A painfully honest, emotionally draining album. [22 Jan 2005, p.49]

Being doomed seldom sounded so beautiful.

It traverses a spacious, synth-dusted soundworld many future-dreampop miles from their girl-group and grit beginnings; the ambition will be a sonic shock to those who wanted the band to stay the 'working-class heroes' they wryly joke about being. It shouldn't, really.

[A] brilliant album.

A masterpiece that merges the experimentation and freedom of their side projects with Cave’s most tender songcraft.

Mac knows better than to let his bellyaching get in the way of everyone else's good time--instead, he’s simply dialled down the quirk and written his best record yet.

Our Love, then, is the moment it all came together for Caribou.

An album with a distinct dual personality, Marina’s dazzling ‘The Family Jewels’ pitches the confident, MTV Awards-headlining superstar of our dreams against a more self-deprecating girl-next-door Marina who’s dead set on Supertramping and vamping her way out of her fug.

It’s an insane and challenging, ambitious and exceptional work of art.

It's easily the electronic album of the year, but for all that, it doesn't break particularly new ground. The point more is that what ground is broken is done so with exquisite artistry.

'The Contino Sessions' can mean whatever you want it to. All we know is that it feels amazing. Warhol also said that everyone would be famous for 15 minutes. Death In Vegas' glory starts now.

It's clever, brave and seamless enough to become a classic.

Even the most hardcore disciple is likely to get something they might have missed before. [21 Oct 2006, p.35]

Muse have widened the goalposts and re-established what rock is allowed to stand for. Next to ‘Absolution’, even something as majestic as ‘Elephant’ sounds so painfully small.

A seething, furious album; a declamatory statement against cynicism and passivity and the simple injustices of everyday life.

Burn is her first album recorded with a full band, though the resultant fuzzily glam swagger doesn’t forsake her wise style, instead coming off like Bill Callahan covering T Rex.

It’s a more honest, human, realistic--and totally wonderful--guide to life.

Whatever he does is never less than great, and these 11 songs are no exception.

The tightness of ‘First Two Pages…’’s singles like ‘Tropic Morning News’ and ‘Eucalyptus’ are somewhat absent, though the looser structures and decision to allow the songs room to grow, melodically and lyrically pays off.

Francis Trouble is a bright blast of radiant, prismatic indie rock. More surprisingly still, it’s Albert’s most fun record yet, hurtling along on his trademark zipping guitar lines.

See, in All Or Nothing, The Subways haven’t just made a great record – they’ve vindicated everyone who still believes in the power and the glory of three chords and distortion pedals.

This record is fun with a capital ‘F’, but there are moments of gravitas too. Not easy to do, that.

SPElLLING’s third album is more of a grand statement of organic authenticity. An hour-long double, and far more melodic and accessible than her previous murky menacings.

Blake Mills’ production is exquisite throughout what is Mumford’s most crafted studio recording to date; this album is a career-best for the musician. While it is undoubtedly an emotional and often heart-breaking listen, it’s also a record full of defiance, hope and faith.

in•ter a•li•a is the opposite of being phoned in.

For the first time in years, Pet Shop Boys sound thrillingly modern. The songs, too, are the finest in years.

Beautifully produced and filled with honest, unrefined conversations about love, life and sacrifices, ‘6pc Hot’ sees 6lack shoot straight from the heart. Even though it’s just a taster, it puts the Atlanta crooner in prime position to take over as the leader of R&B’s new school.

Crystal Stilts, like The Cure or The Jesus And Mary Chain before them, understand that the beauty is in the balance.