Contains some of their best work, as well as some of their most indulgent.

A remarkably efficient album that zips by with plenty of highlights and begs for a press of the repeat button.

A varied and interesting album that is also a bit hit-or-miss.

It's nice to hear him breaking free of the contraints that he's laid out for himself thus far.

All the tracks are spotlessly performed by the group, but don't differ from the recorded tracks all that much except in a few cases.

In some ways, the release is validated almost completely by the inclusion of a bonus disc that includes all previous singles from LCD Soundsystem, most of which feel more thought-out and slamming than much of what resides on the album itself.

If their last album seemed like a drastic change to their longtime fans, then Outside Closer will seem like more of a logical succession of sound.

Bird seems to have really reached a stride in terms of his overall sound and the result is one of my favorite albums of the year so far.

While it's all produced and performed immaculately, it just feels like too many of the rough edges have been smoothed off.

With the new directions in sound, there are a couple places where the group stumbles just a bit.

There are several songs on the release that are easily among the best that the group has ever done, but by the time the 15 tracks and well over an hour run length are over, the release feels a bit on the long side and many of the shorter tracks simply feel like sketches that weren't fully fleshed-out.

In the end, it doesn't really matter that it's the soundtrack to a video game that I'll never play. It's a new Amon Tobin album (and a good one at that), and that's all I need.

Even if the lyrical content is supposed to be ironic, it's still pretty horrible.

While all the songs are nicely performed and recorded, they simply don't capture the amazing qualities of Case and her band.

At times touching and at others completely silly.

In truth, a couple tracks could have been cut to turn this into an epic single-disc release of huge proportions, but it's still the best work that Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds have done since Murder Ballads.

While it makes a lot of musical leaps (it's probably the most "experimental" work he's done), not all of them work, but there are still some great moments for fans of his work here.

I actually find it kind of funny that the group has managed to land on a large label with this release, because even though it's a bit more polished sounding than anything they've done before, I simply can't imagine anything on "Crimes" playing on anything other than college radio.

Dangerous Dreams is just such a mixed-bag of goods that it's hard to feel much about it other than a couple of standouts.

The quiet/loud, quiet/loud thing has been going on for a long time now, and while Mono has things in common with everyone from Mogwai to the aforementioned groups, they're definitely one of the better bands I've heard doing this in a while.

Overall, the album doesn't show quite the range that some of his previous works have done, but if you enjoy Waits, you're definitely not going to go wrong here.

I simply can't imagine a time when I'd put this disc on for pleasure listening, but considering Halloween is coming up, Burned Mind is the perfect thing if you want to scare the bejeebus out of the neighborhood children.

If you're a fan of work by the Animal Collective, you'll probably want to check this out, but keep in mind that you'll need a little patience.

Your tolerance level for the group will probably mostly have to do with how well you can stand the rather light vocal stylings and the sometimes lighter-electronics programming.

If I were to have just heard the first half of the disc, I probably would have proclaimed it the best of the year as well.

It still doesn't quite have the emotional grab of some of their older work despite the addition of more vocals and a slightly more glossy sound.

The group takes the term "clinical" to new heights, yet this newest effort still sounds more loose than their last effort.

While it might not be a full exclamation point ending to their career, it's far better than a fall on the face.

While they have incorporated new sounds into their palette, the sonic experiments don't quite work all the time and the album suffers a bit in places because of that.

[A] lovely debut album of hushed folk that may be one of the best things in this sort of genre that I've heard in some time.

Take some metal and stir in some prog, sludge, and psych rock and basically you've got yerself Comets On Fire.

While I don't think that it's quite the groundbreaking release that many have given it credit for, there are definitely moments during the 12-track release that I feel like the group has cracked into something unique and downright amazing.

In the grand scheme of Orb albums, it lands as slightly better than their last effort Cydonia, but not nearly as good as classics like Orbus Terrarum.

Highly recommended for fans of The Shins [and] New Pornographers.

An atmospheric slab of mostly instrumental keyboard-driven music that basically sounds like a further advanced version of what LaValle has been doing for some time now.

Some of the more stunning psychedelic rock I've heard in awhile.

It's not that The Slow Wonder is a bummer by any means, because it's not. It's simply not riding quite the same giddy highs as work by his previous groups.

If you take away the 9 minutes of their already-released big single, you could probably squeeze a tight EP out of Louden Up Now, but as a full-length [it] starts with a bang and ends with sort of a whimper. Fun to filler in 53 minutes.

Sung Tongs is 12 tracks and 52 minutes of the most bizarre and absolutely mind-bendingly infectious pop music that you'll hear this year.

A technicolor blast that pairs hooky guitar and keyboard riffs with plenty of four on the floor beats and sing-along vocals.

I'm not sure if it's the lack of a clear-cut conceptual idea or something else, but the 11 songs on the release just seem to plow along through waters that the group has already rowed many times before.

The 11 tracks on Hopes And Fears have an almost complete lack of soul and even distinction between one another.

While there are some excellent moments on La Incredible Aventura, it feels more like a transitional album than a fullfilled vision.

While there's nothing wrong with any of the disc, it just feels like tracks such as "Dahlem," "Basic," and "Cosimo" have already been done by the group before.

This is one of the more straightforward and brutal assessments of people and relationships that I've heard in awhile, all set to vaguely dreary music that is pretty impeccable in construction.

[A] blistering album.

Sounds sort of like a cross between a more mainstream New Order and Daft Punk.

Their production is still top-notch, and as mentioned above the album still has some great sounds and moments, but it's not quite up to the level that they've done in the past.

The biggest problem with the release is that it's simply a little too programmed for it's own good.

It's All Around You has both serious ambience and serious grooves, it rocks occasionally, and it doesn't dip into jazz nearly as much as some of their past releases.

Probably the biggest complaint could be that the group has tightened up their sound even more on this release, leaving behind even more of the roughshod qualities that made their earlier discs blister with such energy.

If you're a fan of their older work, you'll probably find yourself a bit turned-off here, but if you're a fan of well-played rock music with an ocassional burst to make it stick out from the masses doing the same, Final Straw might be something to check out.

It has enough winners to make it something to hunt down if you like the group.

I find Venice quite beautiful and downright stunning in places, yet simply good in others.

Sufjan Stevens is a musician who seems to just be reaching his creative peak and shows no signs of slowing down.

There are some amazing songs on Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, but overall it still feels like a transition[al] release of a group really trying to nail things.

Insanely catchy and perfect for singing along with.

In the end, this is a perfectly passable release if you need something to play in the background at your next cocktail party or if you're a dentist looking for something to play in the background.

While it doesn't work stunningly as a whole, there are places where the group comes together to create dark and blistering rock tracks that stand with the best work they've ever done.

An ambitious, if flawed new album that once again tries to include many different things on one release, but unfortunately stumbles in several places.

Even if you haven't liked the group in the past, you might very well find yourself won over by Fabulous Muscles.

The slight cracks that shone on Tallahassee are more visible, and unless you're a newbie to Mountain Goats lore, there probably won't be a whole lot new for you here.

All in all, the album is a good one, but still feels a small step away from being great.

It feels more like a transitional album than the next level for the group.

Overall, a small step up for the group, but not quite the masterpiece that they might very well be capable of.

Leave Your Name is 11 tracks and only 28 minutes long, about half of which feels like noodling.

Although there are some moments of greatness on the disc, it feels more like a cathartic vent-session than a well thought-out release.

There are a few peaks, not much in the way of valleys, and although it's not the best work by Kozelek, it's still pretty damn good.

There are a lot of groups out there doing this sort of music, but not very many doing it this well.

If you could imagine a cross between Wilco and Flaming Lips with just about everything challenging and interesting sucked out of it, it might sound something like this.

Sure, he's great at using a 909, but he's already progressed past the music he's made with Closer, and much of the time it feels like falling back on old habit for lack of new ideas.

Just the right mixture of sonics.

One of the better British rock discs that I've heard in awhile.

Sure, the group can rock out at moments, but the majority of the 11 tracks on this release just feel warmed-over. They feel like they've been reworked countless times to make them better (and they have), but instead of actually making the tracks better, the life and vitality was sucked out of them.

Despite having a lot in common with their first disc, there are some slight variations in sound that make Chutes Too Narrow even better than its predecessor.

The Lemon Of Pink is built in much the same way that its predecessor was, and while it conjures up similar feelings at times, it also takes off in different directions entirely with the addition of actual vocals.

With the field recordings, the release at times resembles the more sublime moments of Set Fire To Flames, but with more strings and a slightly less bleak sound.

Easily the best work that the group has done.

The release has a great sense of humor, and the entire thing is scattered with those weird little samples that he's so good at finding, but if you're looking for much more than that, you may find yourself disappointed.

While it indeed works wonders in most places, it stumbles in a few, crossing over into an almost sickenly sweet radio-friendly territory that make me doubly wish for new Portishead material.

If you're curious about the group but haven't taken a chance on them yet, this is the perfect album to start.

When they're on, though, they're on, and although this album doesn't quite reach the heights that their earlier At Dawn does, it's still a great disc from a young group who will be making even more noise in the future.

Easily the least indulgent of the releases for the group thus far.

Clever without being pretentious.

The one-two punch of "Blue Lights" and "Chemical, Chemical" will be making year-end mix CDs like crazy.

Like all pop music that treads so close to the overly-sappy line, the release stumbles only when it moves a little too close to adult contemporary. Fortunately, it only does that a couple of times.

All in all, the release probably would have worked better as an extended EP instead of nearly an hourlength rumination on one track and ideas that spawned from it.

Although the music of the group has taken quite a few strides forward, it is also once again the voice of Trish Keenan that holds everything together.

If you're fan of the previous work of Pole, tread gently (and skip the EPs and head directly for the album), but if you're looking to just start out with some of his work, head for his earlier releases.

An excellent instrumental rock disc with plenty of things thrown in the mix to keep things interesting.

For a debut, it's a remarkabley inventive and interesting release.

While everything on the release is technically put together well and even sometimes compelling (the two album-opening tracks work about the best), most of the time things feel like they've been written specifically for the person who's singing them.

Several of the shorter tracks feel like little more than filler.

It's a bit harsh of me to say that there's nothing interesting going on in Player, Player because that's certainly not the case. Instead, the problem seems to be with contructing the songs themselves.

It doesn't travel any really adventurous ground, but it's a solid little entry for hot weather.

Easily the crowning achievement of their short lifespan thus far.

There's a lot of the year to go still, but this one's going to be hard to beat.

It's mostly inventive and catchy as hell.... That is, to say, if you don't mind the nearly ever-present vocals of Lafata.