They're old-fashioned, but in the best sense: they're in it for the long haul, which the superb Warpaint proves beyond a shadow of a doubt.

A cheerfully restless record, one where all the parts don't fit and it's better because of it, as it has a wild, willing personality, suggesting that Weezer is comfortable as a band in a way they never quite have been before.

While this may not make it the most immediately exciting album of Explosions in the Sky's career, it easily stands to be one of their most rewarding.

Though it's not as eclectic and whimsical as their earlier work, Teen Dream is some of their most beautiful music, and reaffirms that they're the among the best purveyors of languidly lovelorn songs since Mazzy Star.

Calcination is a harrowing, emotionally draining 51 minutes; it can’t be judged on anything but its essences lyrically and musically, making it an abundantly successful endeavor.

Their familiarity with vintage instruments and addictive laid-back swagger help them avoid the pretension that sometimes follows the Beta Band.

Keith is happy to be a dirty old SOB, cracking jokes, drinking beer, and flirting with the ladies, and that makes Shock'n Y'All a fun, rough, rowdy album that wins you over despite your better impulses.

Meeting titanic expectations, this linear journey of the heart is Adele's most cohesive statement to date, pairing her inimitable voice with a dozen engrossing vignettes, reminding us that all we can do is keep trying.

A hypnotic, bittersweet, transcendental pop masterpiece.

Listening to Good and Green Again is like visiting a warm little den where the songs of yesteryear spend an easy hour catching up on the news of the present. His is a peculiar gift, but one he's learned how to use to great effect.

Rife with moments of artfully sustained anticipation, Orchestras is one of Frisell's most accessible and virtuosic recordings.

All that's here, dark or bright, is vital.

The mix of songs that connect with gently experimental sounds that low-key dazzle make for a winning combination and Together is another surprising slowcore triumph.

Sojourner is an aptly titled monolith, one that invites fans of Magnolia Electric Co. with a "thank you for believing," even as it urges them to take in more of the picture than ever before.

The Badu influence on Lennox hasn't been clearer, but the song ["POF"] is also a showcase for some of Lennox's most striking vocals and her strongest, pithiest writing -- singular qualities that remain throughout the album.

They deliver thrilling song after thrilling song that'll have you hyping them to all your rock & roll friends as soon the album stops spinning.

Negro Swan sonically is as fluid as it is fragmented, synthesizing and bounding between bedsit post-punk, desolate dream pop, chillwave-coated quiet storm, and low-profile hip-hop soul.

While vintage '70s and early-'80s jazz-funk aesthetics are at the core of Kuroda's sound, Fly Moon Die Soon never sounds retro and often feels less like a jazz album and more like a hip-hop or electronic artist's conception of a jazz album. Of course, that hybridized quality speaks to Kuroda's alchemic appreciation for music that goes far beyond the edges of the jazz tradition.

Tyrannosaurus Hives might be a little more complex and polished than the Hives' earlier work, but it's not overthought at all; even though they've evolved, they know how to keep it simple, stupid.

None of it is particularly light. Sampha's exquisite melodies and detailed productions nonetheless make all the references to longing, disturbed sleep, injurious heat, and shattered glass go down easy.

While the first two I Break Horses albums were heartfelt and promising, at times it felt like Lindén was looking for her true musical voice. On Warnings she finds it and has made a modern synth pop-meets-dream pop classic that is sure to melt the frozen heart of anyone lucky enough to discover it.

Everything on these two discs fits into the theme and flow.

Things We Lost in the Fire's slowly rising warmth and subtly hopeful tone not only make this Low's most cohesive, compelling collection, but one of 2001's best albums.

Of Montreal's most focused and powerful sounding record yet.

[A] rare sophomore outing that not only manages to avoid the slump, but bests its predecessor in the process.

With Take It Like A Man, she's made a striking, deeply satisfying album that follows no rules other than what her muse has chosen, and it's inarguably her finest work to date.

Power metal may not be the most inventive musical style on the planet, but Dragonforce are making it more exciting than most anyone else has for quite some time.

Solid Gold U-Roy is a fittingly triumphant final act from an artist who dedicated his life to the advancement of art. It's at once traditional and futuristic, returning to some of U-Roy's past victories and somehow rendering them even brighter and more invigorating.