Imagine a highly narcotic Shins with even more subtle instrumentation and you're getting somewhere close.

Good, but not outstanding.

While these experiments don't always quite work, at the very least the group isn't falling into a rut.

Stevens is simply one of the most talented artists creating music right now, period.

[Ounsworth's] weird quirks do grow on you, especially because the music backing him is so solid most of the time.

[Most] of the album just sort of swirls through some nicely-produced, but ultimately not very engaging sonic fluff.

Much of the sharp rhythm programming and quick dynamic changes that marked her previous effort is replaced with more straightforward 4/4 beats and relentless dirty basslines that unfortunately repeat themselves to the point of annoyance.

We Are Monster is one of those fun albums that sounds great whether you're in the mood to move or just sitting down and listening on headphones as you ride to work on the bus.

The album just doesn't have the innovation that previous albums from Hebden have shown.

Fans of each respective artist may scratch their head a bit when first hearing 13 & God, but it will mostly make sense after awhile. If it doesn't, it's probably not supposed to.

On first listen, it's not as immediately accessible as Up In Flames... [but it] reveals itself in several listens and contains yet another batch of fearless tracks from an artist who simply refuses to sit still.

If you haven't discovered the group yet, by all means snap up this lush slab of synth pop.

It's a melodic, pop album that doesn't pay attention to any typical structures or formulas, and Adam Pierce has pulled off another winner.

It's kind of a whopper to digest all at once, but if you've heard Momus before and liked him, you're not going to go wrong here.

If you were a bit let down by the last Bright Eyes album (as I was), this is a release that should get you excited again.

There are times where the release feels like a transitional effort, yet it also contains some of the best songs that they've ever done.

The first album from the group that feels downright tedious to me in places, as well as the first one that feels like they're spinning their wheels a bit.

Let Us Never Speak Of It Again is at the same time better than Street Dad in several ways, but also much more indulgent (sometimes in bad ways) than its concise predecessor.

Although there are a couple tracks that are a bit more padding than needed, but overall this is a career compilation that's definitely worth having.

Wind In The Wires just feels a bit more hesitant than Lycanthropy, and while there are some great tracks, it doesn't quite have the same energy that his debut did.

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.