The Crying Light may not be as directly moving or as astounding as its predecessor, it’s a fine album on its own.

The songs on Bloodsports are suitable to excite the fans (Yes, they do still exist!), enthuse the critics, engage the occasional casual listener, and elicit a shrug from the general public.

Throughout the two albums, Lambchop effortlessly and repeatedly cross country, rock, soul, jazz, and cinematic borders. [combined review of both discs]

Malkmus, along with producer Beck, direct the music on Mirror Traffic with playful lyrics and flourishing styles that versatile and extended enough, shine with ease.

This is one of the most unique, inviting, and ultimately thrilling song cycles released this year.

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.

As with Mark's other musical incarnations, whether as Red House Painters or under his own name, a fine-tuned and patient ear, and a good turn of the volume knob towards high, is required to fully appreciate the nuances of his music.

About as good as a live album can get.

Wyatt At The Coyote Palace shows us a performer whose energies are intact and whose music and lyrics retain their ability to provoke, charm and occasionally disturb us.

He may like his disguises and perhaps enjoys provoking his audiences but underneath the image and the keen ear for wordplay a really quite serious songwriting talent is very determinedly making himself heard.

The Sunlandic Twins is a dizzying, exhilarating, and almost endlessly fun ride, breezy almost to a fault, romantic and lighthearted.

He covers an impressive amount of ground on Lucky Shiner, and the variety works in his favor. Perhaps he's missing a degree of originality, but what these tracks might be lacking in idiosyncratic branding will likely be made up for with a longevity of listenability.

It’s pretty hard to turn down, just as his collection of self-referencing, string heavy ballads "You‘re So Silent Jens" was.

An extremely beautiful and captivating slice of electro-pop.

It’s a glorious low-frequency hootenanny that slurs soul, punk, psych-rock, and pop until you’re not sure what language you’re hearing anymore.

It’s no mystery that the band’s most focused, intelligible, and pop-oriented record is also its best.

The poetry of pain is so strong, and mixed with superbly produced music that doesn’t take a nanosecond for granted.

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

Although The White Wires put a fun, sunshiny spin on things, this type of music has been played out by countless bands ever since The Ramones perfected the formula in the mid-70′s. But if you're just looking for something rowdy, fast and fun for the drive to your favorite party spot, put on WWII and crank it up!

Whilst Still could certainly have benefitted from a greater cache of stronger songs (a couple of which could have been swapped-in from the largely electric self-produced Variations EP that comes with early CD editions), as a combined entity it holds together convincingly as an amiable summary of what latter-day Richard Thompson is all about.

Even if You’re Nothing lacks the raw immediacy of their debut, it sees Iceage defining the parameters of their sound.

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.

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

At 21, he has the raconteur’s wit of a younger Nick Cave still buoyed by the weightlessness of possibility.

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

Goodbye Bread is a fitting development on an impeccable path. The depth accomplished through five albums is obviously grand and it's definitely as if Segall is purely improving with every passing year.

It is easily the band’s most accomplished, interesting record, a record that will simultaneously alienate stodgy diehard “fans” and attract a new group of listeners to the band.

For those who found that record [Nouns] to be a trying listen though, it's unlikely that the duo will win them over with Everything In Between, another lean and visceral assemblage of songs that expounds on many of Nouns' most endearing qualities.

There’s no lack of stride here, in fact the entire scope of Reflektor and its magnificent way of sucking you into its entire ride is downright remarkable.

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.

As the result of their impassioned musicianship and disciplined songwriting, this band has always had go-to credibility; with C'mon, they've raised the bar higher still.

The easy, carefree atmosphere is extremely effective; the songs’ warmth of proximity makes each better than it would be if heard alone, resulting in an album that somehow transcends its simplicity and becomes something of remarkable beauty.

A poignant and powerful collection.

Saturnalia is easily the best album I have heard this year and will undoubtedly be included in many a year end list.

Not only is Keep it Hid a very good album but it’s an album that contrary to popular belief, should not be ignored.

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

Lift Your Skinny Fists… told a story, included more extremes in volume and emotion, and added vocal samples. Yanqui, thus, is more subtle, more restrained. Yet it's also more moody, more cerebral, more intense.

Chock-full of catchy songs, off-kilter melodies, and A.C. Newman’s clever lyricism.

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

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.

The second half of the album wallows in the shadow of the first, unable to conjure the absolute majesty of the first four tracks.

Whilst The Jean-Paul Sartre Experience canon is far from consistent and most of us might not regularly play much beyond the sublime first CD/LP of this compendium, there is much to be (re)discovered here that vintage Flying Nun label fans can certainly not afford to live without. A heartily-fulfilling curate’s egg, in short.

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.

Where Asobi Seksu's first album seemed rushed, a little too experimental, and at times too loud, Citrus brings the right amount of noise, swirling affects, and sound balance.

Although as a whole Farmer’s Corner might lack a little of the respective earthiness and girth of more strictly acoustic and more amplified Wooden Wand releases, it achieves the clever feat of traversing a wide range of territory whilst sustaining the feeling of reclining comfortably in one location.

It is a well-written, solid debut that should at least establish the band a fanbase and give them time to work out some of the imperfections.

Pawn Shoppe Heart is a pretty kick-ass rock n’roll record.

This is quite possibly Explosions in the Sky's finest moment. Buy this album now and be ready to have your life changed.

Despite the extremely strong sonic points, most of the album falls short in the songwriting department.

It’s the best batch of songs he’s had in a while.

Not a record for the faint-hearted then but one which certainly casts a commanding spell.

Somewhat predictably there are a few misfires--like the distracting “A Swamp Dog’s Tale” (featuring spoken word rambling from guest Lincoln Barrett) and the detuned-skanking instrumental “Dance Of Dirty Leftovers”--but overall the quality control is commendably high for a band still so young. The potential for something even more finessed--though no less barbed--next time around is clearly apparent. Until then though, this eponymous entrée is a stealthily impressive long-form introduction.

The self-titled album brings the listener into a glorious sound world of first rate noise-pop and never lets go.

My major complaint with the album is that the songs are far too short to provide an optimal listening experience.

The band's eponymous debut is a classy, memorable, and swooning collection of sophisticated pop.

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.

Whatever it is that Finn has done in his lifetime to create such a compelling album is wondrous; he has taken the natural gifts from his father and paired them with his own musical capability.

Like every other album, there are the trademarks we've all come to grow and love from the band and by the end of this, all of the most loving adjectives one could shower on an album will be spread all over The King of Limbs.

The Secret Machines’ Now Here is Nowhere seamlessly fuses nine tracks and crafts a brilliant and sometimes trippy path colored with a tapestry of melodic motives and fragments of reverbed guitar.

The music on Twins is more of the fantastically great quality we've come to expect.

Rouse’s ambiguity and storytelling, so strong on Under the Cold, coupled with the quirky pop pastiche that found it’s backbone on 1972, is what his latest effort is all about.

Thirteen tracks of exceptional music and a clear-cut success for Boucher.

In the end, there's solace in enjoying the refreshed music Future Islands continue to provide.

Happy New Year's only flaw is that the second half drifts a bit.

The Invisible Way champions everything that is great about Low and realizes it through a neat and clear lens. It’s a formidable outing and at number ten, a remarkable feat met with solid results.

Slow Focus is a tremendously gifted album; one that remarks on what electronic music is still capable of, while knowingly realizing that the sky’s the limit.

It’s absolutely astonishing that after so many years of excellent and superb music The Roots are still one of the best bands around. With Rising Down they have not only proved it but they have silenced all of the doubters and haters out there; this is really a special band.

While there isn’t anything as blisteringly heavy as 'Woof & Warp of the Quiet Giant’s Hem,' as gritty and grimy as 'Miss Spiritual Tramp,' or even as trippy and psychedelic as 'Hot Tip/Tough Cub,' there is still plenty to love on Furr.

Works For Tomorrow just gets better and better with every successive--and necessarily louder--airing, to the point where it does indeed feel like another genuinely great Eleventh Dream Day long-player.

Over the course of the album's 52 minutes, the eight tracks reveal a brilliance in construction.

Antics is a very strong record that is home to a number of truly incredible songs.

Hood’s particular brand of indie rock is easily recognizable and refreshingly unique, and despite a few faults along the way, Outside Closer is an excellent album, if not totally fulfilling of its promise.

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.

The 15 tracks presented are a perfect addition to any iPod and would certainly serve well as background music to any hipster wannabe party you throw.

The styles that parade their way onto Swanlights would probably be the most noticeably diverse change from what happened on previous albums.

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.

Some of his melodies are so easily memorable they make The Thrills sound like Rammstein.

As usual, Mascis' guitar--a stirring strength, charming and expressive, a poignant power, is the star of this show--and as a whole unit, they haven’t sounded this good in about sixteen years.

Bird is in full control and evokes his The Swimming Hour and everyone’s favorite, Mysterious Production of Eggs, days; those days where he did everything on his own. All of the aforementioned allows him to present one of his best albums to date.

One of his finest efforts to date.

The most eclectic and endearing Dirty Three album in quite some time.

Built On Squares is a refreshing slice of musical Valhalla.

The diversity of the mixes on The Grey Album also is a testament to how carefully Danger Mouse has cut and pasted together his unauthorized sonic pastiche.

In all seriousness, this is an utterly brilliant experiment that is carried out with excellent style.

Yet with such a superb back catalog and a stellar new record to boot, the question now becomes how – or if – Okkervil River will be able to top itself the next time around.

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.

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.

Biophilia is an excellent addition to her glorious discography.

On occasions L’Aurore can feel a little overwhelming but given time its full immersion scope becomes more and more hypnotic and impressive. A bold and brave return to the fray all told.

It’s all dense and heady stuff that takes several immersive listens to assimilate, but once you’ve found the hooks they don’t let go easily.

Like Serge Gainsbourg’s contrarian career as a whole, there are lot of hidden profundities and canny pleasures to decipher and uncover here. This makes Intoxicated Women a dense yet rewarding affair, which should satisfy and intrigue hardcore Mick Harvey fans and Sergeologists alike for some time.

Ultimately, Hold Time could have undoubtedly benefitted from some more stringent self-editing, not-so top-heavy sequencing and greater deliberations over the guest list, to make it stand-up as tall as its more meticulously-framed predecessors. Nevertheless, this is still another reliably robust M Ward record with much to recommend itself, especially to the previously-converted.

Overall, The BBC Sessions is another tantalising insight into song world of The Chills, that acts as another generous interim step towards a hopefully fully-fledged wave of new and/or properly reissued material in 2015.

It's unabashedly retro, fuzzwop guitars bleeding psychedelica all over the place, crossing three decades of a never-ending summer of love and hate, but it's not revolutionary.

Sitek manages to conjure a musical playground within which Adebimpe’s vocals can frolic.

Give Up is an outstanding, creative effort from two of indie rock's most disparate voices.

The album's middle section yields the record's most comprehensive songwriting.

Even without a surplus of terrific songs to launch the affair into orbit, the band still knows perfectly well how to lock into each other and stay that way.