Warm Heart Of Africa works best when Radioclit subtly build on the rhythms of Mwamwaya's native kwassa kwassa. [Oct 2009, p.119]

Disarmingly playful, deceptively gripping, its songs at first seem wayward, erratic, but soon enough reveal their own internal title song. [Nov 2009, p. 83]

Here, courtesy of producer Jason Falkner, his curious rock 'n' roll songs are given a crisp, clean production, a belssing which sometimes threatens to expose the - how you say? - idiosyncrasies of Johnston's singing. [Jan 2010, p. 115]

It's actually more satisfying as a piece, a folksy ambience lapping up against muted psychedelia and reverb'd pop. [Nov 2009, p.102]

Her best album for many years illustrates her uniqueness. [Jun 2010, p.97]

The results of his previous work have sometimes felt opportunistic and Go Hard is no different. [Nov 2009, p.90]

The Liberty Of Norton Folgate--a title which makes sense in context but is otherwise unlikely to be jamming up the ringtone sites--is Madness in both their pomp and their prime.

This is adequate debut, but La Roux will need to move beyond brittle pastiche if they hope to reinvent such overfamiliar ingredients. [Jul 2009, p.91]

Now regrouped by leader Jerry Cantrell, the bands' sound is still full of menace, melody and doom, chock full of Cantrell's trademark heavy riffs. [Dec 2009, p. 85]

These are gently rugged country-folk songs made all the more authentic by a chewy voice that, with age, now seems to have deepened its resolve.

Album four sees tracks pushing more into more arcane territory, but otherwise we see Zero 7 putting a subtle electronic spin on Elton John, Syreeta, Pentangle and Nick Drake. [Oct 2009, p.123]

Nonetheless, this is impressive, mainstream stuff. One hope their bluecollar heart will win out over their white collar power pop head. [May 2010, p.83]

The religious theme intimated by the title ensures that there is more going on with each track than mere mindless dirge. [Nov 2009, p.99]

Her husky drawl of a voice remains as precious and fragile as a chandelier, and it well suits these insidiously melodic, intimate songs. [Oct 2009, p.110]

This sequel similarly mixes hard country and mountain music, memorably on Harlan Howard's "Busted" and a plaintive "Half Over You." [Feb 2010, p.93]

Not tunes for kids: simply some of Karen O's sweetest songs yet. [Nov 2009, p.100]

Big Dada, Beans, Sayyid, Earl Blaize and High Priest riffle through more fresh ideas in the opening six tracks than contempoary hip hop will in as many months. [Oct 2009, p.91]

Fronted by Jonas Stein formerly of adolescent punks Be Your Own Pet--the missing link between the Monkees and Dead Kennedys--are every bit as spirited as his old band. [Dec 2009, p.117]

There is an unassuming brilliance to much that they do and, as ever, We Used To Think The Freeway Sounded Like A River is a-bristle with finely-tooled detai.

The all-together family vibe permeates this unabashedly life-embracing album. [Sep 2009, p.83]

An uneven listening experience, to put it mildly. [Feb 2010, p.90]

It doesn't require a lyric translator to hear the exquisite sense of regret that permeates a song like "Ha Dvash," but the sheer exuberance of the music keeps spirits soaring. [Feb 2010, p.88]

Ian Brown follows an idiosyncratic path in keeping with My Way’s title--mixing up the kind of heavily synthesised rhythms learned from Jamaican dancehall with a curious cover of Zager And Evans’ dystopian folk oddity 'In The Year 2525,' some insidious grooves and, on closer 'So High,' a somewhat wayward stab at soul.

With the aid of some of the finest session musicians in Chicago, Hayes concocts a creamy rock'n'soul fantasy that answers the question: what if Jimmy Webb had teamed up with Thom Bell to write for Marc Bolan? [Oct 2009, p.98]

Tinkling lo-fi arrangements evoke the scarred spookiness of mid-period Sparklehorse, rendering the whole charmingly (and sometimes chillingly) child-like. [Sep 2009, p.88]

But none of it recaptures the sheer commercial inevitability of his debut. [Nov 2009, p. 96]

Basement Jaxx still manage to exceed expectations with each album. [Oct 2009, p.91]

Monsters Of Folk ends as captiatingly as it starts. [Oct 2009, p.99]