While there are some fascinating passages on "Souvenir in Chicago," including sections inspired by a shared love of the minimalism of Steve Reich, the piece never quite becomes a coherent work.

It certainly doesn't sound that much different from a Mojave 3 record, if not quite as excellent due to the less than prime quality of some of the songs.

A diverse, accomplished album that manages to be unabashedly emotional, playful, and ambitious all at the same time.

Certainly it's not as important or ambitious as his principal projects, but on the other hand there's less of the clever ostentatiousness that can sometimes drive you up the wall.

It’s by no means a landmark, and it’s not close to their best; it’s just well-done.

An album as much about focus and precision as its predecessor was about appropriating and reconfiguring sounds and styles into a psychedelic free for all.

This is a breath of cognac- and cigarette-scented air on an almost-dead pop scene.

The tempos might not ever exceed mid-level, and half of the songs might exceed five minutes, but the record is anything but a difficult listen or tough to wade through.

A solid, if average, album.

Dead Media thankfully brings the focus back to personal matters, and it sees a breath of fresh air introduced in the form of analog synthesizers and audio experimentation.

The musicians still churn out standard-issue heavy metal thrash à la Metallica to support Chüd's nihilistic pronouncements, usually sung in an enraged howl.

A fantastic new album.

Each song soars with intricate musicianship and melodic lushness.

Mystikal really couldn't ask for better production, overall -- all the tracks have bouncy, ass-shakin', club-ready beats, and nearly all have quite catchy hooks

If you look beyond everything that's downright embarrassing about this album -- the reliance on interpolations rather than original songwriting, the amateur-at-best rapping, the generic beats -- you'll notice a few minor improvements.

Iron Flag focuses squarely on the Wu's immense, twin strengths: bringing together some of the best rappers in the business, and relying on the best production confederacy in hip-hop (led by RZA) to build raw, hard-hitting productions.

Stillmatic is all the proof anyone needs that Nas isn't as special as he was five years before the album's release.

While it's not quite as immediate as the Snatch soundtrack or as groundbreaking as the Dust Brothers' Fight Club score, Ocean's 11 is a tight, kinetic collection of film music that's just as enjoyable outside of the movie's context.

Unfortunately, the album doesn't quite measure up to its hype and should disappoint those expecting Ludacris to top his past successes.

The wild thing is that M!ssundaztood not only works, it works smashingly -- a bewildering amalgam of sounds and attitudes that shouldn't fit together, but defy all odds and do.

This time around the beats seem darker and more synth-oriented, giving it an edge reminiscent of the bass-heavy G-funk sound.

An uneven and incoherent set of "Kid A Sessions" material that is sometimes strong but sometimes uninspired.

It's her first genuine step forward... probably the best record she has cut to date.

His strongest album since he delved into unabashed crossover with Fresh Horses.

Takes the scattered clicks and beats of Autechre and combines it with the tunefulness of Spiritualized.... Very rewarding.

It's a nice blend of the self-conscious Flowers in the Dirt and the organic, natural Flaming Pie, combining the craft of the former with the attitude of the latter.

Seems slickly over-produced and a little forced.

Like Kid A's little brother, Manic Expressive pops and gurgles through spacey, multi-textured compositions.

Party Music doesn't really break much new ground for the Coup; it's more a consolidation of their strengths, touching on a little bit of everything they've done well in the past.

While Nakamura is quite possibly one of the most accomplished beat processors in the realm of art hip-hop/electronica, his strict-composer approach on this project is occasionally inaccessible and at times unlistenable.

By shedding the smirking artifice that served Casanova so well, and hiring producer Nigel Godrich, the Divine Comedy may be treading dangerously close to the sounds of countrymen Radiohead, but the Divine Comedy are smart enough to give listeners just enough lyrical bit to throw them off the scent.

There's little doubt to Since I Left You's status as one of the most intimate and emotional dance records that isn't vocal-based.

Pretty, brittle, subtle, full of surprises, and disarming in its ability to set moods, Life Is Full of Possibilities is a masterpiece that places Dntel near the top of the heap of electronic artists working in 2001.

This easily stands alongside his first three albums as a set of classy, near-irresistible pop for listeners weaned on classic and college rock, which is a wholly welcome surprise.

Ultimately, the record runs too long, losing steam halfway through.... Fortunately, Jackson was clever enough to front-load this record, loading the first seven songs with really good, edgy dance numbers.

This is an average album by a promising band who needs to find a distinct identity.

The music is something else, sophisticated, jazzy on a few numbers, occasionally funky and varied for a rap album. But the rapping is still not quite right.

Showcases a band testing themselves by going down an untravelled road while still maintaining their identity.

Surely one of the rap game's most insightful voices.... The beats offer plenty of fresh surprises and the lyrics reflect DMX's increasing focus on introspection.

No matter the players, Alive to Every Smile is so patently a Bob Wratten album that, honestly, it sounds a little tired.

So, even if it's wrapped in new clothing, this is essentially a return to basics, and it's a welcome one, since it's melodic, stately, and somber.

Aside from all the criticism, the previously unreleased musings of Aphex Twin are still far more intriguing and solid than most producers' best releases.

This is a return to the sound of Sixteen Stone, complete with big, grandiose production propelled by ballsy grunge riffs and real hooks in the guitars and vocals.

The 74-year-old singer/guitarist rocks out furiously for the better part of the set, evoking obvious predecessors such as Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker.

It's not something that will convert doubters, but it's done well and performed with conviction

It finds Mellencamp at a kind of peak, turning out vividly socially conscious roots rock that works not because of the message, but because the music is seductive and sinewy enough to deliver the message.

Being both ear shattering and spine tingling at once, this is Fugazi at their "musical" best.

Even for fans not needing much convincing, Get Ready is a "grower," an album whose focus on sublime songcraft and introverted delivery reveals its secrets slowly and after many listens.

Hanna straddles the line between cheeky and obnoxious throughout.

The SoCal indie cowboys deliver an album completely displaying musical, songwriting, and repertory growth from their critically acclaimed self-titled debut.

As with most of Johnston's albums, there a few songs that just fall flat or come off as a little too coy, but overall, it's a quality addition to the catalog of one of songwriting's true originals.

This is a strong release, reminiscent of Hard Wired or the best moments of Flavour of the Weak.

Able to make the timeworn themes of sex, drugs, and rock & roll and the basic guitars-drum-bass lineup seem new and vital again, the Strokes may or may not be completely arty and calculated, but that doesn't prevent Is This It? from being an exciting, compulsively listenable debut...

Cohen's poetic vision remains the dominant element on this elegiac set.

The Photo Album does not quite meet the standard set by 2000's stellar We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes on a song-for-song level, but it's still a moving and intelligent collection of wistful pop.

Organic as dirt, and full of an acidhead's sense of space, this one's a winner from start to finish.

Performed with a full backing band, which includes guitarist Dan Sullivan from Nad Navillus, Songs: Ohia stretches out on Fantasma, allowing Molina's songs to breathe but never sounding gratuitous, like a slightly subdued Crazy Horse.

At this point they have worked through their formative stage, and prove themselves capable of delivering a solid album with diverse songwriting and a consistent style. And even if that style sounds derivative and summons the inevitable Dischord comparisons, it's impressive nonetheless.

It's unlikely to storm the charts like their first two records, especially since there aren't standout singles like on the earlier albums, but overall the record works better, perhaps their best album.

What makes it a slightly better album than Rule 3:36, though, is the album's consistency.

They sound more natural than they ever have on record, and Brian Vander Ark and Donny Brown respond by their best set of songs.

Her calm, hushed, clear singing only emphasizes the emotional torment the songs trace. The result is an album on a par with her best work.

While the acoustic D sounds better, weirder, and purer, this still is a hell of a record, particularly because it rocks so damn hard.

The album seems to reflect craft rather than passion, and while it's often splendid craft, the fire that made Whiskeytown's best work so special isn't evident much of the time.

Let It Come Down is another masterfully made Spiritualized album, but its very ambitions sometimes overwhelm it.

Practically a concept album about the bittersweet nature of nostalgia--specifically, nostalgia for, you guessed it, summer.

The downside is that, much like his earliest material, Change Is Coming has a light feel that's undeniably enjoyable but also a bit tossed-off.

This album is a study in repetition and rhythm, the same kinds that Callahan first toyed with on songs like "Bloodflow" and "Justice Aversion" from Dongs of Sevotion.

Macy Gray lets her freak flag fly, almost to the detriment of everything else.

V is among the band's most confident and inspired releases.

Though some of the thrashier songs like "C.Q." and "T.K." and a bottom-heavy song sequence detract from the album's flow, Internal Wrangler is still a strong debut from one of England's most promising and distinctive indie bands.

He does his best job yet at balancing smarts and accessibility.

It's an evocative and wildly creative, but not immediately accessible collection.

Not just his best album since Blood on the Tracks, but the loosest, funniest, warmest record he's made since The Basement Tapes.

Moody, majestic, and unpredictable, All Is Dream plays like Deserter's Songs' evil twin, polarizing that album's gently trippy, symphonic pop into paranoid and exuberant extremes.

As good a record as any he's made, possibly his best.

The Convincer is a laid-back record that simply feels good.

A fully realized masterpiece.

While the album lapses occasionally with a couple of patches of redundant production, Date of Birth is a strong follow-up from a crew who keep it real by nature.

Orbital is either uninspired or saving up for something better next time.

Grand and flirting at the same time with the ridiculous -- the kind of disc to listen to when you are in love.

It's a noticeably more focused effort. Though it lacks Good Morning Spider's sprawling brilliance, it's possibly Linkous' most effective, and affecting, collection of songs.

This is what Pavement would have sounded like if they became the equivalent of Sebadoh, cranking out a version of Slanted & Enchanted each year, turning out records that satisfy listeners that want Pavement without unpredictability, humor, diversity and, yes, mess - without SM Jenkins, that is.

The album is held back by their insistence on simple songs and simple vocals that keep the record earthbound and solely the province of the already converted.

In 2001’s current crop of R&B singers, Blige’s voice is truly inimitable. It’s husky, strong, soulful and full of maturity. Make no mistake, though, this lady can still flow like no one’s business...

Ambivalent and unexceptional.

Vespertine isn’t so much a departure from her previous work as a culmination of the musical distance she’s traveled...

Lupine Howl does give the band more freedom than they previously had, as they embrace electronic effects, synthesizers, neo-psychedelic guitar riffs, and Cook's trademark harmonica. It doesn't always result in quality songwriting, however, and that will make it more laborious to avoid the "ex-members" tag.

This may not be their best offering, but it's a truly fine record that offers plenty in the way of satisfaction.

This is the recording that the homogenous Dream Harder failed to become. It's ambitious, moody, surreal, and relevant.

The whole album feels a little too slick and reverbed-out... While there are intriguing moments in the album, it lacks the spark that So Long So Wrong had in spades, and even their few moments on the O Brother soundtrack seemed to breathe more life into the band than New Favorite does.

Squiggling past looping divas, afternoon glares, and funkadelic body bops, De Crecy manages to manufacture a trail of songs that reach for that Anglo-French brass ring with nothing but admirable gravitas.

The most natural and best record they've ever made.

Unlike most electronica We Are A & C is song driven rather than a collection of grooves and noises stitched together, and therein lies its timeless pop appeal.

With Fan Dance, Sam Phillips has made an album that proves modesty is one the rarest and most welcome virtues in pop music today.

Welch and Rawlings are at the top of their form and continue to make the best Americana recordings without resorting to drenching their albums in guest stars, but by writing and performing heartfelt songs that speak with a clear and undeniable honesty.

A truly passionate and expressive collection of songs that will live long in the memories of all who listen to it.

Aaliyah isn't just a statement of maturity and a stunning artistic leap forward, it is one of the strongest urban soul records of its time.