B.B. King - One Kind Favor - Reviews

Paste Magazine
Elegiac by intent, the record is awash in poignancy, radiating from the deeply felt guitar and vocal performances of the 83-year-old King and his supporting band (anchored by drummer Jim Keltner, bassist Nathan East and pianist Dr. John) and from the carefully chosen material.
Read rest
All Music Guide
Even if King winds up returning to his familiar slick, star-studded sound somewhere down the line, having an album as earthily elegant as One Kind Favor in his canon provides a fitting coda for one of the great musical careers of the 20th century.
Read rest
Rolling Stone
This isn't just B.B. King's best album in years, it's one of the strongest studio sets of his career, standing alongside classics such as "Singin' the Blues" and "Lucille."
Read rest

Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night - Reviews

Observer Music Monthly
The dreamy 'Cold Desert' is the perfect maudlin end to this short, sharp, 42-minute, no-filler album, revelling in every miserable blues-rocker cliché as Matthew's guitar goes all shoegazey and then briefly threatens to turn the whole thing into a 'Purple Rain' wig-out.
Read rest
Entertainment Weekly
Throughout Only by the Night, frontman Caleb Followill wails forlornly about cheap thrills and true love while his two brothers (and a cousin) bash
 out spooky, raw-edged riffs that rarely go where you expect them to.
Read rest
Sputnikmusic
As it is, it's a very fine record from a band who are seemingly growing in stature, confidence, and ability by the day.
Read rest

Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling - Reviews

Urb
The Hawk is Howling is Mogwai at its best.
Read rest
All Music Guide
At first, it's tempting to want all of The Hawk Is Howling to be as obviously powerful as its biggest tracks, but with time it reveals itself as one of Mogwai's most masterful blends of delicacy and strength.
Read rest
Observer Music Monthly
Masters at building tension upon tension then gently letting it go, their cyclical instrumentals are both sorrowful and consoling.
Read rest

Pussycat Dolls - Doll Domination - Reviews

Billboard
The Dolls' bark is as big as their bite.
Read rest
The New York Times
Ms. Scherzinger’s small, flexible voice thrives in the programmed, computer-tuned R&B tracks.
Read rest
Slant Magazine
Like the Dolls's debut, "PCD," the new album could use a little more of that cabaret style and a little less of the anonymous, by-the-numbers R&B and dance formulas that have become the modern girl-group convention
Read rest

Glasvegas - Glasvegas - Teviews

Observer Music Monthly
Praise indeed but then these hard-nosed softies are unique and this, make no mistake, is their "Definitely Maybe," the quintessential noise-pop set of the modern age.
Read rest
Dot Music
It's a gut punch of a debut, and one that makes you believe Glasvegas are one of those rare, rare bands who might just have that perfect record in them.
Read rest
New Musical Express
So believe it: this is the real thing, no-one’s crying wolf, not even Alan McGee.
Read rest

LL Cool J - Exit 13 - Reviews

RapReviews.com
Even if this isn't a Grammy-winning album, it is actually better than most of the bullshit Def Jam has released this year, and if LL Cool J had a point to prove on Exit 13, he has made it in acerbic style.
Read rest
NOW Magazine
This reinvigorated 40-year-old (!) Queens loudmouth makes a somewhat fleshy final Def Jam album, but it’s well-chiselled compared to his last ugly, irrelevant albums.
Read rest
Dot Music
Though he falls short of wholly convincing, the heart is almost always in the right place: a refreshing change from 99 per cent of those more interested in the image, not the message.
Read rest

Nelly - Brass Knuckles - Reviews

Boston Globe
Brass Knuckles is 14 songs long. All of them could be singles. None of them could be hits.
Read rest
Vibe
Brass Knuckles is standard Nelly fare.
Read rest
Rolling Stone
On his fifth album, he mostly sticks to that pop-rap formula, cranking his distinctly melodic flow to hyper-speeds and playing the good-natured hedonist on cuts like 'Party People.' But when he tries to come off hard on a handful of Dirty South brawlers, he ends up sounding generic
Read rest

Amanda Palmer - Who Killed Amanda Palmer - Reviews

musicOMH.com
The album's not for everyone, but if her sound is to your taste, then it will prove a rewarding, delectable, necessary thing: one of this year's most consistently interesting albums.
Read rest
Boston Globe
What is both surprising and remarkable, then, is how unflinchingly direct, bracingly unfiltered, and wholly intimate the new album, which is out today, sounds and feels.
Read rest
Delusions of Adequacy
This is a wonderful piece of work from a talented, intelligent artist, put across with all the passion of someone who's spent a long time thinking about and living with the project.
Read rest

Dead Confederate - Wrecking Ball - Reviews

The Onion (A.V. Club)
Ultimately, though, Dead Confederate's alt-country/grunge hybrid doesn't just feel like a compelling debut, it feels like a compelling new genre.
Read rest
Spin
The Georgia quintet's debut may appeal to My Morning Jacket fans, but songs like 'Heavy Petting' and 'Start Me Laughing' (which recalls Kurt Cobain at his nastiest) possess more growl than that comparison implies.
Read rest
The New York Times
A well-put-together debut album.
Read rest

Tindersticks - The Hungry Saw - Reviews

The Onion (A.V. Club)
Tindersticks remains a champion at feel-bad soul strings, but those who've found the group's previous work oppressive might want to try again: Staples' vocals haven't changed, but with the music as pared-down as one of their impressionistic soundtracks, it's a new sound.
Read rest
Boston Globe
The years away may have recharged Staples's batteries, but the music itself sounds much the same, which is a good thing.
Read rest
NOW Magazine
The Hungry Saw may make Leonard Cohen’s stuff sound positively giddy, but it’s a positive turn for the Tindersticks.
Read rest