This is a truly freeflowing masterpiece that stands shoulder to shoulder with Mos Def's 'Black On Both Sides.'

Like a cookie full of arsenic, Universal Audio's indie sweetness conceals a dark, deathly heart. [Nov 2004, p.114]

A focused tour de force. [Oct 2006, p.100]

Sea Change aches too thoroughly to be mere career shift. It's the kind of album that at times seems too sad for the singer's own good. [Album of the Month, Oct 2002, p.90]

Measuring out grief and resilience with a steady hand, these are the best songs of Low's quiet career. [Feb 2001, p.98]

With The Private Press DJ Shadow ups even his own considerable ante. [May 2002, p.96]

These intimate hushes and lilts would be remarkable even as instrumentals.... Yet it's Nastasia's voice--and the words that it sings--that really sucks the air out of the room. [July 2003, p.102]

This relentlessly engaging album hangs together even better than its illustrious predecessor.

Magnificent. [Jul 2005, p.100]

Breathtaking moments, brilliant tunes, and Breakdown, a genuinely Beatles-league pop hit. [Nov 2004, p.114]

The work of a genuine individualist. [Aug 2001, p.108]

Paul Simon still has it.

Epic, exhilarating, extraordinary. [Feb 2004, p.98]

Often he sings with a richness, depth and conviction worthy of Johnny Cash. [Jan 2001, p.98]

Tender dream-pop which is simulataneously familiar and novel. [Aug 2004, p.96]

The Moon's musical and thematic diversity is glued together by Brooks' ability to instill even the most desolate musical climes with warmth and emotion.... One of the year's most oddly endearing records so far.

Winehouse remains one of modern music's most original voices and is now emerging as arguably the finest soul singer of her generation. [Nov 2006, p.116]

It is quizzical, troubled, socially concerned, compassionate, schizoid, retro-eclectic, strikingly modern, racially mixed--and even likes women. [Apr 2002, p.112]

Stories is a leaner, less experimental-sounding record than 1998's Is This Desire, its chips stacked on visceral power and vitalising vocals.

An astonishing album... a nu soul master that should ride high on any 21st century 'best of' lists. [Dec 2003, p.109]

Where Elephant does differ from what has gone before is in terms of quality. It's just better all round. [Apr 2003, p.88]

Nick Lowe has made the album of his career, a dozen stories of love and loss so beautifully simple that you'll never get to the bottom of them. [Nov 2001, p.12]

A fabulous, strangely soothing listen. [Feb 2004, p.100]

As a singer, the South Dakota-born, Ontario and Illinois-raised Colvin occupies a niche between pensive Sheryl Crow and pre-jazz Joni Mitchell: no histrionics but a telling, often moving restraint.

By putting some warm flesh on her musical bones, Chan Marshall is punching her considerable songwriting weight. [Jan 2006, p.116]

The wily creativity on display here is astonishing. [Jun 2004, p.114]

Every time you think you've got Idlewild figured out, it zips off in a totally unexpected new direction. [Oct 2006, p.97]

Godspeed have taken their by-now familiar elements and rearranged them in often beautiful or surprising ways.