Beck has shown an affinity for retro-leaning styles on his previous records, too, but he's never found a sound quite as consistent or compelling as the one Danger Mouse dials in here.

Hammond's lyrics and vocals aren't as distinctive as those favored by Strokes singer Julian Casablancas, but the guitarist's music breathes in ways Strokes songs don't.

Aside from standout individual performances, what makes this vibrant session click so naturally is the collaborative spirit bonding these two great American artists tapping into the rich, varied legacy of our popular music.

But at its core, the album is no great departure. It's the same seamless amalgam of pop, folk, country and R&B Sexsmith has perfected, like influences and admirers Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe, as poetic and thoughtful as it is tuneful.

The disenchanted Brits drag their romantic confusions onto the dance floor, where they hope sparkly synths and pulsing club beats will point them toward some much-needed answers. As might be expected, they make little headway, though their wheel-spinning isn't all for naught.

As a placeholder for Hudgens' future career, Identified serves its purpose, even if it's seldom identifiable as her own work.

On 'Sensitive Boys,' one of several standout ballads, he articulates the album's thematic truism: Done right, rock 'n' roll is a reason for living.

Lyrically and musically, the album is not a big departure from the band's classic sound, with all 13 tracks telling a glam-rock story of tattoos, drugs and strippers.

He delivers everything that makes Silver Jews records great, but he's fallen victim to his own past successes: the peaks and valleys that made "Tanglewood Numbers" such a dizzying listen have been smoothed down and filled in, leaving the faithful with an album that is merely good.

It's an improvement on the band's impressively dull 2005 album, "X&Y," but Coldplay's latest doesn't recapture the promise of the band's first two albums.

Although "Queen Mary" was a strong showing, At Mount Zoomer--named for the band's recording space--is an instant classic, distancing itself from indie rock's skin-deep quirks on the way to something grander and more enduring.

Pacific Ocean Blue makes a strong case for Wilson's skill as a songwriter and arranger.

His melodies are subtle, but don't confuse his restraint with detachment--these songs sound deeply felt.

This is grown-up rock, with an adult swagger, from one of today's most gifted songwriting bands.

Wainwright's songs are tight, cohesive and show real emotion.

With so many stylistic shifts, there's no easy description for the kind of album My Morning Jacket has created, so let's leave it at this: Evil Urges is the sound of a great band that's only getting better.

She has fresh relationship issues to work through on Flavors of Entanglement, her first set of new tunes since 2004, but she has difficulty striking a balance between soul-searching and dance grooves on a set that doesn't distinguish itself with either.

We should have known. If his raspy, cartoonish voice didn't mark him as different, his quick wit, offhanded wordplay and quirky subject matter should have in a genre populated largely by grim-faced imitators.

His singing is a string of raspy exhalations, a measured and folksy wrapper for the despondent musings on 'War Is Kind,' one of several tunes that assess the outside world through introspection.

Parallel Play finds the quartet in fine form.

Whether rollicking through "St. James Infirmary" or reflecting on "Wouldn't It Be Loverly," Wilson is in top-form, always sounding quite loverly.

As on past releases, he mostly celebrates the snap and polish of the sharkskin '60s. His songs crib so blatantly from that era that citing his influences--Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Van Morrison--is almost redundant.

There are a few clunkers, and the three songs sung by other band members don't add much, but the so-called "Red Album" is better for its unevenness.

This time, the strong songwriting and astute musical arrangements combine to make Mann's latest her best album so far.

Between the grounded sweetness of her singing and the quirky naturalism in her lyrics, songs like the throwback-style 'Anyone but You' develop a naturally appealing sophisticated country.

Pecknold and guitarist Skyler Skjelset have been writing teenage symphonies to God since they were actual teenagers, and that transcendent love of music shines through in their own songs.

If anything, the group's latest is another musical masterpiece from a band known for putting out musical masterpieces.

Modern touches aside, many of the songs fall somewhere between the Stones' "Exile on Main Street," minus the desperation, and the Kinks classics " Village Green Preservation Society" and "Muswell Hillbillies."