[Perry] rambles--incomprehensibly, as ever--over various trippy soundscapes from Alex Paterson and Thomas Fehlmann. [Sep 2012, p.82]

The result is a record that's primarily dedicated to beauty but with an engagingly playful spirit. [Sep 2012, p.83]

In a recording career that stretches back more than four decades, Ry Cooder has never before made an album as immediate as Election Special.

While James Murphy's homages are leavened with irony and discrete heartache, Dear is more po-faced than pomo. [Sep 2012, p.75]

There are proficient pastiches...[and] there are plenty of chugging, 6/8 neo-soul ballads. [Sep 2012, p.79]

A glossy but incoherent neo-rave pastiche. [Sep 2012, p.87]

Ascent sounds like Chasny channeling a great band's alchemical powers to his own ends, in the process making what may turn out to be a highpoint in his already rich and complex career. [Sep 2012, p.78]

Hardly the most disciplined or versatile singer, Shaver gets over on the strength of his writing. [Aug 2012, p.79]

Nevertheless, for all its omissions and repetitions, the sheer scale of this archive still feels like an exemplary work of preservation. [Sep 2012, p.92]

Despite the contemporary sheen too much here is reminiscent of a certain kind of overwrought mid-80s synthpop. [Sep 2012, p.87]

An oddly one-note follow-up. [Sep 2012, p.76]

Where Yorkston's last album was precisely drawn, the follow-up is looser and less beholden to strict arrangements, and more willing to let the musicians dictate the pace. [Sep 2012, p.84]

Global Fusion at its most accessible. [Aug 2012, p.67]

An album as heartfelt as it is musically and thematically ambitious. [Jul 2012, p.67]

Redd Kross' comeback is a stunner, taut, hyper-melodic songwriting and heavenly harmonies wed to a veritable barrage of fierce hooks and riffs. [Aug 2012, p.78]

The Wolf You Feed slithers through its dark business with reckless abandon and brute force. [Sep 2012, p.85]

It's a little too polite to beak new ground, but it certainly draws attention to more than a dozen fine--and largely overlooked--melodies from Elton's golden era. [Sep 2012, p.91]

Country Funk unearths further lesser-known practitioners of this mythical genre. [Sep 2012, p.101]

The loss of drummer Jimmy Chamberlain smarts, but "Quasar" and the :The Celestials" recall the Pumpkins' '90s heyday with out coming over as retread. [Sep 2012, p.86]

The Killer is a rich and immersive experience. [Sep 2012, p.85]

Beautifully done, with great attention to textural detail. [Sep 2012, p.83]

The glossy production and soaring choruses make it as resolutely user-friendly as her previous albums. [Sep 2012, p.81]

Intrepid, but rarely satisfying. [Sep 2012, p.81]

Arguable Little Feat's best since Lowell George checked out. [Sep 2012, p.80]

[An] elaborate, sophisticated collection. [Sep 2012, p.79]

Hot Panda have produced a terrific album, one which combines intellectual and lyrical heft with a sure ear for a catchy riff. [Sep 2012, p.79]

The best tracks put a unique stamp on these improbable hybrids. [Sep 2012, p.75]

Exercises proves Silver is in good shape. [Sep 2012, p.74]