The pinnacle is the tidal rhythms of 'Sickness, Bury,' but there's plenty more here to admire and absorb. [Nov 2008, p.98]

The title song contains some lovely imagery enwrapped in one of Browne’s signature ribbons of melody, while the following 'Off Of Wonderland' is a wistful look back on the early days, but both are presented in arrangements so bland it’s shocking they passed muster.

It's all craftily entertaining, but loopy lead single 'Paris Is Burning' is the one track that escapes pastiche. [Oct 2008, p.94]

Tindersticks have returned refreshed, but some of the old dissolute glamour is gone.

Twenty-one-year-old Charlie Fnk's cracked baritone is brown sugar-sweet, '5 Years Time' is a hit, and the album's Jonathan Richman-esque gawkiness makes it double endearing. [Oct 2008, p.94]

Their rather timid approximation of prog lacks the charisma or gravitas required to persuade listeners that theirs is a cosmic expedition worth joining. [Sep 2008, p.100]

There's still an organic, soaring bluster to the music, too, though a shortage of obvious anthems this time. [May 2008, p.100]

The most initially striking thing about Gift Of Screws is that, despite its brevity, it’s actually quite varied.

But this band has no interest in putting everything in plain view; you have to meet them halfway, and that entails traversing bleak terrain on the way to sharing in their hard-earned sense of release. [Dec 2009, p. 98]

It's Saadiq's fine songs--notably the showstopping slow-jam 'Oh Girl'--that makes The Way I See It less a homage, more a timelessly enjoyable 42 minutes. [May 2009, p.97]

All are by turns playful, impassioned, and intelligent. [Oct 2008, p.118]

The languid vocal delivery does little to dispel the Dido comparisions of old, the polite and impassionate tones irking the listener even in the smallest does. [Mar 2009, p.89]

The pace is laidback and determinedly downtempo compared to some of their more rebarbative free rock releases. [Jan 2009, p.96]

This is music that was manufactured to be played everywhere except those places to which people go when they want to hear music. [Oct 2008, p.105]

Given a few spins, their hilarious, loopy, layered approach sinks in deep. [Dec 2008, p.124]

Like all the best heavy rock albums, it suspends your disbelief, demands your attention and connects directly with your inner adolescent.

Even at times it's over-polished, at the very least, it's super-sized. [July 2008, p.113]

Tricky is back with his best album in at least a decade.

Calexico are back, but this time they’re travelling all over the map. Carried to Dust is a quietly persuasive record.

Baez's worn voice retains its majesty, and also the sanctimony that has set so many teeth on edge over the years. [Oct 2008, p.81]

Tracks like 'Knickerbocker' or 'Pussyfooting' are complemented by David Best's whispering voice intoning gibberish lyrics and rhythmic vocal tics over maddeningly catchy riffs. [Oct 2008, p.90]

The Stand Ins stands out on its own merits, a trove of dazzlingly wittty songcraft. [Nov 2008, p.112]

A collection of nursery rhymes aimed at toddlers, it should prove nauseating to anyone over the age of three. [Nov 2008, p.92]

All elements are delivered with an easy, effortless roll--you suspect The Donkeys may turn out to be lions. [Oct 2008, p.83]

It's all very well intended, but seldom rises above the superficial. [Dec 2008, p.108]

There's plenty to fall for here, but the anguished, bongo-driven 'Love All Of' is especially irresitable. [Feb 2009, p.93]

A delicious pathos has sustained Jurado through seven albums. It's still intact but it's just possible to detect a lightning of his mood around rthe edges. [Nov 2008, p.105]

This album subtly expands her metrical, folksy songcraft to the point where songs like 'Heard It All Before' and 'Fireheads' are just one spoonfed breakbeat from being charttoppers. [Oct 2008, p.113]