The most consistently lovely album of his career.

It's easy to dismiss crossover hits as a dumbed-down version of an underground sound. But damn it, this is a phenomenal album.

This back-to-basics approach gives dynamic focus to Harvey's lyrics, which tantalize with their taut, elliptical precision.

A masterful bricolage that revisits the crossroads of early-'80s clubland without ever settling for cheap pastiche.

The secret to Garnier's accessibility lies in his ability to locate fresh specific sounds and organize them sparsely atop the existing framework of electronic dance music.

A polished, classy album whose retrained elegance and melancholy resonance more than compensate for its lack of rhythmic and instrumental restlessness.

This sort of thing may be n steps removed from the dancefloor, but it's also thrillingly physical, even while it tantalizes the mind.

Unabashedly beautiful tunes like "I Don't Believe in the Sun" and "Come Back from San Francisco" provide provide ample payoff for the arduous process of listening to the collection in total.

A perfect overview for new initiates and packs plenty of surprises for hardcore fans.

The group's most consistently rewarding album since 1993's "Very."

"So ..." is one of the most innovative albums of the year, stretching the gamut of every musical genre that melts in your head, not in your mouth.

Combining state-of-the-art sonic trickery with inventive rhythms, gorgeous melodies and - most importantly - solid structures, these 19 tracks represent Handley and Turner's most satisfying collection to date.

Academics and readers of The Wire may sniff that "Idiology" marks a step backward for this duo, but for my money this is the best thing they've done since 19997's "Autoditacker."

If refining one's vision rather than foraging for new sounds is the mark of emerging artistic maturity, then it appears that techno's jester genius has finally decided to grown up.

From start to finish, "Midnite Vultures" is a total party romp of an album.

Those expecting another helping of stand-up comedy and skewed dancefloor firepower clearly won't find what they're looking for on "Whatever," but the LP certainly hangs together better than any previous Green Velvet CD.

The first album from The Sixths was a dirge-like affair, but the new one's delightful.... The maturity of Merritt's songwriting lends emphasis to the singers' voices and interpretive powers; more often than not, they avail themselves capably.

Beaucoup Fish isn't a huge step forward for Underworld, but it is a refinement of their sound.

First Album is proof that embracing a cliche with style can be just as powerful as running away from it.

The year's most enjoyable piece of agit-pop.

Saint Etienne retain their stature as a great, if unsung, singles band who have a way with a killer b.

An album as life-affirming as its predecessor was bleak.

Now if only the duo could deliver an LP that's consistently rather than merely frequently brilliant, we could stop fast-forwarding through the second-string tracks and soggy ballads that clutter up side B.

"Geogaddi" improves on "Music Has the Right to Children" by taking the Boards of Canada sound into darker, more disturbing and fragmented directions.

Not since Bomb the Bass's "Clear" has a British production team re-interpreted aging African American tropes so persuasively.

Detroit techno artists Juan Atkins and Carl Craig rub shoulders with back-to-basics rappers The Roots and electro-folkie Beth Orton (on the Watt-produced "Stars All Seem to Weep"), creating a distinctive chillout vibe out of disparate genres.

"Mosaic Thump" still suffers many of the weaknesses of its genre. Like most rap LPs it's overlong and features too many guest stars.

Occasionally, as on the gurgling electro-pop of "Short Circuit," the album actually manages to disappoint. But more often it provides the kind of intelligently produced yet universally likeable floor-fillers that keep even devoted hipsters from killing themselves when their relatives drag them to suburban dance clubs.

This disc may lack its predecessor's immediacy, but rarely has sophomore slump sounded like such success.

That The Aluminum Group is an acquired taste becomes more true with every album, but each outing provides at least a few tracks like these ("Satellite", "Tom of Finland") that truly captivate.

The very qualities that annoyed me about it at first - the "proper" musicality, the lack of rough edges - are what draws me to it now.

These 13 dusky ditties almost always enchant.

Despite initial misgivings, "The Contino Sessions" has a hypnotic effect that does shine through and is one album that improves upon repeat listens. While not perfect ... "The Contino Sessions" is a dark, mysterious album that will leave you with more questions than answers.

"Ghost" marks the welcome debut of a more body-oriented brand of user-friendly experimentation - crisp and cool, yet dionysian at the same time.

The overlong LP... reveals an artist who could use some discipline, but there's enough melody, wit and funk hidden among these 14 tracks to brighten any R&B fan's Christmas.

The lushness of 1992's "Love Deluxe" has given way to an understatement so pronounced it's almost jarring; this LP sounds like it was recorded in zero gravity.

The entire LP takes on a sort of plodding sameness even as the overall sonics soar.

"Central Reservation" is a decidedly grown-up pleasure and Orton is an artist who succeeds splendidly on her own modest terms.

It's as if there's an optimal number of musical ideas per song, and the album falls apart when the number spikes too high - or dips too low.

New treats for established fans and a quick overview for the newly curious.

Much of the music's electronic undertow has receded, leaving Laetitia Sadier and Mary Hansen's airy melodies and counter-melodies stranded in gassy lounge-pop compositions that sound merely retro instead of retro-futuristic.

What once sounded like a compelling dance-pop concept now seems genial, verging on retro.

Oh, there are moments of pure wonder, to be sure, but they're sandwiched between tracks that either retread old ideas or execute less impressive new ones.

When you string them all together and play them to the bleachers, "Cups" and "Push Upstairs" and "Shudder/King of Snake" sound remarkably interchangeable.

Unfortunately, the melodic acumen Merritt displayed on last year's Magnetic Fields opus, "69 Love Songs," is largely AWOL on "I'm Lonely and I Love It."

In the year between its European and its and U.S. releases, "Movement" lost four tracks and gained four others, but these dubious "improvements" turned the disc from a decent dance-pop LP to a blatant, though scattered, crossover bid.

The LP comes off like a gently melodious but ultimately odorless fart. That is to say, it's practically invisible and it's easy to forget about once the moment has, ahem, passed.