Interestingly, while the album does a lot to establish Tobacco as a solo artist in his own right, it does so through calling attention (to a greater degree than any of Fec's past work) to the artists that might have influenced him during his formative music-listening years

This latest offering is a welcomed return and a rewarding listen for fans, both old and new.

Oftentimes the lyricism and themes, although relatable and poetic, are somewhat cryptic and ambiguous. However, what Gordi has accomplished here is absolutely a successful debut full of honest feeling, introspection, and self-therapy all through beautifully-composed folktronic landscapes that are sure to mesmerize.

While not all of these 24 songs are equally impressive, nothing about Culture II feels like they're going through the motions.

Moreover, on Junky Star, Bingham's stripped voice sounds at turns plaintive, scrappy, and hypnotic, with plenty of subtlety and a ringing vibrato.

If this album is proof of anything, it's that the Dears once again have a long career ahead of them.

Now, with After the Dream You Are Awake, released through Mazarine, pacificUV has considerably upped its game without changing a whole lot.

Nodzzz has a new album out, called Innings. Those who read this who can't easily experience the former are encouraged to do so with the latter.

Cynic's New Year is a starkly gorgeous album dripping with stringed instrumentation-whether that be the plucking of banjos and acoustic guitars or swooping cellos and violins-augmented by the odd plinky piano part, one that will leave the listen feeling utterly winded for all of its ragged glory.HO

All in all, Bush is another consistent release from Snoop to add to his portfolio, with enough freshness to still be spinning his name in the clubs.

In the end, Liver! Lung! FR! may not be quite as visceral as The Midnight Organ Fight. But yes, 'The Twist' still pings pleasure centers, gorgeous in this lighter, piano-backed version.

Easter Is Cancelled may not be high art, but it doesn't need to be. It is that rare delight: a return to form following a lengthy period of artistic stagnation.

As a standalone record, however, Prince Avalanche OST captures a new way for Explosions in the Sky to make instrumental music, even if that requires some circumspection that pulls too tightly on the reins when a looser grip might have been the right move.

It’s too much, for sure, but sometimes too much is just about right.

While New Misery was steeped in severity and perhaps a strained sense of needing to prove oneself, The Diet cuts off the pretentious fat. The resulting sound is inventive, fun, fresh, and perhaps Omori's best release to-date.

This strategy of laying low works for Smith, while intellectually one may question it, the resulting music sounds skillful and accomplished.

Mouseman Cloud isn't game-changing, but it's definitely Robert Pollard's finest collection of songs since Robert Pollard Is Off to Business.

Catching a Tiger is pretty darn eclectic with the quality dial rarely dipping below "Danger High Voltage".

Alhough there's nothing here as insanely catchy as "Wrecking Ball," the album as a whole is probably more consistent than Lovers, Lead the Way! and can make a strong claim as being the band's best.

Pyramids’ very impressive debut treads the fine line between otherworldly beauty and sheer unadulterated noise, its loveliest soundscapes blotted by feedback and distortion, its most aggressively ugly rampages pierced by unexpected intervals of tranquility.

All the controversy and hype aside, what’s most important is that these four rappers were able to put out a very listenable and enjoyable record. And to the surprise of many, there is nary a weak beat on Slaughterhouse.

[A] suffocating feeling pervades Clay Class, an album full of tight, stripped-down punk burners that hit pretty hard until they start blurring at the edges.

They’ve come pretty darn close before, and they may very well do so in the future, but with Scars, the Jaxx have gotten too caught up in trying top themselves.

Butter not only betters their signature sound, it finally makes it sound concise.

Some of these tracks feel a bit like filler, and Nocturnes could probably use a bit more variation, but if smart, restrained disco pop puts a smile on your face, Nocturnes should do the trick.

Asobi Seksu have reached that point where their manipulation of a song’s basic building blocks has come to feel natural and confident.

Though it may not showcase any new original material, it at least gives the feeling that the Black Crowes are not about to let their next hiatus wash them away in a wave of unsatisfying nostalgia: they will leave us only looking for more.

With Float they’ve delivered another strong album that is more assured than their other records, and offers a hopeful energy.

Bring Ya to the Brink escapes just being a club-tailored album, for underneath the glossy production is some of Lauper’s strongest writing in her 25-year solo career.

Wall to wall, Blood and Lemonade doesn’t have a weak track, though you do wish that the group got a little more experimental earlier on, rather than towards the end of the disc.

Dwell is an indefinite, amorphous album that constantly shapes and reshapes itself. Once again, Recondite has produced an enigmatic, ruminative minimal techno album that finds him successfully reconnecting and then further exploring the sounds that he used so strikingly on Hinterland.

Much of the last half of the disc isn't quite as captivating as the first six or so songs, which may be chalked up to sonic fatigue--things not being changed up quite enough in the process--notwithstanding her apparent kiss-off, "Not Entertainment," which ends the record on a particularly memorable, strong moment that apes the sound of Vangelis of all things.

It’s the well-crafted and thoughtful piece of music that one expects from Secretly Canadian.

The outcome is a bit flawed and a very loud version of her biggest and smallest self.

Freeze, Melt is a fitting soundtrack for the landscape pictured on the cover. These are spacious tracks to complement clear blue skies, not lipstick-smudged anthems for strobe-lit mega clubs. Listeners who haven't tuned into Cut Copy since Zonoscape may be surprised by their latest direction, but longtime fans who welcome change from record to record will find something to enjoy out here in the country.

Yessir Whatever captures a classic hip-hop sound, yet feels futuristic.

In true psychedelic fashion, this is a summery record for autumn’s shadowy days.

While the decidedly middle-of-the-road mood of A Chorus of Storytellers won’t get anyone fired up, though, the way that mood is constructed is the album’s primary appeal.

Things that seem random the moment they first appear but are really meticulously placed in an effort to create something truly graceful and charming.

The disparity of influences at play within Future Brown’s music is not distracting or disjointed as one might expect; in fact, it’s the entire point.

It’s unashamedly fantastic, uplifting and most of all it’s a real joy to listen to.

This album is undoubtedly one of the best records of any genre to come out in 2011, and finally sets Donald Glover up as a "serious" rapper.

It is clear that Exotic Birds of Prey is in part about transformation through music and eluding the oppressive modern impulse to profile and categorize, racially and otherwise. These themes speak to a broader ethos of Shabazz Palaces across their catalog. Yet, it is also apparent that this tactic of resistance and subversion can equally elude the understanding of listeners.

Smilewound beckons and fans out, drawing the listener further and further into its own sonic world, both familiar to fans of múm’s sound and very much unlike anything that they have done previously.

Is Hysterical radio-friendly? Yes. Is it a bit of a letdown after a five-year wait? Maybe. But is it boring? Absolutely not.

It’s All Just Pretend is, at its name implies, a generally unassuming effort overall.

Throughout the record, the Black Keys don’t rock the boat much with their style, just continuing to hone it and make it all come together.

These are songs with some of her most simple, basic, elementary and repetitive musical structures and perhaps that makes them good vehicles for the message they convey. And her impish humour means that, unlike other multi-millionaires given to issuing instructions and political messages from on high, Ono doesn't come across as insufferable, grand or out of touch.

Puzzles Like You contains the excellent balladry expected from Halstead, but the real surprise is the decidedly up-tempo guitar pop that blows away any conceptions of the band as purveyors of a countrified blend of mope rock.

The end result is an album that’s at once confident, playful and timeless, a treat for rock and roll fans of all stripes.

The finest mainstream hip-hop album of the year.

Even in their least inspired moments, Silversun Pickups have something interesting on offer.

Despite a few instances in which it forgets that mantra toward its conclusion, the majority of Animal Feelings is a highly enjoyable slice of pop/funk grooviness.

The entire album plays like a cohesive whole, somehow frayed and fragmented if not left intact.

Yr Atal Genhedlaeth is so bereft of embellishments that its songs scrape by with the bare essentials: rhythm and melody.

Shelter from the Ash meshes the best elements of older Six Organs of Admittance albums with a new sense of cohesion.

With In the Time of Gods, Williams has produced another accomplished album that, at its best, achieves precisely that.

Free from over-use of effects and without resorting to trendy bass warping, this album is 15 original tracks of straight-ahead hip-hop and R&B influenced electronica with a moody twist.

Ace Hood came out of nowhere to deliver the most well rounded, engaging gangsta rap album on a major label in some time.

It’s less formulaic and more freewheeling, seemingly feeding less off their influences while finding more of themselves.

The songs on Fear will stick in your memory too, especially ass-kicking, evil rockabilly numbers like “Lay Down in Bedlam” and “Devil Eyes”.

Ain’t Who I Was is a triumphant return to recording.

Impressively, the whole thing retains the angular peril and stifling claustrophobia of the original but with slightly more light and shade. As an alternate version of his Callous album, it is one well worth remembering.

Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon is another very fine achievement in the still young, but immensely satisfying and always intriguing, career of Devendra Banhart.

This new CD proves how much he still loves performing. That said, the more emotional songs, such as Ruby Toombs’ weepy “Teardrops From My Eyes” Count Basie & Jimmy Rushing vindictive “Goin’ to Chicago”, sound better than the more fun ones. While Morrison shows that he still can stretch out a word or repeat it rat-a-tat style, the music’s more interesting when it doesn’t call attention to itself.

Don't You Think You've Had Enough? may not end up as an all-time great rock album, but as a summer record with big sing-along songs, it delivers.

At times, all the sweetness and light can be a bit repetitive. But for a first outing, The Uglysuit does serve as a much more quiet sort of inspiration--which, sometimes, can be quite profound.

It's a fitting way to round out an album that, remarkably, builds new momentum on an already extraordinary 40-year musical career.

Wild and Reckless, for all its alleged thematic cohesion, has a relaxed, uncomplicated maturity.

The songs never stray far from the band's wheelhouse, yet they feel energized and impactful.

There's not a lot here to grab onto unless you're willing to immerse yourself in a world of totally alien sensation. If you are willing to accept the challenge, there is a chance you will find yourself significantly changed by the experience.

This is a band playing to its strengths.

If there’s a fault to be found with the record it may be that the middle of the record falls into a hazy, smoke-filled sameness. That sameness lifts over time, though, especially as one digs in with headphones and lets the record’s deepest mysteries unravel, moment by moment and beat by beat.

In many ways, it's a lot to take in at once, but that's not necessarily a bad thing because it shows a level of unquenchable ambition, creativity, and outspoken curiosity that's rarely felt in popular music today.

This is the sound of a band getting their shit together. Keep an eye on these guys.

DCD's uncompromising imagination can make it hard to jump into Anastasis, which can seem like an intimidating set of daunting, complex tracks that run six minutes or longer. But that just comes with the territory as Dead Can Dance sticks to its timeless principles.

This may not be the mixtape to change all mixtapes, but it's the mixtape for our time and place. It's the sound of a hundred flowers blooming right in your ears.

It’s a shame that she feels she has to bow to record company pressure, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t plenty to enjoy on Shakira and the variation of styles means that the album is never boring.

Best Coast still have delivered an overall solid album with California Nights, but it remains hard to see how the simplification of their craft and the softening of their image will allow Consentino to attract new listeners without losing the older ones.

There is a definite leaning towards a more straightforward form, which in this case arrives with the heavier implementation of rock music motifs. And that is also the main element that makes the album the band's most entertaining and fun release yet, albeit not its best.

The result is a more cohesive album than most tight rap collectives.

Melodic shifts that initially go unnoticed reveal themselves to be vital upon repeat listens.

This is energized, “up” music, cosmopolitan and tailor-made for strolling around a big city; the flow of traffic and people, a world in motion.

Monotonix trust their rock chops enough to let in some beauty and softness along the way, and that's what makes them more than just garage revival sticks in the mud.

Bogart has a nasal, pop punk voice, which works well in this genre. The girls have beautiful full voices. Their interplay is dynamic sometimes, but at others the disparity shifts the focus onto the thinness of the songwriting.

It’s her combination of strength and vulnerability, independence and longing for connection that makes Angela Desveaux & the Mighty Ship so remarkable.

Good taste in collaborators and a voice that has the capability to head heaven-bound all combine to make this an inconsistent, but ultimately rewarding listen.

It all pours down easily, with enough of variance in sound to remind you that there are many hands on deck.

It’s true that they could probably benefit from a stricter censorship of their own endless creativity, but Bitter Tea is an uncontrolled outpouring of musical concepts in every way, and you sense that the Friedbergers wanted this.

So bro-country this is, in that the women are shadows and might be figments of the man’s imagination.

They’ve landed on a fertile middle ground between their spark-and-buzz beginnings and those first wearier-but-wiser bends in life’s learning curve.

Feel Good certainly makes the disgruntled R&B fan happy with its experimentation and progressiveness.

lot of people may be upset by the departure from the extraordinary songs that were made in Dead Meadow and Shivering King and Others. I know I was at first. But this is an album about patience, the kind of patience that takes a forest to form.

Value is not an easy album to listen to and nor should it be. It is a deep and involving work with Visionist exploring his self-worth as an artist and how the process of making music can both give him strength and leave him vulnerable. A bold, ambitious album that once again finds Visionist truly worthy of his forward-thinking moniker.

In a postmodern age of irony and cynicism, of self-absorbed navel-gazing, when too many bands want to make vapid political statements and shallow social commentary, AC/DC reliably deliver the goods: solid blues-based rock ‘n’ roll that gets the blood pumping and the air guitar strumming.

Hyperdrama, while possibly their best effort since, doesn’t quite capture that same energy, though it does come close. Whereas Cross felt like the essential festival season soundtrack, Hyperdrama is more akin to a messy night out on the tiles with an old friend who’s picked up some new party tricks.

Given to the Wild is an accomplished, filler-free record that presents a band at peak condition, handily exceeding the marginal example set by similar-sounding acts.