While it's a deeply cathartic break-up record, it's both personal and political. [No. 108, p.57]

What elevates Meridian above the throngs of similar abstract, mod-synth ambient records are the same sensibilities that carried albums like Dreamless Sleep, even if the tools are different this time around. Tracks that, for the most part, sound formless--never careless. [No. 121, p.53]

Higher!'s real value is in its depth: Stone needs four CDs to display his breadth, and this comp is full of funky fun. [No. 101, p.59]

Jackson sounds as vital as ever in front of her live band, and has crafted a definitive album in a storied career. [#92, p.54]

This disc is pure Stewart - urgent, visceral electro-protest for the 21st century. [No. 85, p.59]

Her fourth and most accomplished album to date maps a course to know-not-where in the most emotionally direct, imaginative way possible. [No. 110, p.60]

Eitzel is a far cry from Dido, but he still manages to find a proving ground where his nicotine-stained fingerpicking and tales of emotional erosion can make an uneasy peace with the precision of the Portishead crowd. [#50, p.90]

The album has plenty of massive organ sounds and driving rhythms. [No. 112, p.53]

Fleet Foxes' full-length debut showcases a gift for folk-adjacent mini-epics that evolve in unexpected directions yet never lose their organic center. [Summer 2008, p.102]

More of the same, yes, but riding what sounds like an autumnal rebirth. [#58, p.86]

The title track ... and the unstoppably melodic "Billy Wire" are two of the catchiest tunes Pollard has ever penned. [No.88 p.56]

Skelethon finds the stealth-drawling rapper swallowing his wise-as-his-namesake words, then spitting out more quixotic phrasing and racing, racy syllables than Busta Rhymes might if he was on a hot martini of Red Bull, moonshine and methamphetamine. [No.89, p.52]

Marissa Nadler’s sixth studio record finds the Boston-based singer creating beautiful, sweeping songs that feel as ethereal as the last dream before dawn. [No. 131, p.59]

Most of Skeleton is an endless rush, sounding like up-tempo versions of the Pixies' surf-rock choruses. [#71, p.93]

It's quite haunting. [#73, p.103]

Segall makes quite a cacophonous rock 'n' roll racket with infectious pop stompers like rousing, four-on-the-floor rocker "You're The Doctor" and the menacing, rolling riffage of "They Told Me To." Yet, the headroom in the mix makes so the oceans of pulverizing reverb don't swallow the hooks. [No. 92, p.59]

Consistently fantastic. [#64, p.80]

The album is singularly that of Ono's deliciously odd aesthetic. [No. 102, p.59]

Crisper and cleaner than any previous Why? musing, Mumps Etc. is chamber hop for people who buy every remastered reissue of Pet Sounds. [No. 92, p.60]

Ghost's most ambitious achievement yet. [#74, p.98]

Seventh Tree is a moody, understated gem. A finer hangover record will be hard to come by in 2008.

For all its guest appearances (Neko Case, Silver Jews’ Brian Kotzur and Devotchka’s Tom Hagerman), the album’s overall sound is tight and consistent.

The overwhelming success of this unexpected Mac mashup is clear evidence that it's more than a one-off idea. [No. 144, p.52]

Most of Traps keeps the toes a-tapping with happily-sung, sad-bastard references to bygone lovers, running out of weed and coming of quarter-age. [No.88 p.57]

Nothing ever explodes on The Evens, which eschews Fugazi-style noise in favor of subtle dynamics and unsettling clarity. [#68, p.92]

An uneasy gamut of emotion imbues another exceptional Mountain Goats effort. [No. 92, p.51]

He's broadened his palette, finding the muscle to push against his lightness, the long, legato breaths to anchor his 30-second notes, and the heart to say all the things he can't say on his own. [No. 106, p.57]

Downright pretty. [No.88 p.57]

For the first time, they’ve refined that obsession into something listeners can sink their teeth into.

The A Frames ultimately come off as serious students of history, not fashion. [#67, p.84]

What strike most are Sheff's strained, impassioned vocals and the joyful variety of instrumentation. [#67, p.110]

Including essential ’70s albums like Zuckerzeit, Sowiesoso and two classic Eno collaborations, this killer collection shows Cluster refining its minimalist, electro-acoustic, programmed, studio-pop improvisations in urban and rural environs. [No. 131, p.53]

The Singles is as good a starting point as any, as it highlights the diversity that spanned the band's entire career. All the classics are present and accounted for. [No. 144, p.54]

Revolution is not a political screed, as the band scorches and eases its way through a fair number of life/love reflection. [No. 144, p.55]

It stands as not only the most fully realized Portastatic album but as one that ought not be overshadowed by its creator's more well-known outlet. [#59, p.107]

Sugaring Season isn't a breakthrough, but it's a consolidation of Orton's strengths. [#92, p.58]

This attention-grabbing sophomore grower beckons with a wicked lick. [No. 106, p.55]

Cheap Trick sticks to its strengths. [No. 144, p.56]

Playfulness ultimately wins over arty schlock. [#59, p.106]

Earle sounds invigorated and relaxed, and these are some of his best songs in years. [No. 144, p.58]

Lion is Murphy's most enraged, engaged and engaging album. [No. 110, p.57]

Terrifically jangling. [#73, p.99]

Ridiculous packaging and intensely personal liner notes make this a must-have for fans. [No. 106, p.56]

There's much more to this band and album than the throwback aesthetic. [Fall 2007, p.98]

His velvet voice has aged, but with elegiac tunes like “Dog On A Chain,” “Someone Else” and “Friday’s Love,” you can still hear the gifted genius who charmed a true legion of harmonic pop savants. [No. 129, p.59]

The songs are steeped in anguish and melancholy, distressing meditations on the loss and limitations that are coming to define life for many young people in these uncertain times. [No. 106, p.56]

By focusing mostly on the early entries from Dylan's canon, Nile reminds us of Dylan's power and poetic brilliance. [No. 144, p.57]

The Power Of Negative Thinking is a weighty, absorbing, often hugely entertaining and occasionally thrilling curio. JAMC completists will love it, but four CDs’ worth?

Modern Creation is big, buzzy guitar pop that is as timeless as it is timely. [No. 108, p.60]

The comforting melodies offset Toth's poetic wordplay, shining a light on lyrics that are alternately comforting and disturbing. [No. 110, p.61]

A keeper. [No. 106, p.58]

Golightly's voice has the ability to inhabit a variety of characters in conversational styles, and her versatile guitar playing makes the songs come alive. [No. 107, p.57]

The Jayhawks have always sounded nostalgic, but Paging Mr. Proust proves there's still vitality in the tried and true. [No. 131, p.57]

Nothing truly "new" but still revealing surprises and delights for the initiated. [No. 144, p.61]

By stepping around traditional rock instrumentation, the group is able to cover a lot of ground. [#69, p.112]

The perfect companion piece for black-lit nights at home. [No. 144, p.61]

This is dense and metallic and gorgeous. [#82, p.57]

Somber early works by the Cure and Joy Division read like knock-knock jokes by comparison. [#46, p.66]

Their most sustained work... It's sometimes ethereal, sometimes sedate, sometimes dissonant--but it's always artufl, quoting tiny fragments of Steve Reich, Brian Eno, and Miles Davis to steer the music toward a smart new seriousness. [#47, p.122]

Circles finds the band leaving a bit of the motorik behind for more melodic and dynamic territory. [#82, p.57]

It's a success throughout. [No. 94, p.53]

Though there are crinkled guitars and tiny beats slipped into the mix, they only add to the eloquence of the lush affair.

A captivating listen. [No.87 p.58]

The slowly picked guitar, the detailed songwriting, the harmonica and the intriguing, plain-spoken lyrics are all here. [#64, p.96]

The playful Dig!! Lazurus Dig!!! stands among his most mature albums. [Summer 2008, p.98]

The arrangements turn more delicate and acoustic as the songs grow more hopeful. [No. 131, p.61]

It's every bit as special as it sounds. [No. 149, p.57]

These songs are raw and muscular. [No. 131, p.61]

Recalls the blow-out blues of Beggars Banquet, a record not so much made for reveling as it is for the next-day hangover. [#69, p.95]

With LUX, Eno continues to show off the theatricality of subtlety. [No. 94, p.54]

A comfortable but nonetheless adventurous next step for this secretly brilliant band. [No. 131, p.61]

Buffalo Killers have conceived an evocative soundtrack comprising equal parts of rush, peak, contemplation and glow. [No. 109, p.52]

Akron/Family is John Brown's body, the ghost of Tom Joad and the art-school spirit of Andy Warhol crammed into one ornate, mossy mausoleum. [#68, p.100]

Forever Sounds’ strength is in its emphasis on the sound of the band, echoing its increasingly confi dent, assured live show. [No. 129, p.57]

Whether in the flesh or behind-the-scenes, each work is all Wainwright. [No. 131, p.61]

A catchy rock record steeped in intelligent social and personal commentary that incorporates pedal and lap steel with great cowpunk results. [#60, p.119]

Sharply written and softly played, the perfectly bittersweet End Of Love balances the books. [#67, p.87]

Assured and assertive, Night Time, My Time plays like the darker, dirtier counterpart to fellow category-co-founders Haim. [No. 105, p.54]

Heaven Adores You accomplishes its purpose: It reminds us of the evolution of a favorite artist and gives us the gift of new music, even if what it does best is send us back to the original albums to say yes to them all over again. [No. 129, p.51]

The jaunty-yet-subtle tunes sneak up on you slowly, so you don't notice O'Rourke's corrosively misanthropic lyrics until they're inextricably lodged in your head. [#53, p.86]

IX strips down the layers and offers walls of noise, but cushions the blow with moody interludes. [No. 116, p.53]

You may smirk, but you're more likely to sing along to Some Things Never Stay The Same than to crack up at its extra-layering and gratuitous cymbal flourishes. [No. 105, p.55]

Harrowing electronic soundscapes set the scene like a Cronenberg film with sputtering, stuttering drum machines, droning organs, witchy background coos and Stewart vocals. [No. 106, p.61]

Transformation is richly and lushly inherent in everything Hegarty makes his own. [No. 116, p.53]

Anachronism never sounded so good. [#53, p.72]

This five-LP/four-CD set collects all of its albums and a ton of extras, and paints romantic picture of a band that possibly could only have existed when it did. [No. 116, p.53]

New Seasons is a reverb-drenched, genre-hopping gem, the culmination of a 10-year, eight-album journey that promises to bear even more riches farther down the road.

Goldfrapp is the rare dance art-pop band that bleeds artistic integrity without looking back to the '80s for inspiration. [#71, p.98]

This double-disc retrospective includes an illustrated, 82-page hardcover book that tells her story, all six of her singles and an expanded version of her sole LP, a live album that captures her ferocious charisma and impassioned, gravelly voice on familiar R&B hits like "Money," "High Heel Sneakers" and "Shotgun." [No. 149, p.61]

No, the London band is never going to be called innovative, but the gusto with which it approaches those naked influences of Dinosaur Jr, Pavement and Sonic Youth--and the craftsmanship with which it does so--cracks through our cynical shells. [No. 129, p.61]

This loosening of the reins, ironically, has yielded her most intimate and cohesive album. [#67, p.92]

This box set definitively captures the shaggy, psychobilly garage-stomp of U-Men during their decade-ling '80s run as the foremost representative of the Emerald City underground. [No. 149, p.61]

The 13-track Parallel Play is a decidedly less ambitious effort, but it’s no less brilliant in its execution.

Better still is hearing Byrne's mincing yelp and Veloso's flickering vocals as one entity as it winds its way weirdly through the calm breezes of Talking Heads' "Heaven" as well as a small bunch of flowery nu-brazilian classics and cuts penned by both composers. [#86, p.59]

A more ambitious and confident document of Califone's ability to catapult old sounds into a new millennium. [#58, p.84]

A taut, 40-minute affair with no filler. [#71, p.110]

Quilt doesn’t merely revisit retro glories on Plaza; it infuses them with contemporary indie-rock energy and melodic dissonance to create an edgy and engaging hybrid. [No. 129, p.59]

We All Want The Sam Thing is the best of his three solo albums because it lets the music serves the stories. [No. 141, p.55]