The soundtrack was clearly as much a labor of love as the film...

PJ Harvey's frequent collaborator John Parish produces, and he brings a dark, melodramatic, and very theatrical sensibility to the songs that is much more interesting--and a much more flattering setting for Carol Van Dyk's expressive but limited vocals--than the straightforward guitar churn that dominated the last couple of albums.

Stronger than 1999's terminally delicate Out Of Tune, Excuses takes a bolder and more assertive approach to Halstead's tunes, giving him a sound akin to like-minded Aussie singer-songwriter Paul Kelly.

Gorgeous melancholy is what these folks do best, and on tunes such as "The Mirror Phase," "Judah And The Maccabees," and a lullaby-like cover of "Blue Moon" from Big Star III, they outdo themselves, producing produce their finest collection since More Sad Hits in 1997.

Essence is the album Roni Size's Breakbeat Era hoped to be, a song-based, drum 'n' bass epic that works on many levels.

But even with all the billowing moods and lush female vocals, what is paramount to The Mirror Conspiracy's muse is rhythm.

The disc lacks the coherent vision that would have made the best argument for Clef's claims.

What "Menace" lacks in continuity it more than makes up for with brass balls and a sense of adventure.

Disappeared hints at the cathartic spillage of drum 'n' bass, while also dropping beats from Motown, rock, and beyond. But unfortunately the melodies that were once so incisive and pliant soon grow monotonous and alien.

The vitality of these ditties is such that you'll be swept up in the excitement without much time or inclination for deep lyrical dissections, or fretting about Rancid's originality.

One of the most extraordinary indie sets since the Olivia Tremor Control's Dusk At Cubist Castle.

This may be the Steve Earle album for people who've never been Steve Earle fans before.

Instead of luminous horizons of color and virtual travel, Communicate is stalled in a monochrome world of dead beats, chintzy melodies and anticlimactic climaxes.

He's got the beat rate up and lots of faux funk happening.

Forget the brattiness and occasional lunacy that succeeded Tidal's ascent to hit status. This is the work of an adult artist, and onethat's going to be sticking around.

It's always great to find a new zone-out-leaving-the-planet disc, even better when it retains some edginess. This is probably the best modern psychedelia since Spiritualized let Ladies & Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space slip out.

"Implosion" is a bit of an overstatement. These guys go soft and introspective in the face of crisis and it never reaches the point of any actual combustion.

Felix Buxton and Simon Ratcliffe, like the Chemical Bros. before them, have the brains to upend house with music as disparate as Spanish flamenco, bebop, Motown funk, and Philly soul.

The Soft Bulletin is sparse and enchanted, like the band has awoken from a long dream spent spinning in outer space.

At the risk of once again alienating fans--as well as purists who may consider this treading on sacred ground--Moby has taken another set of disparate influences and "translated" them into a futuristic language that's all his own.

If there's a downside, it's that 13 may sound more like a sampler of ideas than a single-minded effort.

Few other contemporary electronic acts are quite so savvy in their subtle manipulation of traditional song elements within a cybernetic context.