Abandoned Cities is gorgeous and disturbing and a bit chilling, like old photos hanging on walls about to be demolished, like memory, like loss, like loneliness experienced in the midst of family life.

If you’ve ever fantasized about Hawkwind going motorik, Rehumanizer is your dream come true.

Given the jam-friendly group’s propensity for live euphoria but recorded disappointment, it’s a relief to hear that the Hiss has finally hit its stride in the studio with Water On Mars.

The music appears deceptively simple and unabashedly blithe at times, but regardless, the emotional undercurrent clearly comes through.

The time apart from one another has given the band a more expansive sound and Dirty Three have pushed themselves to create one of the most dynamic releases in the catalog.

Gallon Drunk’s whiskey goes down rough on The Soul of the Hour, but the lingering after-burn is the best part.

Everything [on Dismania] has weight. And makes just about anything (other than the examples cited above) that's been calling itself Retro/Garage/Psych Rock sound, suddenly, rather tame.

Over The Rhine have made their masterpiece at last.

Seasons on Earth is like a wry, forgiving smile set to music, its pleasures veined with melancholy, its ruefulness buoyed by hope.

Their often-dark songs have a triumphant dimension.

Danzig in the Moonlight represents a bold step forward.

Mostly it's hard to say what puts Veronica Falls over the top in a genre where so many fall flat. Enthusiasm? Personality? Songs? Probably all of that, as well as the indefinable quality that makes old genres come alive again.

Anchored by the fantastic production of longtime Interpol collaborator Peter Katis, the incorporation of drum loops, sampled dialogue a la Primal Scream's "Loaded" and textural Books-esque embellishments on songs like "Arise Awake" and "Another Chance" offers the sense of sonic adventure Interpol never entertained.

Still Living has its share of baroque pop moments, but its strongest songs are the ones that rock the hardest.

The fifteen tracks that make up the record are soul shaking, dark, emotive and moving in a way that would have Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits sipping their whiskeys in agreement.

With that, this Wrecking Ball is more about a carnival of living souls moving in solidarity than a giant iron orb meant to destroy.

[Swing Lo Magellan] is instantly likeable. It makes perfect sense, but unravels into nonsense and complexity on second glance.

Give Me All You Got is as seductive and enticing as its name implies because clearly, Rodriguez is giving all she has as well.

Chain Letters is a solid album and Big Harp brilliantly adds to the growing plethora of artists crafting stark, raw music that strikes the core.

There's a tip towards tradition that boasts more than a hint of reverence as well

It is great to hear them testing out other feels without losing an ounce of the consistency that has made them to toast of Chicago for all these years.

File Provider with the best of Damien Jurado and Mark Kozelek, fellow travelers in the world of darkly compelling, unassumingly poetic acoustic ballads that are quiet but never soft.

Across eleven cuts Parallel Thought utilize their deep knowledge of Del's Elektra years to weave a beautifully updated pastiche of early '90s throwback grooves.

No surprises, but impeccably predictable.

Recorded in the far reaches of the Australian Outback, it reflects those dusty environs in its stripped-down arrangements and traditional tomes.

This isn't the sound of a once-renowned band trying to cash in on their glory days; it's the sound of a band invigorated.

Unassuming and uncluttered, Television of Saints is intimate yet expressive, as if birthed on a breeze.

On Sun, Chan Marshall is so sure of herself that she's prepared to confront not just romance's injustice, but also the world's.