Waterhouse's big lunged holler is efficiently exciting, but his debut album isn't so much -- 12 songs, but 12 variants on the same song. [Jul 2012, p.85]

Chris Spencer's vocals complete the darkly uncompromising picture, oozing a disgust and despair that's as much personal as socio-political. [Jul 2012, p.85]

The Walkmen are weathering the iPhone age with panache. [Jul 2012, p.85]

The group's commitment and almost minimalistic sense of repetition resulting in a metal longplayer of unrivaled scope. [Jul 2012, p.96]

A bewitching record. [Jul 2012, p.82]

Shapeshifter features mostly stockpiled instrumental pieces characteristically driven by Latin jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms. [Jul 2012, p.82]

You get less of a sense of young maidens skipping round the maypole than two battle-scarred musicians adapting to life on the road. [Jul 2012, p.83]

Feldwick is clearly a livewire talent adept at mashing up everything from vintage Sega sample to the arthouse end of dubstep. [Jul 2012, p.83]

Despite the odd longueurs, Boys Don't Cry is a heartfelt, beguiling match of singer and song. [Jul 2012, p.80]

Their combination of riff and sneering recalling at times the strut of Raw Power Stooges. [Jul 2012, p.79]

These are solidly structured ditties with few surprises. [Jul 2012, p.79]

A fair amount of cosmic fannying involved, but this is framed by some cracking songwriting. [Jul 2012, p.79]

The songs themselves are exquisite. [Jul 2012, p.77]

The Don Was-produced album proceeds at an unhurried pace, featuring Jackson Browne-like confessionals and Young-style, harmonica-accented shuffles. [Jul 2012, p.77]

Hit singles are in short supply, but WIXIW has an atmospheric, immersive quality that puts one in mind of Kid A's soporific drift. [Jul 2012, p.77]

At times all this vim can slip into noise. [Jul 2012, p.74]

Flats look to be stranded between hipster grunge and true hardcore. [Jul 2012, p.71]

A terrific package. [Jul 2012, p.71]

At times you're left craving some of the eerie minimalism of El-P's classical Cannibal Ox Productions. [Jul 2012, p.71]

For much of Majenta he seems content to lie back and think of Prince. [Jul 2012, p.71]

Ruthless schmaltz is, predictably, the order of the day. [Jul 2012, p.69]

It might just be the best record of this year, and the best of Rowland's career. [Jul 2012, p.66]

Jeffreys' serves up a vibrant stew of musical styles while taking the pulse of his beloved New York. [Jun 2012, p.74]

The disguises are so convincingly worn that which one is the "real" Joshua James matters not one whit. [Jun 2012, p.74]

Forever so takes in spectral balladry, rousing stompathons and incursions into jazz and olde English madrigals, to consistently bewitching effect. [Jun 2012, p.74]

Overall it's a slow-burn success. [Jun 2012, p.74]

It may not be of the caliber of Metal Box, but it finds its maker firmly in 2012, not 1979, and with plenty still to grouse about. [Jun 2012, p.67]

Rather than embracing the weight of myth and geography it simply rises above it, majestic yet frustratingly aloof. [Jun 2012, p.77]