Invoking and evoking just about all the spontaneity and scariness that you'd want from rock'n'roll, Tago Mago can offer experiences as spellbinding as the sequence that originally comprised side one ("Paperhouse", "Mushroom", "Oh Yeah"), or can be so extreme that you feel yourself under attack by maniacs.

The bangles here right the ship. [Dec 2011, p.79]

It's electro adventurism aligns him with John Maus and White Rainbow,m but Nick Cave and Berlin-era Bowie hover nearby. [Dec 2011, p.79]

Bob Rock's big production ladles on the reverb, merely emphasizing hollowness at the core. [Dec 2011, p.81]

The best moments [from The King Is Dead] are woefully unlucky not to have made the cut.

This is a vital reimagining, not a retro homage. [Dec 2011, p.81]

Just when you thought Bjork had plumbed and conquered every depth and summit of her range, Dirty Projectors have shepherded her to newer pastures. [Dec 2011, p.81]

The Less you know is a rather ponderous return to form. [Dec 2011, p.81]

This is a dark and heartfelt affair. [Dec 2011, p.82]

Shadowed by a might past, in Ersatz GB, this is a strictly prefabricated Fall. [Dec 2011, p.82]

New collaborations from Noah & The Whale to Conor O'Brien, are worth the price of admission. [Dec 2011, p.82]

While his lyrics crackle, the music seems like an afterthought. [Dec 2011, p.84]

Harding here ups the comeback ante with a baker dozen of frothy, breezily melodic gems. [Dec 2011, p.84]

Primal yet precise, these obliques beats and blocky grooves loom out of the lush ambient foliage like the crown of a Mayan temple in the Yucatan jungle. [Dec 2011, p.87]

This US trio make a more than decent fist of their upbeat retro-music without ever quite shaking off the scent of pastiche. [Dec 2011, p.87]

The Vision unveils a colorful, sensualist take on the dubstep sound, flexing basslines set into relief by twinkling R&B melodies and a host of guest vocalists. [Dec 2011, p.87]

Soul Time! is another thrilling homage to the glory days of Motown and Stax. [Dec 2011, p.87]

The lo-fi production means it can all sound a bit shrill. [Dec 2011, p.88]

If is deeply lovely music, born of a tenderly weighted sensibility. [Dec 2011, p.88]

Overall, the album feels insular and stultifying introspective, despite the undeniable earnestness of Lee's intent and the passion fueling his ambition. [Dec 2011, p.89]

Keene's career-best album. [Dec 2011, p.89]

The band strike a neat balance between chunky Pavement guitar scrawl and sombre orchestrals. [Dec 2011, p.89]

Solid, competent stuff, but it's difficult, but it's difficult to imagine anyone wanting to listen to this in isolation. [Dec 2011, p.89]

The whole oddball exercise is almost rescued by "Pinky's Dream." [Dec 2011, p.89]

Still one of America's most unique and affecting songwriters. [Dec 2011, p.90]

Howard Devoto's arch art-rockers deliver a fresh set of oddball studies. [Dec 2011, p.90]

Some old punk hands (notably erstwhile Black Flag guitarist Dez Caden) conjure up some acceptable punk bubblegum. [Dec 2011, p.90]

Replica feels less dreamy, more disquieting. [Dec 2011, p.92]