The mini-classic of ultramelodic singer/songwriter pop that he's always hinted at. [Oct 2006, p.99]

The songs on The Letting Go that flirt with familiar forms... feel completely devoid of his pretentious tendencies. [Oct 2006, p.94]

The most memorable songs on his third album are decidedly buzz killers. [Oct 2006, p.96]

With her bandmates providing roughed-up backing that's neither appropriate nor compelling, Persson comes off like a stylish girl with unnecessarily ratty hair. [Nov 2006, p.97]

Sitek's layered sonics have grown more immense... and almost none of these songs charts a predictable course. [Jun 2006, p.81]

As over the top as all this can be, Amputechture has little of the thrash influence that's made modern prog so deadening, and the impenetrable lyrics... are easily overlooked. [Sep 2006, p.104]

No instant classics... but the productions remain fresh, hype, and kaleidoscopic. [Oct 2006, p.94]

Greenspan turns the pathos of 2004's Last Exit into nearly intolerable bathos, with the beats now noticeably dragging. [Oct 2006, p.98]

Their follow-up finds a better balance, albeit one that teeters toward a straight party groove. [Oct 2006, p.104]

Yo La Tengo remain true to their Velvet Underground roots. [Oct 2006, p.105]

Comes off like a less foreboding version of [Sigur Ros'] moody orchestral drift. [Oct 2006, p.94]

If the Black Keys sped up a little, their stodginess might feel more songful. [Oct 2006, p.94]

A masterful blend of electronic genres. [Oct 2006, p.102]

Despite a slew of tasty melodies... [it] feels a bit choked and cautious. [Oct 2006, p.102]

It's a blessing and a curse that he's never sounded more unhinged. [Oct 2006, p.105]

Buckner's singular pipes and surrealistic lyrics tug the songs toward the esoteric, but the band pulls them back. [Oct 2006, p.95]

He's relying on the same sad melodies. And they're still quite effective. [Oct 2006, p.96]

They're still not so great at turning their majesitc heft and pushy paradiddles into memorable songs with hooks. [Oct 2006, p.100]

Multicultural, cosmopolitan, intellectual dance music: Ibiza meets punk, dub goes tango, trance gets smart. [Oct 2006, p.95]

What's so brilliant about ['Taiga'] is how Yoshimi finds spiritual connections between unlikely genres. [Oct 2006, p.102]

Stupidity this willful has its limits. [Nov 2006, p.98]

Variety has never been Audioslave's strong suit. [Sep 2006, p.102]

The group... get more expansive--and more pop--on their second album. [Sep 2006, p.102]

The effect is like gauze with teeth--chill-out music that never stops looking over its shoulder. [Oct 2006, p.104]

Game Theory is the Roots at their heaviest. [Sep 2006, p.114]

Bright, anxious pop-rock melodies that pulse with a geeky charm. [Sep 2006, p.114]

The album's guitar- and keyboard-heavy production obscures some of his folky Britpop melodies, but it shows off his Bruuuce heart in a big way. [Oct 2006, p.105]

Looks back to Dixie-Narco, their 1992 EP that brought raw-power ferocity to Memphis soul. [Sep 2006, p.110]

An emo album that you don't have to be 17 to actually enjoy. [Sep 2006, p.100]

Idlewild grasps for a distinctive sound, departing almost entirely from rap per se. [Sep 2006, p.99]

[Razorlight] give post-Strokes neo-garage rock a tidy soul makeover. [Sep 2006, p.111]

Kurt Wagner's conversational croak is, charitably put, an acquired taste. [Sep 2006, p.106]

Darnielle's signature frantic strum is all but absent, replaced by languid tempos and quiet full-band arrangements. [Sep 2006, p.108]

Unleashes a torrent of bloated, if occasionally lovely, romantic anthems that aspire to cosmic insight, yet settle for greeting-card corn. [Sep 2006, p.112]

There's still something small and handmade about the Thermals' music. [Sep 2006, p.112]

Brings a welcome grandeur to Ward's honeyed rasp and nimble guitar picking. [Sep 2006, p.114]

Barroom confessions that are more soulful, if somewhat less tuneful, than her day band's. [Sep 2006, p.106]

It's easy to miss the bright counterweight that has kept his old-soul melancholy afloat in the past. [Sep 2006, p.100]

Sports the trademark soul loops, crackling drums, and underwater ambience of his best past work. [Sep 2006, p.103]

Her... most streamlined effort yet. [Sep 2006, p.104]

Positively exuberant. [Sep 2006, p.114]

A melodic world of deliciously messy guitars, synthesizers, and piano. [Sep 2006, p.102]

Dreary production from hometown benefactor Eminem does little to liven things up. [Aug 2006, p.82]

Infinite, often chaotic, near-instrumental psych-prog-punk-metal grooves rich with fine-ground detail. [Sep 2006, p.100]

Milky keyboard washes and found-sound accents... give the music a darker, dreamier depth. [Sep 2006, p.100]

Holy Ghost is something of a wash... Winter Women, though, boasts some of [his] best material. [Sep 2006, p.111]

He, like the Beta Band, deftly creates a patchwork of Britain's mushiest styles, from Rubber Soul-era Beatles to Badly Drawn Boy's acoustic wanderings. [Sep 2006, p.108]

Blends the furious muscle of 2001's God Hates Us All with the more melodic experimentation of their post-Reign work. [Sep 2006, p.112]

X's overlong albums have always been exhausting, and this time he sounds bored and fatigued. [Sep 2006, p.100]

Their most immediately pleasurable album. [Sep 2006, p.104]

Moodier moments respectably imitate Dylan and Neil Young, but often fall asleep at the wheel. [Sep 2006, p.110]

[A] striking return to form. [Aug 2006, p.82]

They sound ready to take on Franz Ferdinand. [Aug 2006, p.76]

Addictive listening. [Aug 2006, p.80]

Wordy but somnambulant. [Sep 2006, p.112]

[Steele's] way-back machine is aimed precisely for 1985. [Aug 2006, p.85]

Ultimately these would-be activists end up with more nervous bark than bite. [Aug 2006, p.77]

A freaky, moving masterpiece. [Aug 2006, p.80]

Germano's wooziest and most ethereal [album] yet. [Aug 2006, p.78]

It's uniformly catchy. [Sep 2006, p.102]

Does its best to earn a few Daft Punk comparisons. [Aug 2006, p.82]

These flat-voiced, fleetingly funky gangsta rips are too detached to be adorable. [Aug 2006, p.76]

Muse used to sound like a Radiohead tribute band; now they sound like a Muse knockoff. [Aug 2006, p.81]

Never transcends the level of a cheeky bumper sticker. [Aug 2006, p.82]

Remarkably, the songs on Avalanche are nearly as good as the ones on Illinois, although with surprising synth bursts and craggy guitar noise that were sandpapered off of its predecessor. [Aug 2006, p.79]

These are the weirdest tracks Yorke has ever been a part of. [Aug 2006, p.75]

Sound[s] like a band that's discovered how to enjoy itself again. [Aug 2006, p.85]

Though his delivery veers between strength and frailty, he's in full control. [Aug 2006, p.83]

The feel-good vibe... mak[es] you feel crappy for not being as upbeat as India. [Aug 2006, p.80]

Represents a major upgrade in Dashboard's sound. [Jul 2006, p.83]

Like Confessions on a Dance Floor, Fundamental uses squelchy electro-disco grooves that smuggle sly pop-culture commentary. [Aug 2006, p.83]

Flavorsome but oddly ordinary. [Aug 2006, p.77]

The playing is impeccable, Black's subtly warped songs uneven. [Jul 2006, p.82]

In the way the tunes crash and throb, much of the album could be the "Milkshake" follow-up Kelis never got around to recording. [Jun 2006, p.84]

There's virtually no tension or drama in Keane's surpassingly pretty pop. [Jul 2006, p.90]

When things are going right, she reverentially nods to the sumptuous aesthetic that defined Marvin Gaye's What's Going On; when her form slips, it's like Dido gone "groovy." [Jul 2006, p.82]

With the band's pop instincts craftier than ever, these songs might even reach past the keg party. [Jul 2006, p.84]

Sounds like the Band in a coma. [Jul 2006, p.82]

[Hannon] deserves to be recognized as the unsung genius of symphonic pop. [Nov 2006, p.97]

They've ditched velocity but neglected to replace it with anything worthwhile. [Jul 2006, p.88]

Here, [Hot Chip] beefs up the rhythms and tones down the indie-geek shtick. [Jul 2006, p.84]

A set of punchy roots pop whose backbeat thumps as hard as her still-wounded heart. [Jul 2006, p.86]

His furious, frantic monotone dramatically collides with producer El-P's postindustrial beats. [Jul 2006, p.86]

Recall[s] the most disturbingly surreal moments of a David Lynch film. [Jul 2006, p.87]

Ripped is about three- or four-minute songcraft--never the highlight of their resume. [Jul 2006, p.88]

As addictive as ice-cream dots. [Jul 2006, p.88]

Confirms [Molina] as one of underground pop's most beautifully odd voices. [Jun 2006, p.83]

While Decemberunderground sounds terrific, at times Havok's dear-diary lyrics are so awkward they're almost laughable. [Jul 2006, p.81]

Pearl may have studied Karen O's textbook, but when her bandmates rev up a proper garage-rock racket, she dives in like she was born with her own irresistible rock-star sneer. [Jul 2006, p.82]

Baroque but not self-indulgent. [Jul 2006, p.83]

Bear[s] the mark of Big Star. [Jul 2006, p.85]

These thumping, Ibiza-inflected excursions into pop and R&B aren't quite as catchy [as "Starry Eyed Surprise"]. [Jun 2006, p.83]

Their sophisticated studio treatments make every sound sparkle. [Aug 2006, p.84]

The tracks that are anchored by [Sia and Jose Gonzalez] have a soulful edge, but elsewhere the instrumentals drift aimlessly toward the hotel jazz bar. [Jul 2006, p.90]

Asya... has an immediate confidence, rolling through tricky time changes like Tori Amos' plucky little sister. [Jul 2006, p.87]

A better-than-decent, ultimately pointless live set. [Jun 2006, p.82]

More avant-opera than pop. [Jul 2006, p.90]

Here, his three sidemen elevate [DeLonge's] emo tendencies to something grander and more timelessly romantic--though somewhat less exciting. [Jul 2006, p.82]