A record of remarkable beauty.

Here we get the full range of peaks and valleys from Martina's vocals, but the songs are a bit syrupy for those prepared for the menace of Maxinquaye-era Tricky.

Comets on Fire have also learned to harness their dynamic range, an important step for a band that pummels the listener with a seemingly unending freakout.

Breaking new ground probably isn't the point, but the album still fails to generate any emotion or create a mood other than ennui.

The problem with Blueberry Boat is that, while it's a musical marvel, it's not an album that I'll keep listening to.

What's most impressive is that he manages the delicate balance of being emotive without overwrought, something that many of the seventies pop icons never quite got right.

Solid, if unspectacular.

Sparta earn points for thinking big and penning deeply-felt songs that break the five-minute mark, but ambition alone isn't enough.

What the act does offer - chunky dance music with icy vocals that recall Debbie Harry when Dykes is on the mic - sounds great in terms of dance production.

As a hip-hop record, Headset's Space Settings fails to hit the mark of its influences, but it is successful in its own right.

The flaws in A Ghost is Born are almost as interesting as the album's considerable triumphs.

LaValle demonstrates that he is one of post-rock's strongest artists.

This is a headphone record of the highest order, where every last detail should be isolated against your ears and pored over.

While Waves is not quite a knockout, it delivers some undeniable pleasures nonetheless.

The years are beginning to show on Smith, especially on the opener, "Green Eyed Locoman," but his backing band hasn't sounded this energetic and enthusiastic in years.

The krang of album’s past seems more an afterthought as the band explores the natural textures of layered guitar and lumbering bass tracks.

Little Heart's Ease is a respectable effort - just not by Royal City standards.

The album cherry-picks the best songs from Farrrar's last few releases, and presents them in often superior form.

With more room to breathe, the textured synthesizers come to the fore, and it is their melodic decoration that ultimately provides the saving grace. But without the electronic textures, Love and Distance is just Bryan Adams with a hip producer and a great drummer.

!!! has put together an end-to-end burner here, full of songs that will move your ass and stick in your ear for weeks.

As a bridge over the analog/digital divide, Chapel's a bit behind the curve. But, when they hit their marks, Weatherall and Tenniswood's versatility shines through.

Guthrie successfully matches his idiosyncratic lyrics with subtle, layered arrangements lush with strings, crisp guitars, and shifting song structures as likely to burst into anthem or lilt towards confession.

But despite its flaws, or perhaps because of them, this remains organic folk-pop at its bewildering best.

Bumblebeez brings loose, frenetic energy to a mash-up of likely and unlikely sources.

Hotel Morgen serves as a blend of some of the more appealing aspects of both the electronic avant-garde and its more mainstream dance music wing.

The New Year here occasionally let loose with a decidedly unreserved frenzy that is a joy to hear.

The Catheters do little to distinguish themselves, instead offering formulaic rock rebelliousness in a nicely packaged, repetitive form.

There's a very good record in this band. This isn't it.