Heard once, the record is breathtaking for its emotional qualities. Heard twice, it begins to sound more and more like a brilliantly crafted classical chamber piece, with themes holding each of the hymns up to the same illuminating light.

This record is vast, playful, and most importantly, an absolute joy to listen to.

Multiply is not just the year’s most adventurous album, it’s one of its most melodic, soulful, and engaging as well.

The best kinds of albums are the ones that capture that fragile balance between great music and pairing lyrical wordplay. And Tronic is an album that fans of both the lyrical side and production side of hip-hop can love.

When they began their self-titled debut, they were uncertain kids from Brooklyn making a record from all the music they had ever known. They’re leaving veterans of the game with obvious talent and colossal potential.

More religious text and tapestry than commercial pop folk, The Smell of Our Own charts its own territory through the heart and head and holes of celebratory love. Truly unique.

All in all, El Camino sticks to a tried and true template of brazen impulsivity that's been explored by generations of rock bands.

Inches is not just a great concept; it’s a legitimately great rock record in most every facet, and it's Les Savy Fav’s best release outside of Rome (Written Upside Down).

The Clientele’s debut album offers consistently strong melodies, excellent playing, occasional surprise, and a taste for more.

The Letting Go is arguably the most pretty and richly detailed record Oldham has released in years.

In all seriousness, Wondervisions isn't hard to handle. There's nothing abrasive here to worry about, and the variation in structure and theme is exciting enough.

Those expecting an ultra-stripped-back affair will be in for a surprise too, for although the album sustains and refines Sheppard’s core penchant for pointillist minimalism, Vertical Land is also arguably his most ambitious and elaborate statement to date.

Taken as a whole though, whilst Jane Weaver may not have delivered quite the revelation hoped for, this is a solid enough self-consolidating affair, that should both keep the faithful happy and ensnare more latecomers.

Gratifyingly, despite Four Stones ostensibly being an oddments compendium, it hangs together with remarkable cohesion. In fact, its five wordless pieces segue into one another as if they’d always belonged in one place.

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

Segall takes us on a tour de force that is short and succinct in nature and delivery: the music swells with an infinite amount of pulse and drive and supported by Segall's remarkable ear for melody, it's simply another winner in his long-standing discography.

Seriously fucked-up and seriously stunning.

The Decemberists are stuck in the past while innovating with an eye on the future.

As eclectic as Chasny’s influences may be, there isn’t much here that would sound out of place to underground rock fans.

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

My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky sounds more like the essence of Michael Gira than the Angels Of Light ever did, and ought to also serve as another broadside to the idea of reformations being inherently grubby and uncreative ventures.

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

With amps that are allowed to breathe with static and reverb, drums that clatter against a harsh delivery and with vocals that are unhinged and undeterred, the 'raw' adjective is a fitting superlative.

While it doesn't have as many flat-out terrific songs as its predecessor, I'd venture to say that The Remote Part is the record that Idlewild has wanted to write all along.

Faking the Books is one of the best albums to come out so far this year.

Bruner has elevated his game into something worth noting and more importantly, worth following.

Lisbon sounds like your typical Walkmen album. Laid-back and tempered at moments and jarringly stunning at other times, but never dull.

Though Eye Contact represents another exhilarating turn from one of modern music's most enterprising groups, many people will likely be turned off by the sound of Bougatsos' helium shriek; that voice may be initially challenging to the ears, but those who arrive with the awareness that this isn't exactly the stuff of sing-along melodies, honeyed vocals, and verse/chorus/verse gratification will be pleased they stuck around.