A worthy addition to the catalog.

The album is one of the few anti-industry freakouts that have appealed to me on both a conceptual and musical level, so whether or not you are familiar with Busdriver’s skittering flow or innovative song structure, it’s worth the time to see why he’s so damn mad after all.

It is intermittently thrilling, the first record since Perfect to show any of that record’s gleaming promise, but it is nonetheless brought aground by some of the same problems that dogged the last two LPs.

The songs are still long, the rhythms are still organic, and in general Isis still sounds like Isis.

Perhaps the biggest draw of the album--its sheer fragility and unlikeliness, amidst throngs of over-arranged pseudo-chamber indie records.

Much of the album bears more than a passing resemblance to the second half of [Daft Punk's] Discovery.

His pieces match open, lovely music with lyrics depicting people in struggle.... Individual songs take on various moods, but the album never dips fully to the bleak.

Pencil Ne-Yo in as R&B rookie of the year--and don’t be surprised if no one trumps him before 2006 is gone.

Summer succeeds largely because it forces Oldham’s songs into unfamiliar positions.

Fans of â??classicâ? psychedelic music will find few greater pleasures this year than Happy New Year.

Beyoncé has a presence, a character which is totally unique to her, and B’Day’s utterly imbued with it.

It has a beautiful simplicity that belies its sophistication.

If there’s a single quality that ties these songs together, it’s consistency of scope and sound.

While sometimes Classics sees the group straying from their conceptual center, it’s never without Ratatat’s unmistakable identity and indelible gentle humor.

As an introductory My Morning Jacket mixtape, Okonokos is top-shelf.

You can write off some of Cease to Begin’s bland regionalisms as lacking in spice. But if, come midnight, Marry Song's' serpentine gospel finds home in your head, you better get up and read.

Mercury Rev... mostly eschew their distinctive brand of chamber pop, scaling back the saturated psychedelic orchestral flourishes for something a bit more terrestrial. In doing so they’ve fashioned the perfect complement to Dunger’s emotional voice and poignant songs of love lost.

In its no-frills pleasures, A Bigger Bang recalls Some Girls and Emotional Rescue, two great meaningless albums.

Stellastarr* pushes its new grasp of tension and release, and the album shows their increased sense of cohesion.

Rehashed Bob Mould still beats most of what’s out there, though, so the album has its strengths.

Despite the overbearing length and the sometimes lazy lyrics, Kidnapped by Neptune is a strong release in a year of strong releases.

Load Blown does more than enough to keep "very" and "awfully," respectively, in the mix.

The music from the Envelopes’ first LP, Demon, is so loose and frivolous it feels like the Swedish group wasn’t even aware that the mics were hot.

The album sounds simultaneously familiar, yet alien.

Luckily, his affable spunk grounds much of the exploration, yet, at some point, the line between circumstance and good songwriting becomes suspiciously blurred.

They sound laid back. They sound like they’re having a blast. They sound, well, loose.

Parts of Good Bad Not Evil have some fascinating sonic touches.

Close listening is rewarding--the boys have a knack for crafting intricate songs that lean heavily on texture and subtle interplay--but perhaps a bit too gentle.