Despite her vaguely regal poise, and a songwriting crew including Jake Shears, Calvin Harris and Tim-from-Keane, Aphrodite is dismayingly anonymous pop-trance. [Aug 2010, p.84]

Big Boi's absurd--and absurdly dextrous--verbiage knits it all together handsomely. [Sep 2010, p.85]

There are flashes of brilliance here, but you do long for a wink or a flicker of wit. [Feb 2010, p.88]

The listener who experiences this album as physically as it is delivered will be rewarded with calories burned, an endorphin rush to die for, and heavy sweating indeed. [Aug 2010, p.94]

Escovedo is as reflective as he is melodic. [Juul 2010, p.116]

Their full debut is more "pop," if you stretch the definition to lovely multi-vocal interplay, grooves that stay convoluted but move their asses, and songs with hooks and momentum. [Nov 2010, p.93]

Cutting edge, it's not, as if that was ever the point, but the title of the collection seems less like a wry confession, more like wishful thinking. [Jun 2010, p.88]

Further requires an injection of personality that low-key collaborators Stephanie Dosen and Francis Ten just can't provide. [Jul 2010, p103]

Stack with drivetime anthems such as "Big Giirl Little Girl" and "Bring Night". Less overbearing is the feelgood disco of "The Fight" and "Clap Your Hands," which may finally make Sia a household name. [Jul 2010, p.120]

Boys Outside is truly lovely, Mason's finest solo record, but it's safe to say an album of sentimental ballads may not satisfy those who still hanker after the maverick, impulsive spirit of The Beta Band. [May 2010, p.95]

T Bone Burnett combines his vast understanding of American roots music with Randolph's vital grounding in gospel on the sacred steel virtuoso's third studio album. [Jul 2010, p.117]

Fairly generalised misogyny pervades the album, though it would be churlish not to not that tracks like "White Trash Party" or "On Fire" both display flashes of Eminem's wit. [Sep 2010, p.92]

The overall effect is all a bit "earnest teen drama"--"Dead Hearts" is a surely shoo-in for the soundtrack of the next Twilight movie--but the hit-rate is impressively high. [Sep 2010, p.104]

There are still big choruses here. But they now layer things deftly. [Jun 2010, p.86]

American Slang delivers spectacularly on all expected fronts. Everything that was great about The '59 Sound is here, but the sound is even bigger, epic without getting blustery.

Stomping Eurodisco almost-anthems rub shoulders with crying-on-the-dancefloor confessionals, although the 31-year-old diva's plastic-punkette teen-rebel pose grates at times. [Aug 2010, p.93]

Unfortunately, and rather ironically, Mojo is ultimately undone by the very virtuosity of its creators: the band stumbles repeatedly into that musican's trap of making music that sounds intended principally to impress other musicans. [July 2010, p.102]

This is a conventional effort, featuring four-to-the-floor rock and likeable disco-indie. [Aug 2010, p.102]

Having branched out by working with everyone from Patti Smith to Mark Linkous, one of the UK's most gifted all-rounders returns rejuvenated with a fifth LP as positive and confident as 2006's "The Beautiful Lie" was moodily introspective. [Jul 2010, p.108]

Now in ihis late sixties, Miller's white soul voice and economical guitar-playing still pack a punch, while veteran R&B singer Sonny Charles assists with some well-placed harmonies. [Aug 2010, p.88]

Time Flies, though fun, is no more than a handy place to nab all 27 Oasis' singles in one unfilteresd, undescerning grab. [Jul 2010, p.124]

Release Me feels like the soundtrack to a Josie And The Pussycats sequel unlikely to be made. [Sep 2010, p.96]

Kath's basic approach to synth-pop means most tracks adhere to a glitchy arpeggiated formula that resembles a Faithless record, but with added indie weirdness. [Jul 2010, p.104]

Shadows is full of drowsy sweetness and mellow doubt: the sound of a great group ageing gracefully. [Jun 2010, p.89]

The veteran New York trio draws from synth-pop, to pomp rock, yet somehow turns the wildly disparate source material into a coherent album that doubles as a tribute to their own roots in The Byrds and Big Star. [May 2010, p.99]

The 12 artfully crafted songs here suggest Blitzen Trapper should now be judged in the elevated company of Wilco, Brendan Benson and The Raconteurs. [Jul 2010, p.113]

Impressively, it achieves the feat of enghancing Pink's legend with out puncturing his mystique. [Jul 2010, p.105]

Another group who make a virtue of the physical and cultural space America has to offer, drawing on the disparateness of their origins. [Ju l 2010, p.108]