I'm not sure if it's the lack of a clear-cut conceptual idea or something else, but the 11 songs on the release just seem to plow along through waters that the group has already rowed many times before.

The 11 tracks on Hopes And Fears have an almost complete lack of soul and even distinction between one another.

Leave Your Name is 11 tracks and only 28 minutes long, about half of which feels like noodling.

Although there are some moments of greatness on the disc, it feels more like a cathartic vent-session than a well thought-out release.

If you're fan of the previous work of Pole, tread gently (and skip the EPs and head directly for the album), but if you're looking to just start out with some of his work, head for his earlier releases.

While everything on the release is technically put together well and even sometimes compelling (the two album-opening tracks work about the best), most of the time things feel like they've been written specifically for the person who's singing them.

It's a bit harsh of me to say that there's nothing interesting going on in Player, Player because that's certainly not the case. Instead, the problem seems to be with contructing the songs themselves.

If I didn't know better, I'd say that the duo was jumping on the electro (the trend that keeps on giving) bandwagon, but there are songs on the disc (like the album-titled "Black Cherry") that suggest more of a logical progression in sound, mixing the more breathy sounds of old with a touch of the more electronic-infected sounds of the new release.

C'Mon Let's Pretend overall is a passable album, but the riffs just aren't nearly as catchy, and the group doesn't quite seem to have a command on their sound yet.

In the end, it just feels like Elephant is the culmination of the group trying to please absolutely everyone and it instead feels like sort of a mess.

A document only for the hardcore fans.

While the beats and programming are done well, much of it simply seems like slight variations on tracks that he's already done.

The Snare works well at moments and at other times feels like a rather tepid trip-hop release from a band still developing their sound.

They definitely have some hummable hooks, and at moments the album feels like it's going to shake off the reigns of running the middle-ground, but just about the time you think things are going to bust loose like a rocking Monk and Cantella track, they swerve back into more agreeable sounds.

Over the course of 12 tracks and almost 50 minutes of music, there are hardly any dynamics to hold the listener's attention.

If you've listened to any amount of industrial music at all, chances are that you've already heard about every variation of mid-tempo, snarling track, and unfortunately several of those make an appearence on this disc as well.

Radio-friendly pop music that sometimes sounds like Garbage, and other times even more playful.

It's a little cheesier than the average trance album, but will probably appeal to some of those who enjoy Paul Van Dyk or even ATB

Minus a couple tracks on the release (including the very Luscious Jackson-esque "Roll The Dice"), this release is more like the female version of Air or Stereolab-lite.

Midnite Vultues kind of sounds like an album Prince would have made if he were more interested in being a geek than carressing his own ego.

One of the problems with the album is that after the super-solid beginning the second half or so of the album just doesn't compare.