The sound remains crisp, ensuring that its rough-hewn beauty shines through. [Oct 2006, p.104]

Mostly frustrating... the spare instrumentation and samey melodies wear you down. [Oct 2006, p.96]

When the clamor stays spare, the threesome's clank and bleep stumbles into beauty, and their feedback morphs toward free jazz. [Nov 2006, p.105]

The anger is a new look for him, as is the role of political pundit or chronicler of social ills. And ultimately, Ludacris still sounds best on tracks like the NC-17 "Woozy." [Oct 2006, p.99]

An aesthetic- and career-defining set, it's the album they were destined to make. [Nov 2006, p.103]

Music this hard-partying can make for a tough morning after. [Oct 2006, p.105]

Slinging new styles and innovating them are separate matters. [Oct 2006, p.100]

So faceless that it'll make you hanker for Dirty Vegas deep cuts. [Oct 2006, p.96]

Gibb... is the seamy, sex-fueled yang to the ascetic yin of the Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt. [Oct 2006, p.98]

Empire constantly changes its focus. [Oct 2006, p.99]

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]