Absolutely brutal.

For pure intensity and soul, Damage is now THE album in the Blues Explosion catalog, and essential listening at that.

Far less lucid than his past work, even by Animal Collective standards, all nine untitled compositions reflect a man whose soul is adrift.

A disarmingly beautiful album.

If you like your indie rock sweet and sophisticated with undertones of despair, you'll want to cuddle up with Universal Audio.

They are a lot more inspired-sounding than many of their more contemporary-sounding colleagues.

On first listen [it's] profoundly unimpressive.... What each successive listen reveals, however, is a deftly understated and maturing pop craftsmanship.

What worries me about the obviously talented Junior Boys is their tendency to round their corners. The music is so safe, so pleasant; it's not hard to imagine it in the Starbucks CD rotation without raising an eyebrow.

Occasionally, Memphis' songs coast on an attractive soundscape rather than going for a compositional or lyrical knockout punch. Nevertheless, I Dreamed we Fell Apart is often quite beguiling.

Zedek somehow twists her troubled characters and haunting tunes into things of beauty.

Gelb creates masterful songs for the ages.

Highlights the band at its most exploratory.

So Jealous has a broad appeal, nicely connecting the dots between Avril Lavigne and Joan Jett, but shouldn't be slighted by the latter's fans for it's immediacy.

Like The Fiery Furnaces' Gallowsbird Park, or Interpol's Turn On The Bright Lights, Funeral is a debut record that simply refuses to be ignored.

A near perfect record that will have The Rapture,!!!, and every other dance punk band looking over their collective shoulders.

Some songs are sloppily stretched out and others simply half-finished, but the ample charms of Doherty and Barat are just enough to rescue any of these lows.

The album, impressive in its scope and sense of adventure, is a further reinvention in Björk's already massive discography.

A luminously lovely solo album.

The compositions on Connector are firmer, more contained than they've been since 1997's Audoditacker.

A more savage, flawless and impressive sound could not have emanated from these Austrian-born, Chicago-fed composers of laptop jazz.

Like the band's first two albums, Winchester Cathedral is solid. But also like its predecessors, the album suffers from the "Hey, didn't I already hear this song?" syndrome.

Within this realism is an incredible sense of serenity, which flows throughout the album and creates an incredibly fascinating work showcasing an immense sense of maturity for this young group.

[Kasher's] ability to toss off seemingly effortless melodic hooks makes one wonder just what kind of water is in Saddle Creek.

A record of remarkable beauty.

Comets on Fire have also learned to harness their dynamic range, an important step for a band that pummels the listener with a seemingly unending freakout.

What's most impressive is that he manages the delicate balance of being emotive without overwrought, something that many of the seventies pop icons never quite got right.

The flaws in A Ghost is Born are almost as interesting as the album's considerable triumphs.

LaValle demonstrates that he is one of post-rock's strongest artists.