Normally seen driving his hardware into the ground, here Ekoplekz is streamlining expanding.

The album is post-rock at its best, a monumentous achievement even by the group’s standards.

Kairos is not an album completely devoid of charm. The R&B influence gives the songs a weight they might otherwise lack.

Quixotic was one of the best albums [in] Europe last year and Anything will be one of the best here in 2004.

Glider is a fitting album for an overcast early winter day--cold and brooding, but not oppressively so.

As hard-rock takes on the shape of minimalist composition, the repeated rhythms and snatches of melody express rage and frustration long after the lyrics have ceased explicitly stating the message. It’s the kind of song that feels as appropriate today as it did 33 years ago. That kind of fervor makes ...For the Whole World to See such a blast and a defining example of the spirit that drives not just rock ‘n’ roll, but true outsider art.

While acting more like a well-constructed argument than a manifesto, Unsound shows that you can still fight into the later years.

Sound-wise, the album is gorgeous and perfectly placed, natch. Although I've spent so much space and breath on the thematic qualities of Long Slow Dance, the actual sounds might be the strongest force of the album.

Bird’s simultaneous engagement with the words and distance from the material free his delivery to keep the album feeling lighter than I’ve implied.

Slime Season 3 is as celebratory, emotionally rich, and life-affirming as a good funeral should be but never is. And this isn’t the end; it’s only the beginning of a brand new chapter.

The songs on Begone do not unfurl, nor do they climax.

Shall Noise Upon succeeds in fits and spurts, but as a whole, it lacks the continuity that is an essential ingredient for a career-defining record.

On an album that quite simply comes up lacking in spots, they provide a healthy dose of the same brilliant elegance found on "Furr."

Even though (III) is Crystal Castles' most unified album, the text of Glass' voice is still faceless and without words--empty.

Although it does falter at times with a seeming complacency ("Meridian," "Colony"), it is mostly characterized by a quiet ambition. It’s gutsy and its gutsiness pays off.

The joy of "Fur and Gold" has vanished and taken some of Khan’s potential with it. This is request for their safe return, no questions asked.

Because of its ambition and grandeur, Hurry Up, We're Dreaming might get criticized for its long runtime, for trying too hard to achieve aesthetic balance and thematic coherency.

Taken within the context of !!!’s (and, by default, OUT HUD’s) legacy, it doesn’t feel like a step in any particular direction so much as a million ideas left to duke it out.

On Catacombs, as always, McCombs stands as an unfashionable maverick who plays on his own terms, and if that is not good enough for the mindless millions, then tough shit.

These are vignettes, quick glimpses into the melodramatic lives of individuals, and the short, abrupt musical handling matches this mode of lyric writing.

The Dropouts tend to the same dynamics and tones, and even at 30 minutes, it gets a bit tedious.

His music’s dynamic, but his voice lacks range and variety. Krug sings emotionally, but not responsively.

Kensington Heights matches up each spectacular moment with an equally mundane one.

Even when the album gets really flaccid, as in the clattering breakdown of the turgid story-song 'Hopscotch Willie,' Malkmus is still annoyingly good at writing stuck-in-your-dome-piece melodies that keep you humming the tunes you don’t like just as much as the highlights

Stuck On Nothing is a boozy, lusty hug of a record--an album so loving and large-hearted that its virtues essentially cancel out its flaws.

They really did a great job. I think their best song was 'Those Who Don’t Blink' but it is not a good song for a headache.

No Más has three-fifths as many tracks in the same amount of time [as Jamz n Jemz], and for the most part, each track outstays its welcome.

While Moore’s aesthetic interests are rangy and Chelsea Light Moving most certainly exist to make them a compelling reality, the disc’s final act seems to be the most keyed-in to his recognizably arty, bookish-punk iconoclasm.