Lambert sings his heart out over finger-picked electro-folk, odd industrial interludes and exhilarating, jittery pop. [Feb 2013, p.75]

The performances are ahead of the songwriting at this early stage, but the loping "Trojans," the rip-roaring "Electric" and the Police-like "Centered On You" engagingly introduce Atlas Genius' genetically taut sound. [Mar 2013, p.67]

It might skirt the edges of twee but the follow-up to 2010's Die Stadt Muzikanten darkens and deepens as it unfolds. [Mar 2013, p.79]

These nine brief songs weave together to create a bewitching, moonlit spell. [Feb 2013, p.78]

Throughout the mammoth album, barely a minute is wasted as Endless Boogie superimpose wild guitars on even wilder ones. [Mar 2013, p.78]

The Stand-In has everything that made its predecessor special--big voice, expertly crafted tunes, clever backings, a deft mix of stridency and restraint--but is definitely a step up.

Sally Shapiro continues to revel in this cheesy yet faintly psychedelic sound. [Mar 2013, p.76]

With Rough Carpenters, the pickers are deeply respectful of the revenant forms they're extending, but the music is never leaden. [Mar 2013, p.67]

[Like Rats proved] Kozelek could turn his wry tone to any old thing and make it lovely. [Mar 2013, p.73]

His talent remains unquestionable, even when drawing on a six-hour, piano dominated Abbey Road session. [Mar 2013, p.72]

The roller-disco gallop of "Wallpaper" epitomises Be Your Own King's catwalk-sang-froid and quiet Joie de Vivre. [Mar 2013, p.69]

The most peculiar aspect here is the sound of Oldham shaking off his customary moroseness in "Poems, Prayers and Promises" and "Milk Train" and positively radiating joie de vivre. [Mar 2013, p.75]

For all the baubles and padding presented with this definitive edition, the disc you’ll turn to again and again is the one you’ve been playing all your life.

Out Of Touch may be sophisticated and complex, but it's also damned groovy, hugely heartfelt and packed ti the gunwales with fizzing tunes. [Feb 2013, p.71]

A second LP that builds on the promise of their 2009 debut, Harum Scarum. [Mar 2013, p.72]

Hammer Down may just be their best yet, the quintet's intense mix of mandolin, banjo and fiddle given added zest by a recent shake-up in personnel. [Feb 2013, p.79]

There's much to admire here, but Flume needs to fix his identity. [Mar 2013, p.72]

Blue Hawaii are more about atmosphere than impact, with the production clearly influenced by Cowan's time in Germany studying at the university if Kompakt. [Mar 2013, p.68]

It's a guarded affair, drawing from the same muted palette of emotions throughout. [Mar 2013, p.73]

Though Mitchell and Hamer avoid the kind of astringent vocal blends favoured by most British singers of these ballads, there's still an intriguing piquancy to their harmonies, with Mitchell's girlish timbre resting against Hamer's milder, warmer tones.

Some stunning inventive improvisation, with pianist Danilo Perez sounding like 10 excited monkeys jumping up and down on the keys. In a good way. [Mar 2013, p.76]

At times the pace crawls, but James' supple, intimate vocals are engaging, and the sonic palette shimmers inventively. [Mar 2013, p.73]

There's something deeply satisfying about the way the songs fit together as an album, their sequence strengthened both by the homogenous tone of the music with its air of wistful melancholy, and by the way each song seems to push the next one forward. [Mar 2013, p.61]

White-knuckle anthemicism is order of the day, and vocalist Elias Bender Ronnenfelt seem to gave grown into his skin. [Mar 2013, p.73]

For all the stray premonitions of patchouli-scented funk-rock, these are less jazz-rock meltdowns and more muscular free improv sessions, ones which suggest a very different direction from Bitches Brew. [Mar 2013, p.89]

The Messenger isn't an album that will blow any non-believer away. It is old fashioned, in many ways. [Mar 2013, p.65]

This seamless synthesis of sinew and silicon is crucial to the album's slippery feel: there's a pleasing fluidity and crooked funkiness to the arrangements that Yorke sometimes struggled to achieve on The Eraser. [Mar 2013, p.66]

Deez's second album ups the wonky'n'witty ante with out sacrificing heart or tunes. [Mar 2013, p.70]