No Wow is pure sex, pulsating blues-based rock and roll from start to finish.

Aside from the added guitar riffs and post-punk tones, Stars stick with a lush string section and neatly placed horns throughout, and their romantic appeal stays largely intact.

Despite the fact that Prekop isn't really pushing himself on this album, it's a near perfect distillation of his art.

The advantages that The Capitol Years have over many of their compatriots are the excellent voice of lead singer Shai Halperin and swoon-inducing harmonies.

Despite the relatively spartan proceedings, there is a substantial amount to latch onto here.

While Spektor possesses an intriguing voice, she uses it in such a cloying, affected manner as to be almost entirely off-putting.

The album's production, particularly the insistence on pinning Brown's hazy croon way on top of the mix, too often dulls any punch the music would otherwise have.

Where previous releases have been occasionally bogged down in somnambulistic reverie, the majority of The Earth Is Blue feels light as air.

It's easily the artist's most cohesive, polished work.

Over the course of Gemstone's 15 tracks, Green's heavily enunciated, lumbering delivery become more irritating than a busload of thespians on their way to an audition. Thankfully, Green's elementary-school melodies, which call to mind Jonathan Richman at his silliest, ultimately save this album from the topical hell to which it aspires.

An almost uniformly excellent outing.

Garnier displays an ability to approximate several genres, yet betrays his fellow travelers by failing to infuse any of them with individuality or innovation.

There's a layered, almost psychedelic feel to a lot of these songs, suggesting that Beam may not be the died-in-the-wool folkie some might have pegged him as.

The only thing that holds this collection down at all is the fact that you're listening to it at home, and, no matter how good your audio setup, it will never come close to the band's famously loud and beautiful live sets. And, at that, this comes close.

It's one thing to treat your influences with reverence, eyes and goals fixed on a past that brought them to you. It's another to fold them into the present, into the elusive omnipresence of the moment. And how Dead Meadow pulls this off on Feathers is an amazing thing to hear.

Filled with zesty pop confections, sing along choruses, and plenty of attitude.

An exceptional testament to James Murphy, both as a musician and producer.

For the most part, Outside Closer fails to separate itself from the pack of glitch-rock albums it now must share the market with.

Manzanita may be too diverse to be cohesive, but it is filled with interesting songs and the continued potential for great things.

Possessing a richly elastic set of vocal chords, Bird is in league with such silver-throated singers as Jeff Buckley and Rufus Wainwright, but he rarely if ever over-emotes, a common criticism leveled at Buckley and Wainwright.

When the songs work – it's some of the best material Faithfull has ever produced. But when they don't – you're left... falling asleep in the car.

All in all it's not the noise rush we were craving - and no, it's not as good as Source Tags - but did anyone really think it could be?

The album has a sonic cohesiveness that makes for a consistently pleasant listening experience.

The found sounds on Digital Ash can seem an affected and unnecessary embellishment in certain places.... But in other places they work.

Stripped down and folky... there's no denying Oberst's presence as a major artist who continues to evolve and explore his craft with each release.

The album is harsher, darker, and just plain louder than Low have ever been in their 10-year career.

I Sold Gold is the rare record that can poke fun at itself, the world, and its fans yet transcend simple entertainment.

Both Costa and Lindsay Anderson have an uncanny ability to evoke multiple emotions through their lyrics. The downside seems to be their lack of range; all the songs feel the same.