Swallow this album whole, letting the peaks and valleys of its cinematic reach melt into one another as it moves forward toward its soft sprung conclusion.

For now, Dark Roots of Earth improves upon 2008's comeback The Formation of Damnation and, in tandem with those rejuvenated live performances, promises a well-deserved second act for a band that so narrowly missed grasping the golden ring their first time around.

Billy Joe Shaver is one of a kind, and this set proves it; it makes an excellent introduction for anyone not familiar with his singular talent.

This open-minded vision was already quite evident on prior Ihsahn solo albums, of course, but on Eremita it arguably flowers more confidently than ever before.

A surprisingly compact album, Tracer covers a lot of musical ground in under 40 minutes, and on the whole it feels like a love letter to electronica's formative days (or like an album they might have sampled from in the past).

Foxygen has made something that reaches out for so many possibilities it ends up reverting inward, ultimately sounding insular, like a highway of endlessly firing synapses in someone elses' brain.

Suffice to say that In the Lair of the Sun God delivers from start to finish, and can't even be marred by Dawnbringer main man Chris Black's strained singing, which falls somewhere between Lemmy, Slough Feg's Mike Scalzi, and frequent collaborator Blake Judd of Nachtmystium, but fits right in with his band's lo-fi aesthetic.

His sound was a forward-thinking and richly engaging blend of African roots music, the makossa (urban popular music) of his native Cameroon, and the then-emerging electronic music movement.

Dear's vocals are at their most expressive, imposing, and sinister.

En Yay Sah is easily the most auspicious--and original--debut album of 2012.

The mood is thick and cloaking, and the album represents a continuing development toward the best and most captivating material of Caminiti's expansive body of work.

While A Thing Called Divine Fits might be a shade less eclectic than Boeckner, Brown, and Daniel's other projects, it's hard to find fault when the results are this consistently catchy.

Four may not be as cohesive as Silent Alarm, but it just might be more vital.

Antibalas is a welcome return; its slight shift in direction and production nuances reveal just how sophisticated this ensemble is, expanding the Afro-beat sound in the 21st century without sacrificing its heart.

The result is an album not only more interesting, but far more enjoyable.

The approach is dubwise, but the result is unique -- it simultaneously pushes familiar musical buttons and sounds like nothing else that has come before.

Sun lives up to its name, but its album cover is more revealing: like the rainbow crossing Marshall's face, these songs are the meeting point between a stormy past and optimism for the future.

Hot Cakes is definitely worthy of throwing more than a few devil horns the band's way.

Ten tight tracks, and that includes the epic "Intro," puts this on the man's top-shelf, where it sits next to The Reason as the album's flashy little brother.

This is the worthy sequel to the group's Madlib collaboration In Search of Stoney Jackson, and that's meant as high praise.

It's a return to form and just what fans of Cliff's early work could ask for, but it's vital too, putting it on the man's top shelf, somewhere in the vicinity of The Harder They Come soundtrack and Wonderful World, Beautiful People.

Nude Beach aren't starting a revolution with II, but its well-crafted songs and raw-edged execution are just too damn joy-inspiring to deny.

Breakup Song is fresh and addictive enough to make listeners fall in love all over again.

Nothing Bad Will Ever Happen has flashes of brilliance and moments where they're still figuring out what to do, but overall, it shows them growing into something new as gracefully as they can.

There is a purity to their sound and vision that gives the album its power.

While Yellowcard's songs still retain the youthful, emo-rock enthusiasm and catchy melodicism that marked the best of their earlier work, there is a weightiness and expansive gaze to many of the songs on Southern Air.

It's a pleasure from the get-go: a nicely ominous plucked guitar rhythm of a couple of notes is the bed for even more moody feedback wails and fading in/out arcs of feedback.

Mature Themes just reveals more levels with more listening.

What is easy to figure out is that they are still operating at top capacity and anyone looking for smart, emotional pop that sounds almost perfect can turn to Stars for all their needs.

Matchbox 20 has never made a record as cheerful or appealing or satisfying as this.

Gallows finds them staying the course, delivering high-octane thrills on every track in a way that feels as if it's meant to reassure fans that Gallows are done playing around and are ready to get back to business.

All the pieces here slot together beautifully, and using more voices creates more complex layers of vocals that only add to the pieces.

The Bloom and the Blight sounds massive enough that Two Gallants could conceivably follow fellow power duo the Black Keys into the big time, but emotionally, this music is as intimate as ever, and all the more powerful for it.

If it's more of an archival release than a necessary one, it's very listenable and catches an eccentric, odd little band of three fine songwriters doing that thing they did--and that they still do.

Coexist's exploration of isolation and intimacy is demanding and rewarding in its bold subtlety and eloquent simplicity.

As always with Dinosaur Jr., underneath all that sound lie some sturdy bones, songs constructed with expert, unassuming craftsmanship and a sly wit, but it's the variety and adventure that makes I Bet On Sky something more than another excellent Dinosaur record.

The near perfect balance of cinematic classical and rock music here may put some off some headbangers, but it will no doubt appeal to anyone with an open mind, and more importantly, an open heart.

The music and images of Hazlewood singing to Axelman's family, running the Gotland marathon, and convincing Swedish children to take sides against Nixon turn both movie and album into a celebration of the enduring friendship between artist and director.

Theatre is Evil bristles, crackles, aches, and moans with surprising efficiency considering its 15-song length, pairing fractured synths and staccato guitar riffs with Palmer's throaty, untamed pipes, sounding for all the world like a brazenly cool, alternate-universe version of No Doubt.

The record may not be their masterpiece, but it is an important piece of a surprisingly strong career.

Above all, Mungodelics practically bubbles with undisguised joy in the moment, a pleasure in activity, and the possibilities they explore.

Overall, though, Liquid Swords is possibly the most unsettling album in the Wu canon (even ahead of Ol' Dirty Bastard), and it ranks with Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) and Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx as one of the group's undisputed classics.

Away from the World is a bit of a rare thing: a return to form lacking an ounce of nostalgia.

Forget the limiting rubric of country-pop: this is one of the best mainstream pop albums of 2012.

If it isn't both the most purposeful and moving album to come out of dubstep, it's got to be at least one of the two.

It would all add up to another listen-to-it-once bit of over-serious Americana noir if the songs weren't so good. But they're good.

It may not hit the listener over the head with theatrics or tormented confessions, but the subdued and personal nature of Church's songs here allow for a more intimate connection than on any Sea Wolf material that came before.

It's part punk, part grunge, part riot grrrl, all slamming together in the mosh pit and exploding into a fist-pumping fury you won't soon want to forget.

While it's not as obviously big a statement as Veckatimest was, Shields is plenty ambitious in its own right, and its complexity demands and rewards patient listening.

They're veterans that know how to use their tools, so even if the raw materials may not be quite as compelling as their earliest singles, the overall craft on Battle Born is more appealing.

It's intriguing and at times vaguely unsettling.

Bend Beyond is the most fully realized set of songs yet from Woods, and continues a lineage of each record surpassing their last.

Her livelier numbers, of which there are quite a few, aren't exactly frivolous, but they have a pulse and plenty of color which, combined with album's concise running time, give Charmer the feel of an immediate, engaging pop record.

Cruel Summer is a mistitled fireworks show from Kanye West and his G.O.O.D. Music label/roster/empire, one that comes off as mixtape-minded follow-up to his flossy Jay-Z team-up Watch the Throne.

There's something to be said for Jepsen's girl-next-door persona, which helps make Kiss one of 2012's best, and sweetest, pop albums.

The results are elegant and beautiful, as all Sea and Cake albums are, but also slightly experimental.

Obey the Brave's no-nonsense approach, boundless energy and verve, and catharsis-cleansing rage make the songs on Young Blood crackle with the out-of-control power of both the hungriest up-and-comers and all the institutions of power metal that came before.

Layered viewpoints, bittersweet situations, and complicated anger flow out of this articulate effort, but the sweet trick of the album is how approachable it is, living up to its title with equal shares of Mourning and Dreaming.

The unlikely marriage of cold, Bowie-in-Berlin-esque funk and maximized random sound snippets comes off as the most natural and lovely expression of hopeful despair imaginable. Much of the record follows this incredibly nuanced path, giving it uniquely brittle atmosphere, and ranking among the band's best work.

Best of all, Tucker and crew rock out a lot, and in a lot of different ways, on Kill My Blues.

Exuberant and direct, the album is a refreshing change from the subtle layering of Mines, finding the band at its most musically manic while delivering its most personal lyrics to date.

On Privateering, his seventh solo outing, Knopfler has crafted his most ambitious and pugnacious set to date.

They've turned into savvy old pros who know when to flex their muscle and when to lay back, and that canny musicality and camouflaged maturity make Push and Shove a satisfying comeback.

Bitter Drink feels more exuberant than the band's earlier work, upping the tempo and grandeur of the songs in a way that shines a little light on the band's darkness without snuffing it out completely.

Jimmy's Show is yet more proof that Noir is a pop music magician.

As lovely and sparse as Anda Jaleo and Perlas were, it is Blood Rushing that offers us the most of Foster, as a singer, a singular songwriter, and an artful conceptualist.

Thankful N' Thoughtful is a solid outing from an outstanding singer who knows how to growl, croon, grumble, praise, and jump for joy with her vocal phrasing--whatever makes the song live and breathe.

The combination of Parker's inspired production, Prochet's lovely singing and evocative songwriting, and the perfect balance the duo strikes between pop and art makes Melody's Echo Chamber a rather stunning debut.

This long-labored album is a thoughtful and contemplative breed of off-kilter pop that becomes both more interesting and increasingly complex with repeat listening.

Sugaring Season is sophisticated, mature, and rife with quiet passion.

Little Heater is a lovely, evocative album that touches the heart, the soul, and the intellect with equal force; this is the work of a singular artist working at the top of her game and it demands to be heard.

With its restrained arrangements and spacious production, The Devil You Know allows Jones' enigmatic voice the room it needs to rise and deliver these songs, not from rock & roll history, but from her heart, marrow, and bones.

An album that's already brimming over with personality thanks to the chemistry between the two rhyme stylists and their ability to bring out the most inventive sides of one another.

The album doesn't immediately grab you, but if given time to spread through you like warm cider on a fall day, Levek's subtle charms will win you over and this album will be one of the first you'll want to reach for to help capture or create a mood of autumnal melancholy.

Tragicomedies itself is, unquestionably, garish (not to mention inventive, befuddling, and delightful) enough to fully deserve anyone's love.

It's a fine set, worth owning along with Endtroducing… while giving beat-friendly newcomers a very persuasive career-to-date overview.

His unique literary view into both the banal and the horrific mix with the most interesting and developed arrangement of any Mountain Goats album and the result is some of the strongest, most compelling work of an already brilliant run.

Emotionally powerful, darkly beautiful, and troubling yet genuine at the same time, Don't Be a Stranger is the sort of album only Mark Eitzel could make, and if it's not always as strong and as focused as one might hope, it honors his muse better than he has on his own in some time, and shows this master songwriter still has some worthy stories left to tell.

The Wallflowers don't abandon their identity as rock & roll classicists, they just now feel the freedom to mess around, and they've come up with one of their loosest, liveliest records that not-so-coincidentally is one of their best.

Traveling Alone feels more spontaneous and immediate than most of Tift Merritt's previous work, but it's no less beautiful or affecting for it.

If Dark Dark Dark are one of many acts who seem to define the realm of vaguely quirky and slightly winsome indie rock of the 21st century, the lean of the performances tends toward the quietly contemplative above all else, however much in a band context.

It's music that breathes gently, establishing its own place, and providing a true reward for the listener.

Steve Forbert is a wonderful songwriter with a clear and sharply observed vision of how life in the heart unfolds and reveals itself with the passage of time.

A candy-coated, trippy treat, Bubblegum Graveyard has the ingredients to please listeners.

Ten Songs About Girls isn't only Tender Trap's best album; it's one of the best records she's [Amelia Fletcher's] been associated with.

It showcases both sides of the trio's prowess: Rangda's ability to improvise dynamically and also to compose compelling, creating mysterious tunes that cross genres with ease and acumen.

In 2012, the album is still an impressive achievement and cements the trio's place as the absolute best band of shoegaze revivalists operating.

Overall, the sound on Dead Silence isn't that different from the band's previous work, but is certainly some of the best work they've done.

With songs this strong, it's an easy album to keep coming back to.

The band's slick blend of classic new wave, tech-savvy dance rock, and mathy indie pop can be jarring upon first listen, but multiple spins reveal an impressively tight unit that understands the thin line between immaculately rendered electro-art pop cacophony and hook-friendly modern rock.

It might be Tussle's most subdued music to date, but it works equally well as a hypnotic wash of sound and as riveting close listening, especially late at night.

Out of the Black works either on the dancefloor or at the workstation, offering beat nuts from the Front 242 generation to the Deadmau5 kids their deep, dark, and delicious fix.

Twins is a bright moment in a nearly ceaseless evolution, and one of the most fluid and successfully ambitious in Ty Segall's catalog.

It's an amazing, cool, and filling mix, and with Homeboy himself being that right mix of persuasive and challenging, First of a Living Breed is an easy recommendation for any lyric-loving hip-hop head.

All We Love We Leave Behind, the group's eighth studio album, manages to summon that same level of intensity [as 2009's Axe to Fall] without the aid of a single mercenary.

Shut Down the Streets is as accessible as it is rewarding, and as refreshingly idiosyncratic as it is revealing.

Unfinished Business shows that six decades after her first recordings, that strategy [simplicity] still works, and she can still deliver the goods without a lot of needless fuss.

When these sweet reinterpretations are combined with the straight-ahead rockers, Long Wave adds up to a blueprint in reverse for Lynne; by going to back to his beginnings, he winds up figuring out why he went in the direction he did.