The record sounds tailored for mass consumption, which means every song packs a melodic doozie and indomitably contrived storylines about soldiering on while our world threatens to spin off its axis.

Like their name, Wires Under Tension's music is fraught with restlessness, and in a music industry that still generally rewards and promotes the familiar and commonplace, a little agitation might be just what we need.

Overall though, this is quite a solid and fun debut EP.

Thankfully, Danielson's music is interesting enough to look past some of these lyrical drawbacks.

As much as one would assume that times have changed, Vile is able to supplement his strengths with newfound diversity and very simply, delivers a formidable sophomore album.

Scott-Heron's voice sounds just as prime as it did last year, except this time around Smith has adorned the versions with added beats, synths and keyboards for a fuller, richer sound.

Where past efforts have been brash and speedy, this one takes its time and delivers messages of love(!) instead of messages of insubordination.

It presents a picture of Anderson as a gifted songwriter and heartfelt singer not limited by a signature style, but who still manages to express a strong personality and distinct creative voice.

Blood Red Shoes still rocks out on most tracks, all riled up and restless, keeping the rhythms chunky and choppy on standouts like the defiantly-played and shouted "Light It Up," the revved-up guitar and drums of "Don't Ask," and the guitar jags and slamming drums on "Keeping It Close."

Props to McGuire for making an album exuding love, humbleness, and gratitude which didn't sacrifice any of his compositional complexity or overemphasize its conception. He should be proud of living with himself.

There's no denying that Departing is miles ahead of where the band was a year ago and while die-hards will love Hometowns for a long time to come, Departing is absolutely the band's strongest work to date.

Woodsman are at the very least an inventive group of musicians, but the balance between their songwriting abilities and their wilder excursions into improvised sound isn't quite equal, although this creates its own dynamic throughout the album.

Akron/Family II might be too scattered with divergent concepts to capture the attention of the masses, but in this still very young 2011, it should rank among the most ambitious and rewarding listens of the year.

Bardo Pond is not necessarily Avant-garde, but neither is it easy listening. It does however, defy categorization and perhaps with a little less unguided frenzy and a little more tempered structure would allow this reviewer to recommend it.

Like every other album, there are the trademarks we've all come to grow and love from the band and by the end of this, all of the most loving adjectives one could shower on an album will be spread all over The King of Limbs.

Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1 contains some of the finest work Earth has produced to date.

While it definitely is more static and sustain, you really need to turn this up, put down whatever else you're doing, and connect with it in the moment, as this is very present music. It feels like a refined version of his past esthetics, and is more intense for the limitations he has decided to work under.

Appropriately for an album called The Gathering, the esthetic Arbouretum achieves feels somewhat monolithic--overarching and whole instead of neurotic and splintered--and in this manner should provide healing properties for a psyche battered around by all the little specifics of daily life.

He's been able to continue on his path without compromising his talents or ability and with Underneath the Pine, this is now two outstanding albums in the span of just as many years.

The Go! Team makes sure to reach for the stars and they're certainly poised to simply get more well-known from here.

Sure, sometimes, House makes for an enjoyable listen--but when those little electronic beats come in, and when autotuned vocals slip into the picture, it becomes increasingly more apparent that Le Concorde--or at least House--isn't special, but it sure thinks it is.

For Janes, Say Goodbye is a shining force and testimony of the great resolute determination is; if this is what her version of soul is, the new and inviting experiments are surely welcome.

On Excerpts, as Ensemble, Alary presents a newly defined sound and with it, a precarious skill in honing in sharp classical strengths for a successful release.

There is a solid amount of quirkiness to realize and I Was A King surely have a knack for turning out strong songs but maybe next time a 'less equals more' approach would be more fitting.

In all seriousness, Wondervisions isn't hard to handle. There's nothing abrasive here to worry about, and the variation in structure and theme is exciting enough.

The album sways and moves in ways we haven't seen since 1998′s 1965. Dynamite Steps sits comfortably in his canon, and that is perhaps the perfect compliment.

There's a nagging feeling that Life Coach is a sketchbook instead of an art exhibit, and feels a little insubstantial at times. The album hits more than it misses, though, and makes up for the fact that it doesn't really have too much new to say by trading in an impressive range of styles while managing a moody cohesiveness.

Though generally a triumph, the album has a couple cuts that feel unsubstantiated.