The Evening Standard gives Sweeney Todd a perfect five out of five stars, dubbing the film "Sweeney the Spectacular" and calling it "just about perfect." With melodies that "tiptoe under our skin and refuse to leave," says the paper, Sweeney brings filmgoers to a "heightened state" that once entered is difficult to let go.

As Tim Burton's film version of Sweeney Todd gets set to open in the UK this weekend, the Times of London gives the film four stars, declaring it a "wonderful adaptation of Steven Sondheim’s musical ... that Burton was born to film." With the film now open in Australia as well, the Melbourne Herald Sun offers his praise for Johnny Depp's successful portrayal of the Demon Barber: "Sondheim's scores are notoriously difficult, yet Depp reveals a remarkable voice and receives fine support from his co-stars ... Depp, typically, leaves all other versions of Todd dead in the water."

"The Wire is not your average drama," says the Guardian, and "like every other element of The Wire, the music never lets you down." Music plays an integral role in The Wire's realistic look at inner-city life in an ever-struggling Baltimore. This leads the soundtrack to be "as real, or at least as electrifyingly lifelike, as anything else in the show." Advertising Age names the soundtrack the current "pop pick."

Reviewing The Magnetic Fields' latest Nonesuch release, Distortion, the New York Daily News has kind words for Stephin Merritt's trademark wit and also draws attention to his "flair for melodies," which shines through on the new record. "I could go on praising Merritt's hard wit," writes reviewer Jim Farber. "But he's long been known for that. What's new is his fetish for sound—this one so woozy and blurred it gives his disturbed lyrics their perfect mate."