You don’t need to be fanatical or any other synonym to realize that this is utterly spectacular music.

The Incident is an incident in music that must be acknowledged.

Ashes Grammar takes what they accomplished on SMCJ and attenuates it, stretching it into new shapes and sizes, avoiding a retread of their debut album by avoiding the traditions of the album form altogether.

This belongs a lot more to the R&B/Neo-soul side of hip-hop; it's a terrific way for the Queens rapper to showcase his impressive skill as a musical artist.

It’s great to have another album so musically rich that extols misbehavior as accurately as it soundtracks it. Let’s dance.

There’s so much to love about Popular Songs and whether you think it’s the outstanding collection of music, the superb style choices, the fantastic lyrics or all of the above, it’s clear that Yo La Tengo is winningly superb.

It’s not that the album suffers too much from being stuck in traction that it won’t still be appealing to fans of the first album. It’s just that, in terms of expectations, it isn’t the game changer that many of us were expecting.

Polvo have returned stronger and more single-minded. Regardless of whether you were around the first time, you should get in on this right now.

East of Eden is a worldly sounding album that still maintains an intimately personal feel. Affectionate, intriguing and absorbing, Bergsman’s music is of the finest variety.

Though not sure what to make of it, it is viscerally enjoyable and mentally wondrous nonetheless.

With Humbug, they have an album that can be fully enjoyed by anyone willing to give it a fair chance.

The members of Blitzen Trapper have a lot left in them and they’ve just hit their stride with their last two albums. Black River Killer EP is only further testament to their amazing talents as a band and of the kind of determined soul that prevails against all odds.

Everything is New is a gifted and resounding response to the many nay-sayers out there. It’s not the best Peñate could have done but who else could have expected this kind of departure?

Speech Therapy sounds surprisingly intellectual and crisp.

Watch Me Fall, is an exhilarating ride of roaring highs that never let up.

Welcome Joy is the perfect, earthy balance of the grittiest and the sweetest splendors that the Pacific has to offer.

This quintet of musicians are making a name for themselves and with Hospice, they have remarkably made one of 2009’s best albums.

Despite the possibility for a scatterbrained collection, the album holds strong and each track maintains a certain commonality through the writing and the emotional build within.

Post-Nothing is an album that deserves listens and that will definitely gather support with this re-issue.

These supposed table scraps left off their previous two albums, Good News… and We Were… respectively, run a gauntlet that finds the band revitalized, lively and tremendously wonderful.

The Ruminant Band opens up the Fruit Bats aesthetic and is a welcome addition to both late summer and a terrific discography.

It makes for some delightfully fetching quirk-rock when it’s all clicking, but there are also moments when the songs never quite develop this alchemy and fizzle into the mist, albeit a fine cool mist on a bright, sunshiny day.

The fluidity of the music allows for interpretive wiggle room. New Universe sounds like a great, sun-slowed summer album, but I can also see it playing into the feel of other seasons, making for a subdued autumn album or a twinkling winter album.

The way that Howling Bells constructed Radio Wars relies on strong melodies, hooks, songs, songs that aren’t really there, ideas not quite developed.

Lost in most of the noise and clutter was Jenn Wasner’s fantastic voice and Andy Stack’s ability as a “wall of sound” creator. On their new album, The Knot, these skills are not only refined but they showcase a wider, more advanced decadence and a band that sounds that much better, because of it.

BLACKsummers'night is however, an impressive return to form. This is undeniably enthralling music: masterful, captivating and marvelous.

Fortino has created an album that is easily one of the year’s most moving reflections. It’s that life is all but lost and Fortino’s take on things are spectacularly delivered.

Hometowns may not be the amazing album some had hoped for but it is an honest debut on many levels: sometimes great, most of the time decent and a good while just being there.

Wilco (The Album) is just another wonderful and special reason to know that Wilco, as a band, are an astounding band for all to love-or at least as much as they say they love us.

Overall, there is sufficient sun-kissed pleasure on Varshons to extend the patience of Evan Dando-devotees a little bit longer but not enough to surpass past makeover masterstrokes.

This is one mighty album, one that will tower over others like the green shrubs that tower over the buildings on the cover.

Octahedron is most certainly not a wish for Top 40 stardom, but compared to past efforts by this collective, it’s probably the surest means of attracting a larger batch of casual listeners without completely rejecting the heady desires of Mars Volta obsessives.

It’s another astounding album from a great band and one that we should get much, much more music from for many years to come.

Taken for what it is: strong folk leanings, with a sweet country shuffle, delivered with some of the best lyrics of the year, they all make for one brilliant combination.

Black Clouds and Silver Linings is, obviously, a mixed bag from Dream Theater. Fans like myself will enjoy it, but again, you can’t deny how familiar it all feels.

One thing’s for sure, Wilkinson sounds entirely enjoyable on this album. Whether it’s him enjoying himself in crafting this music and/or the fact that Ambivalence Avenue sounds that much more enjoyable than its 2009 predecessor, something’s obviously working.

To themselves and their fans, this is probably just another good Bats record. To newcomers, like myself, this is a great record that really deserves to be checked out.

Ultimately Bitte Orca is definitely a pleasing follow-up; it just isn't necessarily the supreme breakthrough many had hoped for.

[The album’s final track is] a satisfying conclusion to the band’s best album since 2000’s Black Market Music.

It's always great to see one of our better artists achieving a return to form, but it's usually successful with leveled results. But on The Ecstatic, Mos Def is certainly back and he has released the best hip-hop album of the year, so far.

While their LPs are again, consistently, some of the year’s best albums, it is definitely true that their EPs are no slouches either.

The album never challenges the conventions of a political punk rock record. Because so many political punk rock records have come and gone, Anti-Flag missed another opportunity to at least make The People or the Gun a little more compelling than its army of predecessors.

Joan Of Arc’s latest is much more abrasive, much edgier and squeamish than what I’ve come to expect from them. And that’s not a bad thing at all.

His slick production and meticulous attention to detail show promise of future mastery, and stand as evidence of his uniqueness.

Each track contains elements that sound similar in combinations of tone, texture and melody from previous records, so this album is not necessarily a knockout. However, the band’s artistic hybrid is delivered with a fervent honesty and steeped in an emotional intensity that may make it sound a lot like other Eels material.

Rounding out his catalog, Jay Stay Paid makes a worthy addition to any hip-hop aficionado’s collection.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this album and on the contrary, Grizzly Bear has clearly made the year’s best album.

Phoenix doesn’t need to be groundbreaking to reward us with a joyous, endlessly fun album that should sit comfortably in the top 10 on everybody’s list.

Hopefully those that came to SunnO))) through "Black One" will find much to love here. If they don’t they will be seriously missing out as Monoliths & Dimensions is devastatingly epic.

Daniel justly brings the band’s best attributes to the foreground and It’s Frightening ends up being a tight and concise album.

Unlike other odds and sods collections, Around the Well sounds and feels like an accomplished release.

Nothing much changes from here on out, but it’s this form, absorbance and consistency that always prevails in Willner’s music.

What Romanian Names lacks in difficulty and depth, it makes up for in restrained creativity and faint tenacity. Though his aim fell short, it goes without saying that even at his moderate average; he’s miles ahead of most of the solo artists attempting to make music.

As two musicians who may have gotten slighted, their self-titled album is an accomplished and impressive debut.

21st Century Breakdown is far from a bad album, and, like Idiot, will likely be the best release this year from such a popular band.

With such tight and unashamedly sparse and intimate product along with an emphasis on nicely layered and blended vocals, it’s hard to find a complaint with Magnolia.

With engaging songwriting, creative instrumentation and melodically special music, not only is Actor everything we imagined it would be but Clark has redefined the definition of pop music.

Wavering Radiant is a testament to ISIS’ ability to stare into the face of adversity, unflinching, and deliver one of the finest albums of its career.

So much of the music here — stripped-down mixtures of pop and punk, with a Big Star emphasis on the pop side — merits a listen or two, its forgiveable that you’d get some redundancy in this completists’ collection.

It’s definitely not album of the year (nor would it have nabbed that distinction in 2007 when it was actually released on the other side of the Atlantic), but the Shortwave Set bring just enough innovation with them to make this 45 minute disc worth your while.

On a purely compositional level, this is dazzling and downright brilliant. But on a purely artistic level, Insides is a startling accomplishment.

Remind Me ... has the feel of two albums compressed into one, and a slightly more minimal approach to instrumentation would have given some of the slower numbers added gravitas.

With Dark Days/Light Years, the Furries have once again proven their worth: splendid musicianship, experimentation at its most sensible meaning and those proven hooks are all on display here.

While it may lack the aggressive and occasionally caustic momentum of "Playing The Angel," Sounds Of The Universe succeeds primarily because of its ability to make a nostalgic nod to past successes while still looking to the future.

As a unit, the group amassed some of the best music of their careers onto this singular, ‘effusively sentimental,’ career.

He’s resonating some true beauty here; entirely lost in his nostalgic feelings and openly retrospective about where he has been, Sometimes I Wish We Were an Eagle is absolutely beautiful.

The fuzzed out riffage and ethereal interludes are in place, but Swoon lacks the diverse textures, clever lyrics, and emotional depth that the Pumpkins honed over a 10 year span. And this is as it should be.

All of this exceptionally solid music is a remarkably beautiful thing to witness.

There’s enough depth and variety here to keep you entertained after the first listen.

Spring Tides is a success partly because it is consistent in sound and structure, but it still manages to slip through a variety subtle mood changes and elicit several emotional reactions from its listeners. Jeniferever should gain some fans with this.

Another unique and compelling album of mystical indie-rock with shimmering vocals, proving she not only has a voice to be reckoned with, but is a voice to be reckoned with.

They’ve placed everything that’s superb about them and have delivered it ten-fold with Yonder is the Clock.

It’s certainly a fine achievement, an awesome collection of music has found its way onto Begone Dull Care, and Junior Boys present everything in such an excellent way.

Rest assured, The Thermals is back and as tight as ever.

This is the kind of album that will only reward as time passes; through more listens you will find that the startling music, sincere vocals and impeccable musicianship are all at a very high quality.

While at first some of Repo will undoubtedly seem oriented towards those with an attention deficit, it is in every sense of the word a “grower.”

Don’t relegate Inside Your Guitar to personal music players such as your PC or mp3 player. Make sure you give it a couple of attentive spins on the big stereo in order to fully enjoy it’s resonant beauty.

Nothing much is different with their latest triumph, It’s Blitz!, a sprawling, eclectic set of dazzling new music.

Dekker has always seemed to me more metaphysical than mystical, but on this outing some of the lyrics are starting to edge closer to the easy contentedness of finding salvation through natural beauty instead of finding existential insignificance in the similarities of all matter. That said, there’s a good mix of elements here, and the increased focus on the diversity of the musical side of things takes the spotlight off the lyrics to a certain extent.

It may not be as enigmatic as Silent Shout but if nothing else, it is a fantastic album on its own accord.

The group continues their fantastic, totally unique song structures, lyrics and instrumentation, resulting in the next evolution of a Decemberists album, and it does not disappoint.

It’s the rarest type of album: one that exceeds every expectation you may have, branding itself in your mind forever and constantly surprising you with how amazing it is.

These sparse, unfastened and more importantly, exuberant covers are all flash and no substance. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t specially well done and loads of fun, either.

DOOM isn’t really offering you anything new, and it’s got some clunkers like 'Operation: Doomsday' and 'MM...Food' before that. This album is, however, a reaffirmation of DOOM’s talent as both a rapper and a producer.

Jay has stepped through the mirror to the other side to bring us Slow Dance, and he has triumphed like the best pop idols, engaging our imagination while being simultaneously cool and strange, tender and tough, arty and poppy, traditional and innovative.

Don’t dismiss The Floodlight Collective for the outstanding introduction to Lotus Plaza it is, because in reality, it is a winning release in more ways than one.

Ultimately, it’s the combination of thwarted ambition and lack of proper recognition, which is apparent, that prevents Beware from ever fully taking flight as a listening experience.

Static Tensions is the fourth album from Savannah, Georgia metal mavens Kylesa and it may well be the best damn album the band’s released and one of the finest of 2009, metal or otherwise.

Through all of the missteps along the way, Face Control is a good album that with some more attention and ingenuity could have been so much better.

Now, with Love vs. Money, Nash has been able to not only add a worthy addition but if this isn’t the best album the genre has seen and heard in the past year, I don’t know what is.

Everything on Heavy Ghost is a work of pure genius; this is the music of your life and it’s the kind that needs to be rewarded in any possible way because truthfully, honestly, sincerely, it’s something endearingly special.

An Imaginary Country suffers nothing for these decisions [to ease back on the heavier, noisier aspects of his work] and in fact nearly stands as a perfect counterpoint to the acidic blasts of white noise on "Harmony in Ultraviolet."

Some patience and repeated plays will be needed to digest the concise, offbeat and scratchy melodies from this eccentric, bedroom electronic artist.

It’s really hard to find anything wrong with the way Case has presented everything and it’s evident that she is only beginning to reign in all of her strengths. It’s an exceptional trait when you’ve been able to combine so many tremendous aspects into one supreme collection of songs.

What I am here to do is to point you in the direction of Take My Breath Away, Boratto’s exceptionally crafted new album.

The songs themselves feel loose, a bit non-cohesive, making How to Get to Heaven... a good, though not great, album.

Black Lips are able to both faithfully emulate some annoyingly nearly-recognisable sixties and seventies styles while using the one-take demo approach to give their own 3 chord song structures an air of immediacy that prevents the album from sliding too quickly into the pit marked “slavish recreation.”

What strikes me is that past Clem Snide albums had their stronger moments, but also their weaker ones, while Hungry Bird, for all its time in development, is more solid throughout, delivering its 10 pop songs with a consistency that shows the band continuing to develop its sound.