A thousand times more exciting in every way than most everything in the air at the moment.... Timbaland's production is frontier staking stuff... [#208, p.58]

The sonic scribbles of Kid A are far more stimulating than their regular grind.... Along with Primal Scream's Exterminator, Kid A is a vital work. Anyone remotely interested in contemporary music should listen to it at least once. [#201, p.59]

The music has an originality that sounds remarkable even now. [#248, p.52]

This is an archive of surprises. And one of the surprises of the year. [#220, p.50]

Frankly, the guy defies you not to be impressed by what he's got. [#234, p.53]

Jurado's spare, edgy songs are miniature masterpieces of mood and character. [#229, p.68]

A taut, brutal collection which is as strong as anything they've released in their previous incarnations. [June 2003, p.65]

It's surely his finest recorded hour to date. [#230, p.61]

Possibly their best.... Brave, bleak yet compassionate. [#225, p.77]

Contrasting epic, experimental freakouts with concise chamber music, 5 is a diverse album, full of gems bleeding with icy brilliance. [#235, p.69]

A splendid piece of work; compelling even when shorn of its conceptual and procedural backdrop, and infinitely more invigorating when considered as one with its making. [#205, p.58]

Stands as a monument to punk rock action at its most intelligent. [#236, p.60]

Blues Dream is both a compendious evocation and synthesis of a range of genres that never sounds merely eclectic... It's one of Frisell's most ambitious productions to date. [#207, p.61]

It's simultaneously the group's most successful integration of the various strands they've chased over the years and their most ambitious and expansive work to date. [#241, p.50]

There is no fake authenticity in this musical exploration, and Herren's musical palette is impressively wide ranging. [#241, p.63]

It's exhilarating and rare to hear such bruised raw performances as these. [#242, p.71]

If you value surehandedness, richness, immaculate timing and the occasional tilted eyebrow then there's a lot to enjoy on Tortoise's most assured set to date. [#204, p.65]

Sonic Youth have made a joyful return to their No Wave hardcore rock roots with a vibrating set of muscular songs which glide effortlessly from Gooey power pop to full on guitarmageddon meltdown, skulled out psychedelia and beyond. [#220, p.53]

Isn't so much a leftfield perversion of HipHop as it is a restoration of the genre to its avant garde roots. [#231, p.67]

Displays more intellectual rigour, subtle discipline and attention to detail than many of their younger contemporaries can ever dream of attaining. [#235, p.56]

Approaches the psychedelic grandeur of Spiritualized or Mercury Rev at their finest while still offering a wealth of carefully placed sonic detail. [#229, p.71]

Given her capacity to align reinvention with a developing maturity, the 13 lucky songs of Stories deliver a complex text. It is certainly less frenetic, as if Harvey is finding new ways to exert her presence. In addition, its thoughtful spaces and pauses suggest room for doubt and manoeuvre. [#202, p.49]

For Bjork, this release marks a development in her craft.... SelmaSongs is a little big brave collection of songs that makes me feel better whenever I listen to it. [#201, p.58]

In the end, Vespertine commits its magic by daring to go places more obvious and more human than one would have ever expected. [#210, p.52]

Juggles multiple ideas of modernism with unusual grace and success. [#234, p.53]

The album glows white-hot with fury and energy, familiar yet fresh. [#243, p.66]

One of the year's best releases, remix or not. [#241, p.71]

A highlty nuanced album which is at once razor sharp, and rich in new openings and possibilities. [#206, p.60]