A rich, rewarding showcase for a woman whose voice, spirit, and energy have not faded.

Taken altogether, this two-disc reissue (or three if you’re after the full-fat triple-vinyl version), is a fine and thorough history lesson from The Afghan Whigs curriculum.

The trademark stridency of “Red Right Hand” or even “Mr Clarinet” is replaced with an altogether more measured and restrained vocal style, and the overall tone of Skeleton Tree is less abrasively didactic one than that of its fifteen predecessors.

It’s easily one of the best pieces of work of both participants’ careers and a mark of the incredible talent both possess.

This is not Tom Waits’ best record... But the whole package... is riveting, a collection that should humble lesser musicians who only can aspire to the mantle of Waits’ discarded work.

Even eleven years after their breakthrough success, their music still sounds as fresh and exciting as ever; we are truly lucky.

Vastly rich... Ocean's voice is a thing of beauty – clear, crisp and almost, divine – he speaks of truth in an unabashed manner.

A follow-up album that not only meets expectations, it blows them away.

Through the different flavors of ice cream on here, The ArchAndroid: Suites II and III remains a proudly boastful album. It should be discussed by a lot of people and the love it's receiving is no fluke either: this is a skillfully talented artist.

Track for track, From Here We Go Sublime is mired in some of the simplest beats in modern electronic music.

Exhausting, enthralling, disorientating, celebratory, and contemplative, Sufjan Stevens has delivered another album that will keep us listening and educated till Christmas.

One of the most engaging and thrilling pop statements of 2004.

Even as someone who knows very little about electronic music, this album is affecting. You will never get the urge to skip a song and you will desire and covet every sound that’s emitted from this album because they make up one tremendous, collective entity in Untrue.

Rounds is a perfect mix of subdued chill-out music and up-tempo beats.

What’s more important is that Merriweather Post Pavilion is not just one of the finest things you’re going to hear in 2009 but that it should sit well next to albums like Kid A on lists of the best music made in our time.

All in all, this album has everything any hard rock fan would enjoy.

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.

An incredible record.

If you were into Lightning Bolt before, there is no reason you won't absolutely love this album. If you were sort of sitting on the fence with them before, this may be the album that converts you into a fan.

Ejstes crafts songs where throwback psych-pop melts effortlessly into cascading soundscapes, jazz interludes, and epic instrumentation.

Dear Science is a stirring addition to their ever proliferating catalog; a stalwart continuation of the band’s hooking groove, and easily one of the best releases of the year.

Destroyer’s Rubies is one of those rare albums whose literary value is so compelling as to make any imperfections simply blend in as an essential part of the storyline.

A far better album than it has any right to be.

This album is more a statement of where they're going. It feels big, open, and alone, like you are listening in on something you shouldn't hear.

The album is ambitious as it is daring, and it's the most refreshing piece of new music released thus far into 2005.

Will be among many year-end best-of lists, and deservingly so.

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.

Ghost is at the top of his game, both in terms of flow and lyrical luminosity.

The attention to detail Bevin is known for sounds invitingly open on Kindred and the ending fruition is a thrilling success.

It’s seamless in its construction, poetic in its songwriting and moving in its aesthetic impression.

With their self-titled debut, Fleet Foxes have attained this and have delivered one of the best albums of the year.

His careful attention to detail and masterful use of vocal harmonies are unparalleled in modern indie rock.

Continuing to mystify audiences with ethereal, oft-experimental electronic music, Shackleton delivers one of the finest jewels of 2012.

The feel of the piece is all, and its what carries the player, and the listener, through. In that respect, these records are essential listening for anyone who plays a guitar: invigorating, exciting and sometimes frustrating--but above all liberating music of the highest quality.

Dig Lazarus Dig!!! delivers a platter that is both powerfully-arcane and invigoratingly-fresh, that serves as possibly Nick Cave’s best ‘main-course’ studio release with The Bad Seeds for quite some time.

Remarkable for its excellence and not its originality.

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

With Random Access Memories, the duet has returned after a long hiatus from proper studio albums, with another triumphant winner.

It's an excellent album. It might be the best album released this year. And it proves that Funeral was not a fluke.

For the most part Remembering Mountains is a success, with the source material being affectionately honoured yet imbued with the distinctive traits of the invited artists.

Whatever it is, The Suburbs is nothing short of extraordinary; it's Arcade Fire's moment of clarity where everyone can stop and take notice because in the most frank of terms, this is also nothing short of a masterpiece.

Though it is not overtly innovative in its instrumentation or approach, The Creek Drank the Cradle is composed and performed with such an inclusive, intimate voice that the album is extremely accessible, even personal.

A coherent, moving album that cements its place in listeners conscience.

This is heavy and intense music that I find difficult to call pop. She deserves better.

Bon Iver sounds distinctively matured and alive on Bon Iver: an album that even still, in the late winter, months after its release sounds magical.

From those opening, gorgeous, chords – their sultry delivery, their soulful demeanor, their jazzy glean, everything – signals that The Roots are back.

The result is a fantastic album, almost cinematic in its scope, which sweeps the listener along and leaves them enthralled.

This is a really special record.

Overall, this is a strong and durable suite of material that holds-up satisfyingly well to repeated and loud airings.

This is a winner in so many different ways; the music is impeccable, the sequencing is seamless, the production inhales and exhales life and the overall sound is killer.

While far from perfect, The Hold Steady's sloppy take on classic rock is actually quite refreshing and much more fun than most current indie rock and British post-punk revival wankery.

Califone's most confident and realized album.

Given the potency of their debut, British Sea Power’s Decline can safely be interpreted as a marvelous exercise in self-deprecation.

Like no other pop album you've ever heard.

In the end, it’s exactly what you would want and expect from the two skillful musicians. Run the Jewels is an album that was perfectly executed for the summer.

As one of music's most consistent bands, their ideas continue to surprise and astonish on Halcyon Digest's soaring highs.

No doubt, the music that falls between the Beatles and Bacharach extremes suffers slightly from adherence to formula, but few can boast such immediately memorable melodies. What surprises, though, is the care that they take with the lighter side of their music.

Flying Lotus has made the strongest album to date with his amazing collection of sounds, beats and instruments; as good as you felt after hearing the sheer brilliance of "Los Angeles."

Although Veckatimest might be more of an emotionally-driven album, Shields continues to showcase a band that is somehow--as good as they currently are--simply getting better and better, regardless of the location, the circumstances, regardless of the schedules.

The best complete work the band has offered to date.

Think Polyrock or Chairs Missing-era Wire in terms of the stripped-down elementalism of the instrumentation, but think Ikara Colt in terms of delivery.

With some guitar plucks and stuttering drums, the group is able to be more emotionally resonant and inspired than most other bands’ yelping front men can.

To be succinct and frank, Boxer is superb. Not only did The National create a startling, astonishing work of genius but they also crafted an album that is one beautiful piece of art.

While it definitely is more static and sustain, you really need to turn this up, put down whatever else you're doing, and connect with it in the moment, as this is very present music. It feels like a refined version of his past esthetics, and is more intense for the limitations he has decided to work under.

The eighteen tracks and eighty minutes presented here don't hold a candle to 2008′s The Chemistry of Common Life but I truly admire the tenacity of this outfit to push on toward such a lofty venture.

Twenty five and more years ago, an album made by Teardo and Bargeld would have been a much more experimental and chaotic experience than Nerissimo, which is both a work of highly adept modern composition and a sometimes conniving but always listenable performance by a vocalist who knows that even the most eclectic of audiences require entertainment.

Genre mash-ups this ambitious aren’t easy to come by; albums that accomplish that goal with the effortless grace of Eggs are even rarer.

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

With Rook they have fashioned an album that is melodic, tender, outstanding but above all, captivating. One thing is for sure, this is one of the best albums of the year.

Stellar production yields rich sounds assailed with raw emotions. These tracks are fully developed. No doubt, the vocals may grate on critics, but there are a lot of reasons to like this split. Especially Envy. Enjoy.

The album is consistently strong from start to finish with enough outstanding material to vault it into classic status right next to "Dummy."

For a debut album, this is extremely strong.

Remarkably consistent and almost infinitely enjoyable.

Stay Positive is a true testament that good music will always prevail. One can only hope that a band like this will continue to make music for years and years to come because we desperately need it.

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.

Magnolia Electric Company is a watershed album, an artistic breakthrough, and the first album to fully realize Molina's potential.

This is truly an album that will stay with you once you’ve let it work its way in.

Although The Lost Tape might lack some consistency in places and the live material might have been better served on a separate collection, overall this is a richly rewarding treasure trove for the ever increasing number of Can fanatics across the globe to hunt down immediately and devour.

The album's diversity is certainly key and essential to its value but for some it might lie entirely in Pecknold's flawless voice.

Twin Cinema is another great pop album from the New Pornographers, a release that's crammed with so many memorable melodies that the bumpier moments fade into the background.

As the Stars is an album that can be appreciated on a purely musical level and a meditative level.

Although Smother isn't as suffocating as perhaps it should be, it's still an interesting venture for Wild Beasts to have taken and definitely, a worthy follow-up to Two Dancers. And so while there isn't anything as wildly inventive as maybe "Hooting & Howling" anywhere to be found, there is a great deal of lingering new sounds to get lost in.

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

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.

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

What sets The Real New Fall LP apart, however, is the consistency of its greatness. Every Fall album has had a bum track or two since 1984, but this new record really doesn’t.

In the end, the album’s rather limited scope is justified by the masterful detail with which it is rendered, granting the listener limited entry to a place most of us wouldn’t want to stay long.

As if the Lips' perfect mix of pop and psychedelia wasn't enough, they write songs that are not only excellent but distinct as well.

Almost everything that YLT can do - and largely do so well - is here, alongside a sizeable smattering of new tricks and treats.

While most of the songs on Crimes stand out as being extremely well written musically and lyrically, the production needs an extra mention for being flawless.

The Meadowlands is absolutely essential.

The songs are catchy, well written, anthemic, and fun.

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.

Whilst a few more Bert Jansch classics like “Needle Of Death” and his own rendition of Davy Graham’s “Angie” might have defined Live At The 12 Bar as a more complete go-to on-stage snapshot, its intimacy and strength still marks it out as an essential fan-friendly re-addition to his labyrinthine catalogue, which is due for further exploration via Earth Recordings in the near-future.

It's exceptionally crafted, it's gorgeously composed and it's remarkably rendered by a band that might just be the very best we have today.

Before Today is another fun Ariel Pink pop/rock record, more solidly constructed than any of his past efforts. Even more importantly, it’s also more joyously musical than most full-lengths that have been coming out in recent years, aware not of self and scene but only of the fact that music is fun and feels good.

They've got enough going for them that they're likely to remain steadfast favorites of true music fans even after the hype has died down and the scenesters have moved on to something else.

This record is a composite of everything that is good about modern music.