They play one too many Springsteen cards with the dark “Cadillac Road” (at this point, Bruce pretty much owns any lyrics that revolve around mills shutting down), but the record ends on another strong track, “Across the River.” Taken as a whole, All Across This Land is one of the group’s strongest offerings in years.

With Grief’s Infernal Flower, Windhand goes from strength to even more strength, taking doom to the next level by refining tradition, rather than radically altering it.

The quality of the songs and Hawley’s ability to completely inhabit his songs make Hollow Meadows another triumph in his remarkable discography.

This album is a triumph, and with it, Protomartyr has pulled off the unlikely feat of making the rock record of the year, twice in a row.

1970-1975 You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything is as inspiring as its title implies and absolutely essential to boot.

Modestly presented but expertly crafted, Incidental Hum does exactly what a solo album from a well-respected bandleader is supposed to do: show off a different side of the artist’s talent and provide plenty of entertainment in the bargain.

Something so well crafted by a group of individuals that bleeds music and emotions makes me thinks/hopes this is just the beginning for The World Is A Beautiful Place and I Am No Longer Afraid To Die.

Though only nine songs long, Saturn’s Pattern is as close to heavenly as Weller’s ever been.

Weirdo Shrine is everything that the debut was and more.

Good Sad Happy Bad is more an interesting record than a piece of music you’ll return to for enjoyment. It’s a fun place to visit, but you might not want to live there.

Quite simply, Songs to Play is an excellent Robert Forster record.

Hearing it all together, over four discs, his innovations don’t seem as radical as they might have been considered at the time, but they’re nonetheless fascinating to devour.

Something More Than Free is like a novel set to music, each of its 11 songs a separate chapter that, when absorbed in full, leave you with the same kind of psychic shift a good book sets into motion.

Like his debut, 2012’s Clear Heart Full Eyes, Finn’s solo records tend to be a little darker and more-sparse than Hold Steady albums.

With electronic pop maverick Lawrence English producing, they have, if not exactly tamed their sound, at least neatened it up.

Taking the classic British penchant for hiding burning emotion with sardonic reserve and painting with expertly sculpted craft, Howard turns & the Night Mail into a new classic.

At over an hour, Instrumentals may try the patience of anyone not already acclimated to Pearce’s mood-driven vision. But fans who can’t get enough of his distinctive approach to composition and performance may find this record to be the purest expression of FSAness yet.

I like the tumult and ferocity of the album’s first half, though I’m not sure the world needs another “Everybody do the [insert dance move here]” song or anything else entitled “Rock and Roll Baby,” ever again.

With breathy singing and lush production as the connecting skein, Stupid Things That Mean the World puts Bowness firmly on the same level as David Sylvian, Peter Gabriel and other masters of adapting high art to accessible pop.

There is little if anything redeeming about this CD.

The album is brimming with originality. There are hints of Sonic Youth, Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments and the Swell Maps in the songs.

With 12 songs in about a half hour, the record kind of blazes by you but gives you plenty of room for multiple listens--it’s not a ‘deep,’ layered record to warrant that but one that gives you a rush of grime and song each time you do race through it.

Filled with some genuinely memorable moments The Helio Sequence show that if a band is open to experimentation and letting the light of the new day shine in, fascinating things can truly happen.

Like its celebrated, quarter-century old predecessor, Array 1 is the culmination of the group’s furious fusion of psychedelic crunch, ambient moan and motorik vroom, and a reminder of just how brilliant Loop is and always was.

The record, produced by John Congleton (St. Vincent, Swans), was pulled together after a year spent on the road, and it shows.

Eleventh Dream Day acknowledges its past and could fit in comfortably with the big dogs.

It’s a wonderful soul inspiring, mournfully imbued compendium of her songs that will hopefully continue to inspire an even younger crop of musicians on into the future.

The label unearthed a stellar collection of songs the band recorded over two night in 1968.... The CD set capturing all four shows is where you should spend your money.