If you like well-constructed pop/rock music with female vocals, it's definitely worth a look.

There's a lot of great moments here, but is the least consistent album from the group in awhile.

While there aren't any downright bad tracks on The Magic Position, it does have several places where it seems to lose a bit of focus before honing back in on things again.

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.

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

Would most likely appeal to everyone from fans of Will Oldham and Palace Music to everyone who bought the recent Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack and wanted to branch out a bit into some slightly (but still thematically similar) territory.

If you've listened to any amount of industrial music at all, chances are that you've already heard about every variation of mid-tempo, snarling track, and unfortunately several of those make an appearence on this disc as well.

Everything feels a slight bit too polished, but that's not a huge fault.

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

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.

There are several places where the disc seems to lapse into very familiar territory, and at other times it definitely feels like it's coasting a bit.

It's a solid return to form.

It's perfect for backing music, but has enough going on that you might find yourself seeing mirages as well.

A highly enjoyable album that doesn't beg to be parsed too deeply.

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

Like Belle And Sebastian, one of the main weaknesses of the group is that they're just to darn precious at times for their own good.

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).

As a debut full-length, the group is definitely doing some excellent stuff, but like any band that gets swept up by the hype machine, you may be disappointed if you expect too much.

As a whole, the album doesn't stand up quite as well as The Mysterious Production Of Eggs, but it's still another solid entry in Bird's discography.

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.

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

I'll give them some credit for trying some new things, I only wish they would have taken things a step further.

While the group are certainly impressive in performance, they can't break free from an almost mechanical feel that lingers and really holds the album back.

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.

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

At the end of it all, Guns And Drums feels more like an inconsistent experiment than a full fledged step forward.

It's the sort of album that at times sounds like the group simply threw everything against the wall and hoped that something would stick. In many cases, it did, but in others it sounds like a raucous mess.

Even the tracks that don't quite work don't miss the mark by much, and while there's nothing too flashy going on within, the solid overall quality of the 12 tracks and 50 minutes of music is somewhat of a rarity.

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.

Good, but not outstanding.

Less visceral than "Cryptograms," this follow-up shows two sides of a group that still hasn't quite figured out exactly what they want to be.

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.

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.

This album is a great deal of fun.

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

A lot different than the release under his own name, Audion is enough to make you sweat a bit whether you use it for dancing or as a soundtrack for *ahem* other activities.

Not as good as the best work from Kozelek, and a long shot from the worst, April is a solid, if not surprising album that should be just enough for fans.

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

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 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.

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

The Flying Club Cup doesn't feel quite as revelatory as the debut from the group. That said, it's still a solid follow-up, and the collaboration with Palette really pays dividends in grandiosity of sound.

This is one concept album that doesn't forsake listenability for pure experimentation.

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.

For most other groups, it would be a winner, but for Built To Spill it's a slight comedown from their stellar streak.

It's not the sort of release that throws a lot of curveballs, but Saturnalia is nonetheless a solid album from two veteran musicians.

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.

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

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.

It pays off big time in places while feeling a bit hesitant in others.

The main problem haunting Denies The Day's Demise is the same one that holds back several past releases from Daedelus. While the release is cohesive and fairly entertaining, it could have used a bit more editing in terms of overall running length.

It's a kick in the pants debut, and here's hoping they carve their own unique sound out even more in the future.

As a whole, the release is a bit stronger on the front end, but it's charming enough for the duration that a couple weaker (and somewhat repetitive, given the bands thus-limited oeuvre) tracks don't hold it back too much.

The Contino Sessions is definitely a step in the right direction for the group in terms of continuity and development of their sound, but their are still a few hiccups that they need to work out.

As it stands, Black Sea is a solid, if not entirely groundbreaking.

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.

It's sort of a cross between the epic masterpieces of Perfect From Now On and the shorter, more pop songs of There's Nothing Wrong With Love. Basically, it's another winner from the group.

For every section that locks into something juicy, it's offset with three others that are just plain bad (or close to it).

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

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.

Despite her pushing slightly forward with her unique sound on this newest release, Son just doesn't engage me as much as I thought it would.

An overproduced, sapped-down album that sounds really nice but fails to stick.

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.

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.

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.

Some people who liked the more experimental side of Tamborello's DNTEL project will simply find it a little too boppy for their liking, but it's one of those little discs that practically drills down into your subconscious.

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.

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 In Ghost Colours is certainly a step up in terms of how cohesive it sounds, it loses some of the spontaneity in the process.

While the results may not break down conventions, it does provide a heaping helping of interesting music.

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.

After multiple listens, there are certainly a batch of songs that rise like cream to the top, and while the release doesn't have seriously low points, it's not as solid throughout as the best work from the group (especially towards the end).

I don't fault them for trying some new things, but the results are mixed at best.

Despite some tracks that take immediate hold, it's another album that takes a little bit of simmering to really sink in.

At times, the album gets a little too sappy for its own good, but it's never enough to derail things.

A highly entertaining album, and perfect for blasting during hot summer days.

Downright awesome in places.

If you're a fan of the old Blur material, this disc may not be your thing.

In the end, The Reminder is by no means a bad album, but it certainly could have used a bit more trimming and a little less of a focus on the soft pop side of things.

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.

A weird little debut, this one has some promising moments.

Cinder isn't an album that wallops you over the head at any points, but wins you over with steady and solid songs.

If you like the group's other work, you'll definitely want to pick this up, even though it may take awhile to grow on you. Just don't expect a revolution.

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.

WIncing The Night Away as a whole is both inconsistent and even odd in sequencing.

Despite all the different guest appearances, Level Live Wires never feels hodge-podge or unsteady.

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

Having heard their first EP, it's not quite as much of revelation as it would have been, but it's still pretty darn good.

The disc as a whole has sort of an austere quality that lets some of the fun out of the sails.

Taking things up a small notch in terms of recording quality (medium-fi would probably be apt, as it's still a long shot from glossy), this is certainly a more cohesive release than their debut, with some absolutely killer songs mixed in with some rather middling ones.

I wasn't expecting the group to completely break from their ways on this follow-up, but melodically and musically it's a little too close to the debut to really feel like it breaks any new ground.

At times touching and at others completely silly.

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.

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.

If you enjoy ultra mellow jazz meanderings with the occasional slinky vocals that sound like they could be playing in the background at a mainstream coffee chain, Ma Fleur will provide in spades.

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.

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.

In the end, there's a fair amount more musical variety on Fordlandia, but at the same time it doesn't hold quite the emotional resonance that past releases from Johannsson have had, largely because the music on the release feels much more obvious.