A spacious, yet measured and surprisingly inspirational, midtempo dirge.

Ultimately, whether it's Tubb's honky tonk twang, or the twang of Mayer's own heart, the sound of Paradise Valley rings true.

While Versions may be too tasteful-seeming for die-hard fans of early Zola Jesus, the album's undeniable beauty reveals another accomplished facet to Danilova's music.

A full, concentrated album of ballads may seem startling even for die-hard fans, not just because the new full-on singer/songwriter mode is such a departure, but also because of how beautifully weary and evocative his songs tend to be when he allows a glimpse at his unplugged intimate side.

This stretch of songs is the liveliest collection Travis has cut since the '90s, and it's heartening to hear them reconnect with some of the wilder aspects that informed their earliest records.

I Hate Music is just as fresh and powerful as Majesty Shredding, with the same hook-driven songs, fiery performances, and stunning vocals from Mac McCaughan.

Hero Brother is a carefully conceived yet relaxed presentation of a fairly startling series of works that reveal the versatility and considerable creative depth of a composer/soloist who has been hiding in plain sight all along.

Pure Bathing Culture borrows only the best elements from the Twins, then adds more than enough of their own style and vision to make Moon Tides a dreamy triumph that is both a great debut album and a tantalizing promise for the future.

As it stands, this is a strangely seductive record, filled with remarkable musical peaks, and proof positive that an ambitious sophomore departure can be wholly satisfying.

Warp & Weft displays Veirs' sophisticated songcraft (though "America" falls short for its obviousness) is adorned by diverse textures, expert musicianship, and a generous use of space; it's almost almost perfectly balanced.

It's not only her biggest and most ambitious production to date, but also the album that best showcases her gift for communicating complex emotional entanglements so simply and clearly they become almost weightless.

Loud City Song is Holter's most polished work to date, and another example of how she upholds and redefines what it means to be an avant-garde singer/songwriter.

Perpetual Surrender's highlights might have had more impact if they were collected on an EP, but DIANA have a unique enough perspective--and enough potential--to make the album worth a listen for anyone who loves synth pop in any of its incarnations.

Sometimes some things need to perish for others to flourish, and these songs show that Standell-Preston, Smith, and Tufts evolved into a group that can not just survive, but thrive in the face of hard times.

Crocodiles have never been content to stick to one sound and ride it into the ground; they always seem to be searching for the perfect way to transmit their brand of noise and pop. They just might have found it here.

Doris is unsettled, messy, and takes a bit to sort, but there are codes to crack and rich rewards to reap, so enter with an open mind and prepare to leave exhausted.

The clashes in sound become the very skeletons for the songs, and the songwriting is more fearless and honest than ever before, marking a distinct maturity for No Age and resulting in their best work to date.

Adiós I'm a Ghost falls somewhere between the band's critically lauded sophomore release Tidelands, which was full of thoughtful atmospherics, and the looser, rowdier debut album Don't Be a Stranger.

This is essentially a greatest hits that offers no real surprise in either songs or arrangements (the exception being "It's Only Rock N Roll," which now sounds more Chuck Berry than ever), but that doesn't mean Hyde Park Live isn't satisfying.

A compact, lyrically diverse debut, Rebellious Soul makes it plain that K. Michelle should be supported enough to reverse her albums-to-mixtapes ratio.

Dig Thy Savage Soul is everything a Barrence Whitfield & the Savages fan could hope for and more; it may even reel in followers of the Dirtbombs, Andre Williams, and the Detroit Cobras.

There’s a real familiarity at play here, especially with all of the classic rock underpinnings, that makes it awfully difficult to refrain from just listing the artists that so obviously made an impact on the group, but their Bad Company-by-way-of Big Star (see what I mean?) aesthetic is so easy and engaging.

Everything here, from the sound to the songs, is about improving the brand of "Luke Bryan: Party Bro" and if he never seems to inhabit that role, he's nevertheless able to sell it.

Dog Party may be music biz vets already, but this is their true coming-of-age moment and anyone interested in punky pop (or poppy punk if you prefer to look at it that way) should seek out Lost Control right away and stay tuned to see what the Giles sisters do in the future.

The only real misstep on the extremely likable Absolute Zero is the forgettable "Red and Blue," a perfectly good song that's ruined by an oppressive (and dated) amount of Auto-Tune, a gimmick that should never be wasted on people who can actually sing.

Scott & Charlene's Wedding sound grounded--but not gridlocked--on Any Port in a Storm, securing their reputation as one of the most heartfelt acts inspired by the '90s, and one of the few who bring a more contemporary urgency to that sound.

By maintaining forward momentum while having so much going on in every song, the band makes Shaky Dream an album that provides plenty of depth without sacrificing accessibility, striking a fine balance between catchy melodies and murky atmospherics.

Push Any Button is what Sam Phillips fans have come to rely on over her course of her career: a perfectly crafted album that overflows with melodic hooks, musical grace, lyrical insight, and emotional depth.

Howlin is good enough to make you forget most of the bands they were influenced by too, as it both embraces and somehow transcends the '90s in a flash of sound and vision.

As someone whose success has come mostly as a singles artist, Jay Sean fails to deliver anything quite as charismatic as any of his greatest hits on Neon, leaving the album feeling largely flat.

An amazing journey from the outer limits to street level with a wormhole in the middle, Back on the Planet is stellar.

Despite being a shade too long, this is a solid endeavor that asks many questions even as spins its tales.

Ultimately, with Last of the Great Pretenders, Nathanson turns his memories of the city by the bay into a universally relatable metaphor for coming of age, reminding us how a place can hold sway over your identity long after you've moved on.

Music for Objects is a fine listen, offering CFCF fans the restrained, smart music they crave.

No matter how carefully constructed this whole enterprise is, See You There doesn't carry the same weight as Ghost on the Canvas.

With Big TV, White Lies combine the urgent passions of their debut with the conceptual ambitions of their sophomore effort and by doing so, make the best album of their career.

It sounds fully colored in and unless you're a big fan of cold and lifeless, it's a huge step forward for Washed Out.

Formed via a craigslist ad, the band's internal anonymity is hardly relative with regard to its cohesiveness, as each track on the brainy yet intuitive Dark Eyes sounds like the sum of its parts, but there is enough space between those parts to suggest a sort of unspoken agreement to avoid any sort of showboating.

The album's more intimate moments, such as "The Swollen Map" and "Down in the Liverpool Stream," have just as much impact as the showier ones, and reaffirm that Pinkunoizu have gained more than they lost by paring down a bit on The Drop.

It's an impressive debut from a very promising group.

Not everything works on Imps of Perversion, but it's still a strong second album that broadens Pop. 1280's horizons without sacrificing their pummeling impact.

It can take a while to deconstruct the narrative, but when ignoring the weighty plot, the songs' key themes of mortality, love, and loss still manage to make an impact.

The album's a cathartic self-study, executed without drama, during a time of major personal upheaval, and it will truly resonate with anyone who's ever found themselves at the end of a relationship.

Ultimately, the golden age of dream pop and shoegaze lasted roughly ten years, a blink in the eye when it comes to pop music. However, for Swim Deep with Where in the Heaven Are We, it’s almost like it never ended.

Haines is still a force of nature, more Uriah Heep than David Copperfield, and his sharp-tongued critiques, especially of his chosen field, though tempered with moments of sentimentality, remain as volatile as ever.

While Norma Jean were no doubt exhausted by the creative process that went into Wrongdoers, fans will be happy to reap the rewards of their hard work and the perseverance of a band that still holds true to the spirit of metalcore.

The album just offers up a heaping pile of midtempo heaviness that harkens back to Metallica's middle years.

Of Copeland's experiments with more traditional beat-making, it's easily the best, most accessible work and still manages to be more stunningly weird than the majority of everything else out there.

Despite using occasional strings, steel drums euphonium, woodwinds, and even a mellotron, this is not a slick affair.

The versatility and strength of The Blind Hole will be impressive to anyone versed in hardcore's various hyper-splintered genres, mainly due to the band's ease when it comes to seamlessly combining so many different heavy styles.

Tides End is so smooth that some of its nuances may be lost at first, but before it slips away, it takes listeners on a deceptively breezy and surprisingly affecting journey through moments that can't last.

Perhaps the most tightly performed Joan of Arc material, Testimonium Songs feels less like a proper album and more like a sidebar, deeply aligned with the harsh tones of Reznikoff's bleak poems.

All told, Prince Avalanche is a beautifully subtle and introspective score that highlights the strong points of its composers while serving the needs of the film it was written for.

Although Bloodlines takes its time to get under your skin, when it does, it sinks in deep.

Swisher may not be as immediate as Blondes was, but these ambitious, accomplished tracks offer ample proof that restraint can be exciting.

Though this makes for a different kind of listening experience than fans might be used to, it's one that's ultimately pretty satisfying, feeling like it's not just manifesting the will and desire of the Polyphonic Spree's fans, but also reflecting the mission of brightness and hope that the band has been on for over a decade now.

Wide-eyed wonder still intact, there's a lot of depth to explore in the 30 minutes of Hobo Rocket, from bombastic glam, to chugging stoner rock, to colorful psychedelia--all of it odd as usual.

II is the kind of crafted album you just don’t expect from a supergroup or side project as it matches, and maybe even tops, the work of its individual parties.

Other bands thinking about re-forming would do well to follow their lead and not just get back together to play the hits and count the cash, but instead create something vital and relevant; something that makes the group's continued existence worthwhile.

Ultimately, the Civil Wars are impeccable craftsmen, taking weathered elements and repurposing them for something that feels new and never haunted by what came before.

Forward is a delightful return that focuses on the Heavies' love of smooth late-'70s/early-'80s sounds.

Perhaps it can be too sweet, too cloying at times, but it's warm and ingratiating, suggesting The Blow Monkeys can ease into a convincing middle age.

It is interesting to look at the epic, ambitious group by their attempts to cross over, and while not all singles were as worthy as the album cuts, this alternative view has some massive high points.

While The Living Infinite is certainly a whole lot of record, it's filled with enough vigor and creativity that it doesn't feel as though it's dragging along.

["She Said No" is] a minor blip on an otherwise excellent album by two guys who have discovered the transformative power that can be derived from collaboration.

Complain that they're stuck in a rut or praise that they're still able to do it convincingly, because this album gives up evidence to support either argument.

More cohesive and profound at times than the records that preceded it, the album sets a tone masterfully, and lingers contentedly and without rush, allowing the listener to drop in and sit for a spell with Jones as he ruminates on his various lush instrumental moods.

It's not fun but it's not meant to be: it's a bunch of lifers in their middle age reconnecting with the things they found important back then.

He's got talent to spare, but at this point he's swimming in an idyllic creek, not a raging river, and no amount of howling will banish demons that have yet to be summoned.

As the title suggests, it excels at capturing the kind of partly sunny heartbreak that can actually feel pretty good if you give yourself over to it.

Quite a bit bluer and calmer, where her previous music featured the four-on-the-floor pep of traditional house, this album falls closer to witch house and the rainy gloom associated with trip-hop.

As Blumberg puts on his Neil Young hat and laments "I've got some things to do/Some private things to do" on closer "The Plan," one can't help but think that, although perhaps overly self-indulgent at times, Hebronix could well prove fruitful.

All in all, Zero is an ambitious album that's amazing not just in how well done it is for a post-hardcore concept record, but in the way it shows that Hawthorne Heights aren't afraid to take risks 12 years into a long and successful career.

Big and bold the whole way through and with nary a stumble, Something Else is another triumph from Tech.

In Search is outsider art at its best. Guided by Martin's vision and shaped via collective process, it uses familiar forms to create a spaced-out language all its own; it is a listening experience like no other.

PDA sets up a dreamily weird and heartfelt mood from the beginning and drives it deeper into the listener's consciousness with each song that follows.

Concentrating on a traditional rock lineup with bombastic "screaming at the stars" vocals, the Michigan group may not be breaking any new ground musically, but they are determined to make some of the biggest sounding music around.

While Whirr never quite nail the Ride drum sound, MBV wooziness, or arid Slowdive mystery that they're going for on these tracks, the results are still strong, weaving a deeply textural sound that drifts along like a lazy canoe ride on the hottest day of the year.

The bottom line is Bakersfield smokes from top to bottom; a fitting tribute, it is one of, if not the, best country album of 2013.

"Take It Easy on Me" (produced by Timbaland and J-Roc), "Give It 2 U" (Dr. Luke and Cirkut), "Feel Good" (will.i.am), and the deluxe edition bonus cut "Pressure" (the Cataracs) are nothing like the title track's undeniable disco-funk groove, and not one of them is among Thicke's best. They do, however, lack desperation and help convey the album's prevailing casual, lighthearted feel.

BE feels familiar--the group is stuck in the back-half of the '60s, naturally loving the post-Pepper pomp of the Beatles but happy to crib from the Zombies ("Second Bite of the Apple" opens with a riff adapted from "Time of the Season") or any other number of half-remembered, half-forgotten psychedelic oldies--but isn't musty, thanks in part to Sitek's colorful, layered production.

Perhaps there are moments where texture trumps composition, but overall In a World Like This is a surprisingly mature and fine record from a former boy band that seems unafraid to act its age.

If this package can sometimes feel a little too pat, put the blame on producer Tom Hambridge, who also helmed Skin Deep and Living Proof and now has a track record of pushing Guy just enough to form a narrative but not enough to break him out of the box.

Despite the part-compilation/part-extras makeup, this is one of the year's more enjoyable debuts.

Box these sounds whichever way you want to, but they are all Shooter Jennings, and as music, The Other Life is all killer, no filler.

Tiny Rebels is more a mini-album than an EP, with six tracks dipped in generous amounts of reverb and tremolo and finding Kelly showcasing his knack for sunny pop harmonies and Byrds-esque 12-string guitar leads.

All this makes Nothing Violates This Nature seem like an exhausting listen, and it really is, but when it comes to unfiltered anger and catharsis, accept no substitutes.

Fans who like him reckless should check it, but for the full picture, start elsewhere.

Those who don't share his sense of humor or fondness for quick-shifting sounds may be left scratching their heads while listening to Enthusiast, but listeners who are ready for anything will enjoy the wild ride the album offers.

Try as she may to distract with her strut and style as Skylar Grey, what resonates is the same kind of melodic turn of phrase that was apparent back when she was calling herself Holly Brook.

Nothing Can Stop Us is a triumph for the backing band, but Campbell's number has been due for years, and now that it's been pulled, it's time to wake the town and tell the people.

There may be a bunch of bands traveling the same psychedelic back roads as Salvia Plath, but Collins and company ride with style.

The album flows by with the scrapbooked flair of an intricately constructed sound collage, but one whose loose ends and experimental moments are firmly rooted in Krautpop rhythms.

Uunderneath that blustering, the group manage to ease back and act their age, and that detached cool exterior is why The Sun Comes Out Tonight is the most satisfying latter-day album this group has yet made.

Gucci's inspired by more serene and soft moments at this point, so call this the most "couch locked" of all Trap Houses and get prepared to sprawl out for a long, low ride.

The heavy lyrics are curious in the framework of mostly bright sonics, but the combination makes Destruction in Yr Soul a more thought-provoking listen, drawing the listener back to certain phrases or sections of its colorful pastiche of sounds to better understand its unique duality.

You'd have to look hard to find another band making dark and noisy pop as sonically engaging and emotionally satisfying as Weekend do on Jinx.

While the album might not reach the heights and depths of True Widow's previous effort, it's a fantastic album in its own right that finds the band tweaking a proven formula rather than just sitting back and making the same album again and again.