Viva Voce's 2011 release The Future Will Destroy You is an expansive and somewhat slow-burning mix of the indie rock, psych rock, and pop sounds they've delved into over the years.

Pop music styles change faster than they wear out, and Mohager convincingly makes the case that there is more to say in the music of the '80s, even if fashion has banished it to its own radio formats and nostalgia tours.

All blunders aside, Burning at Both Ends is an album that has a lot to offer for Set Your Goals devotees, and might even make converts out of the uninitiated.

It's the more familiar works which ensure that Basement Jaxx vs. Metropole Orkest is an uplifting, feel-good record which manages to straddle the unlikely worlds of classical and progressive house with ease.

With Collider, Roberts proves himself an essential part of the R&R landscape.

Samuel Flynn Scott's vocals often come across as nondescript but aim to be familiar rather than remarkable, suiting the sense of easy immediacy here -- the appeal of being what you expect.

Joe Ely is still one of the best things the Lone Star State has to offer, and Satisfied at Last shows he's not about to stop making albums worth hearing, and still finding things to say within the style he's made his own.

As an album, Standing on the Rooftop may not be as striking as its predecessor, but perhaps it wasn't meant to be. It is a seemingly effort that pushes the familiar toward an uncertain future where pop genres cease to need to exist at all.

Whether this is a one-off or a bridge to something more substantial, it's satisfying in the present and will likely increase in stature as years pass.

For Shelton's fans, this is a whole helping of what you like best, and it's carefully formulated to be exactly that.

For the most part, she is still able to deliver her tunes with honesty that makes you think about feelings she's conveying, not her recording budgets, as is the case with many over-processed country stars out there.

Vol. 2 shows the full breadth of the group's sound, from the ballads to the rockers to the various gems in between.

An easy recommendation for its obvious audience, but Together/Apart is a bit more than that as well, giving the genre of indie hip-hop some mass appeal whenever it decides to wild out.

Unfortunately, there's an underlying feeling of insincerity. More often than not, the lyrics are literal interpretations of song titles.

The Secret is a giant leap forward for Farka Touré as an artist to be sure; but it's a stone killer for listeners.

You should know from Hernandez's track record that there will be plenty of hooky melodies and songs that will be stuck like glue in your head and on your lips, and he certainly doesn't let you down here.

Casablanca Nights should serve as an inspiration to producers everywhere as an example of how to do an "And Friends" record the right way. For the rest of us, it's a thrilling blast of heartbreak beats and sweet club emotion.

There's an amusing irony that one of Sebadoh's most straightforward and tuneful albums is accompanied by an hour's worth of the sort of indulgent four-track murk Sebadoh seemed to be actively moving past, though as such things go, there's plenty of adventurous lo-fi sound collage to be found, as well as some prime examples of Barlow staring down his neuroses.

It's the band's most impressive outing to date, and easily one of the best metal albums of 2011.

Player Piano offers enough of Hawk's characteristically inventive sonic tinkering -- including, the title notwithstanding, an intriguing emphasis on organ sounds -- to merit repeated listens, even if these productions do sound worrisomely flat at times.

There's no denying that, a half-decade late or not, SebastiAn has delivered.

This shifting back and forth between tradition and avant-garde tradition, as it were, defines much of the rest of the album -- call it maturing or call it other interests, but it's a comfortable enough listen, as appropriate for the schizophrenic beast that still gets labeled indie rock as anything else.

Most of the successive leaks and singles continued the trend, and King of Hearts, in turn, is clearly the singer's best album yet.

For anyone who was left out in the cold after Def Jux closed their doors Ox 2010: A Street Odyssey is the album you've been looking for.

Experimental while always pop-oriented and engaging, Was I the Wave? is a great summer afternoon album for chilling at the beach or day-driving with friends.

Sagara shows the Norwegian to be an equally effective mood painter without his trusty beats, and in some respects, his accomplishment here is his most adept and impressive yet.

While his technical acumen remains uncontested, the addition of blistering bluegrass singer/guitarist Michael Daves and notorious engineering luddite White into the mix has helped to temper Thile's signature refinements into something raw and primal.

Sure, as sheer sound, it's executed well -- more assured, musical, and, well, professional than any of their other albums, their age lending them a dexterity absent in their hits -- but the deliberate retro-rage begs the question: who exactly is this music for?

Very much like its predecessor, Devil's Music derives most of its noteworthiness and novelty (and arguably, for better or worse, much of its musical interest) from an impressive, sometimes head-scratching roster of guest vocalists drawn from pop, rock, rap, and reggae.

While its relentless chirpiness may be a little too twee for some, Eliza Doolittle is still a beguiling debut that would undoubtedly have found an audience even without the benefit of her showbiz background.

This kind of contrast between light and dark makes Leveler a wonderfully dynamic album that is musically engaging with mercifully few bass bombs. Theological differences aside, metal fans would do well to give this one a chance.

It seems that no matter what he adds or subtracts, Jesu's recordings, have a defined feel that is, though lyrically and texturally beautiful, somewhat two-dimensional. That said, Ascension remains a deeply satisfying recording.

As Boeckner repeats the words "I have no feelings" in the last song, he seems to be driving home a point. Prior Handsome Furs outings had a lot more emotion behind them.

As the mainstream becomes more and more predictable, Shabazz Palaces' inscrutability is a welcome change. Because the beats are so abstract, roots take precedent, and a strong presence on the microphone becomes the most important aspect.

For now, as long as she makes records as good and as much fun as When the Sun Goes Down, everything will be fine.

What their return does bring is that unquantifiable "getting the band back together" feeling and all of the excitement that comes with old friends getting back together to do what they do best.

Fun, inventive, swaggering, and smart, Finally Famous is an exciting debut.

This Loud Morning winds up as an album that's primarily textural mood music for the morning, and one that's not all that loud either.

Lord of the Birdcage is strong and diverse enough to stand out among Pollard's solo efforts, and proves once again this man's talents shine brightest when he finds new ways to challenge himself.

Whether your primary interest is in the comedy or the music, this is a solidly enjoyable album.

Maybe one rapper in 1,000 can rap effectively in 6/8, and Wiley is one of them.

Random Axe the album barely crosses the 40-minute mark and it doesn't bother pleasing the crowd, but it rewards its core audience with a freestyle feel and an uncompromising allegiance to true hip-hop.

An extended pilgrimage to New Orleans allowed the longtime friends to hone the 11 songs that make up Through Low Light and Trees into something truly magical, and while the album is clearly the product of the green fields and misty mountains of their homeland, it's obvious that the time spent in the Big Easy had a profound effect on them.

Happily, the partnership succeeds more often than not.

On his third album, John Maus continues his pursuit of immediacy-in-action mixed with a certain calm, developing a further tension that infuses both his music and words.

No one but one of the most talented and accomplished singers -- one with 16 Grammys, nothing left to prove, and every desired collaborator at her disposal -- could have made this album.

In another regard, Rave On Buddy Holly is quite different. Encouraged by producer Randall Poster, the 19 artists involved do not settle for mere replications of Buddy's hits, they play fast and loose, sometimes radically reinterpreting the original.

Special Affections is both special and affectionate, highly infectious and recommended.

This is indie rock where the big hooks and bold arrangements never get in the way of the complex emotions at the heart of these nine songs, and that's why five years isn't too long to wait for music this special.

While those who miss the band's old orchestral pop sound may cavil, Twist Again represents the opening of a promising new path for Bodies of Water.

New Brigade is charmingly underdeveloped, slapdash, and direct--in other words, absolutely thrilling.

Eleven Eleven shows he's a long way away from running out of ideas, and these 11 portraits of life in the Golden State are engrossing, thoughtful music that should satisfy old fans and engage those introducing themselves to his work for the first time.

This is a hip-hop-flavored club effort of Elephunk proportions and another high-water mark for the don of pop-rap's glitter dome.

Other than the annoyances listed, Don't Blame the Stars is an enjoyable, fairly well-executed album of decent Americana songs. No more, no less.

Only bummer for loyal fans is that five of these tracks are repeated from the Internet Leaks EP, but ignore that redundancy, and Al remains the undisputed king of the parody song.

Once again, this probably isn't an album that's going to bowl you over and set the world on fire; it's a grower. And it shows once again that Gomez know what they're going for and how to achieve it.

Perhaps if he were a more skilled producer and arranger, things would have been better. Unfortunately, his style comes off more like sub-Enya with a beard than a true studio wizard.

His knack for hooks and his skill at construction may mirror that of his father, but Liam Finn is his own man, displaying a keen fondness for psychedelia, and spending as much time crafting sound as song, resulting in a record that has enough hooks to pull a listener in on first spin, yet is dense enough to warrant decoding on subsequent plays.

Goodbye Bread sounds more like a "real album" than anything Ty Segall has done to date, but not so much so that it robs him of the loose-limbed soul that makes him memorable.

All in all, it's clear that chart-driven pop circa the second decade of the millennium rarely gets much better than LMFAO on this stand-out album.

On The Light of the Sun, Scott sounds more in control than ever; her spoken and sung phrasing (now a trademark), songwriting, and production instincts are all solid. This is 21st century Philly soul at its best.

Get Your Heart On! is every bit as tuneful as the group's debut.

That hint of edge, of literal weight, adds to the collage of tones on a piece like "Canyon Meadows" or acts as an undertow on the flow of "New Pures," helping to transform that feeling of contemplation while not actually crushing it in any sense.

It could use a couple throw-you-around-the-room rockers in the vein of Turn Me Loose's "Runnin'" and "Knockin'," although some listeners will be so struck by the sustained high level of confidence and grace that it won't be an issue.

Ultimately, What's It All About is an intimate work revealing Metheny's investigation of composition itself. The notion of song is inherent in everything he does, and he reveals that inspiration in spades here.

Nothing here feels the least bit overdone. Marissa Nadler is a sensual, provocative, enticing work of vision and maturity.

With folks like Currensy and French Montana lending features, along with a producers list that goes from Lex Luger to Lee Majors, the album is stuffed as it could be, but Ross has always been a wizard when it comes to picking high-profile friends that deliver.

It's rare for a band to keep getting better over time, especially after 15 years, but the Ladybug Transistor have done it, and whether you've been a fan the whole time or you are just discovering (or rediscovering) them with this album, there is enough good stuff here to make even the coldest-hearted music snob admit that there is music being made in 2011 that's just as good as anything made in 1965 or 1977, or any year.

Gimmicks abound on this dark carnival of an album, and if you can't hang with some murder talk and misogyny, it's best to stay away, but this fat, epic effort is still a swift thrill ride and doesn't bore despite its size.

When Art Department stick with their signature sound, even though it might not be exactly unique--it's easy enough to trace a lineage through seminal Chicago jack tracks, early-'90s disco house and the sleeker end of electro-clash to contemporary peers like Soul Clap and Benoit & Sergio--the results are nothing short of mesmerizing.

Basically, Woods have put it all together on Sun and Shade, matching inspiration with performance and crafting their best record yet, one that will stand with the great folk-psych albums of the past 40 years, from the Notorious Byrd Brothers to the Rain Parade's Emergency Third Rail Power Trip to Either/Or to now.

Stoned to the bone with Was at the controls means this is one of the more humble and cool offerings in the Ziggy Marley catalog, but those are the same reasons it's an album to return to, delivering that satisfying Rastaman vibration whenever listeners crave a mellow mood.

This album works both as music that can take you over and take you up on a cloud of pop, and as mood-enhancing tunes that can fill up the empty room with happy ambience. Either way, it's an enjoyable, sometimes beautiful, album, one that Vetiver have been working toward since they began.

If you've been looking for someone to merge the huge sound of melodic hardcore with a strong dose of narrative depth, search no further.

Despite being from different albums, the songs all work together remarkably well, giving the album the kind of natural flow that one expects from an album, never giving away the fact that the songs are all from different EPs.

Throughout his career, Mr. Mathers has given props to his Detroit hip-hop clan and spoken of his interactions, but his discography has been somewhat light on examples. Past the Mars cut, Hell: The Sequel helps right that wrong, providing the welcome sound of Shady meets the streets.

For all the sonic shimmer, not much exposure is needed to realize that the album concerns an embittering relationship.

Guitarists Jake Pitts and Jinxx are the showstealers here, riffing in constant harmony, and incorporating the speedy guitar pyrotechnics of similar-minded bands like Dragonforce and Escape the Fate while throwing in showy Zack Wilde pinch harmonics, and Yngwie Malmsteen sweeps.

The 12 songs on All Things Bright and Beautiful, Owl City's third album, certainly demand the audience's imagination -- or at least their willingness to go along with the world Adam Young dreams up, a cartoonish place where the skies look like alligators, the rivers taste like fruit, and emeralds poke their heads out of every rock.

The unheard tunes are all first-rate, but what's really notable about A Treasure is that it offers a compelling document of how good the International Harvesters were and, in turn, makes sense of a somewhat murky period for Neil Young.

Sonically, it's the Submarines' most interesting record to date. Melodically, it's a bit spottier than usual, relying heavily on a handful of highlights to shoulder the weight of the saggier numbers.

The conclusion of Oneida's Thank Your Parents trilogy got some initial attention when word emerged that Kid Millions' signature drum drive wouldn't be featured, but such is the strength of the band that Absolute II functions both as conclusion and its own distinct release.

In many ways, In Light splits the difference between the peppy pseudo-Afro pop of Vampire Weekend and the percussive, improv-heavy dance rock of Local Natives. That might be a bit of a knock against In Light if it wasn't such an accomplished, ambitious debut.

Creep On Creepin' On is the sound of Timber Timbre fully coming into its own, with romance and strangeness to spare.

My Morning Jacket are clearly having fun, and they're learning how to be "out there" without being outlandish.

Castlemania does sound like the product of several happily productive days in this band's life; this album sounds less sinister and more playful than the bulk of their previous output, and if a lot of this is still going to seem chaotic and off-putting to anyone not flying a similar freak flag, it's an easier way in to Thee Oh Sees' curious musical world than any of their albums to date.

Loud Planes Fly Low captures fragmented moments instead of formless dreams and random wishes: the melancholia that lingers throughout feels like one of experience rather than self-conscious ennui.

Mysterious and subtly beguiling, Canta Lechuza begs to be listened to in the condition in which it was made: solitude.

It was inevitable that as his skills matured he was going to move away from the strictures of reggae as a musical style. That maturity is fully in evidence on Light the Horizon, and the songs have indeed spread out into new stylistic territory.

Given the album's split nature, it's not quite as cohesive as most Quintron albums, but it manages to represent the fringes of his sound, as well as the heart of it, very well.

The slow moves of the partnered voices on the extended verse, rising up toward the cool intoning of the title on the final chorus as the melody lines get even more insistent and grand, and similar moments on the instrumental "Geodes," show that EAR PWR have a way with the epic that doesn't feel overbearing--not a bad spot to be in at all.

Unlike Magnolia, which sounded like a band trying on a style for size, Two Matchsticks is a perfectly tailored record that works as an extension of American Analog Set, but will also please any fan of thoughtful, simple acoustic-ish pop.

Revelator is a roots record that sets a modern standard even as it draws its inspiration from the past. It's got everything a listener could want: grit, groove, raw, spiritual emotion, and expert-level musical truth.

Khaos Legions shouldn't be dismissed as the result of creative burnout--there's plenty of scorching metal here, and fans will be very pleased.

What he doesn't really have is a strong hook to pull listeners into the album; there's nothing surprising or unexpected or exceptionally hooky, just 12 polished slices of contemporary country that will surely please longtime Brooks & Dunn fans largely because it doesn't feel all that different than the duo.

Hardcore Perry fans will probably be divided on this one, but nevertheless, it's not difficult to conclude that Rise Again is one of his most satisfying releases of the past ten years.

Their music is generic, competently played, but breaking absolutely no new ground. Only someone utterly obsessed with hearing every pop-punk album ever, by anyone, should pick this up.

Channel Pressure is equally enjoyable as a painstaking period re-creation drenched in neon nostalgia and nylon nausea, and as a piece of sterling (if decidedly warped) electronic pop music in its own right.