The result is less an uncommonly danceable indie-rap disc than it is an uncommonly thoughtful groove album. [May 2008, p.100]

Bragg gets the balance of message and music just about right. [May 2008, p.94]

Divorced from their HBO series, the songs have room to stretch a little, only occasionally sacrificing context. [May 2008, p.98]

Add some beatboxing courtesy of Tom Waits (!), and you have an occasionally forced, yet boldly magnetic change of pace. [May 2008, p.94]

H.N.I.C. Pt. 2 is a real downer, but it's also completely gripping. [Apr 2008, p.102]

The Night Marchers follow Rocket From The Crypt's tried-and-true strategy, intertwining punk, hard rock, and rockabilly, with lively if unsurprising results. [May 2008, p.104]

Though the 16-track set achieves no sonic heights, Assbring's stirring lyrics and faint yet convincing delivery convey heartbreak gracefully. [May 2008, p.98]

M83 needs to step out of the '80s, and back into the future. [Apr 2008, p.100]

Odds are Konk's been-there, done-that sentiments will inspire a Kula Shaker-sized blip. [May 2008, p.100]

Raise the Dead works best when power takes a backseat to pop. [May 2008, p.106]

The only offensive thing about this English electro-rock outfit's debut is how blatantly they rip off Justice ripping off Daft Punk.

My Bloody Underground emphasizes the band's trippy side, often at the expense of Newcombe's undervalued tunecraft. [May 2008, p.96]

Gossip lack the kind of anthems that demand a live document. [May 2008, p.100]

Feral intensity abounds. [Apr 2008, p.98]

A stunning collection of 36 instrumental tracks that is one of the most varied and ambitious releases of Reznor's career. [May 2008, p.104]

The Breeders can still crank out straightforward rock songs, but iy's the creepier stuff that gets under your skin and stays there. [Apr 2008, p.104]

They never let math get in the way of a good time. [Apr 2008, p.96]

There are pleasures to be found on Walk It Off, and in the context of Tapes 'n Tapes growth as songwriters, the record is a modest breakthrough. [Apr 2008, p.102]

The result is some of the loosest, most facinating music of their career. [Apr 2008, p.92]

Lacking a balance between pretty and ugly, their experimental alchemy is scabrously tiring, with cacophonous fragments that never connect. [Apr 2008, p.100]

A primer on British folk-revival icon Shirley Collins is the disc's most sparkling moment. [May 2008, p.103]

His sophomore outing sports a looser feel tha his '60s obsessed debut "Tower of Love," adding slightly funkier grooves and hints of electronica to the mix--though the layered, cascading vocals still srecall Brian Wilson at his nuttiest. [May 2008, p.106]

With songs this hooky, it's impossible not to enjoy Cut Copy's lush new-wave revival. [June 2008, p.106]

For most of Neptune, the Duke Spirit graft sweet coatings onto a dark, swirling center.

More often than not, X's hooks, tunes and Minogue's bubblegum-perfect hum achieve candy-coated ecstasy. [Mar 2008, p.106]

Spirited and frenetic, Hold On adds up to more than just the sum of the band's five-star libraries. [Apr 2008, p.100]

It plays like a retrospective of his signature sounds. [Apr 2008, p.100]

Mostly the Keys just staple stuff to their good ol' R&B raunch and let 'er rip. [Apr 2008, p.92]