Visiter suggesting both a rhythm-centric Shins and a more hard-bitten Feelies. [Aug 2008, p.90]

They can do dreamy folk, they can also violently attack their guitars, but best of all is the opening track, 'So Messed Up,' a Neil Young-inspired ballad where the guitars rumble and flicker oiver Ryan Sawyer's Keith Moon-style perpetual drum solo. [May 2008, p.111]

Alopecia is another woozily layered, beguilingly fractured affair, driven by beats and samples. [May 2008, p.113]

Booming Back To You is palatable enough. [Apr 2008, p.93]

This is surely the desperate death-thore of a rank '90s relic. [Apr 2008, p.99]

Whatever the situation, Ayers's amenability shines through regardless, a wave of warmth that can lighten the heaviest soul.

The buoyant beats of his debut seem well-judged to invite a wiggle whether your "booty" is on the dancefloor or wearing a groove into you favorite armchair. [May 2008, p.94]

Superabundance sees the trio break away from the neo-post-punk pack, in one swoop, but without sacrificing one calorie of their furious energy. [Apr 2008, p.109]

It sounds alive and kicking almost to its own detriment. [Mar 2008, p.83]

It is, in short, a hippy record, and a very good one.

17 endurance-defying tracks of gormless, soulless cookie-cutter corporate country, carting woefully trite homilies to smalltown values that leave the listener feeling uneasily like jackson's running from something. [May 2008, p.100]

With Lanegan at his stentorian best and Dulli in full confessional mode, Saturnalia is a feast, certainly--but one where the dishes are served delightfully raw.

It's their best since 1995's "LP5." [Apr 2008, p.83]

A confident melodic sensibility ensures such self-conscious quirkiness stays just the right side of irritating. [July 2008, p.90]

Warpaint does, however, fall somewhat short of the triumphant comeback The Black Crowes set their 10-gallons at.

The raw machine clap has been replced by Chaotic deconstruction of house music. It's a frequently awkward fit, lacking the fluid styling that makes the best hip hop. [Apr 2008, p.84]

Red of Tooth & Claw sometimes feels too much like style over substance, but the best moments here are in the detail. [July 2008, p.106]

Her blowsy voice now seems happier in those quieter settings. [May 2008, p.104]

There is much here that is wonderful, but less of the tone set by the self-parodically chirpy 'Turqouise House' would have improved matters. [Nov 2007, p.132]

Magnificent Fiend is both indebted to the past and utterly timeless, wild but controlled, chin-stroking clever and head-shaking dumb, referential without being reverential. [May 2008, p.88]

The sumptuous Sea Lion sees him exploring similar territory to the Elephant 6 collective, adding notes of African highlife, Polynesian folk, Disney soundtracks and (briefly) '80s synth pop, to joyous and naively charming effect. [Apr 2008, p.99]

To say Ladyhawk offer a pretty straightforward rock trip make them sound unadventurous, which they probably are, but also doesn't really do justice to the sheer head-nodding, play-loud-and-prosper enjoymenet this offers. [May 2008, p.102]

Rowdy, vivid, moving and playful, The Felice Brothers is just glorious.

It’s a brave, bonkers, often beautiful, sometimes haunting and occasionally ridiculous album.

She's far bolder, singing in a strange, little girl's voice over a solitary Chet Baker-style trumpet or chanting mantra-like over a bubbling African rhythm. [May 2008, p.87]

If you like Galaxie 500, Mazzy Star, Low, you'll adore them. If you don't, you won't. [Mar 2008, p.83]

Merritt's pure voice is mostly accompanied by gentle piano on a set of songs that ultimately lack the fire of her earlier work. [June 2008, p.100]

We Have You Surrounded has more variety than 2003's excellent "Dangerous Magical Noise." [May 2008, p.94]