On their debut, Friko have cemented themselves as one of the most distinguished up-and-coming voices in all of indie-rock.

Sounds like a mostly live interpretation of... The Avalanches' intricate party collages doubling as three-minute music history lessons. [#13, p.118]

Kidjo is faithfully following her muse in search of transcendence. Here she’s found a rich source of it, like water flowing underground.

The newest record from Alex Giannascoli at times improves on the inscrutable, circuitous experimentation of his Domino debut, Beach Music. At other times, it refines the accessible but still characteristically sauntering country-lite of Rocket, his masterful second album for the British indie label. In other words, House of Sugar sounds like a middle ground between the two albums that preceded it.

There’s a timeless quality to Promises, an inscrutable sense that the album could hail from 30 years in the past or 30 years into the future.

Deerhunter has graduated, by degrees, from conjuring moods to writing proper songs, and fourth album Halcyon Digest finds Bradford Cox and company strip-mining new aural territory and toeing the line between structure and abstraction.

While the songs on to hell with it may read heavy in subject matter, rarely does PinkPantheress bask in the dour.

Fortunately, while the pairing produces a mawkish or awkward moment here and there, 'Sno Angel Like You ulitmately captures the unique mixture of ugliness and beauty Gelb has strived to achieve throughout his career. [Apr/May 2006, p.115]

While she’s faced a number of setbacks to get where she is today, her talent beams golden bright on this album.

So no, you don’t get a remastered version of one of your favorite albums. But you definitely do get your money’s worth.

Alex G’s ability to widen the aperture of his work with each album, and not alienate his audience, speaks to just how much he’s able to pinpoint and define what stands out within his work. God Save the Animals is just the latest reminder that, as his tastes expand, so too does his sonic palate.

Dogrel is an album of tremendous ardor and vivid landscapes, and interspersed with an Irish underdog spirit, Fontaines D.C. are nearly untouchable.

Heartfelt and engaging.

Emerging from California's punk/roots scene, championed by the Blasters and sharing stages with X, he kept it true, while mining the tempest of a formidable rejectionist movement. 3 Pears follows the same map.

Every Bad is the nuanced album that indie rock has needed for years.

On Cosmogramma, this never-ending stream of aural textures sounds effortless, and the enthralling swirl of jazz, drum 'n' bass, dubstep and hip-hop beckons you toward the edge of something damn near cosmic.

Co-produced by Kim Buie and Jordan Lehning, the introspective work finds the great American songwriter, who has had hits on the country, pop, rock and Americana charts, settling into his place as an elder statesman by surveying the path that brought him here.

So odd how Koi No Yokan could be both their most traditionally metal and their most melodic record to date.

Though at time reaching heavenly heights, Shields is, as the name suggests, a heavy, protected album, stuffy with an ennui particular to the young and gifted. It's evidence that Grizzly Bear may be one of the great bands of their generation--if only they'd smile a little more.

With both immediate appeal and density that demands long-term digestion, it’s one of those rare debuts that manifests a fully-grown, deeply engaging sound.

On Diaspora Problems, Soul Glo have caused a clearing in the forest with an album so boundless in its creativity that it cannot be ignored. This is the shape of hardcore that we had been promised.

Krystal may not be as charming or musically distinctive as its predecessor, but if a breakup has left you with nothing to do but “curl up and die,” then Matt Maltese’s second album is the calming, pillow-crying record you need.

For now, A Light for Attracting Attention is a versatile beacon for Yorke and Greenwood’s groovier side, and a remarkably assured debut that—let’s be honest—doesn’t really feel like a debut at all.

It’s not that To the Sunset finds Shires wandering further--it’s that she’s digging deeper, with the same diligence and abundance of talent she’s been drawing from all along.

A sweeping confession of sanctification, embrace and glory, this is deliverance personified.

Soul Of A Woman offers up a piece of everything that made Jones a powerhouse up to the very end.

What makes the album so amazing is its ability to balance poignancy and fun.

Harps and Angels is another fine Randy Newman album, minimally produced by Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker.