By throwing everything at the wall and nailing up the stuff that didn't stick, he's done himself--and more importantly what he clearly views as his masterpiece--a grand disservice. [Jan 2009, p.110]

However appealing Sugar Mountain may be to some, the storytelling alone will prove too much for others. [Jan 2009, p.127]

Lucky, then she's so musically warm and, like its predecessors, Safe Trip Home takes comfort in a sound that almost masks her unrest. Almost. [Dec 2008, p.127]

These renditions, however, also stress how undeserved their reputation for tea-and-cakes twee was, using Stuart Murdoch's lyrical sharpness and the radio sessions' rough edges to draw blood. [Jan 2009, p.126]

This fourth album finds them repeating the nifty trick of simplifying Tool's complex musical equations. Math metal for dummies, anyone? [Jan 2009, p.113]

Like his dad, he's more of a declaimer than a singer, but that's still plenty good enough to get his politicised sloganeering across. [Dec 2008, p.130]

It's as complex and funky as the city that inspired it. [Dec 2008, p.133]

Her giggly peers will find she speaks their language, while grown-ups will prefer her to keep quiet. [Apr 2009, p.110]

This has a more expansive, almost pop feel. [Dec 2008, p.132]

The lack of any overt passion, energy and fresh ideas makes a numbing and sadly all too predictable listen. [Dec 2008, p.128]

The lasting impression os of music full of a magic and panache that a mere compilation album can't quite reflect. [dec 2008, p.136]

A short and sharp, but ultimately shockless, album that would have benefited from changing its tune once in a while. [Feb 2009, p.112]

Anyone unfamiliar with Sheffield's rich musical heritage could be left thinking the city's main legacy was maudlin ballads for the Saga set. [Dec 2008, p.128]

In stepping out of their comfort zone and trading in their previous identity, it seems Travis haven't yet decided who or what they now want to be. [Oct 2008, p.144]

In between there's much else to savour, from smooth slow jams to Won't Trade's terrific blast of rap meets '60s soul. [Jan 2009, p.123]

It makes a refreshing change from the studied cool of Moretti's paymasters. [Dec 2008, p.130]

Undeniably bold and ahead of its time, it also remains rather easier to admire from a safe distance than to actually like. Or listen to. [Nov 2008, p.121]

A work of astonishing beauty with a time travel concept more out-there than Bjork's ever been. [Dec 2008, p.133]

Silence Is Wild may be willfully idiosyncratic and prone to self-indulgence, but it's also refreshingly imaginative, sexually upfront and impossible to second guess. [Mar 2009, p.101]

Few rappers think to use words like "polyocular;" fewer still manage to make them funky. [Nov 2008, p.111]

A disappointing lack of originality on an album that is all too clearly in thrall to The Libertines and all their many acolytes. [Jan 2009, p.120]

Bloc Party remain a band with the greatness they seek still hovering somewhere on the horizons. [Nov 2008, p.112]

Off With Their Heads affirms the undying pleasures of smart, catchy pop music does well. [Oct 2008, p.137]

The first half of Heart On is a heroically hedonistic party, but it's the subsequent comedown that, inevitable, lingers longer. [Feb 2009, p.113]

Self-parody has lately been The Cure's greatest enemy: here, happily, it's not the main attraction. [Jan 2009, p.113]

A Hundred Million Suns is just what their hordes demanded, similar enough to uits predecessors to be identifiably Snow Patrol but sufficently different to suggest progression. [Nov 2008, p.106]

An intriguingly woozy melange of out-of-focus vocals, feedback squalls and metronomic beats, everything coming together just so on the compelling 'Nothing Ever Happened.' [Nov 2008, p.121]

New York's O'Death are a breathless proposition for the most part. [Nov 2008, p.118]