To Lose My Life is satisfying and consisitent throughout, even if White Lies treads daringly close to one-trick-pony territory. [Spring 2009, p.75]

Season's Dreaming is hit-or-miss, much like the first few albums of their greatest influence, but Blind Man's Colour has the talent to figure it out and separate their sound not only from Animal Collective, but the herds of bands with simialr influence. [Summer 2009, p.60]

He effortlessly slots into the indie imprint's avant-garde discography. [Feb. 2011, p. 74]

Live In Japan isn't a must-buy, or even a must-hear, so much as a long overdue release for completists and anyone else interested hearing one of the last century's most popular and accomplished performers at the very top of his game and height of his success.

For all its efforts to communicate, Two Saviors, ends up being as inscrutable as the concepts it tries to put forth.

While The End of That features more wonderful song craft, that counterpoint is sorely missed.

This time out, there are strains of, say, Arthur-era Kinks, all crunchy clean guitars and sturdy vocal hooks. [Aug/Sep 2012, p.122]

El Pintor is an Interpol album that does exactly what it says on the tin, with no alarms and no surprises.

The problems are not Spektor's songwriting or singing or playing... but they are equally underemphasized and poorly recorded. [#13, p.88]

A strong four-song start to the album. ... Unfortunately the remaining tracks are somewhat of a mixed bag and instead of straddling the line between country and bittersweet indie pop they all too often cross the line into country. These pleasant tunes don’t have enough sharp dynamics to give them an edge and so end up as mostly fluff without so much substance and represent the reflective mood of the album.

Argos' smarm-charm remains solid, and the band behind the man can still walk the walk. {May 2011, p. 76]

Rhino attempts to place the focus back on the music, to put you right back there in the mud. And they succeed, man--just don't eat the brown Metamucil.

It is not an album that will ever be treated with the same awed reverence as the band's first three albums, but it is a work of great talent and a happy note to end the mixtape for this chapter of our lives. [Aug/Sep 2012, p.121]

Adding to his old-time preacher's moan and expressive banjo, Whitmore utilizes a full band for the first time in this collection of songs lamenting corrupt authority in all its various forms. [Winter 2009, p.79]

There's a loose swagger throughout the nine songs. ... It seems that Foxygen rolled through Seeing Other People, making new music for the sake of making music.

There's plenty to love here in the melody department, and Dee Dee's too great of a songwriter to make a complete dud of a record. [Oct. 2011, p. 80]

It's just a little too easy to wonder how Black Hours may have evolved with Walkmen drummer Peter Bauer's restlessly inventive percussion propelling the lulls, or how a democratic approach may have suppressed a few indulgences. In other words, imagine if this had been a Walkmen record...

He defers too many vocals to his backing gospel singers, and his synth pop sound does nothing to distinguish this from his work with The Killers. Oddly, this is the album's greatest strength.

Available as a second disc with The Fame or as a self-contained album, The Fame Monster continues where Gaga's debut left off and features eight new tracks of varying quality.

Their seventh full-length album is a case study in everything they do well. [Fall 2007, p.87]

Love You's sticky problem is the same one that plagues all but the Thriller/Purple Rain-iest of pop records, and it's that everything that comes between the hits sounds like filler in comparison.

It's a debut that both dips and dives heavily but benefits from a strange lack of artfulness. [Feb/Mar 2014, p.75]

By trying to be the band everyone wants them to be, Braids have sacrificed the qualities that made them so captivating. And that is one hell of a shame.

It's hard not to think that either she just hasn't perfected this style yet or it's a one-off detour. Only time will tell, but wherever Dee Dee or Kristin goes, this album proves that it's well worth keeping up with her output.

If Idle No More doesn't necessarily sound like the product of manic intensity and dripping sweat, there's no questioning the spirit at the heart of this solid, memorable set. [Aug-Sep 2013, p.91]

Even though The Information is neither a leap forward or nearly as exceptional as his previous collaborations with Godrich, it does serve as hope that Beck still has some great work ahead of him. [#15]

Wrapping her melodies around her stabbed guitar in 'Give Me Back My Heart Attack' creates a wonderful effect, and the slow sway of 'It’s Okay' entrances. [Fall 2008, p.86]

Many listeners will get a thrill from the laser-pointed precision of the final product, a sort of quest for sonic perfection. But unless the bulk of Timony and Ex Hex fans have been harvesting a secret love for Rainbow or Foreigner for all these years, the sheer bloodlessness, the cleanliness, the emphatic punklessness of it all might just make it a pill too bland for many to swallow.