The Californian four-piece's follow-up is less inspired, however, lacking any memorable tunes or winning hoks to distract from Nathan Willett's grating falsetto, and much of the album is heavy going. [Oct 2008, p.141]

Impressively, she pulls off both sympathy and empathy. [Oct 2008, p.138]

Plain White T's are ultimately as bland and banal as the clothing they take their name from. [Dec 2008, p.133]

Motion To Join makes the druggiest meanderings of the similar "Spiritulized" sound full of pep. [Dec 2008, p. 126]

The occasional tune shines through, but ultimately too much of the material sounds like it's aimlessly ad-libbed. [Oct 2008, p.147]

Tennessee Pusher pushes their envelope further still. [Oct 2008, p.149]

Booming basslines, clubby beats, high production values and a guest list that includes Brazil's Seu Jorge, sitar lady Anushka Shankar and Afrobear star Femi Kuti make it a safe backdrop for just about any bar anywhere in the world. [Nov 2008, p.121]

Shorn of the stunning visuals, a little too much here sounds like aural padding. [Oct 2008, p.149]

While accepting that his odd but beguiling hybrid of rap, country, folk, and Butthole Surfers/Tom Waits-weirdness will never eclipse 1998's platinum "Whitey Ford Sings The Blues" he's injected impetus into what threatened to become a stale formula. [Oct 2008, p.142]

A foursome without a single Ken among them, their self-titled debut is heavy psych-rock for those of a crepuscular calling, with Bearfight and Refined being the songs where they really up the power. [Oct 2008, p.153]

The results are comprehensively bemusing, but Swedish is an exquisitely lulling language to listen to, and so the whole effect is oddly hypnotic. [Nov 2008, p.118]

His first widely distributed release, is no vanity showcase. It's an album of acoustic, guitar-based singer-songwriter pop, although not quite as sparse as that sounds. [Nov 2008, p.107]

One nostalgia trip worth taking. [Oct 2008, p.147]

This kitchen-sink hybrid works remarkably well. [Nov 2008, p.117]

It may sound less dense, but The Hungry Saw is as dark, mysterious and seductive as ever. [May 2008, p.141]

James has surprisingly reunited for this equally surprisingly strong comeback album. [May 2008, p.135]

'Love Runs Deeper' and the bustling 'Wanna Wait For You' especially confirm him as a master of his craft. [Oct 2008, p.153]

What's lacking from the Oakland native is the kind of fresh approach to a retro sound that elevated Amy Winehouse above straight homage. [Apr 2009, p.110]

Phillip Labonte's melodic vocals give the Massachussetts quintet an edge over their contemporaries, and the songwriting and classy production here suggests they're set for bigger things. [Oct 2008, p.141]

This follow-up is still falls between Dido's mild AOR and Lily Allen's bouncier moments while being as memorable as neither. [Mar 2009, p.101]

As warmly irresistible as the Feeling, the impossibly catchy 'Best Of Me' nods to Elton John's 'Your Song' and it's the finest moment here. [Oct 2008, p.150]

Producer Rick Rubin has made Metallica sound like Metallica again. [Nov 2008, p.116]

Emotional debris permeates almost every song here, but so assured are producer Butch Vig's pop touch and Cooper's harmonies that these pop-punk nuggests sound as sunny as anything on their debut. [Aug 2008, p.143]

This is no dour social critique. In fact, his seventh album finds him energised following a period as a soundtrack hack in Los Angeles. [Aug 2008, p.145]

Mariachi horns and guitar twang still form the backbone of a striking return to what they do best. [Oct 2008, p.141]

Joan Baez seems unshakeable on her 28th album. [Oct 2008, p.139]

Their combination of surreal lyrics and Krautrock now sounds pedestrian. [Oct 2008, p.142]

A pointed dig at modern Nashville's dull production line, Sleepless Nights is a collection of covers from a lost era of Patsy Cline and The Everly Brothers, Loveless's classic voice knocking pretenders into a cocked Stetson. [Jan 2009, p.120]