Stott doesn't just produce these tracks, he haunts their halls.

Sleek and sophisticated, this third full-length careens from muscular blasts of ’80s guitar rock (“In the Wake of You”) to spectral ballads (“Are You Okay?”).

Levon Helm's "Midnight Rambles" in Woodstock, N.Y., have become nearly as legendary as Helm. Occasionally, he takes the party to larger venues, as evidenced by this fabulous live CD.

Church and his co-writers also shine as clever lyricists, making his formula-following peers sound even more generic.

Finn’s second solo album is packed with songs rich in street intelligence and wry humor.

A power-pop record that’s unfussy in its pursuit of jingle-jangle melodies and circular choruses that linger long after they’re over.

It sounds like a recipe for a dozen buzz bands this year, but Atlas Sound transcends the fads. Melodies shine through like faint stars through the window.

All of McLachlan's sonic trademarks are present and accounted for--dreamy keyboard washes, lilting rhythms, that angelic voice. They're combined with her raw emotion in a beguiling manner that ranges from ethereal to rollicking.

Freedom’s Goblin gives Segall room to play with a dizzying array of styles and genres, yet his excellent taste and melodic sensibility ensure that the whole wild endeavor stays firmly on the rails.

With Norwegian noise artist Lasse Marhaug producing, Hval walks a tightrope over melodic, sometimes lush pop music surrounded by dissonance straight out of a horror film.

On LP1, Stone mostly imbues her songs with passion and energy.

[Posthumous albums] run the risk of being hobbled packs of demos and half-finished ideas. But with the right guidance, they can also be effective final chapters of a career. This 10-track collection of rarities, arranged by Bradley’s friends at soul-revivalist labels Dunham/Daptone Records, proves to be the latter, with the love and passion Bradley exuded in life fully preserved and present.

Wilson's voice has aged; once-effortless high notes stay out of reach. But like a hard-living blues diva who subs soul for sweetness, Wilson makes those whiskey tones work.

There are no chart-baiting superstar guest vocalists or gimmicks, just gut-punching, funky, loose-limbed, rock 'n' soul jams recorded in down-and-dirty sessions without an inch of fat.

It’s the type of near-perfect, swooning synth-pop rush that Oakey was riding with the Human League in the ’80s.

McCombs’s well-mannered missives certainly aren’t cheery, but they manage to stir up disarming warmth nonetheless.

Parker's compositions are not played as he intended (speedily, with torrents of notes); Lovano upends them, infusing them with modern sensibilities

It's Robyn's detours from these tough-gal tunes that offer genuine surprises.

The album is assured and seductive, to the point that the despair underpinning so many of the songs isn’t immediately obvious.

The result is an album that is every bit as engaging as ear-candy as humor.

The songs are crisp, uptempo, concise.

It's the most ambitious and evocative they've ever sounded.

This is Cliff's first studio album in seven years--and he indeed sounds reborn.

The exploration of yet another new form on Penny Sparkle shows how exquisitely Blonde Redhead can continue to add cogs to an amorphous musical wheel without tripping up.

Captivating.

It's a beautifully composed disc that Harper fans should love -- and it should also convince boomers, especially, that there's still great new music out there.

Eschewing any concept of "radio ready" and singing with a gruff immediacy, Mellencamp tackles all of the titular concepts on this folk- and blues-based material with a sense of liberation that is keenly palpable.

With her lovely, expressive voice, she finds the truths at the core of each song, making this one of the early year’s breakthroughs.