The first release under eclectic singer/songwriter Solange Knowles’s boutique label, Saint Records, the younger Knowles weaves a collection of alt-R&B songs together seamlessly.

Ditto’s lyrics are still a blend of sex and politics, always delivered with enough passion to fill the dance floor and keep it sweaty.

Their talent and impossible-to-fake passion merit the sudden attention.

Both sides are endearing in their own way, and both show off a musical legend with plenty left to say.

It’s exceptionally diverse, especially for hard rock.

Horns, synths and samples float above soulful vocals by members of Ruby Suns, Born Ruffians and Braids, while dense layers of texture and polyrhythmic percussion give way to beguiling melodies that worm their way into your subconscious.

Wait To Pleasure shows new facets, but that shoegaze tag isn’t likely to disappear soon.

Only a handful of songs are beat-driven, but the electronic sounds are often subtle and organic. It’s rare for any one element to overtake his voice in the mix, but there are times when he fades out.

Though you might have pangs for United's enjoyable weirdness, It's Never Been Like That is serious fun.

With everybody involved sharp and on point, Sour Soul is a contemporary classic.

Isis is an actual MC with real hip-hop history and skills, who, in between throwaway odes to ass-shaking, manages to tell some stories and flesh out some characters. That, coupled with Grahm Zilla’s versatile approach to beat production, puts them far ahead of the pack.

Throughout the nine tracks, the band maintains a grown-up punk sound rooted in air-tight musicianship.

Girls' have traded their early work's immediacy for something that requires more patience but goes much deeper if you've got the time.

A mood-altering drug for pop fiends.

Most songs clock in under two and a half minutes but manage to say plenty.

On his seventh studio album, however, he’s reinvigorated, dipping a toe into some of rap’s newer stylistic trends.

Many of Continuum's songs are on the softer, adult alternative side, but his melodic voice, warm production, complex riffs and thoughtful lyrics should cure the violent reactions Mayer's name used to evoke.

A far cry from the piano-tinkling heard in formulaic modern pop, Krug’s ivories are often filmic (Barbarian), or musical-theatre enough to evoke Hugh Jackman or Julie Andrews singing amidst a mountainscape (November 2011).

Accented by González's charming harmonies, close-mic'ed guitar work and Winterkorn's hazy, retro synths, the album is a headphones record that reveals new depth with every listen.

An hour of sprawling ambient electronic music made on a modular synthesizer, evoking the futurism of 70s sci-fi soundtracks while deftly avoiding cheesy retro trappings.

Thematically the songs stick to the familiar pop terrain of love--the least adventurous thing about them--but Oh No nonetheless makes a convincing case for broadening the term "pop star" beyond the glamazons.

With Subtitulo, Josh Rouse may just prove to be the missing link between Jack Johnson and Conor Oberst.

Their bleakest set of songs ever.

Broken Boy Soldiers won't reverse global warming, but it certainly tops Get Behind Me Satan for rockin' entertainment.

All those self-consciously avant bits of the two previous albums have been ditched along with Jeff Tweedy's laughable lyrical abstractions in favour of tuneful, direct songs that at least seem to carry some emotional weight.

In typical Rush fashion the compositions tend to feel coldly scientific or laboriously calculated.... Nevertheless, it's a solid record.

A beautifully tense and thoughtful record.

She catchily sends up herself, her Britishness and the unlikelihood of her (likely) stardom.