The best work of his inventively mad career.

Highly recommended.

Finally, a near-perfect pop disc from Minneapolis's Semisonic. While the band has always hinted it had the right stuff to deliver a truly great record, Chemistry is the first of the band's three releases to make good on the promise.

When you get over Everyday's new look, you still have the best Dave Matthews Band record ever.

There are better storytellers, there are better battle rappers, there are undoubtedly rhymers with more on their minds. But there isn't a better MC around, if you're talking about the art of sheer mic domination.

Full of the obscure and deranged moods that made Security alternately delightful and demented, this album revels in craggy vocals, thumping beats, esoteric instrumental sounds and a general feeling of beautiful dread.

Like Dylan going electric, Frank Sinatra going disco, and Kojak going bald, this is a watershed work for Nick Currie...

It rocks less but parties harder than 1997's Tellin' Stories.

Oozing confidence, clarity and common sense, the group's four MCs tackle their topics like the greats of old, distilling complex thoughts into simple, powerful rhymes.

Basement Jaxx do this so much better than anyone else, including Daft Punk, that you root for their mad programed sounds and unknown cast of determined singers. It's totally daft disco, sexy and sweaty, stupid and stupendous. This is pop.

Built To Spill relies on old-school verses/ choruses that demand humming just like that old-time rock 'n' roll...

Some may find the Aluminum Group's love-on-ice songs too slick, too lacking in visceral emotion. But like a cool breeze in summer, the Navins make melancholy a delicious treat.

World Without Tears... is the singer-songwriter's rawest album to date -- it's often closer to all-out rock than it is to either alt-country or the singer-songwriter tradition -- and it's also her best release so far.

Another sterling and fearless entry in the Earle discography.

Throughout there is a warm, unguarded, generous spirit.

At the very least, it's the best album of Paul Westerberg's spotty solo career.

Weightlifting is stellar TCS, expressing everything great about the band.

A very clear sounding Sexsmith singing in his Tim Hardin-quaver about the art of song, the loss of love and other intense philosophical insights that only a softspoken guy would concern himself with.

Both her songs, mature and articulate, and the quality of her voice, airy and haunting a la Nico (but not as dark), are of uncommon quality.

Once again, Hefner has delivered what is sure to be one of the most original releases of the year.

Tricky's most upbeat and accessible album ever, occasionally hinting at his noirish trip hop masterpiece, Maxinquaye.

Surreal and disquieting, yet comforting, Drawn From Life chills your bones while it lulls you to sleep.

Gorgeous melancholy is what these folks do best, and on tunes such as "The Mirror Phase," "Judah And The Maccabees," and a lullaby-like cover of "Blue Moon" from Big Star III, they outdo themselves, producing produce their finest collection since More Sad Hits in 1997.

It's that rare record that both thinks and rocks.

Using sparse arrangements, usually just a few programmed instruments and her feathery voice, Minekawa succeeds in creating lush songs rife with detail, melody, and mystery.

Yet another bombshell of an album, blowing the lid off with majestic melodies, muscular pop-metal, and lyrics that detail singer Scott Weiland's battle with life and inner demons.

The bleakness at the core of Blood Money won't make it a first choice for a late-night spin, but it's manna for the artist's fans.

Taking a large step in expanding its lexicon, the group, singer Gaz Coombes in particular, has tightened up its songwriting and come up with tunes that rival the band’s first hit "Caught By The Fuzz."