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.

Kaputt is filled with light, sprightly textures, all pleasant and groovy, but the album still seems to lumber along with breezy but basic sequencer rhythms, indistinct melodies, and sax blowing similarly all the way through.

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

An excellent album, perhaps not eclipsing the band's previous work, but at least firmly holding its ground.

The way the EP grows from song to song--with a seamless flow inherently added midway through creation--Silent Hour/Golden Mile never ceases to impress.

Blue Cathedral's shifting textures and long, sub-orbital freak-outs signify no lull in purpose for the Comets on Fire. It does signify a step towards a maturation of sound for a band now with three releases under its belt - specifically, a perfect place to be.

This record is so far beyond anything that she has done in the past that it is absolutely certain to alienate the majority of the listening public and more than a few of her fans.

The ghosts of some of the greats are there for sure, but in the end, This Is Happening sounds like no one except LCD Soundsystem.

Chesnutt has finally made an album that utilizes the full range offered by lush, fully adorned production to his advantage, accenting the strengths of his songwriting but never jockeying for position with his most distinctive traits.

Simply put, you need to own this record.

This may be the kind of album that turns on a new generation of fans to the beauty of folk music, while approaching it from a modern perspective.

The National are such a powerfully gifted band, they need no theatrics to deliver an absolutely stone-cold beast of an album. With the music that is on here there is yet another thirteen songs to savor and salivate over until the next batch of songs comes about.

Surely the power of Spoon’s miraculous songwriting skills are enough to keep the listener captivated, but the fact remains that the only surprise the album contains is the apparent lack of innovation.

Feels further confirms that not only does Animal Collective make music different from anything else that’s out there – these folks are also quite good at it.

Yeezus is the complete affirmation of an artist willing to try new endeavors and wholeheartedly nail it.

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is painfully short; a lean, black-tie rock album, and one of the year's best in a year full of great records.

This is a just an amazingly pretty and graceful album.

The Decemberists have always had a flair for the dramatic, but it's refined and realized more than ever on their amazing new album The Crane Wife.

All Nerve is still a solid enough and welcome addition to The Breeders’ still slender yet always evolving canon.

It almost seems like the Flaming Lips has regressed a little, structurally and rhythmically speaking.

The net result is a crisp, sometimes crunchy, and often lush collection of songs that show Kozelek at his best since... Songs for a Blue Guitar.

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.

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.

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.

As entertaining as it is, there remains a nagging notion that Grinderman 2 is ultimately another water-testing exercise to decide upon which seas Nick Cave will sail the full Bad Seeds line-up when it next reconvenes – now sadly minus Mick Harvey – in the studio.

A great album from a fantastic band.

The Mouse is back, just as polished and schizo as it ever was.

I think it would be safe to say that while her latest release was noticed with excited anticipation, not many expected it to be quite this good.

These seven pieces invite the listener into an engrossing experience, one that requires attention but in the end, Centralia is a moving album.

With their trademark of talented musicianship, beautiful story-telling and unique brand of rock and roll, Drive-By Truckers are unmatched in every sense of the word. This is a remarkable album and one that is downright near perfect.

Supergroup or not, Wild Flag hits all the right notes, and not much else matters.

That Caribou is still hitting the bull's-eye on a moving target is no surprise, but that he's done it with an emotional heft beyond what he seemed capable of in the past makes this album feel like a personal victory as well as a step forward.

Shine a Light doesn’t defy genres; it defies poseurs. It isn’t fashionable; it’s a staple.

It's a bit of an acquired taste, but at record's end, you'll be extremely satisfied.

Arguably [Cave's] most convincing collection of boisterousness and drama since 1994’s Let Love In.

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.

Whilst overall Chatma may lack some of the rousing freshness that made its two predecessors such heartfelt pleasures, it still respectably sustains the Tamikrest soul in all its nomadic questing.

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

While they undoubtedly keep their snarl and sneer (just look at that album cover), this is the cleanest and most melodic they have ever sounded. While those looking for cohesion may find this frustrating, it certainly makes Under Color of Official Right a dynamic and enthralling crossroad.

The Dodos have shaped and formed a superb blend of intricate drumming, remarkable acoustic guitar and touching vocals--this is truly something exceptional.

Scott-Heron's voice sounds just as prime as it did last year, except this time around Smith has adorned the versions with added beats, synths and keyboards for a fuller, richer sound.

While the material is at times uncomfortable and discomfiting, one can't help but be fascinated - and a little touched.

Field Songs, in its utter simplicity, is perhaps Whitmore's finest effort to date.

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

Black Up is best digested as a whole rather than tune by tune.

The great beauty of the record, though, is how repeated listenings peel back once-unheard layers, how Phillips’ voice develops a deeper resonance with each spin, and how the deceptive simplicity of the recording gradually fades to reveal carefully scripted movements and moments.

One could go on for hours about the qualities of each individual song, but it is the way they coalesce as a whole that makes Blood Mountain an incredible listen from start to finish.

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.

Perhaps the only thing missing to complete the utterly charming and enveloping experience of I’m A Dreamer is being able to play it on a crackly gramophone with a shot of prohibition-era moonshine to sup on.

So yeah, this album is pretty freakin’ good... but it’s not going to change your perspective on music.

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.

This is the finest debut hip-hop album I’ve seen since Aesop Rock’s.

Pyramid, while not being a step back, isn’t a step forward.

Whilst the overall the artistic advancement is decidedly impressive for such a fledgling talent, Marling does at times sell herself a little short on the lyrical and vocal front.

At times of course, as with other Zedek Band releases, a little more space would have let the recordings feel a little less austere and more melodically-open. On the whole though, Fighting Season is a rousing call for gritty humanity.

It’s the latter comradely pursuits that this new 2CD compilation attempts to put into a comfortable package for those who just can’t get enough from the twosome, or need a roadmap to understand where it leads into their better-known works; which it just about succeeds in doing.

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.

Stellar and superb, The Electric Lady is a fantastic journey filled with impeccable works of modern flair and skill, power up indeed.

The band resorts to an 18-set record simply because everything is indisputably necessary and furthermore, solid gold.

It’s the kind of album we critics tritely refer to as a return to form but with the massively remarkable beast that ...Like Clockwork royally is, never has the phrase been more fitting.

The Baltimore-based band’s fourth album is layered with songs that are faultlessly executed from top to bottom. Although the lyrics are somewhat simplistic, their direct marriage is welcomed.

Red Devil Dawn is by far the most consistent Crooked Fingers album, and in many respects, probably the best in general.

This is one consistent record that will being a smile to your face; there is nothing breathtaking, but there doesn't have to be.

Sometimes the best albums are pieces of high art to be appreciated from afar. Others are treated like your favorite movies, invoking feelings of when and where you first experienced it. And yet others are treated like books that are so distinct in invoking another time or place that you are escape into them often and without fear. Canary is that kind of album.

Beam’s songwriting has always been the defining element of Iron & Wine, and it’s evident on these tracks, especially the lovely “My Lady’s House” with its gentle and loving theme.

Whereas previous Elbow records set a mood, Build A Rocket Boys! may require a certain mood, and a few spins, before the lofty expectations are shed and you're left delighting in its radiance.

Although Volume 2: 1987-1989 may have its fair share of misfires, its overall hit-rate is remarkably high for an exhaustive anthology drawn from the ‘80s DIY netherworld. Whilst it’s hard to say if it fully represents the best of the Half Japanese oeuvre, it’s certainly an unquestionable strong entry-point into the band’s uncompromising catalogue of charming invention.

Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1 contains some of the finest work Earth has produced to date.

Innovative as it is satisfying.... It’s hard to imagine a more realized meld of hip-hop, electronica, and post-rock.