He sounds more at home and natural on these [jazz] songs than on the country music for which he’s most celebrated, making Let’s Face the Music and Dance one of the most effortlessly enjoyable records in his large catalog.

Melbourne is easy to listen to, but hard to make sense of.

It’s always good to know there’s someone out there still doing straight-up guitar pop without irony or pretense.

More a series of half-drawn soundscapes than actual songs per se, No Elephants comes across as an exercise in the abstract, in which the artist makes almost no attempt to color inside the outlines.

An equally engaging sonic concept entitled Drums Between The Bells.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse just never disappoint.

Like 2008's The Living And The Dead, Blood leans on judicious electric guitar solos, most often from Shahzad Ismaily, who co-produced the album, but also from Grey Gersten and, on one track, Marc Ribot.

Rhythm and Repose [is] the superb solo outing from Glen Hansard.

These 14 songs sound as wholly irresistible now as they did when they were such an essential part of a soundtrack for a now-distant decade.

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

While that sad waste of talent and potential deals the album a serious blow, the rest of the set proves mostly satisfying, even when the song selection remains relatively unknown.

Gone are the raucous “Whiskey River”-style jams, but in its place are an albums worth of lazy afternoon porch songs that you can’t help but love.

Ultimately, True Sadness is a confessional set of songs, revealing in many ways and vulnerable in many others. However, honesty has always been an inherent element in their sound, so in that sense this album’s no different.

New Wild Everywhere conveys a new maturity for the GLS, showcasing the assembled talents of the members, and highlights promises of even better things to come in their future.

Consider this music a salve for the soul--restful, resigned, pretty and pensive... and yet as fragile as it is fleeting.

On their fourth album in a decade, the Donkeys don’t have surprises so much as a more confident and accomplished execution.

Something this eerie has rarely sounded so enticing.

While this isn't going to make you toss your copy of George Best, it shows the guy still has some gas left in his tank and is far from embarrassing himself.

Newcomers may not find Similar Skin the ideal place to begin, but longtime admirers will probably swoon in awe.

Far from sounding like lesser cast-offs, the songs here are just as worthy as anything off those earlier albums.

These songs show a band in its prime-and cast a much wider net of influences, finally shaking that garage band label, bringing in folk, country and some damn fine bar room rock.

Thomas' honesty, as much as any performance herein, is the commanding factor overall, making it easy, and in fact, all but unavoidable, to fall in love With Love.

These songs work well in small doses, but start to grate after repeat listens.

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.

Those who loved the Del-Lords in the 1980s will be delighted, as should anybody who missed them but thinks passion, skill, and commitment are a pretty good combination in music.

The album is a holiday classic in waiting, even if you don’t own a single pair of skinny jeans and couldn’t grow a beard to save your life.

Over accessible grooves derived from the same source used by groups like Tinariwen and Terakaft, Brahim sings with an easy tone that coils her passion into a tight spring, rather than shoot it out of a cannon.

Taken in one extended listening session, Hold/Still proves titularly prophetic because you’re left exhausted from all the foregoing textural and tempo twists. One could liken the experience to ingesting a handful of lysergic tablets and then deciding to run a marathon that lasts all night. Once you’re done, you’re done for good. Hold still, kids.