Though it isn't the staggering atom bomb that was Turn on the Bright Lights, Sunlight Makes Me Paranoid is intermittently brilliant and wholly accomplished, establishing Elefant as more than a flash in the pan.

The Double combine unsettling electronic noise with simple, enjoyable vocal hooks to create a rickety, rattletrap pop collage that's too undeniably ear-catching to ignore.

It is refreshing to encounter an album that does a number of different things well rather than sticking to a tried and true formula.

The Posies' latest effort offers five power-pop gems that match the best efforts of this veteran Seattle band.

If Kurt Cobain had been popular in high school, Ronald Reagan had funneled billions of dollars into improving America's inner cities and the Chemical Brothers had found fulfilling positions in video rental management, all albums might sound like 604.

The album sounds full whether you're in the next room or sitting right beside the speakers. Details -- a horn here, a steel guitar there, a lilting piano figure that appears out of the ether -- fill every cranny in a sound that's still as spacious as Giant Sand's Southwestern soundtracks.

Homesongs is his minor key playground, filled with masterpieces in the making. All you have to do to enjoy them is slow... down...

Electric Version does little to alter the successful New Pornographers formula. It's a longer, louder and (most importantly) more assured album than its predecessor, but if you liked Mass Romantic, you won't be disappointed. And if you disliked Mass Romantic, you may have a difficult time telling the two albums apart.

What this strange cast of characters eventually creates is a groovy mish-mash of up/down tempo breaks, hip-pop sound collages and the odd bout of guitar-driven frenzy that, while nearly impossibly to dance to, manages to expose most other DJs as the talentless, not to mention painfully derivative crate-raiders they truly are.

Rarely has rampant misogyny and self-hype sounded as fantastic as this.

The more I listen to The Sword of God, the more I appreciate Quasi’s ability to create smoothly flowing, catchy songs without sacrificing their trademark complexity. My only problem with this album is that the whole package is just so drenched in irony...

Lacking the full-on roar of Motor City compatriots like the White Stripes and the Go, the 'Wings employ a more classic pop-oriented approach to their songcraft, resulting in songs that replace the aforementioned groups' immediacy and vigor with simple restraint and cultivated sophistication.

Zoomer has a warmth and spirit that makes the work endearing as actual songs rather than chunks of carefully manipulated data.

While my inclination is to recommend A Feather in the Engine to everyone without reservation, the disc is actually best suited to more advanced listeners -- that is, those of you for whom sing-along pop songs are not a prerequisite for enjoying an album.

[A] decisive step in a darker, weirder direction.

Darnielle's willingness to throw himself so completely into collaboration is what makes this effort such a triumph.

What’s Next to the Moon is Kozelek achieving the impossible; he has actually managed to make AC/DC sound romantic.

One of the most playful end-of-the-world concept albums ever created.

A modern-rock radio record for folks with a few more brain cells to rub together than the Andrew WK set.

Where Belle and Sebastian alienate their listeners with emotional detachment and indie superiority, Memphis's songs leave the posing and the cuteness at the door; they are accessible and honest.

It is unsettling, starkly beautiful, intricate and minimalist all at once, and if it lacks the immediate impact of Fugazi, its aura lingers long after it's over.

It's the stuff that a thousand indie rock records are made of, basted, breaded and cooked to perfection.

His most diverse collection of songs to date.

Painstakingly crafted, casually baroque music for people who get off a little bit on feeling blue.

The Ladybug Transistor's relative lack of instrumental bravado suggests renewed confidence; the group doesn't make an obvious attempt to hook us with atmosphere or instrumental stunts, because the album already has enough going on to keep us listening.

Winds Take No Shape's compositions are not as varied as their debut, but it's a more atmospheric, cohesive and significant work because of it.

Before the Poison is a wonderful disc, the sound of a well-established artist continuing to grow and explore.

Apologies to the Queen Mary is almost an hour long, and there are certainly portions of it that aren't essential... but it's difficult to see where any fat could have been cut, as each track has its own fractured beauty.