The Black Dirt Sessions is roughly the equivalent of The Replacements going straight from the rowdy delinquency of 1981's "Sorry Ma, Forget To take Out The Trash" to the ashen resignation of 1990's "All Shook Down," with nothing in between. [Aug 2010, p.74]

All too often, though, slick jams such as "Drugs" and "Party With Children" resemble library tracks, exercises in style that pirouette exquistely, but shy away from becoming anything meaningful. [Aug 2010, p.93]

Too often Cunningham fails to develop his tracks, which start thrillingly only to fizzle out. [Jul 2010, p.101]

Potter's expressive voice leads the charge, but wouldn't make half as much impact without the tight and nuanced Nocturnals punctuating each quiver and wail. [Oct 2010, p.101]

You'd be a curmudgeon on to hate such a soothing, well-produced brew, but an undemanding soul to hear it as more than aural wallpaper. [Jul 2010, p.115]

Wake Up The Nation, an album that goes a long way to differentiate itself from its predecessor in sound, texture and atmosphere.

A treatise on the tattered state-of-the-nation told over 12 slices of earnest, unerring pop-punk, the lowering mood is lifted by intricate harmonies and big singalong tunes. [Jun 2010, p.88]

The finished result has a curiously restrained feel, an odd mix of clumpy drumming, bluesy vocals and spidery guitars. [Jul 2010, p.103]

There's something awkward about the whole: the album wins attention but doesn't keep it. [Jun 2010, p.95]

Everyone from Hendrix to CSN&Y to Pink Floyd to Led Zep turns up in their dusky psych-blues-folk blended with a symphonic approach to song construction that keeps Sleepy Sun sounding fresh. [Jun 2010, p.98]

The Bride Screamed Murder channels the band's two-kit battery into intense percussion romps topped by burly call-and-response bellows, like a military drill conducted on strong hallucinogens. [Aug 2010, p.88]

"You And Your Heart" tries to kick out the jams, but in the most polite fashion imaginable. He's at his best on more familiar ground of the mid-tempo chug "Red Wine, Mistakes, Mythology." [Aug 2010, p.84]

His vechile of expression alternates between acoustic confessional and clapped-out pub rock, leaving Dangerfield pootling down the middle of a fairly nondescript road. [Feb 2010, p.81]

They have bell-clear voices, and a spooky ability to envince naivety and world-weariness in the same breath. [Feb 2010, p.88]

All round it makes for a slightly uncomfortable listen. [Apr 2010, p.90]

Swift guides Jurado through the sub-Spectorisms of "Arkansas" and "Throwing Your Voice" with a sensitive touch. [Jun 2010, p.96]

There are strings aplenty, arranged as baroque lullabies or strange waltzes, Hinson shuffling his sorrows against a backdrop of multitracked choirs and fractured noise. Incredibly addictive. [Jul 2010, p.116]

If this is indeed, as rumoured, LCD's final bout, it finds them a little heavy and tired, but occasionally deceptively light on their feet. [Jun 2010, p.82]

Infinite Arms is a neoclassic landmark that you'll need to get on vinyl. This is a record that begs to be flipped over and played again. [Jun 2010, p.93]

Brothers is really all about The Black Keys; swaggering journey from sub-White Stripes curio to one of the best rock'n'roll bands on the planet. [Jun 2010, p.81]

Sadly, Nas brings self-importance to "Strong Will Continue," that's encumbered his latter career, but it's the exception on a broadly fruitful collaboration. [Jul 2010, p.115]

Lidell's vocals are alternately anguished and joyous but always supple. It's quite a ride. [May 2010, p.97]

It's autumnal but never overbearingly bleak, thanks to the enduring warmth of Thorn's voice, and the empathy of her lyrics, even on the almost desolate "Singles Bar." [Jul 2010, p.125]

Producer Jari Haapalainen successfully blends it all together, but Karolina Komstedt's vacant vocals remian glacially unmoved. [Jul 2010, p.104]

Exile itself remains the tour de force it's been since release in May '72. [Jun 2010, p.104]

This quartet have honed thier lumbering heaviness into something both glorious and at times funny. [Aug 2010, p.82]

Not since Lennon howled "Mother" have there been songs as naked and fraught as "Mama Here, Mama Gone" and "March 11 1962." [Jun 2010, p.88]

This seventh studio album doesn't find them doing anything much different but still doing it with grit and conviction. [Dec 2009, p. 113]