Deerhunter isn’t repeating itself: This creatively restless group doesn’t stand still for long.

Bowie and producer Tony Visconti, who helped shaped his sound in the 1970s as well as produce seven T. Rex records, have struck gold in creating a work that is modern and well-connected to the artist's fabled sonic-past.

The music is at its best when it emulates an animated conversation, one voice leap-frogging the other with no one losing sight of the central theme.

This smart four-disc package commemorates the concert's 40th anniversary with a pristine remastered version of the original recording, five previously unreleased songs from the same show and an entire disc devoted to the fiery opening acts, B.B. King and Ike & Tina Turner.

Vampire Weekend's second album, Contra, finds the New York-based band pushing its eclectic, intellectual indie rock further using a mash-up of musical genres, clever wordplay and emotional heft.

The brothers have tapped into the amorphous joy at the heart of dance music, and have peppered Settle's masterfully executed tracks with that feeling.

Don't mistake the softness for weakness. While nothing is as biting as the aging hipster takedown 'Femme Fatale' (from his 2006 set "At Home With Owen"), he pulls out the knives and slices pseudo-intellectuals on 'A Trenchant Critique.'

New York duo the Books continue their tradition of using intriguing vocal samples behind folk-and electronic-based compositions on fourth album "The Way Out." This time around, the group also mixes jazz-fusion with quirky dialogue that ranges from meditation speeches to intimate voice mails.

Clearly you can take McBride--who co-wrote six of these tracks--anywhere and she'll sound just fine.

"I Learned the Hard Way" finds an eminent R&B band playing within its comfort zone and Jones continuing to distinguish herself as a multilayered frontwoman.

While its recent recordings have reflected a more subdued approach in the studio, band members Norman Blake, Gerard Love and Raymond McGinley never lose their knack for composing concise pop gems.

It's not so much that Merle Haggard has established himself as an American gem on his ambitious releases in the past decade; it's that we finally took notice.

Globetrotting frontman Damon Albarn then returned to Hong Kong to write lyrics, hoping to recapture the spirit. He has largely succeeded, as The Magic Whip is a fascinating snapshot of a group coming to personal and professional crossroads in a strange city where modern living leads to bewilderment and alienation.

11:11 is another winning showcase of exotic instrumental brilliance.

Ariana Grande's debut LP is a surprisingly varied affair for a 20-year-old Nickelodeon star with a devastatingly strong voice.

The act should be credited for not hewing to the tried-and-true formula it pretty much invented with previous releases but many of the double-disc's 18 tracks feel like they are embryonic rather than fully formed.

Give Up the Ghost is another rich offering from this distinctive female talent.

At 71, Staples still knows how to hang tough and shows no signs of slowing down.

After 15 years of recording together, the members of Guster deliver their poppiest, most cohesive effort with Easy Wonderful.

What Sound & Color does best is hard to describe any other way: The music chugs, boogies, churns and rolls. Among rock music of its kind, it's one of the most ­muscular collections in some time, yet it accomplishes this by hardly even flexing.

The vibe on the new album may be rootsier and more acoustic than Walker's usual fare, but it still emphasizes his knack for memorable wordplay and melodic know-how, which have earned him writing and producing gigs.

Evolution will silence all but the omnivores, and Shamir has the right taste buds. But he also has a great voice, a stunning countertenor that some have mistaken for female.

Plant has steadfastly resisted a return to the Zep fold; Band of Joy makes us glad for that.

The group spit-shines its soundtrack for working-class America.

On Souls, Maiden mostly hits its target.

There are some moments when the mood lightens, usually for romantic fare like the funky Estelle-assisted song "Midnight Hour." But these tracks display neither Kweli's lyrical precision nor Hi-Tek's adventurous sounds. The set also falls short of its opening promise to engineer a "shift in the paradigm of hip-hop."

On Praise & Blame, that gusty Northern soul voice sounds as righteous and true as it does when he's operating in the more carnal regions of his catalog.

Spoon's seventh studio album, Transference, strikes a balance between its early angsty indie-rock and the soulful deconstructed pop of its 2007 release, "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga."