There's certainly enough passion in Blue Sky Noise to show the masses where rock and roll and great songwriting can meet in a traditional compromise that everyone can enjoy.

Paperboy has done it. I mean, I don't really know what he's done. He's made this album, Come and Get It, that truly stands in its own category in 2010.

Blak and Blu is the very definition of a bellwether, and the resounding answer to all of the many who have predicted such greatness.

Kozelek’s rich, detailed lyrics here are revelatory, and the way he delivers them, in his sad, low, heartrending baritone, is nothing short of entrancing.

This is as good as any album post-punk/garage rock has produced in quite some time.

Danny Brown is taking the route everyone wants an artist to take: putting out forward thinking, self-expressing art that is setting the bar rather than merely attempting to reach it.

It was obvious the writing for this album was at its earlier stages when Camu passed away, but the production does a very good job of making up for the low quality of the vocals. Fortunately, Camu's fantastic voice still breaks through. I love distorted, uneven recordings, but fans of cleaner audio work may be put off by the album's overall quality.

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.

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.

The quintet have honed in on their strengths and produced their most concise and assured release to date.

Rice hasn’t changed his sound much, but his writing is still every bit as visceral as it always has been, and his long-awaited third album, called My Favourite Faded Fantasy, absolutely lives up to the legacy of his previous work.

Whether it was "the right way" or not, all of the days that we have waited for Neighborhoods have been well worth it.

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

The band has continued to expand and refine their ADD-riddle pop-punk into something more substantial and LP3 chronicles the growth in songwriting while maintaining the spastic charm of the band's earlier releases.

Showcasing the very best of Archambault’s lyrics and the band’s musicianship while channeling more post-rock-esque breaks along with diverse shifts in pacing and tone into their brand of hardcore, Abandoned is undoubtedly the essential Defeater release and gold-standard for hardcore in 2015.

It's fairly apparent throughout the album that Anberlin was definitely in their element, as Dark Is The Way, Light Is A Place is exactly what mainstream music needed: a challenging and engaging rock and roll album anyone can relate to. Their songwriting and musicianship have never been better.

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

The combination of Vigil's honest, yet relatable lyricism and the powerful instrumentation make for the band's most powerful statement to date.

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

Easily his best album to date, Till Midnight is a beacon of a record that will be looked at fondly come year’s end.

To call it a triumph is putting it mildly. Lucky is a clarion call to contemporary country music, a beacon of hope that proves just how much can be accomplished with just a voice and a vision.

When it's all said and done, I have a feeling Jaar's solo career won't be the only thing he's known for, as Psychic has put Darkside up there with some of the best groups making music today.

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

Seeker Lover Keeper is a beautiful, harmonious and captivating listen from start to finish.

While Rented World may not offer the thematic comforts that fans of Impossible Past will be searching for, the album is stacked from top to bottom with can’t-miss tracks.

If you have the patience to wait and persevere until Paradise fully blossoms with you into something spectacular, rest assured, it will be a record that won't stop giving when it finally does.

This is what those album reviewers mean, when they talk about setting the bar high.

Though the disc starts off unhurried and threatens to dawdle, the gentle lilt of "Goodbye to the Ground," makes for one of Moorer's most creative efforts to date.

More than anything, Moving Mountains feels complete.

This is Clark's most daring, uncompromising, infectious, and adventurous release yet, as St. Vicent features a musician challenging the very idea of what it means to be an artist in 2014.

Battle Born is the kind of rock 'n' roll record that almost nobody makes anymore: it's bombastic and excessive and oversized, but it's also a grand and universal statement, a master class of album structure and sequencing, and a culmination of everything Brandon Flowers and The Killers have done up to this point.

Fallon's story is far from finished. This guy is one of the best songwriters of his generation, in any genre, and if his future albums--solo or not--are as full of pleasures as Painkillers, we have nothing to worry about

Prawn have shaped themselves into a band who offer more than lyrics, but counseling. And Kingfisher is catharsis created not through grit, but melody.

Ledges is the kind of record that sounds great from the very first listen, but over time, as Gundersen’s words begin to cut deeper and take root, it transcends the mere prettiness that is so often the bread and butter of singer/songwriter records.

The combination of his idiosyncratic creative mind with his highly personal and conflicted lyrics has resulted in something spectacular.

Overall, The xx have created an album that is just as interesting, attractive and sexy as it could possibly be.

What a remarkable debut it is: artists rarely arrive this fully formed, this self-assured, or this seasoned in their craft.

You're going to need more than a few listens to truly sink your teeth into the meaty layers and themes, but once you get it, you'll find that this is one of the most rewarding albums of 2012.

There’s a real dynamic arc here, not just for the album as a whole, but also within each and every individual song, and whether or not you’ve gravitated toward county music in the past, that unrivaled depth of passion makes this record an absolute essential.

Fullbright’s first record, From the Ground Up, scored a surprise Grammy nomination in the Americana category two years ago, but don’t be surprised when Songs starts topping EOTY lists in December.

It's not all slow and mid-tempo numbers that litter the forty-five minute duration of The Slideshow Effect. There are also moments where the band is unafraid to lift the urgency, to create a semblance of sustained momentum, and to incorporate a few timely hooks and memorable melodies along the way.

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.

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.

On their Bloodshot Records debut, the sextet have stepped up their game and have announced themselves as one of 2015's most important alt-country efforts.

With The Wild Hunt, Swedish maestro Kristian Matsson once again constructs lively, emotional pieces with nothing more than his strangely authentic Southern drawl and nimble fingers. The lyrics are beyond superb.

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

2008's critically lauded "Devotion" set the band on a new path, landing them an opening spot for buzz band Grizzly Bear and winning the hearts of hipsters the world over. Teen Dream, however, takes things to a whole new level.

There is a sense of urgency and maturity here that few in the genre will be able to replicate. So forget the throne, The Devil Wears Prada doesn't need it to prove that they've released the best metalcore album of the year.

Every song on Soul Punk bleeds confidence and assurance--that these songs are what Patrick Stump is happy creating--music that he's proud of.

With Painted, Narrows sophomore release isn't just a bunch of vets attempting a comeback, they're showing listeners why their names are already synonymous within the scene to begin with.

The best thing about Lenses Alien: its incessant begging for you to spin it again.

It's incredibly insular and sure of itself, but it's also smartly innovative.

It’s an enchanting odyssey that is steeped in the tantalizing mysticism of the unknown.

Ostensibly an album about finding hope and navigating through the pathways of solace, Augustines is a shimmering, first-rate slice of pensive and passionate indie-rock.

White Noise stands to be one of the most promising and impressive debut album of the year, but more than just deserving that title, it stands to be one of the best albums of the year.

At the end of the day, I don't know exactly where I'd rank Koi No Yokan--somewhere in the top three, but really it's not important. What's important is that this is a f***ing great album.

The duo shows an uncanny ability to write engaging pop nuggets.

Wherever you place Adult Film in the Kasher canon, it’s hard to deny that it’s one of the best albums of the year, and arguably his most versatile yet.

If you're willing to take the time and patience required to give this album the attention it really deserves, you'll find the rewards will exist long after you turn off the album.

We Don't Even Live Here is the weirdest, angriest, and best P.O.S album to date.

Twelve Years is a record that can and should become the soundtrack to many a young person's life in 2012.

The musicianship and songwriting is easily on par with Magic and exceeds the output on Working On A Dream, and as a whole, Wrecking Ball stacks up considerably with The Rising, which to this day I consider a top-5 Springsteen album.

The heart and intent behind the lyrics and music, the effort so clearly put forth is what is supposed to translate and it does. Most of the growth on this record comes in the form of more textured and dynamic instrumentals, and glossy, but not necessarily overtly “made for radio” production.

During the 30 odd minutes of Avalanche United, you hear a revitalized band that's eager to take over the country and at the top of their game.

With Archambault’s vocal performance stronger than ever before, the band sounding fresh and the lyrics seemingly closing out this chapter in their career, Letters Home is one of the most thrilling albums they could have created.

All the band's elements coalesce in a remarkably cohesive way to elicit the desired moods.

If she maintains this faith in her abilities, her albums will continue to awe, inspire and provide tough competition for the rest of the world.

It’s easily his most exhilarating and challenging record to date, keeping you on your toes throughout by juxtaposing subdued verses with huge, soaring choruses.

As one of the last big album releases to close out 2011, it's highly fitting that Ceremonials should be considered perhaps the most beautiful and absorbing of them all.

Easily digestible, wholeheartedly inoffensive and very much DIY, this is an album that makes the forty minutes more than worth the investment. If only every disc could be this much fun.

Transgender Dysphoria Blues has an universal appeal that will resonate with anyone.

Uncompromising, gritty and intense.

If you want a refreshing, imaginative, heartfelt record which manages to be fun and emotional at once, So Long, See You Tomorrow provides everything you could want. Bombay Bicycle Club are the best at what they do.

It's a record full of beauty and heartache, confidence and fear, and these ends pull at each other for one of the most captivating records to come out this year.

It's doing more with less, on a level that simply demands attention. That, ladies and gentlemen, just might make Dawes something you'll pass on to your children.

The Valley is equally intimate and gorgeous as it is rough and realistic.

Transformative, entrancing and wholly confident, Sigh No More is head and shoulders above the competition.

It'll be difficult to find many albums (regardless of genre) that stimulates as many emotions as Camp. Years of hard work and perseverance from Glover has finally paid off and Camp is the culmination of all that, making this one of the best albums of 2011.

They may not be quite as distraught as Smith was, and they certainly opt not to strum as fast as he did, but the shared sentiment is still there. And on The Unfazed, that sentiment carries a savory beauty.

One man’s suffering becomes our communal celebration, so to speak. It's a fine role for one of the year's best albums to play.

Not only does Flies In All Directions combine the best elements of American Art and The Cosmic Drama, it exceeds them, resulting in what's bound to a genre-defining staple for years to come.

mewithoutYou have done something that feels nearly impossible with Pale Horses, and that’s recreate themselves without losing what made them interesting. It’s so effortless that it’s hard not to wonder if a higher power was involved.

Light, more than anything I've heard lately, sounds complete and self-contained, and like most of the TV on the Radio catalog, it largely transcends genre. No other context is necessary. Nine Types of Light simply is what it is.

What sets Fucked Up's new album aside from their previous records though is the accessibility and bright tone throughout.

In between, we get plenty of striking melodies, at least a dozen quotable lyrics (“Tomorrow’s the name we changed from yesterday to blame when the train just don’t stop here anymore” is an instant Duritz classic), and an arrangement that shows off the Crows at their loosest and most vibrant.

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

Upon repeat listens, there's not one point of Halcyon Digest that feels like it was overly thought out.

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

When You're Through Thinking, Say Yes isn't Yellowcard's best work, as Paper Walls still retains that title in my mind, but it's exactly the album that fans should be hoping for.

If you dig songs with twang, Here's to Taking It Easy is as tuneful and affecting a set of them as you're likely to come across.

It's not extraordinarily original, but they do a masterful job at piecing together classic pop elements in an incredibly thoughtful and enjoyable way, crafting an album that's sure to please indie snobs, pop purists and, well, anyone else who might be listening.

Comprised of many songs he has tucked away for years, the album is everything one might expect from a Gibbard solo album: daring, delicate, verbose and indelible.

Though it is lengthy and a lot to sit through--more than 70 minutes of music--there seems little reason to think this won't catapult Arcade Fire to even greater heights.

Forceful is just what is capturing about Treats. It is what makes it so hardcore to the bone. Miller puts together gritty guitar licks and hammering beats worthy of an opening slot with Ghengis Tron in my eyes and matches it to the beautiful, yet aggressive sound of Krauss' mouth.

Right from the start with opener "Lion Face Boy", Seabear bring you in and captivate you for the entirety of We Built A Fire.

Annie Clark stands out with her work because she is one of the few artists that can take something mournful and make it jarring yet angelic all at once.

Truth be told, it never feels completely on-target, however it's hardly inept - just a touch disjointed. For every minor imperfection, listeners are rewarded with boosts of adrenaline from the bludgeoning opening track "Deafening" and breakneck "Dear Enemy."

Welcome to The Low Anthem's Smart Flesh, where folk music doesn't need to be reinvented for it to come alive – just performed. If you're looking for a solid folk spooker to open the year, your search ends here.