An exciting release that deepens with further listens, Mothertongue is a great step forward from Muhly.

A knockout of an album.

It's dance music that's hard to dance to and post rock music that's post what everyone else making post rock is doing. Oh yeah, and it's also one of the best releases of the year.

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

[Tamborello is] one of the better American electronic artists in the game right now.

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.

Not only has the group taken their sound and refined it even more, but even the ambient soundscapes and parts between the actual songs are more well constructed.

While Happiness never gets up and rocks, it's solid from beginning to end.

I'm not sure if it's the work by O'Rourke or the progression of the group (or a little of both), but this disc is so multi-layered that it's easy to hear new things many many times after the first listen.

Nearly everything is fair game with the group, and that's what makes this release one of their better ones.

It obviously has its high points and moments that drift a little more, but The Avalanches are definitely onto something with the release.

A glorious, noisy, melodic, celebratory release from the ever-inventive group.

An outstanding debut album, and easily one of my favorite releases of the year so far.

With Neon Golden, The Notwist have done something that's not exactly an easy task; they've created an album that's mixes electronic and organic music in a way that makes each better.

It's one of the most vital releases I've heard this year, and while I can hear fans of their past work being a bit puzzled, I simply can't imagine anyone not being at least a bit thrilled by it.

Essentially, Person Pitch is an amazing third album from the young musician, on a par with the best work of the Animal Collective. Striking just the right balance between melody, song, and experimentation, it's one of the best albums of the year so far.

Easily the best work that the group has done.

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.

Once again, Snaith has surprised just about everyone, and Up In Flames will likely go down as one of my favorite albums of the year.

Call it music for lucid dreaming, call it music for daydreams, or call it music for simply strolling in the dusk, this is another album that will stretch time and take you to another place.

Needless to say, Untrue shatters any ideas of a sophomore slump.

For the most part, it's the sophomore release without the stumble.

Weird enough to have an edge, but a huge step up in terms of production and song-writing, this is a big move forward from the group.

Sounding somewhat like a lot of groups but not exactly like anyone, this is an album you shouldn't miss.

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

Mathy, but hyper melodic, it packs more ideas into forty minutes than most releases that are much longer. Stern has clearly side-stepped the sophomore slump.

If you like minimal electronic music at all, you must seek it out.

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

Paavoharju have put together an entrancing second release.

[Myth Takes] basically finds the group taking the best parts of their past releases and improving on them in dramatic ways.

It doesn't seem quite as strong as Feels, but also seems like the group might be on the verge of something even better.

It feels more like a band effort, allowing itself to breathe a little more in places.

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

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

This album is a great deal of fun.

Not only a one of the debuts of the year, but also one of the better releases in general, this self-titled debut from Hercules And Love Affair is worth picking up.

Insignificance is the release that finds him hitting his stride completely, seemingly mixing little bits of all the different styles that he's poked around with and boiling it all down into a cohesive little release.

It's something that could appeal to everyone from fans of Can to Fela to Kompakt. This is inspiring stuff.

It's not quite straight-up noise, and it's certainly not dance music, but if you like a bit of both, this debut from Fuck Buttons should make you a bit giddy.

Spaced-out and seriously hypnotic, Where You Go I Go Too is one of those releases that is custom-made for late summer evenings. It's not too loud, but at the same time has enough of a pulse to be a guide for steady movement.

With ten songs running a hair under forty minutes, it's a concise debut that hits the mark a good portion of the time while introducing All The Saints as someone to really keep an eye on.

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.

If you've heard any of his previous work (including the fairly recent Night Ripper), you know the modus operandi for Girl Talk, but Feed The Animals is even on another level in terms of sheer density. Because of this, just about everyone who hears it will have different favorite moments that stick out to them, and that's part of the beauty.

It's the sort of release that will drive some listeners completely nuts simply because of the construction techniques, but it also powers forward with such a giddy energy that it's hard not to get wrapped up in it.

What it all comes down to is that the album is not only damn fun to listen to, but it has enough aura and vibe that you may want to make it your personal soundtrack for this summer.

Serious deep headphone (or loud stereo) listening, this is certainly no toss-off.

In places, the group seems like they're being almost willfully difficult, and yet it often makes for darn good listening.

An excellent third album from the Swedish trio, Writer's Block should make sure that the group remains in obscurity no more.

One of my favorite albums so far in this very young year.

If you've liked any of his previous work, you won't go wrong here.

Even more engaging than their debut, So This Is Goodbye is another amazing album from Junior Boys, and one of the better releases of the year.

All of the interesting parts of his music are still here, he's just written an album that plays up his strengths in more measured ways. The result is easily his best release to date.

Although it's definitely a bit bi-polar, Cryptograms still gets high marks for offering up a slew of great tracks and actually gaining strength the longer it goes on.

It's a great return to form from the group, and easily their best full length since they've started incorporating vocals on nearly every song.

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

Clever without being pretentious.

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.

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.

Over the course of 11 tracks, it rarely rocks out at all, but instead moves through different styles with a more assured hand.

Although it's loud in places, it doesn't sound as overstuffed as the past couple releases from the group, and that's a nice change.

The simplicity of it all (only one instrument and vocals) highlights her vocals even more and even when the disc closes out with the more upbeat "Sea Of Love," you'll still feel a bit of melancholy hovering over.

The group shows that their goofy sides can peacefully coexist with their harmonious, pop-song writing ones.

Again shows that Eitzel is a total gem of a singer/songwriter.

Probably now their most accessible album, as they change things up a lot more than they have with past releases, implementing different sounds in nearly every track.

This is Jens Lekman, and what he does best is create overly-sweet pop songs, so it's hard to complain too much.

It's one of those releases that reminds you that with all the experimenting and genre-blurring, there is still something simple and nice about an album that takes fairly base elements of rock and roll and creates a disc that's highly catchy.

An excellent release, albeit a bit short.

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

One Word Extinguisher opens and closes with a batch of great songs, but gets a bit soggy in the middle, treading similar ground several times over again and tossing out tracks that feel too similar to what we've already heard from him.

Among his best work to date, Cosmos finds Corona expanding his boundaries even more and in the process creating something more timeless.

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.

Although a couple tracks towards the end don't work quite as well, it doesn't detract from the album as a whole very much.

It's a fun, varied excursion.

However slight it is, there's a measured optimism in some of the lyrics on the release that make the weight of things just a little easier to bear.

I have to admit that this release usually manages to give me a little boost when I listen to it and it has the added bonus of scaring little kids.

In terms of sheer weight alone, the album can almost be a bit crushing. With 12 songs that run nearly 70 minutes of time, Cave takes his time getting there, but you really don't mind.

A subtle, great album that moves along with a pastoral feel but never feels boring.

Layered, and a bit rough-around-the-edges, Sean Lion is also a heck of a lot of fun, and marks The Ruby Suns as a young group to keep an eye on.

If you're a fan of the darker energy that the group brought to their earlier releases (like Dubnobasswithmyheadman), you may find this release a little soft in the middle.

He jumps styles of music effortlessly, all the while managing to pull things together with touching and inventive lyrics.... One of the best releases of the year.

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.

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.

A very good slice of experimental pop.

It's definitely a great step for the group.

This is by far their most polished and clean sounding album to date, as well as one that doesn't have the sort of immediately catchy tracks like on previous releases.

The brief disc contains enough gusto and punch to get your spastic swerve on heartily.

Instead of exposing any weaknesses, the group has highlighted their strengths by stripping things back to their essentials for A Vintage Burden.

Sure, they make use of their obviously higher budget and Source Tags And Codes sounds more rich and layered because of it, but like Modest Mouse with The Moon And Antarctica, they've used these new elements to accent their music, not destroy it.

It's not a world-changer, but it's certainly one of the more fun pop albums that I've heard this year so far.

The Private Press is not only more ambitious, but simply more all over the place as well (which makes for brilliant moments as well as some inconsistent ones).

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.

The New Year is a workman-like group, and this is yet another solid album from them.

There is just enough of a changeup in the sounds of the songs (from a variety of releases) that makes the disc worth having if you enjoy the group.

In some ways, the 4 song EP is actually some of the most stripped-down work by the group, but it's also quite essential.

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.

Low continues to create beautiful music.

Insanely catchy and perfect for singing along with.

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.