With Last of the Great Pretenders, Nathanson captures the organic energy of a city full of exuberant personalities, legendary landmarks, and gorgeous vistas, and the result is one of the most bulletproof summer discs to come along this year.

Overall, Rudimental have shown themselves to be a talented band of men.

Skyer is one piece of art, obviously. But it’s not going to do the same thing to you as it has done to me. And that’s a special thing.

[The songs] are nothing short of radiant, from the perfect vocals to the organic, full-bodied arrangements, from the heart-rending lyrics to the way that producer Charlie Peacock surrounds everything in a smoky ambiance.

Hawthorne Heights gets better with every release, and Zero is their best effort yet. The band has honed their talents and refined their music nearly enough to be a different band, and one that sounds better than ever before.

Long Way Down has just enough flaws to show that Odell has room to grow and progress. If you listen to one pop album this year, this is a pretty good bet.

It is a wonderful debut effort, and all of the buzz and the attention they have garnered up to this point is likely only the beginning for AlunaGeorge.

Kinsella has, yet again, created music as an art form and has provided us with a soundtrack to all of those moments between the events.

What Saaab Stories lacks in quantity is easily made up for in quality.

Ultimately, Mayer Hawthorne has created his most complete and compelling piece of art yet, taking risks, experimenting, and looking to expand his already defined palate.

Jinx leaves the band with more paths to explore going forward; they may either continue to refine the warmly gothic sounds found here or may embrace a different facet of Sports. It seems apparent after Jinx that they will deftly execute whichever option they choose.

The songwriter gets primary production credit on nine of the 12 tracks from The Blessed Unrest, and on many of them, she uses that position to build the sort of stunning and nuanced arrangements that elevate her songs beyond traditional singer/songwriter fare.

His flows are lazy, uninspired, and flat out boring.

The songs themselves are a disaster. Everything is trashy and over the top, but generally rubbish too.... Basically, this is probably the worst album ever created by a serious group of musicians.

Run The Jewels is its own beast, and the combination of Killer Mike and El-P creating rap music together is one of, if not the most exciting thing happening in hip-hop right now.

With Love is the most focused and refined release from Zomby yet, which is quite the feat considering it's a double album.

Given the proper attention and respect, Letlive's The Blackest Beautiful will reveal itself as a masterpiece--a record that will redefine your musical preconceptions and tastes for the better,

Three years after his album should have put the "sideline" comments to rest, Cole’s still studying the traditional playbook from the bench, preferring to follow Nas’ bible than strike out on his own.

Inheritance is as strong an opening statement as any released this year and with it The Last Bison firmly cement themselves as a band to watch in 2013 and beyond.

Whereas 2011's Want More felt uneven, Howl is dynamic, controlled and with few, if any holes.

The anxiety-ridden sound of Kveikur is the best the band has produced since their breakthrough album, and seems promising to yield only more rewarding results in the future.

The Gifted is a horribly disjointed album. If Wale would have gone one way or the other (soulful nostalgic beats or straight up pop-rap), the album would probably be at least a little bit better.

From a technical standpoint, the album does little to challenge, provoke or push the envelope. From a thematic standpoint, there's no cerebral or overarching theme, there's no incendiary political or social statements. At its core, it is a safe, sun-kissed collection of 11 utterly harmless light rock songs about the delights of newfound love.

By teaming up with some of the best producers in the r&b/hip-hop genre right now, including frequent Drake collaborators T-Minus and Boi-1da, Kelly Rowland has managed to make one of the best sounding r&b albums of the year.

This album is going to be important for a number of reasons, but above all, it's going to be important because it is a great album. Very few people in the realm of pop music, if anyone, take risks like this.

As has always been the case with City and Colour, this record is at its best when it forgoes sonic evolution for the bare bones simplicity of human emotion and the warm, gentle wash of pleasant nostalgia.

There’s still a great album somewhere in this Philly quintet and we hear flashes of it throughout.

Watching Movies With The Sound Off is a necessary step that is going to get him there [to be a truly good artist], but it isn't a strong enough statement to make that case for him.

It's bold, intelligent, and demanding--taking all your emotions and senses and beating them to a pulp while going to a place sonically that’s essentially been untouched by its peers.

While their third record The Wack Album may be the group’s weakest effort to date, it still shows off their abilities as hook writers and as the preeminent hip-hop satirists in today’s industry.

These songs aren’t just lovelorn poetry or odes of heartbreak; they’re full stories, five-minute films, expansive novels written in staves, rests, and music notes for the rest of us to bleed to.

While he may not hit the mark every time, he hits far more often than his misses. And when he hits, he hits hard, as some of the best songs on this mixtape are among the best rap tracks so far this year.

This is the kind of record where everyone will have different favorite song, where what someone calls dull or overlong or indulgent will resonate perfectly with someone else, depending on that listener’s past musical tastes and experiences.

Time just feels far too fabricated, far too forced and well far too late.

It is my firm belief that The Greatest Generation has no real precedent in this community.

Tape Deck Heart may not be quite as good as the phenomenal England Keep My Bones, but it’s a quality release with excellent lasting value that will be a mainstay on album of the year lists in 2013.

Having complete freedom and reign with this record, Eisley was able to take its musical element to richer and grander heights.

Most importantly, the album extends the reaches of their previous effort and makes an even bigger dent.

Random Access Memories is teeming with life, and the multitude of genres presented as well as the production choices of the duo help the album deliver on its promise.

Wake Up starts with six successive titanic efforts is commendable but also somewhat disappointing. On the second half of the LP, the formula remains the same.

This is a truly magnificent record, and I think it’s going to end up being the album for which we remember Vampire Weekend.

It's a record of favorites, but not one where you feel compelled to skip songs to get to them.

While it’s certainly not what anyone thought a new Deerhunter album would sound like three years removed from the world of Halcyon Digest, the band certainly succeeds in their goal of crafting “nocturnal garage, and the album’s high points--namely “Monomania,” “Punk,” “The Missing” and “T.H.M.”--are some of the best songs the group has ever recorded.

There is a lot to like on This Is How The Wind Shifts, as Silverstein accomplishes the tricky balancing act of progressing your craft while retaining that sound that made the band into what it is today.

For the most part, Young New England is embarrassingly lost in itself, a superfluous output that floats along at a frustratingly slow pace and lacks even a slight resemblance of direction.

While the disc is certainly enjoyable in its own write, Terror doesn’t seem to be out to re-invent the wheel--but perhaps refine the vehicle they drive it on.

The Terror is a frightening trip, a fantastically cohesive album, and one that could have benefited greatly from a bit more editing and perhaps a little better track sequencing.

Night Visions is a disc laden with buoyant choruses, arena-ready swagger and armfuls of dance floor attitude.

There aren't many artists recording today who make songwriting seem more natural and effortless than Kurt Vile.

You’ll sing along because it’s catchy, but you’ll push repeat because the lyrics are so personal.

Produced by Shaun Lopez (Far, Deftones), the sound and shape of each Renacer is clean and spacious.

As loud as What You Don''t See seems at first blush, it's really quite thoughtful.

For the most part, Ghost on Ghost is a good record that disappoints because we know its creator is capable of something more powerful.

While Migrant is Casey Crescenzo’s most accessible record ever, it’s also his most honest and real Dear Hunter LP yet.

It’s the sound of a young band coming into their own unique musical niche and making the record they’ve been reaching for since they first hit the scene in 2009.

Overall, the Recover EP is a perfect stepping stone in Chvrches’ brick road.

Wolf is still packed with signs of potential, and at this point it would be just as foolish to write Tyler off as it would be to call him one of the best in the game.

The result is the most actualized version of Fall Out Boy we've ever heard, an undeniable portrait of who Fall Out Boy is today, in 2013

At the end of the day, when you look at this album, everything just fires on all cylinders--lyrically, vocally, instrumentally.

As a full record, Paramore certainly isn't for everyone--but there's certainly something for everyone. If you're not having fun at some point of the album, you're probably not trying.

Williams seems to have mostly left behind the beach motif and the surf vibes for straight 90s alt-rock, and more often than not it works for him, but a few songs here (“Dog,” “Everything Is My Fault,” “I Can’t Dream”) fall flat on their face.

Overall, Dormarion is one of the most eclectic, fun records of the year.

Despite being fifteen years in the punk rock scene, My Shame Is True is a showcase of a band continuing to be vibrant and vital, when lesser bands have become stale and irrelevant.

Sempiternal is one of the most breathtaking and engaging albums of the year.

The results of his recent output have been unquestionably subpar.

Give In is as strong an effort as any and the grand introduction of a first-rate new outfit.

Henry Tremain does a fine job replacing the ever-inventive Stuart Smith on vocals. His lyrics aren't that much fun to sing, but they're nice to read.

The perfect album, albums with no filler, albums that when over, leave you breathless and don't inspire you to want more music from the band, but make you want to listen to the album from the start, all over again; m b v is that album.

Whatever genre you’re into, whatever your favourite publication has said about these guys; Iceage are here to stay and You’re Nothing is one of the best albums of its time.

Candela makes for an, at times unpleasant, but ultimately forgettable listen.

This isn’t an album that’s going to light people up or satisfy those who are still suffering from The Smiths refusal to reunite. However, if you take The Messenger for what it most organically is, a British indie rock album, you won’t be disappointed.

Easily one of his strongest releases to date, if not his best, The Happiness Waltz is the very reason why musical history should have a small chapter for this criminally overlooked songwriter.

Home is an ambitious effort that veers in several stylistic directions. Sometimes it's terrific, and sometimes it stumbles.

The Beast in Its Tracks wouldn’t be a Josh Ritter album without at least a few home-runs, and luckily, the hits here are plentiful.

On New Moon they take a wide range of sounds and somehow make them all their own, and if you can keep up with all the "genre-hopping," this is certain to be one of the most unique and interesting records you'll hear this year.

Overall, Wondrous Bughouse is a beautiful, experimental album that never forgets that above all, music is an art form and is meant to be experience as is film, art, or literature.

These songs demand attention like they demand volume; they require the space of repeat listens and the privilege of high fidelity audio presentation.

The most amazing part about Foolish Blood is that it sounds effortless, almost as if the band could write a sequel to this in their sleep.

If you’re looking for something heartwarming in the short term or an album to warm cold nights, give The Bunkhouse Vol 1: Anchor Black Tattoo a go, however here’s hoping that the second volume of The Bunkhouse holds something a little more defined and innovative.

Hayden has arguably crafted his finest album to date.

The record is a jukebox boiled down to its greatest hits, a playground romp through the back-pages of pop music history, and in this case, the journey is well worth taking.

Regardless of the reason, Country Sleep is more immediately accessible and rewarding than most of the records from the artists listed above, a stunning surprise debut that will be sitting somewhere in my annual top ten come December.

It all adds up to a solid release that is suited better for the radio than it is among your hardcore collection.

Overall, Hummingbird is a wonderful album. Each song manifests itself in a truly attractive manner and it's a release that's very much focused in the aesthetic.

Aside from the overall atmosphere of the album, most of the time, Veronica Falls are spot on with their songwriting.

Overall, Wolf's Law largely oversteps the sophomore slump.

The twin sisters have pushed themselves creatively and musically, creating something truly special.

While the EP isn't the best material of the band's career, it shows a promising future that looked ever so bleak just a mere three years ago.

Over and done in less than 45 minutes, Crazy World is a fine album from a band who seems comfortable with their place in the landscape of contemporary music.

The first few tracks of the release are pleasant, everything is undermined by the last half.

In rippling the delving guitars and gripping drums with a tenacity that is tough to deny, The Acacia Strain find themselves again with just the right recipe--giving us a much more concentrated opportunity for catharsis in the key of anger.

Failed States is the band's best release to date.

The genius of Lights Out is that it packs a punch without any gimmicks.

Aside from a few solid, unspectacular pop-rock songs though, ¡Dos! Has only one thing to offer: it makes ¡Uno! sound a hell of a lot better.

From its atmospheric nineties leanings to Bellamy's consistently on-the-mark channeling of Bono, it's not too hard to imagine The 2nd Law having a similar legacy ten or twenty years down the road: not a great album, but an adventurous one.

While country music press (and even some Top 40 radio stations) champion Miranda Lambert for her spunk, zest and exuberance, the fact of the matter is plenty of female singer-songwriters have just as much spunk, zest or exuberance. Rosie Flores is no exception. Working Girl's Guitar is proof of that.

Such storytelling songwriting on Close The Distance is unmatched by anything Lancaster has ever penned--and I mean ever.

It might take a moment to sink in, but the return of Verse to both touring and recording has reaped its most challenging disc to date--leaving us with something to cherish and consider in the process.