The Lady Killer doesn't have the same tightly focused future-soul sound as Green's other project, Gnarls Barkley, but that gives the singer a chance to show his wider ranging musical appetites with elements of vintage R&B, irresistible pop and even a couple of sleek spy-movie riffs.

These songs have deep bones, and though they don't always have an in-your-face immediacy, they're worth revisiting.

It's by no means a cheery album, but Narrow Stairs shows Death Cab for Cutie has overcome its major-label jitters and resumed making vital music.

Tapping into the sensuous mode of such classic divas of desire as Julie London and Peggy Lee, Diana Krall is at her most seductive on this bossa nova-flavored collaboration with Claus Ogerman.

The best record the Strokes should have released after "Is This It."

For all the impressive ambition inherent in its size and scope, its working parts boil down to a testament to the fun of making music.

It’s ecstatic music, surely; and intense, too, even as it’s joyful.

Never has grocery shopping seemed more promising, and if there weren't plenty of other reasons why Working on a Dream is a keeper, that one would be enough.

His double-tracked voice makes these songs truly mesmerizing.

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.

Wynonna Judd takes what appears to be a quirky assortment of songs she enjoyed while growing up and unifies them into a consistent and appealing album with her roomy vocal warmth and expansive personality.

Singers with powerful voices often gravitate toward material that lets them prove it, but Neko Case demonstrates the power of subtlety on her latest.

Stay Positive is an optimistic record that continues Finn's search for a sense of place.

It's the mark of a great band when each new album is better than the one before it, and with Only by the Night, Kings of Leon shows once more just how great a band it has become.

Their latest, A New Tide, is their most accessible set yet.

This is the grittiest album the band has yet put out.

He gives indulges that portion of his muse on the instrumental-centric Play while also managing to deliver a collection that is consistently lively and fun.

"Tio Bitar" is an excellent follow-up to "Ta Det Lugnt," offering another far-out trip courtesy of Ejstes and his musical magic.

Forth is classic Verve, epic in scope, with layer upon layer of sound.

It's a gorgeous, low-key album, full of musical nuance that unfolds with slow grace and exerts an irresistible pull back to the start after the last note has sounded.

Robotique Majestique is compelling and eminently danceable, and it has as much visceral kick as cerebral appeal for the indie dance kids who demand both.

It's a gruff, sometimes paranoid album with a decidedly subjective point of view, but Rising Down cuts no corners as its tells some hard truths to a society that is only too happy to stay in the dark.

They responded with Death Magnetic, the best Metallica album since "Metallica."

The soul of Van Zandt is evident on all of these songs--even in the distorted voice effect on 'Lungs'--but Earle best captures his spirit on 'Colorado Girl,' a high lonesome song with rich acoustic guitar chords and wistful vocals.

Opener 'All in It,' a slow-building swell of voices and guitars, sets the tone for album that's unashamed of its epic accessibility.

A more mature Allen might not be as much fun, but in the absence of acidity, her sweetness shines through.

The songs on Oracular Spectacular are considered and carefully constructed, and as a result, they’re taut, hooky and highly danceable, in a hipster-dance-party kind of way.

The beats are tight, the rhymes are tighter and the ladies seem like they're having fun without trying too hard or taking themselves too seriously.