An unassuming venture, but capable and well executed one regardless.

It’s as good as anyone had hoped.

Carolina is a gorgeous record, enticing and attractive, giving you its heart to hold and trusting you to treasure the experience.

The final outcome is the most intriguing and innovative Matmos LP since A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure.

Dreams Come True will certainly appeal to anyone who enjoys their new wave artful and avant-garde, both of which are delivered in spades across this exceptional LP that will surely be lost on many Grizzly Bear fans looking for an extension of their sonic safety net.

It’s a balance of brainy introspection and communal joy--hard to do but easy to listen to.

Giddens emulates her forebears with reverence and assurance.

With their latest offering Carry Me Back, the banjos are ringin', the mandolins are singing at the speed of a hummingbird's wings, the fiddles are sawed upon with vigor, and the fog of the Tennessee hills calls to all of us.

The overall mood, however, is thoughtful and somber: unlike You Are Not Alone, this is a contemplative late-night album rather than a celebratory Sunday morning one. It’s wonderful.

Yellow & Green documents the evolution of Baroness from great metal band to great band.

The remastered discs sound great.

For while Costa Blanca superficially suggests a trip to some Euro-trash mall outlet, listen closer and you hear a dark, subversive critique.

These Merritt wonder-tonics may not curl your hair or cure any ailment, but they act as a salve to a multitude of human conditions. Best to stock up and be prepared.

The compelling 46-minute result shape-shifts with graceful ease, never losing touch with its pop song aesthetic.

What he has done here is more than a lark. He really loves what he’s singing, and it shows. And he has a lot still to teach us about the joys of music.

Segall has been slowly but surely expanding out in various directions, exploring the possibilities of sounds and approaches to his songs and songwriting craft. Freedom’s Goblin makes the dividends of his exploration that have paid off all too evident.

An artist of ample prowess, Salim Nourallah can take pride in yet another in a line of outstanding efforts.

Shook’s unerring insurgence and commitment to the cause are admirable traits, proof that edge and attitude never go out of style.

This Ain't Chicago does exactly what it's supposed to do: make you wish you were there.

It’s not as bleak as it may sound, though--there is freedom and catharsis in the acceptance of those human traits, a key element in Eve.

The band, seemingly surfacing out of nowhere has turned in an impressive dozen tracks with their first offering.

An album flush with both vicissitudes and vitality, What a Time to be Alive resonates with its resolve.

On Big Bad Luv, his fourth solo effort, Moreland continues his knack for writing impeccably perfect lyrics (“They got silver spoons for American gods/I wanna be stoned, thrown American rods”) on some of the best heartbreak songs since John Prine.

His writing has the kind of laconic detail and precision of a Paul Simon or Loudon Wainwright.

Pushin’ Against A Stone is an impressive calling card to the rest of the world that this, until now, under heralded artist is both an adept student of American folk music traditions and a modern day practitioner with perhaps preternatural talents.

It’s a good sign that Jones is open to anything on Super Natural, and that he can easily enhance his usual firebreathing rock & roll passion without diluting it.

Because it’s a soundtrack, where the music works in support of narrative and imagery, Atomic remains subdued.

Willie Nile, at 67, can still paint a picture with words and burn the house down from the stage. Savor it.