All told, For Clouds and Tornadoes is a quality release from a musician that's not afraid to explore outside the usual methods to create extraordinary music.

They made one of the most interesting records of the year.

All told, The Faint, once again, have written a succesful album.

Conor Oberst's latest project has demonstrated his unmistakable ability to maintain continuity across an album while managing to quell any potential boredom before it begins to detract from the listening experience.

This is Newman’s most touching, musically rich and consistent record since "Good Old Boys" way back in 1974; and it’s hilarious to boot.

The intensity of its stylistic approach leaves it feeling nothing short of a musical dissertation as it side-steps melodies, bridges and verses from the get-go.

Vandervelde possesses a strong voice and a definite place as a singer-songwriter, even if that place isn’t too far above the rest just yet.

The latest in a series that's now produced two very good albums, Something For All Of Us... succeeds on many levels and is a testament to Brendan Canning as a solo songwriter and not just as a member of a very succesful band.

A fuller, more measured affair, In Flesh Tones is an impeccable weaving of threads.

For their first official release on Secretly Canadian, Bodies of Water sound concise, powerful and eclectic.

This is the band’s most mature and consistent record yet.

Object 47 is proof that Wire’s edge remains as sharp as ever.

There are four reasons why this album is necessary: firstly, it will make any party you happen to be soundtracking sound very clever. Secondly, following the samples and contributions will open up a whole world of modern and traditional music from the Southern Cone to you. Thirdly, both live and on stage, tracks like Pa'bailar rock a squeezebox like you've never heard. And, finally, Ry Cooder is nowhere in sight.

While not the most creative thing he’s produced, it feels naturally cohesive and stands as an interesting piece on its own.

Overall, it’s an improvement over the yawnfest of "Takk," but not nearly as consistent as one would like.

What made Laughter’s Fifth great and this one better than it might otherwise be is his commitment to just plugging in and playing, which gives the music a spontaneity sorely lacking in much of today’s post-digital landscape.

What they’ve given us is an exquisitely polished blur, enjoyable at times, mildly challenging at others, but nothing that you couldn’t feel comfortable piping in as background for the Sunday barbeque with the Petersons.

After a good handful of listens nothing hugely sticks and it isn't quite clear what they're aiming for.

With a tidy nine tracks, At Mount Zoomer seems like it would be trimmed of any unnecessary filler, but somewhere in the second half things begin to wilt with only shades of interesting ideas.

This is the band’s second album after their somewhat missed "Kamehamena," and their pounce only proves to reinstill the style of the album’s predecessor.

Adem has outdone himself, and has created what may be the strongest record of his solo career so far, and Takes merits hearing as an album in its own right, as well as being one of the best exponents of the maligned covers album genre. Highly recommended.

It’s a glorious mess of a record, reaching for everything at once, and hitting most of it.

Just download the good stuff or buy the album and don’t expect much from Rivers because he never really gave you more than a few minutes of cheap thrills in the first place, which is plenty to thank him for.

Fleet Foxes is certainly a very good record, but it is kept from greatness by its failure to capture the communal feeling of its excellent, buzz-building live shows.

I’m gonna go way out on a limb and say that this is their best album yet.

If you like your pop music with harmonies and heart then the Explorers Club could well have recorded the soundtrack to your summer.

This is a great album, possibly the finest covers record in recent memory, and it’ll take some beating in 2008.

The Age of the Understatement might have been conceived as a tribute to a beloved era in music but thanks to the industry, enthusiasm and talent of Alex Turner and Miles Kane it’s become something much more interesting than that: a great record in its own right.