In it’s complete scope, the album contains all the master works we’re usually too scared to expect from a full-length these days.

By the time things conclude with mannerly closer "The Great Estates" it's been made perfectly clear that this is a band ready and able to create visions with enveloping scope and delightful articulation.

Sonically, the joy comes from the triumphant, painstaking arrangement that undoubtedly went into the production of tracks like "Power," the aforementioned "All Of The Lights," and the album closing "Lost In The World."

The Big Doe Rehab, is predictably entertaining, not because he doesn’t have new tricks, but because at this point his weirdness is hardly surprising.

Prefuse 73 has defiantly asserted himself as one of the most important artists of his generation, ignoring boundaries and creating a landscape that recognizes hip-hop's original "anything goes" ethos. [Apr 2005, p.99]

This rocking trio is so good, we don't even care that it made a plethora of best-of-2005 lists--it'll end up on our rocking list for the '06. [Jul/Aug 2006, p.132]

Despite all of it's successes, the fact is that the album doesn't reach perfection, which I imagine is what most Jets fans might have been expecting from it. I will argue that it's a superior piece of work and certainly one of the better hip hop releases so far this year.

In an industry flooded with trumpeted artists not worth their weight in salt, Bon Iver's abstract ruminations more than warrant the hype.

While its hardly an overwhelming masterpiece like Blue Lines or Protection, it still stands head and shoulders above most everything else. [Mar 2003, p.95]

If you are a serious Groove Armada fan you will love it or hate it, I doubt there will be an in between. If you are just a music lover who is really digging the way electro and indie sounds have come into their own in the last few years than this is definitely for you.

While his work with Deerhunter remains impressive, Cox allows himself the most freedom while writing as Atlas Sound, and on Logos his risks are all rewarded.

A densely brilliant sonic template. [June 2002, p.102]

The band seems more comfortable in the studio than ever. [Aug 2003, p.88]

This time the focus is on tight songwriting, sudden chagnes and an edgy velocity that's never too dense. [Jan/Feb 2006, p.79]

Missiles is a true testament to meticulous sonic invention. [Nov/Dec 2008, p.85]

Emeritus concludes Scarface’s tenure as one of the genre’s favorite artists actively recording. It’s a depressing thought, yet this is an album that stands proudly among an already hugely influential back catalogue.

They posses a talent for identifying the raw, emotive aspects of sound and speech in random statements and simple chord progressions. [Apr 2005, p.101]

Nasty and raw. [Jan/Feb 2005, p.97]

This record sounds like nothing else in your collection. [Oct 2003, p.84]

Touching Down evokes the unique funk sensibilities that made his seminal V Records and Full Cycle tracks so damn fresh, while giving you the sense that England's Bristolian isn't returning to anything, since he never left it behind to begin with. [Dec 2002, p.87]

An astonishingly relevant album. [Mar 2006, p.112]

Her most anticipated follow-up is again the most cross cultural jam you'll hear this year. [Sep/Oct 2007, p.129]

The Spirit of Apollo is what happens when the imagination is let out of its cage. Good things happen.

A psychedelic journey quite unlike any other that could very well result in the creation of a completely new category of music simply known as Utopia Rap because musically it doesn't get much better than this.

The true brilliance here is what is not done rather than what is. Instead of getting repetitive, drawn out, and maybe even boring, the album concludes itself at a measly yet perfect 11 tracks, clocking in at just under 40 minutes.

With Both Sides Of The Gun, Harper proves he's prolific, diverse and relevant. [Apr 2006, p.86]

Combine some of the best pipes in the game with Grizzly Bear's newfound comfort in executing the grand & epic, and you've got Veckatimest; a total triumph that threatens to dwarf their own previous "House."

Adult. have fully realized their vision with a sound that's more alive and panoramic. [#104, p.95]

The Hawk is Howling is Mogwai at its best.

What I realized listening to this studio masterpiece is that Phonte, Dwele, and Aloe Blacc are all former MC's with new grown and sexy albums out this year worth purchasing.

It's an unusual back-and-forth that delivers rapturous results on the seven piece band's sophomore record Own Your Ghost.

Everything fits in place to up the game of something else, and no part of these finely made blues and soul creations gets a pass on pulling its weight. That’s just how it works for Brothers.

The distorted pop ambience of Outside Closer could very well make these Brits the Notwist of 2005. [Mar 2005, p.118]

Wolfmother might not be the most original band on the planet, but they rock hard and, most importantly, without a trace of irony. [May 2006, p.91]

Long-time Kelis fans might be initially surprised at the sonic switch-up-it's more dance than quirky R&B-but there's something totally right about the way Kelis tackles electronic music.

It's the album many heads wished Lauryn Hill had come back with instead of that weepy acoustic exercise. [Mar 2003, p.94]

Kindness sounds like the work of someone given one month to live, as Snaith lays down dozens of musical ideas into an album that will constantly keep you guessing what's next. [May 2005, p.84]

Untouchable. [Jun 2006, p.117]

The result of that little informal challenge is Fortress Around My Heart, the Norwegian singer’s debut album that expertly blends her throaty punk vocals with an infectious pop sensibility.

A bit more variance in terms of these aspects would have rounded everything out. Other than that minute observation, The Sun & The Neon Light is a fantastic album.

Strap on your seatbelt, 'cause you never been on a ride like this befo.' [Jan/Feb 2006, p.78]

Brilliant.... This album sounds like Albarn and Danger Mouse are an inspired team. [Jul/Aug 2005, p.101]

Fantasies has solid musicianship, simple yet poetic and meaningful lyrics, a myriad of melodies, and hooks that are memorable and exciting.

It's hugely ambitious, and yet also perhaps Ladd's most focused record yet. [Mar 2005, p.112]

It's a beautiful collection of songs, cinematic and powerful, never pushy. [Apr 2007, p.100]

Tarot Sport goes far beyond it's sonically daunting reaches and succeeds at being a deeply emotional experience.

This is an amazing, innovative, storytelling record that takes you on [a] fantastic, fun trip. [Oct 2006, p.118]

While How I Got Over is cut from the same cloth as their last album, the fabric of it is unique to itself. It's dark and tragic in places, but also enlightening and empowering.

Daedelus weaves his sounds into an intricate sonic tapestry that pleases the ears while stimulating the brain. [Jun 2006, p.110]

Thanks to collaborations with Richard X, Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos and Xenomania’s Brian Higgins, Annie’s cross-genre “pop with strange edges” still comes together with plenty of bang.

At the same time you contort, squirm and surge toward the non-music, your spirit somehow gets the message. [Oct 2006, p.132]

In Alpinisms, School of Seven Bells have themselves one of the year’s most intoxicating debuts.

It all adds up to the effect of watching American Graffiti while plugged into a morphine drip. [Jul/Aug 2005, p.105]

Easily one of the best albums of 2003. [Jul 2003, p.94]

The young studio maverick has given us something entirely new, but it's not perfect. It's not an inconsistent album, but it has a few unnecessary fillers. His unrestricted, deconstructed, sparse and minimal productions are unique and he deserves all the hype surrounding him.

Maybe that's how we need to view this record--a little less anxious in our anticipation and balanced out with a little more enjoyment. Then, it just might be a classic.

Beside their standalone sharp sensationalism, 'Heavy Heart' and 'The Band Marches On' breast a melodic acuity that begs to be ripped and shredded into anthemic dancefloor permutations.

Jay Stay Paid is a smooth hip hop ride. It is an effort that should be applauded and J-Dilla is a producer whose contributions will be appreciated from years to come. This album is another piece of evidence that testifies to that truth.

10 tracks of pure seamless joy.

Overall, Science expands the band’s already-vast palette that continues to defy and recontextualize any definition of a “rock” band.

[The band has] gotten down to the more important work of constructing airtight grooves with just enough weirding-out to show their legion of followers that it takes more than a drummer with good 16th-note skills to rock this party right. [Mar 2007, p.96]

Rated O is relentless enough and mean enough and playful enough to rope us in for 3 albums worth of music.

It's all clean, instrumental, cold techno. A sparse start builds and warms up to colder, bigger tracks. Along with the Egyptixx record, Fever might be the electronic underdog of the year.

There's More To Life Than This contains no weak tracks, only a few slightly bland moments.

The music pulses with a shimmering, spine-tingling blend of moodiness and vitality. [Sep 2002, p.102]

It's always amazing to see a band eclipse their influences. [Oct 2005, p.77]

For Living Thing, they ditch the comfortable confines of the airy, featherweight pop they perfected on Writer’s Block for more sonically adventurous territory and prove in the process that their prior success was not just a fluke.

Swanlights is seemingly effortless - the mark of a master at work.

These Thieves have finally come into their own, developing a sound that's growing increasingly distinct. [Oct 2002, p.100]

Instead of hip-hop, Betke now appears inspired by the hypnotic riddims of Krautrock and the New York art-dance scene of the 1970s. [May 2007, p.97]

To fans that listened to Rage as a means to get "pumped up" and bring the "mosh" you’ll probably be disappointed by the lack of work out music. But to the fans of Zack’s militant poetry, listen and enjoy.

The album captures the band's unmistakable sound but they've also added some new flavors. [May 2006, p.91]

They take their place among the scruffiest, ugliest and most crowd-pleasing bad guys the West has ever spat out. [Sep 2006, p.131]

It stands out as a piece that’s refreshing, bold in musicality, and still defiant as ever--just the way we like our Gossip.

That sweet spot between the dancefloor and the moshpit is something that more and more electronic acts seem to be pursuing these days. Freeland shows he's still a vet of that particular tightrope.

Post-modern pop hasn't sounded this good since the Postal Service. [Dec 2004, p.110]

Trippy vocal distortions, rock guitar, and the either enlightening or bewilderingly entertaining lyrics create what the younger audience commonly refer to as “The Shit.”

Positively electric. [Sep 2006, p.143]

Despite what the blog-haters might say, Gibbard and Co. more than make the grade. [Oct 2005, p.77]

As always, Doom steps up and kicks out clever lines with the ease of someone still not bored with their talents. [Jan/Feb 2005, p.93]

With a brand new sound, rich production, and a palpable sense of growth, graduation has come, and Kidz in the Hall have officially earned their degree in unadulterated artistry.

They've delivered highly re-playable 13 song study in the G blues chord's progression, spanning '50s hillbilly rock, '60s garage and '70s glam and punk. [Sep/Oct 2007, p.129]

A fluid transition is made into album closer Circulation, an exhilarating piece where the not-so-secret-weapon, drummer Moses Archuleta propels the band through the universe that's made Deerhunter's records so repeat-worthy; that place where reverbed typhoons are miraculously contained and space is somehow kept taut.

A rewarding, intimate listen. [Mar 2007, p.101]

Fans of Death Cab and the Postal Service might notice a similarity between Angelakos' and Ben Gibbard's vocal styles. The six song EP features light, airy synths grounded in subtle new wave and pop grooves.

A wacky landmark in the electronic pop movement. [Nov 2002, p.98]

It's almost like Subtle, as a collective, is afraid of letting loose or having too much fun. [Oct 2006, p.130]

The Books have found their way out of convention, and they've been kind enough to invite us all along with them.

Red Barked Tree captures the sharp and fiery hallmark defined by Colin Newman, Graham Lewis and Robert Grey some thirty-odd years ago to strike a pressure point relevant to younger generations.

Har Mar wraps glorious, melodic R&B styled hooks around lyrics that sound dangerously inappropriate coming out of the mouths of matrons in minivans. [Sep 2004, p.114]

Rich in imagery and suggestive of enviroment -- arctic, urban and mental -- Pan Sonic chisels a sound contradictory in its makeup, utterly synthetic and metallic yet somehow deeply organic. [#82, p.144]

If you're in need of hype, and think Oasis are too old and lame anyway, and the Arctic Monkeys are just kind boring, maybe you need... the Klaxons. [Apr 2007, p.106]

Little on RUOK possesses commercial cache, but what is that against a career-defining turn? [Nov 2002, p.96]

It seems semi-impossible for Montreal's held-in-holy-regard Arcade Fire to top their previous two albums, but with The Suburbs they seem to have at least met their own standard.

Occasionally teetering on the verge of too precious, the heavy mood and lush production are too much (and too nice) to resist. [Apr 2004, p.87]

Sweet femme fatale vocals, oceanic synth waves and shoegazing guitar riffs abound on these sprawling sound confections. [Jun 2005, p.85]

Beautiful. [Apr 2005, p.108]

Hot Chip hasve always guaranteed a certain degree of respect for the listener's intelligence, even on their most fance floor ready album yet. [Jan/Feb 2008, p.102]