Bid's disaffected-yet-engaging vocals and slice-of-life lyrics remain compelling as ever. [No. 118, p.59]

A rousing, energetic exploration of the Roy Orbison-influenced rock 'n' roll, classic country and Latin influences--that blows all the damn mall-folk clogging up our inbox out of the goddamn water. [No. 96, p.57]

These are the quiet, beautiful songs that made Belle & Sebastian seem so monumental for a short time. [#68, p.88]

There remain very few great "lost" albums. Make no mistake. This is one. [No. 147, p.59]

Low is the heaviest band in rock. [#48, p.100]

It continues to add up to something special. [No. 139, p.51]

The richest, smartest, warmest work they've ever done. [No. 117, p.61]

Orphans plays less like a career capstone than Waits' one-man Library of Congress field-recording project. [#74, p.93]

Finds both beatmaker and rapper at the peak of their powers. [#70, p.89]

A potent set of tunes. [No. 130, p.53]

Further proof that Fidlar's headliner-destroying stint as the Pixies' opening act was no fluke. [No. 124, p.55]

No One Deserves Happiness is even better [than One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache]. [No. 130, p.53]

She once again raises the bar for her personal best... [#50, p.85]

For anyone who would like to experience all of Hansard's estimable gifts in a single listening session, he has thoughtfully provided a compendium of his patented brilliance on Didn't He Ramble. [No. 124, p.56]

The Hope Six Demolition Project is yet another remarkable PJ Harvey effort. [No. 130, p.54]

A better record than the Shins' first--a sonically bolder production with fewer effects and more hooks per square inch than a flyrod factory. [#61, p.109]

The group's 17th album sounds as fresh and over the top as anything it's ever done. [No. 130, p.55]

Post Pop Depression comes across like a third Pop partnership with Bowie, only more brutal and more elegiacally touched by the shadows of the smiles in Pop's memory. [No. 130, p.56]

It's what the British Invasion might've sounded like had it come after punk rock. [#58, p.109]

American Dream is, in purely sonic terms, their richest, most viscerally pleasurable record yet, rife with layered, polyrhythmic percussion and an encyclopedic array of synth textures. [No. 147, p.56]

Their [Doherty and Barat's] boyish charms are punctuated by sneers and jeers, leaving the listener clueless as to who ends where the other begins. That sort of daft mystery makes Anthems--and the Libertines in general--worth its weight in dope and gold. [No. 124, p.58]

Evocative bursts of noise and youth abound everywhere, and there's absolutely no reason not to succumb to them. [No.89, p.59]

It's beautiful. [No. 139, p.55]

The Convincer gives Lowe yet another gold star with which to pad that resume. [#51, p.99]

The eight songs are all beautifully crafted, integrating elements of folk, blues and country/rock.... A new American classic. [No. 115, p.55]

Even a listener deeply familiar with these records--no, especially that listener--will enjoy a high reward for the outlay. [No. 124, p.60]

This is the first time since 2003 that Elverum fully succeeds in casting a meditative spell strong enough to suck everyone listing into its singular IRL riptide. [No. 117, p.57]

Some of these songs are potent, for-real rock songs. [No. 124, p.61]