It’s a confident, balanced work of mass art with only extremely minor flaws.

This talented duo has made one hell of an album, actually one of the best of 2008, in the process.

It may never occupy the place in the indie rock canon that "Slanted and Enchanted" has, and it may not be regarded as the band’s high point like "Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain," but 11 years later, this album still sounds great, maybe even better in its old age.

Merriweather Post Pavilion finds Animal Collective tight and sharp, and it suits them. Animal Collective’s music is for everyone’s world.

Each play of Grievances is like that triumphant, sweaty bar show, right there in your room.

By tapping into the limitless well of America’s musical traditions, Trucks has brought forth one of 2009’s first true gems and his best effort to date.

At any rate, having jabbed at indie success and scored at least one good hit, the band and its sole record--comprising just over twenty minutes of music--will surely be remembered for its insistent, unselfconscious songs as well as its endless playability.

Dan Auerbach was responsible for helping make one of the better albums of 2008, and Keep It Hid is already a contender in 2009.

After two great albums, Choral sees the duo consolidating all the gains made into its first real classic, an album that ought to delight hardened-ambient fanatics and neophytes alike.

Nothing that Fever Ray does is as immediate or soaring as a track like 'Marble House' but Fever Ray makes up for the lack of highs by being an even more all-enveloping experience than the last few Knife records.

Machines is not just a fantastic album--easily the best work Pritchard has produced since Global Communication--it’s also an early contender for album of the year.

For listeners of any act from Miwon to M83 to Dominik Eulberg, Boratto’s work is exemplary of seasoned musicianship and refreshing unpredictability in sound, and these sleek, ceiling-scraping missives are almost too grand--ingest small, careful servings and repeat as needed.

Allen Toussaint’s The Bright Mississippi offers a look backward at our music’s roots, but it does so with a keen consciousness of both modern jazz and rhythm-and-blues.

Both "Meek Warrior" and "Love Is Simple" are strong albums, but there’s a sense of unfulfillment in them--Akron/Family seems to be testing itself in new areas rather than completing a task. On new album Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free, though, that changes, as the band delivers a masterpiece.

One of the consistent strong suits of Earle’s albums has been the duets and backing vocals, and this album is no different, with enriching guest appearances by Tom Morello, his wife Allison Moorer and--a first--his son Justin Townes Earle on the top-rate track 'Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold.'

All bets aren’t necessarily off in terms of whether or not Grizzly Bear have hit their plateau--recall that we did this with "Yellow House" in 2006; oops--but it’s hard to imagine them giving us more to enjoy in one sweeping statement than they have here.

There is no way that anything I’m about to write regarding Rhett Miller’s self-titled solo album will adequately convey the way harmony and heartache meet with sharp wit, sweet woe and sly wordplay over a magnificent mixture of power-pop hooks, harder-rock riffs and tender folk ballads to perform the musical alchemy currently streaming from my speakers.

Older, wiser and with nothing to lose other than hair, Madness has gone and released an album that’s virtually flawless.

Few contemporary pop albums have spoken to the human condition so eloquently, and given the listener so much pleasure in the process, than Dark Night of the Soul.

Call it surprising/delightful, or call it thrilling/glorious. Either way, Dragonslayer‘s pretty great.

Maxwell might be delivering one course at a time, but for now, delivering one of the best albums of 2009 will sate your appetite just fine.

Because those pipes are big enough to shake the rain from the trees and, with an eclectic balance of genres leaning heavily towards folk and soul, she's got enough support to make her seem powerful rather than overbearing.

Combine the above average writing with the production skills of longtime Cleaves collaborator Gurf Morlix (who also contributes his legendary guitar on Everything You Love Will Be Taken Away) and you’ve got yourself a frontrunner for Americana album of the year.

Emphatic yet rarely overbearing choruses, all delivered in a subtle manner, will always bring me back to the road. The Cave Singers have mastered the art of give and take.

The true achievement of Mount Eerie’s Wind’s Poem is the redemptive arc Elverum finds within the black metal context.

Musically invigorating, lyrically exciting, and thematically prescient from start to finish, Love and Curses gets my vote as the best album of 2009.

Signal Morning is not only a vital part of that continued excellence; it’s one of the best damn albums of the year.

After Robots exudes an energy and a lack of self-consciousness that is exciting and refreshing.