Overall, Bubblegum, is very much a triumph of restyling, that makes it perhaps the most necessary Clinic LP since 2000's Internal Wrangler debut. Perhaps however, it's also time that Clinic developed more as a songwriting vehicle, with singer Ade Blackburn making his vocal/lyrical presence more memorably penetrating.

Not a slow spreading psych filled with guitar soloing, but instead an orchestra of miniatures, Infinite Love presents a joyous world which is always bright and never boring.

As one of music's most consistent bands, their ideas continue to surprise and astonish on Halcyon Digest's soaring highs.

For those who found that record [Nouns] to be a trying listen though, it's unlikely that the duo will win them over with Everything In Between, another lean and visceral assemblage of songs that expounds on many of Nouns' most endearing qualities.

Sounds come and go but the inspiration and wherewithal to realize your own goal in tone is paramount. Women seem to know exactly what they stand for and in presenting it they've entirely outdone themselves, again.

My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky sounds more like the essence of Michael Gira than the Angels Of Light ever did, and ought to also serve as another broadside to the idea of reformations being inherently grubby and uncreative ventures.

This new EP is a terrific welcoming of fresh, new thriving music from one of electronic music's leading men.

As entertaining as it is, there remains a nagging notion that Grinderman 2 is ultimately another water-testing exercise to decide upon which seas Nick Cave will sail the full Bad Seeds line-up when it next reconvenes – now sadly minus Mick Harvey – in the studio.

Lisbon sounds like your typical Walkmen album. Laid-back and tempered at moments and jarringly stunning at other times, but never dull.

False Priest generally packs the kind of shock and awe that made 2007's Hissing Fauna such a delight. Throw in some deft work at the boards by one of today's hottest producers and a couple of guest appearances by notable female vocalists, and you've got one of 2010's most colorful releases. It's not for everyone, but that's half the fun of it.

Yes it's slower, darker and more pensive, but like the sun that breaks through the clouds to reveal a brisk sunny morning, it shimmers and shines with splendid, polished arrangements and even grander guitar-scapes.

Four long players into their career, you can't help but wonder if Interpol is just trying too hard to recapture some of that Turn On the Bright Lights magic. Either that, or the creative juices have been stifled by a rough turn of events.

Fans of The Rhumb Line are unlikely to go head over heels for The Orchard, but Ra Ra Riot's latest is still among the most clever and thoughtful indie pop heard this year.

It's sometimes hard to push past the (at times) seriously sappy lyrics and focus on the music. Fortunately for us though, Eels are the focused ones here and have proven once again their acumen for crafting quirkily moody pop songs that are impossible not to like.

The noises on Rivers, while off-beat, are more or less pleasurable, not testing the listener--instead introducing them, guiding down the increasingly sealed-off world the record builds for itself.

7th Symphony feels like an album that's 60% true artistic vision and 40% simply borrowed from the mainstream to fill out the track listing. If Apocalyptica can craft songwriting that's unique, mature and deep, they should include it on the next album. If not, they should just stick to the instrumentals.

All Delighted People is very succinctly, a superb masterwork from a musical genius--with plenty more greatness to come.

It's the sort of album which reaches back and forward in equal measure, applying what's known about past songwriting to invigorate the present day.

He over-thought most of the tracks, failing to maintain focus on or fully develop any particular theme. Various elements drop in and out at terse intervals, presenting an idea for just enough time to intern it before moving on. But El-P has always had a theatrical flair, creating music that transports you to another place and time, and several tracks here do suck you into his demonic hip-hop underworld.

Whatever it is, The Suburbs is nothing short of extraordinary; it's Arcade Fire's moment of clarity where everyone can stop and take notice because in the most frank of terms, this is also nothing short of a masterpiece.

Where The Messengers Meet might be the best MSHVB can do with their current MO, it's a remarkably compact album of emotionally-swollen, disillusioned folk rock -but you get the feeling that the band might be on the precipice of something much more titanic.

The consistent, unwavering quality songs make up for most of Jaill's derivativeness. It's pretty hard to write meaningful music out of such rooted conventions of guitar, drums, and bass, but That's How We Burn is engaging throughout, which is quite an achievement for a meat and potatoes rock band.

Infra holds its ground amongst Richter's finest pieces of music, movie accompaniment or not.

Secret Cities has an awesome album here. Every song is a standout, while keeping an inordinate amount of cohesiveness. Everybody should love it.

It's hard to dislike this album because it is capably performed and the sounds and voices work up a dreamy headspace, but it's also difficult to be really enthusiastic about it.

One or two of the tracks sound a bit forced in their arrangements, and I can only too easliy envisage a studio listing in which individual songs are prefixed by descriptions : (the Polka number, the Dylan number, the BRMC number, the one Tom Waits wrote, etc.) but this doesn't detract from the album, if anything it only enhances it as, with a significant part of the albums production process actually audible, and with the musicianship never less than wholly professional, it's difficult to find actual flaws in the project.

Expo 86 is a brilliant reinforcement of what occurs when true chemistry exists in a band.

From those opening, gorgeous, chords – their sultry delivery, their soulful demeanor, their jazzy glean, everything – signals that The Roots are back.