Ringle is easily one of the few that can do it so well and lucky us, Thistled Spring is an exemplary example of what folk music is capable of when done right.

There are nine tracks of somewhat forgettable spacey-psych 70's songs that are packed with confusion from start to finish. It sounds as if the band skipped a few pages, assuming that their immediate debut success would carry over with the risks they took for this one.

They’ve amassed a collection of songs that stand together, proudly. It’s not a life-changing moment, nor is it even something that will win tons of new fans but it is a solid album, from front to back.

Ultimately, The Wild Hunt is anything but a disappointment; instead it's a smooth progression that departed exactly where he left off: it's still affecting with countless moments of brilliance, it still showcases a musician that is everything we could want in a songwriter and on a more contextual look, it's still a man making simply honest music with nothing in the way but his heart and soul.

Year of the Black Rainbow is not a bad album. It has its moments, but it is a far, far cry from the greatness Coheed & Cambria possessed on all four previous albums, especially the masterpiece of melody, dynamics, musicianship and continuity that was "Good Apollo I."

It’s certainly going to be one of the most, if not the most, fresh sounding electronic albums of the year and it’s only going to get better as time passes.

These aren't the most outlandish songs but they also aren't the most invasive either; it's all about how much you're willing to let go and enjoy pop music in one of its most honest states. And even if it doesn't move you, Animal Feelings will definitely have you grooving and shaking for quite some time.

No matter the speed at which it moves, Go glows brightly with a formidable sense of ambition and hope.

It suits them well that as musicians that have worked their entire career just to get noticed; for their newest album, I Learned the Hard Way, to be a beautiful representation of what real, honest and true soul music really is.

Hippies is hardly song focused, the record's 16 tracks tend to mesh together into a blurry, tape-fueled haze--there aren't any obvious highlights here.

Trying to isolate moments on PUMPS! proves fairly fruitless, though. It’s a totally immersive experience, best approached with trust and surrender.

Each song sounds like a distinct ray of light and although it’s packed into something both concise and brief, it’s the strength of each song that makes the whole album stand out.

All 12 tracks on Love Is All’s new LP Two Thousand and Ten Injuries provide instant intrigue, and after 20 listens to the album – it’s that addicting--not one of the songs managed to lose its initial charm.

Thankfully aside from a few superficial blemishes, Here’s The Tender Coming’s world is dense enough, and interesting enough to merit a visit.

Throughout High Places vs. Mankind the two further unravel as well as expand their influences and open-up their compact electronic world to include more live instrumentation and more upfront organic vocals.

Thomas doesn’t need to be so shy anymore; with a solid debut and complimentary bandmates, he’s comfortably found his outlet.

It will be the simple fact that it’s as good as anything Albarn has ever done and for the Gorillaz, a fantastically tailored album from top to bottom.

There isn't anything remotely 'neat' about The Monitor. Instead, it's a rocking, joyful, epic beast of an album that rattles with energy and pulses with the heart of a raging bull.

With The Brutalist Bricks, they’ve silenced doubters with another skillful dose of catchy rock and it’s quite the remedy for any sour disbelievers.

A ten track album sequenced as two sides, with short introductory ambient noise pieces in slots one and six, the tracks drone on long and stand tall together, creating a monolithic listening experience which feels both constantly building and already there.

Quarantine The Past: The Best of Pavement comes after a decade of constant re-releases, bonus discs and live albums, so it shouldn’t surprise that it comes off as a final, all-encompassing victory lap. Luckily the tracks chosen reach deep enough to make it at the very least a respectable ‘best of’ compilation.

Via Audio are audacious in their attempt to create a wide array of organic sounds, and their efforts pay off; it’s not often that a band can instill so many approaches into an album and get away with it but Animalore delivers the goods.

In the end, both are viscerally charged representations of what A Sufi and a Killer is: sincere and at times, bluntly honest, utterly captivating and exceptionally crafted, it’s a special album that will soon become, very simply, essential.

The vocal parts are slathered in a hazy, echoing ambience and aren’t smoothly integrated with the songs. That being said, it’s not reason enough to dismiss the album, as there is enough substantive music to overcome this imperfection.

There may be a lack of deliberation or direction in this record, but Big Echo is nothing short of a triumph for The Morning Benders and will be remembered by many as one of 2010’s most ambitious records.

Surprisingly enough, it lacks a strong sense of focus (something the creative basking of Sea Lion honed in on) and for all of its elements of sweeping grandiosity, they never seem to have much of a purpose.

The numerous instruments, varied influences and genre-hopping arrangements on The Law Of Large Numbers, along with Pollock’s own musical talents, results in some emotive indie-rock whose repeated plays will be justified and rewarded.

Morgan is back with Loscil's fifth album, the somber Endless Falls, his most austere and least cluttered album yet.

The brightest spot of this release comes in the form of the upbeat “Jinx,” where the band almost cracks a smile despite the subject matter. Even though the band comes from Brooklyn, the Sleater-Kinney vocalisms on “Jinx” only further Golden Triangle’s Seattle leanings.

Simplistic, yet imaginative, Similes provides a hypnotic and surreal soundscape suitable for both daydreaming and nightdreaming.

Formerly, you’d envision a samba paced song like “An Insular Life” to grow into a meaty, strong-armed force but here, Meiburg and Co. allow for the strings to bring it to a lifting end, well after they’d taken the drum’s pattern to a heavenly new place.

On Magic Chairs, Efterklang manages to excise its most affected gestures, keep its penchant for wide-ranging adventurousness, and bring new found confidence to the more personal, micro-aspects of their sound. The result is a triumphant orchestral pop record which radiates with intelligence and touch.

Based on the simple songwriting and the nauseating lyrical content, This Addiction is sad, and to the die-hard Alkaline Trio fans such as myself, it will greatly disappoint.

By eschewing the instrumental grandiosity and working into a clean cut sound of their own, Work moves you to great feelings of warmth and a feeling of great joy.

The lyrics are sharper and far more introspective, the music is on a grander scale, working towards an overwhelming amount of brilliance and radiance and each musician plays a vital role to the entire album's fruition.

The Magician’s Private Library is Miranda’s personal baby but Sitek is the godfather, scavenging through all of the reading material. It’s a sincerely open recording and a true testament to what the human spirit is capable of--even when the odds are against it.

While Is Dead may be the bands most accessible album, their latest release contains a much more developed and mature set of tracks that showcase a very talented group that with can easily aspire to new heights in the coming years in the hardcore genre.

Despite earlier successes, European definitively solidifies Sambassadeur as a paragon of Swedish pop: sweet but not sappy, bold yet beautiful, and emotionally eclectic without becoming melodramatic.

Constellations is only remarkable when it is given your absolute attention, but it doesn’t come up with enough ideas to keep it on its own, lulling the listener with too many serviceably dramatic but non-descript piano-led pieces.

Minor Love is the rare record that has something for everyone, your dad, your discontent pop-isolationist, that mix you’ve been meaning to make, and a long drive across desert highway – and ends up being an impressive testament to Adam Green’s lasting relevance.

Gorilla Manor consists of twelve very intricate and charming songs. The record has a sense of liveliness and reaches out to human abilities, emotions and reactions.

While it’s still the arrangements that will continue to impress, the words and overall sonic ability speaks paramount to what Yeasayer is capable of.

The best treat in any kind of music following is when a band who’s been dabbling in greatness for a while finally comes to the plate and smashes a home run over the fences.

I’m New Here is an outstanding album and one of beauty and substance and for the first time in fifteen years, Scott-Heron is back.

I think it’s safe to say that Weber is putting his strengths into fine use and, with Black Noise, it’s utterly fantastic.

Midlake has created an album that can subside on its own. It never reaches sublime territory and who knows, it may not even need it but for a few in tow, there’s nothing rudimentary basic about The Courage of Others.

There might be a few lost moments where the music stagnates from a lack of true skill where neither member of the pair does much but they come in sparring moments. And for the most part, the songs are too direct to even truly analyze them as anything more than lifting, carefree music.

For all that is revealed about Charlotte’s experiences via the songs on this album, there is always the knowledge that Beck is the songwriter, which raises the questions of how close Charlotte is to the lyrics, and if Beck has transcribed what Charlotte described to him with minimal interference, or if his own views and ideas have shaped the finished work and altered Charlotte’s original intent.

They’ve always been able to create music to pair with this feeling of nostalgia but Beach House has somewhat, in a way, perfected their dream pop with Teen Dream, an album that flows like the beach and cascades with lush melodies, harmonies and fantastic gentleness.

There Is Love in You comes off largely as an effortless work, content to just gently glow in its own hazy bliss.

Although this record reeks of Matador Records looking to score capital off Fucked Up, it’s not a bad way to go. Couple Tracks would be great for someone who wants the Fucked Up experience.

It’s an album unlikely to reign in anyone who’s on the fence about adding a folk album to their catalogue, but sure to delight those who like their melancholy sentiments sung by a voice that is as dexterous as it is vulnerable

It's always great to see a band showcase all of their strengths but when you can take everyone by surprise it's going to require just that much more skill.

Boca Negra is certainly not the easiest entry-route into the post-jazz catacombs of the Chicago Underground, but its steely determination and non-conformity is nevertheless refreshing and worthy of respect.

Astro Coast succeeds admirably because it pulses with a fun, youthful, and invigorating feel, and obvious lack of arty pretenses, studio mediation, or self-importance. Not every band can be Radiohead, thankfully.

It's as though they've found the link between tightly driven post punk and loose garage rock. Songs such as "Trouble," "Mystery Zone," and last year's single "Got Nuffin" bridge the gap between Nuggets and the Stiff Records label. This is certainly what indie rock has been based on for the past 30 years and so far only Spoon has done it with any success. As though to balance out the rock or to satisfy their interest in each end of the song writing spectrum, Transference also satisfies.

They have evolved their sound in this release with a host of much stronger tracks than ever before. While the immaturity remains in these tracks, the instrumentals are much more polished and infectious.

Vampire Weekend's penchant for throwing an occasional obscure reference into their work doesn't change the fact that Contra is an obvious early contender for one of 2010's best.

Them Crooked Vultures is a wonderful introduction to this all-star band.

A shock in the uttermost worst way because Wale has suffered from the over-production, guest-crammed, lack-of-ideas style that usually follows with a major label release.

Xenophanes might be the most concise statement Rodriguez Lopez has ever made (11 tracks in 45 minutes), and its tidiness is evident from the (mostly) taut song structures, urgent pacing, shortened solos, and singable melodies.

Starting right where Ambivalence Avenue left off, Wilkinson’s strides on his inspired high with The Apple and the Tooth are again, an exceptional thing to witness.

Bleach showed instances of promise and a few songs went on to become some of the best they ever wrote, but in comparison, it pales to the band’s later work. So take it all in stride because Bleach is surely for fanatics but certainly not for everyone.

In the end, all of this makes Say Anything the most mature – as well as the catchiest--record in Say Anything’s already impressive oeuvre.

Craftiness, when it’s this imaginative, can go a long way and for Jookabox, these bizarre ideas seem to work even when they shouldn’t.

All in all, You Are the One I Pick is a compelling and enjoyable listen which, at 35 minutes in length, is smart not to overstay its welcome.

Music like this is a reward just waiting to happen and if you give it a fair shot, it will surely win you over.

Over all the album is pretty decent and enjoyable in its context. When it feels mediocre, it’s because the ideas, which once made this band and many post-metal bands so ahead of their time, have been caught up to.

Mostly though, this ethereal mix of multi-layered and textured dream-pop is frothing with jangly and heavily reverbed guitars, amid shoegazing drones and electro-style beats, that displays Atlas Sound’s sense of adventure and pop experimentation while providing the listener with countless entertaining spins.

It’s a compliment to Stevens when one notices that listening to the music alone is rewarding and yet, the shots from the documentary are what run vivid in your head.

There is not much on The Real Feel that is daring or new in terms of musical explorations, but the emotionally energetic vocals and intestinal fortitude of the lyrics coupled with the honesty and the understated transcendence of the songs is quite alluring.

It worries me that cheesy metal riffs have made their way onto a Converge record, making it sound like it might be accepted on tour with Mastodon. It’s not a matter of breaking apart but experimentation that might not always go right.

If you acquiesce to its pacing and delivery it’s chantlike mix of chill and warmth can be a springboard to your own thoughts. If you’re not so inclined, I imagine that it would be like a Chinese water torture.

Even at just six songs, they’re each powerfully presented and Perkins is better for it, in astonishingly marvelous fashion.

Lungs showcases Florence's dramatic voice as an instrument that the other instruments follow, from the urgent, rhythmic drums on "Drumming Song" to the fluid harp runs on "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)."

The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack is an excellent album of cool songs featuring some of today’s celebrated indie artists.

While Embryonic shares with Brew many of the spontaneous bursts of chaos that made that album such a jarring listen, you can rest assured that this beautiful mess was--thanks to Coyne and his admitted control issues--a very calculated affair.

Three Fact Fader is an impressive sophomore effort. Engineers have created a winning combination of English pop/rock.

The xx have made a debut that sounds utterly flawless; it's the kind of album that bands take years to create.

The highs here, while admittedly not quite as majestic or sugary as in the past, are still pretty far up there, and better yet, there are no lows.

This album sounded exactly as I imagined it would, sounding pumped in straight from a dingy practice space from the early 80’s. It’s just that the music sounds more in service to the post-punk ideal than to the individual songs, affecting a feeling of taking a wild trip through a style instead of offering memorable individual experiences.

This isn’t the same set of music each time out, no, instead it’s a sincere evolution into something that all can behold. Many would be smart to learn from this band because they’ve obviously got “it” figured out.

All in all, for The Clientele this is another great album in what’s getting to be a long line of great albums.

The tracks with fuller arrangements are the more interesting and surprising tracks here, and they suggest Vile would do well to seek out other strong personalities to write and record with.

Ultimately, Sunset / Sunrise is a wonderful follow-up for the duo because of how well they are able to combine the best aspects from their debut with new found options.

Ultimately there’s a lot of beauty to behold on Run Rabbit Run.

It’s clairvoyantly obvious that Ghostface Killah’s ideas are abound. Forever flourishing, there is so much to love about an album as playfully awesome as this one.

Sing Along To Songs You Don’t Know is another fine example of how múm is evolving and continually expanding on their already diverse musical pallette.

While Daisy does have its share of issues, it is by no means a bad album. The fact is that it falls beneath Brand New’s lofty standards.

With only a couple of real missteps--that could have been eliminated by a less democratic division of songwriting labour to cut the tracklisting to a tighter 12 or 13 cuts--this first (and hopefully not last) Monsters Of Folk release happily proves that super-groups can be greater than the sum of individual parts, when kinship overrules narcissism.

Hawley has made an exceptionally perfect album with Truelove’s Gutter: it’s endearing, uplifting and absolutely beautiful, what else could you ask for?

The understated songs are the most memorable here (and the least Why?-like), and it sort of makes me wish the rockier material were shelved so that the whole album could be tailored to this mood of graceful resignation.

Vapours isn’t just a welcome addition to the band’s collection but it’s a welcoming album filled with tremendously rich highs, blunt and honest lyrics, melodic music and captivating hooks.

There aren’t any questions about the quality of Us, an album filled with exceptional music; it’s a downright excellent release.

There’s a certain kind of magic going on here and it needs to be accounted for.

Forget the Night Ahead is a resoundingly superb follow-up to that same 2007 album.

Family is an excellent album. Le Loup hasn’t altered their original goal and purpose, instead they’ve added new collections and they’ve even improved on some of the earlier problems from their debut.