveface remains hugely enjoyable. [Jun 2009, p.121]

The folowing eight songs amount to a proper return to formm, with Middleton's always literate eye for trivial detail matched by catchy acoustic pop tunes and an underlying bleakness that is quietly gripping. [Jul 2009, p.128]

Whether anyone would actually buy it is debatable, but certainly everyone should hear it. [Aug 2009, p.110]

Potent, and strangely noble. [Nov 2009, p.112]

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this template leaves little room for subtlety, yet what the duo's first lacks in brains it makes up for in sheer noisy exuberance, displaying on Crazy/Forever a common thread with the once majestic ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. [Dec 2009, p. 116]

Their debut turns out to be a lovely slice of Americana, tastefully underpinned by warm harmonies, acoustic guitars and a melancholy yearning for lost youth. [Oct 2009, p.118]

Though Blank's album is full of hits and misses, it's rarely dull. [Aug 2009, p.103]

The album is a pleasing companion in its own right. [Nov 2009, p.111]

A high-gloss, vocally gymnastic collection of '80s-referencing dance pop concerned with love and love gone wrong, can be a little full-on. [Aug 2009, p.107]

[The new sound] works well on single 'Cities Burning Down,' which glides by catchily with a curious mix of muscle and lethargy, but it's less welcome on the cod-psychedlic 'Let's Be Kids' or the trite 'Golden Web,' both which are cosmetically seemless, but lack depth. [Apr 2009, p.105]

Seemingly made with the camper kind of dancefloors in mind is the self-titled first album of surging Euro synth-pop from Sweden writer/producer, Kleerup. [Jun 2009, p.134]

At a safe distance from Britpop's glare, Midlife justly represents Blur as national treasures, as emotionally rich and hungry for progress as ardiohead, only catchier. [Aug 2009, p.116]

The likes of Umbrella Beach, Cave In and Vanillla Twilight blend bittersweet longing, wintry elemental imagery and melodies that worm their way into your consciousness with effortless aplomb. [Apr 2010, p.119]

They're better when they throw off the straightjacket of cool. [Oct 2009, p.107]

It's not essential, but it is a sunny delight. [Oct 2009, p.117]

It's tempting to say that Groves makes music mature beyond her tender years, but tha's wrong. It would be stunning no matter how old she was. [Jun 2009, p.117]

An album that spins and lurches with impressive dexterity. [Aug 2009, p.104]

Horehound's strengths are also its weaknesses--the rush with which it came together, the sense that it amounts to Jack White playing to type. But like Jack White, too, when it's good, it's very, very good. [Aug 2009, p.102]

Freakonomics proves they still pack a punch, though. [Aug 2009, p.101]

To reach this pop sophistication after four albums would be admirable. In two, it's awe-inspiring. [Aug 2009, p.105]

This is a better than promising start. [Jul 2009, p.118]

This record is like a pale version of their biggest fan in its shoe-shuffling awkwardness, and though each track sounds far too timid for single release, that is perhaps Upper Air's defining charm. [Aug 2009, p.103]

Though the quality rarely dips, at almost 2 hours long it does get rather wearing. [Aug 2009, p.110]

Reflective, humourous and romantic, Catacombs is perfect for those long summer nights ahead. [Jul 2009, p.133]