For the most part it's a genuinely thrilling, energy-charged adventure. [Feb 2002, p.98]

The danger with this kind of project is sounding like a '70s revue, but Rouse avoids that with his intimate vocal style and quirky songwriting. [Sep 2003, p.104]

These songs cut too deep to be pastiche.... A lovely record of enormous warmth. [Jun 2003, p.101]

Their unique pop panache saves the proceedings from simple retread. [May 2006, p.102]

McBean remains a fascinating prospect. [Apr 2006, p.100]

Winds the clock back to a mid-'80s electro-soundworld in which melodies are crafted alongside beats, rather than crushed by them, and the tinkle of a keyboard carries a sinister air of mystery. [Mar 2002, p.104]

While Kenny still sounds like he's mumbling mantras to himself, the band's soft-focus allure remains undiminished. [Oct 2005, p.102]

This whets the appetitie for whatever Stevens' formidable talent fixes upon next. [Aug 2006, p.96]

Brakes give the likeable impression of being a jokey jamming session at a party that got out of hand. [Aug 2005, p.98]

A swaggering, intoxicating tight-but-loose debut. [Jun 2004, p.107]

If it weren't all so damn happy this would be the most terrifying music in existence. [Aug 2004, p.98]

A return to basics--14 meticulously sculpted, wordless vignettes tricked out in blurry beats, subtle digital daubs and mellifluous bass counterpoints. [May 2004, p.104]

An eccentric, genre-hopping tribute to the mutability of song-craft. [Mar 2002, p.101]

This one's got a whiff of the Stones' Black And Blue about it. [May 2006, p.98]

Stereolab had similar starting blocks--there's no reason why Fujiya & Miyagi shouldn't become as notable. [Jan 2007, p.110]

Santana plays gloriously throughout. [Jan 2003, p.97]

The recorded-live-by-candlelight performances documented herein aren't short on the kind of clamorous foreboding and twisted pop nous a fan of Disintegration or The Head On The Door might hope for. [Aug 2004, p.87]

As Mayaer talks himself in circles you hear an artist facing massive success, and retreating from it. [Dec 2003, p.112]

An hour of heartful, artful singing enhanced by dense, yet fuss-free arrangements. [Jan 2004, p.106]

On Everyone Is Here, you'll find some of the most haunting music to bear the Finn imprint. [Sep 2004, p.95]

Finds them fine-tuning their class act, Dickon Hinchcliffe's choice string arrangements underpinning a typically careworn set. [Jul 2003, p.107]

[Audioslave] display[s] a welcome lightness of touch. [Jul 2005, p.96]

This album has plenty of ideas and plenty of 'moments.' [Jan 2003, p.92]

Ten years from now, someone will stumble across this in a thift shop, buy on a whim and be thrilled. [Sep 2002, p.96]

All BRMC really have in common with The Strokes is hype and haircuts, but their music lives up to both. [Feb 2002, p.92]

Finally, Embrace deliver a poignant and prolonged rush of blood to the head. [Oct 2004, p.116]

Transistor Radio's songs do lack the shirtfront-clenching grip of Ward's Transfiguration of Vincent set. But shapeless and misty atmospherics have their shadowy power too. [Mar 2005, p.92]

Marks a major leap along the road to recovery. [Nov 2004, p.96]

With greater degrees of deliberate construction than Mers De Noms, Thirteenth Step is more cohesive band effort, less ad hoc side project. [Nov 2003, p.132]

[A] dazzling selection of pop songs. [Aug 2005, p.96]

The longer the album runs the more engaging the songs seem to become. [May 2004, p.104]

Reveals another eclectic, kaleidoscopic world. [May 2005, p.106]

Listening to Bob Wratten is as necessary as a good cry. [Jan 2002, p.91]