Hissing Fauna might be an album of ego trips, but at least Barnes is on the good stuff. [Feb 2007, p.85]

This is dance music downsized for iPods but also indie rock expanded for the dance floor. [Jan 2007, p.89]

An ecstatic, angry, gorgeously mournful manifesto. [Jan 2007, p.89]

It won't satisfy hook-hungry Jewel fans, but Learn to Sing wears Hersh's experience like a custom-tailored hair shirt. [Feb 2007, p.84]

Drunk on ringing guitars, crashing drums, and swooning harmonies, singer Ross Flournoy and crew try to compensate for their shortage of fresh ideas with boundless enthusiasm -- and almost pull it off.

As lean and compact as its predecessor was expansive. [Jan 2007, p.88]

Some of the tracks sound pretty tossed-off, but it's nice to hear such a brainy bunch not overthinking things. [Feb 2007, p.86]

This time around, it's as if the script has been reshot by Michael Bay--glossy and viscerally stimulating--and we're watching a coming attraction for a film that never starts. [Feb 2007, p.88]

On Hell Hath No Fury, Clipse transform cliches into poetry. [Nov 2006, p.105]

The album flounders during their attempts at arty funk. [Jan 2007, p.92]

It's alternately spotty and spot-on. [Jan 2007, p.94]

Though the set's marathon length may keep casual listeners at a distance, fans of the eccentric characters, styles, and emotional arcs that compose Waits' oeuvre know there's no such thing as a "casual" Tom Waits listener anyway. [Dec 2006, p.103]

The mall-ready hooks and occasional stabs at acoustic pop on Deja Entendu have been replaced by the sort of Radiohead-indebted bombast that begs to be played at lease-breaking volumes. [Dec 2006, p.99]

He's just retracing past missteps. [Dec 2006, p.100]

[It] documents Stevens' transformation from unremarkable folkie Jesus freak to unorthodox Christian mega-talent. [Dec 2006, p.101]

[Franz Ferdinand's] Alex Kapranos... owes JK crooner Paul Haig a pint. [Dec 2006, p.103]

Throughout the album, Newsom's language is more colorful than on Mender; at its best, it works as music even on the page. [Dec 2006, p.95]

Unlike... Worlds Apart, So Divided is built less on brute force and more on hyperdetailed songwriting. [Dec 2006, p.101]

Yusuf's supple folk tunes predictably take a more spiritual route, yet largely avoid cosmic corn. [Dec 2006, p.104]

Rice seeks 24/7 momentousness here. [Jan 2007, p.92]

Devotees will probably find it terribly amusing. Everyone else might want to hit the bong pretty hard beforehand. [Dec 2006, p.102]

Sheets is Campbell's hallucination of a cozy English garden party. [Jan 2007, p.94]

This lo-fi duo... continue to make charming albums while simply shrugging at their own limitations. [Jan 2007, p.88]

The toughest cuts are still the early singles. But shorty's in the process of becoming something bigger than a hot, patois-spitting grime MC. [Nov 2006, p.101]

A sideways step in the right direction. [Nov 2006, p.97]

That she succeeds on a record as sophisticated as the self-produced Pretty Little Head is not only a testament to McKay's talent, it's also a tribute to her artistic sense. [Jan 2006, p.90]

The highlight "It's Not Enough"... proves [Townshend] hasn't lost his knack for pop precision. [Dec 2006, p.104]

Meat's voice is there, the cover art rules, but something vital is missing. [Nov 2006, p.102]