The album is gorgeous, almost an abstraction of what musical loveliness could be.

This is one of the most beautiful albums you’ll hear this year or any other, speaking softly but resonating deeply and long after the last sounds fade away.

There’s little doubt Here Be Monsters will one day be considered the album that ensures Langford’s legacy.

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

Jordanian remains pleasantly understated as a frontman, letting his voice and knack for raw melodies take the focus.

Instead of dramatic tempo shifts or sing-along choruses, the songs rely on subtle texture and tempo changes that, in context, wind up carrying far more weight than they would in another setting.

Buddy Miller's production is fresh, tuned to the immediacy of Thompson's performances; any fault with Electric can't be laid at his door--only at the strangely stiff quality of the first few songs.

It may seem a somewhat unassuming entry, but regardless, We Love Our Country creates a favorable first impression.

Simply said, this Little Bird soars.

It's only a matter of time before the rest of the world catches up and realizes she's one of our country's best songwriters.

This is the ordinary world made radiant, surreal and strange, its everyday objects glowing with internal light.

False Flag was a raging, hairy monster of an album; Formerly Extinct is its subtler, more intricate, better groomed (but no less wild) cousin.

Jamal continues to spin gold from the bench of his baby grand with Blue Moon.

With Pan the band has created an album that places them squarely amongst the pantheon of musicians they so obviously adore.

O' Be Joyful would be their resulting--and across-the-board winning--entrée to celebrity chefdom.

As with so much African music, Né So favors hope over despair, proud defiance over inchoate anger, and stands as the most trenchant portrait of the African musical spirit so far this year.

How good is Antibalas the album, the band's fourth, on its own merits? The answer is: pretty good, but not as great as its inspiration.

Breakup Song is an electric, ultra-fun, frenetic carnival; but, it is most satisfying in its quieter, more spacious moments.

While Neko Case’s moonlighting from her solo day job allows her to enliven the proceedings, it’s obvious that the ensemble, as a whole, contributes to the richness and resonance that the new album exudes in its entirety.

Giving seems to go on and on towards some distant, perhaps unreachable horizon.

The most noticeable thing about the new Xiu Xiu album is ... how disarmingly vibrant it sounds.

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.

The heart- wrenching emotion is credible and convincing, even though the uneasy undercurrents find Green's brand of the blues seem somewhat tenuous at times. Nevertheless, at this point in the trajectory, City & Colour manages to provide a pleasing musical melange.

A two-disc set documenting archival demos and an early live recording, The Singing Postman Delivers demonstrates that for the most part, John Prine's musical persona emerged fully formed.

Chills on Glass may be rock viewed sideways, through a cracked mirror, after 48 hours without sleep, but it is till the recognizable thing. As such, it fits uncomfortably into the places you’ve made for rock, jarring you even as it feeds you.

Sunbathing Animal offers up lucky-13 tracks and nary a stale song.

May seems destined for stardom, and given these compelling performances, she'll likely attain that stature soon.

Where The Action Is may not be the absolute rave-up the album title implies, but it is a remarkably incisive effort that ought to remind one and all what a singularly important ensemble the Waterboys were… and still remain.