The tactile crackle and hiss underscoring the calm piano makes this all Hampson's work, as excellent and remarkable as always.

By and large Construction Sounds is a restful and refreshing listen--and one that reflects how far his music has come during the years since he last used the Schneider TM moniker.

The Life & Times Of... is a solid and recommended release.

The band gives the songs greater depth rather than always putting the message right there on the surface, and this change allows the listener to dive into the songs to really absorb and understand them.

This feature-filled, somewhat messy effort is a welcome surprise, focusing in on its topic and then freeing it with the greatest of ease and making the previously maverick Game sound like a natural born ringleader.

It integrates them in a 21st century musical language that is holistic and accessible while remaining fully exploratory.

The passing of time has only increased Blur's stature as a British treasure and this is a concert that suits their status: it's crowd-pleasing without pandering.

While the roots of the songs remain familiar, the Polyphonic Spree inject enough psychedelic charm and whimsy into the album that, if you don't think about it too much, just might have you forgetting you're listening to seasonal jingles, and that beats the hell out of "Jingle Bell Rock" any old day of the year.

Plenty of hot air pushes it forward, while cold steel keeps it on the ground, just like the kinetic, magnetic Paz.

It is not a comeback record but a late continuation, a great work of art.

Just like East of Eden, Other Worlds works both as a sonic experiment and as an expression of Bergsman's adventurous soul.

Thanks to the high level of Tatum's songs and the sound he and Vernhes create, it's just the kind of album that could connect with lovers of slick, catchy pop with real humans behind the controls.

On Born to Sing: No Plan B he's compiled the various elements of his musical oeuvre and assembled them into a seamless, glorious whole.

Despite a couple of minor missteps, this album is a masterpiece.

It is, in the purest sense, a back-to-basics move for Buck: he's turned the clock back 25 years, making the album he may have always wished R.E.M. made instead of Fables of the Reconstruction.

Despite the amount of new material, some of which is not up to par with the earlier smashes and certain album cuts, this is a handy sampling of Girls Aloud's biggest moments.

Clever, eerie, and beautiful, Berberian Sound Studio is the perfect accompaniment to a film that examines the nature of fear and sound's part in it, and it's wonderful to hear Cargill continue Broadcast's legacy with a project so tailored to their strengths.

This 2012 overview of Laibach has eight extra years to cover, and with one bonafide career highlight occurring during that time, the absolutely epic "B Mashina", which was a key feature of the Nazis-on-the-moon, dark comedy film Iron Sky.

Drones is a necessary acquisition for anyone interested in Muhly's work outside pop.

In the end, A$AP Rocky comes off as rap's Jim Morrison, offering an accessible, attractive, and brutish journey into darkness while remaining true to his spirit.

The rest of the album follows suit with an energy that mixes in just the right amount of mirth, mayhem, and maudlin, making Signed and Sealed in Blood an album that's sure to please Murphys fans both old and new.

Fade is rich with details and grows richer the closer one looks.

Wolf's Law, the second studio album from The Joy Formidable, finds the Welsh trio building upon its already gargantuan sound with remarkable aplomb.

Blood Oaths is perhaps the closest to plainclothes Wooden Wand has come.

The opposite of a sophomore slump, Wash the Sins Not Only the Face is sleek and spectral, and finds Esben and the Witch casting their spell even more successfully.

The creative progression O'Brien exhibits here leaves no lingering questions of doubt whether he would succumb to the dreaded second album syndrome, and regardless of awards, wayland sees the Irishman at his best, both musically and lyrically.

McKeown's seventh studio album is as bold and determined as anything in her repertoire, but it never sacrifices musicality for message, resulting in a taut, compact, and engaging set of 21st century urban folk songs that invites the listener into the fold before unleashing its directive.

It may not be the most immediately exciting album of his career, but it is the most impressive and affecting.

While longtime fans might be a bit perplexed by the shift, they will find plenty of familiar ground to cling to as the record plays and the smartly written and tear-filled songs follow one after another.

It's fascinating to find that his dogged research has loaded these self-penned pieces with all of the mystery, language, and myth usually found in years-old traditional ballads.

McCombs and crew have painted a portrait of endless highways, ghost towns, and sunburnt moments of ecstatic possibility.

Short-sighted as the party-hearty concept may be, the unbridled enthusiasm makes the album a helluva lot of fun even for those who have trouble relating to wasted youth.

Almanac proves that Widowspeak can embrace more traditional sounds without feeling stuffy, as well as make music that's much more eclectic than might have been expected.

There's too much going on in every individual song and, at 17 cacophonic tracks, Adam Ant Is the BlueBlack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter is simply way too much to take in at once...and yet, that's precisely its charm.

Some of his finest and widest-ranging music yet, In Focus? offers charming proof that a more accessible approach doesn't necessarily spell creative death for a musician, especially one as freewheeling as Tokumaru.

Everything on this impressive outing fits together like honey and smoke in a warm but vibrant Texas breeze.

True Hallucinations is an impressive debut and one of the purest, most innocent-sounding pop records anyone is likely to make in the ironic, convoluted era in which they exist.

This may be a flashback to the sound of a decade prior, but after getting so far away from their metal roots, most fans will agree that this balance of creepy ambience and pummeling riffs is a welcome return to form.

Even if they quit after this, the album will stand as one of the best duet records of the era.

Occasionally, Callers' sheer prowess on these songs is almost overwhelming; but though Life of Love's relative restraint made it a more accessible on first listen, Reviver unlocks even more possibilities for the band.

With Stones, Gustafsson and Stetson have encountered not only one another in a magical way, but they communicate the power of beauty itself.

Sudol's expressive voice (both sonically and lyrically) and her tasteful and innovative arrangements help to steer the narrative into more abstract realms than one would assume upon simply reading the press release.

Target Earth is not only better than we had any right to expect, it's relentlessly creative, inspired, and manic.

n. Out of View is an impressive debut but, more than that, it's the sound of shoegaze and early-'90s guitar pop at its best.

The songwriting is the driving force behind the album, and any reservations about whether or not Frightened Rabbit would transform into radio-friendly M.O.R. are swept away.

What Monoswezi have created is a unique and intriguing fusion, and this album barely scratches the surface of possibilities. Where they take it will be fascinating.

The depth of the songs passes by unnoticed for the first several spins, but a world of strange detours and unexpected emotions is right below the surface.

Candela works well as an entry point into Pierce's earlier music as well as a summation of how artfully he blends electronic, indie, and global influences.

Ultimately, Get Up! earns its titular exclamation point as a successful combination of two talented veterans feeding off each other's dusky, creative spirit.

Though Burnt Up on Re-Entry trades a little of his earlier work's singularity for a more flexible approach, it shows Sweet can defy expectations, and should pique the interest of anyone partial to metal's more experimental side or post-rock's heavier side.

Musically, Hatebreed sticks with the blueprints that they used to build previous outings like Satisfaction is the Death of Desire and Rise of Brutality, but there's an impressive sense of workmanship to Divinity of Purpose that suggests a steady diet of more traditional metal.

There aren't a lot of bands that can pull off making something so quiet and unassuming but with as much emotional pull and drama as The House at Sea. Amor de Días do it with ease.

The way Buke and Gase pull together no wave's sense of texture with dance-punk's ear for rhythm is impressive enough, but the cohesion and approachability of General Dome are really what make the album.

On Triple Beams' marriage of the Dead Milkmen's irreverence and Wire's brilliant, repetitive simplicity makes the album one that will definitely scratch the itch for any punk fan, and will make a quick fan out of anyone not already on board with Tyvek's grinding punk goodness.

From the opening moments of the trippy, lo-fi intro "From the Sun" all the way to the funky-as-a-Hendrix-ballad closer "Secret Xtians," II takes risks and achieves greatness.

On Afterman: Descension, Coheed and Cambria prove that while they may be more accessible than ever before, it's not for lack of adventure or musical ambition, it's because of them.

She's turned in her most mature work and coincidentally some of her most enjoyable.

The Man Who Died in His Boat may be a smaller-scale album than either Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill or A I A, but it's no less lovely or moving because of that.

As good as the songs are, the distinguishing characteristic of Electric is its atmosphere, how the music jumps and breathes, how Miller has given Thompson his liveliest album in years and, on just sheer sonic terms, his best in a while, too.

Highlights include the folky "Sneak Out the Back Door," the jaunty, joyous-sounding, and lovely "Blind Eye" (which sounds just a little bit like vintage Donovan without the hippy-dippy lyrics), and the oddly hopeful (for Sexsmith, anyway) "Life After a Broken Heart," although the whole album feels like a uniform meditation on aging, mortality, and the affirming wish to go forward in spite of what's been.

In somebody else's hands, the introspection of Lovesick Blues could turn solipsistic or sodden, but he strikes precisely the right notes, creating an album that serves as a suitable soundtrack for long, lonely nights.

We Will Not Harm You does just what it does on the tin, and so much more.

While all of Groban's albums are immaculately produced affairs, All That Echoes is one of his best.

On Holy Fire, the third album from the English band, the post-punk revival is given a newfound sense of depth, creating songs that are rhythmic enough to draw listeners, but hypnotic enough to leave listeners lost in their wide-open spaces.

More comforting than revelatory, M B V reaffirms that My Bloody Valentine are one of a kind; the subtlety to their melodies, instrumentation, and the way they blur together belongs to them alone.

Though the sonic palette may be tweaked a little, the band's sense of disdain and frustration toward the little things is still gloriously intact.

Live in Europe, 1969 makes obvious that on this tour, Davis' creative vision was holistic and completely assured.

A heady and quirky mix of Regina Spektor, Leslie Feist, and Joni Mitchell, the second album from Nataly Dawn, the female half of heady and quirky indie pop duo Pomplamoose, is held together by the French- and Belgium-raised, Stanford-educated, American singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist's gift for gab, unique phrasing, and sophisticated musicality.

One quick listen to The Messenger brings all his signatures rushing back--the intricate, intertwining arrangements, the insistent riffs finding a counterpoint in the elastic yet precise melodies, a romance with the past that doesn't negate the present.

In other words, this is another Thom Yorke solo album, and it sounds really nice on decent headphones.

Stripped down but nonetheless gorgeous for it, the album is an inviting combination of heavy themes and unassuming delivery, and easily some of Hayden's most colorful and intriguing songwriting.

To say this album is a return to form wouldn't be quite correct. It's an extension of it.

Iceage have developed a record reaching out in many directions without straining to make any points.

While this album's predecessor evidenced his accomplishment in the instrument's creation and operation, The Orchestrion Project reveals that Metheny's possibilities with it have only been tapped.

Oh, Mayhem! won't make anyone forget Palomine, but it is an amazingly strong album that shows they have plenty of life left in them. And truth be told, this isn’t really that far off from Palomine.

All in all, Clash the Truth is exactly the record Beach Fossils should have made at this point, reinforcing all the things that made them good while adding some excellent new wrinkles and boosting the production values.

While any new album from Shorter is an event at this juncture, Without a Net is special even among the recordings made by this outstanding group.

Untogether's aloof beauty comes as something of a surprise given how free-flowing and whimsical Blooming Summer was, but while this change takes some getting used to, it's an impressive debut from a group that has taken the time--and space--to refine and develop its sound.

As with the first album things follow a basic title format of band name and number, giving the sense of installations in a larger process. Sometimes that results in things that steer away from re-creation to new inspiration.

Not surprisingly, it's the less propulsive numbers that truly resonate on What the Brothers Sang, as Oldham and McCarthy sound less emotionally constricted at a more measured pace, and when they allow their muses to meet, as they do on highlights like "Breakdown," "What Am I Loving For," and the beautiful closer "Kentucky," the results are transcendent.

Ford is a rare talent and, for now at least, she's got the right band and seems headed in the right direction, not that Untamed Beast is a transitional album. It's a full-tilt arrival.

As a fully realized collaboration, this record sees STRFKR dimming the lights just a little bit and coming into their own more than ever before.

Total Folklore is not for everybody, and the act of playing junkyard synths through scorching feedback is gimmicky by design, but he's successfully found his own niche in noise, and his creativity and determination to reinvent music is worthy of high praise.

Ultimately, even layers of fuzzy noise and fully saturated weirdness can't obscure the band's hooks or their unique pop perspective.

Welcome to 21st century Appalachian string band music. It hasn't changed that much. It doesn't have to, because it still works fine.

As it is, with the improvements, revamps, and overall more interesting arrangements, Somewhere Else manages to be the equal of Disco Romance, and the only reason it isn't better is that it lacks the surprise factor that made Sally Shapiro's debut so breathtaking.

Flowers' best moments are often the loudest, and they sound all the fresher because they're just as inviting as Sin Fang's more intimate music.

Rose isn't trying to be all traditional country here, or even all straight pop either, but somehow she effortlessly melts the two together, and this set is definitely a winner, full of solid playing and, of course, Rose's easy and comfortingly wise vocals.

These songs, and the album as a darkly moody whole, show the band to be growing into masters of crafting modern psychedelia with dark swirls instead of day-glo, and bad trips instead of sunshine days.

Overall, Ores & Minerals is a showcase of the band's strengths that finds an original band settling in and taking their ideas to the next level of clever.

House of Woo is more of the same, providing soundtracks for chillout rooms where the minds are satisfied and no one can even remember the definition of the word "dour."

When it works, it runs like a stallion, but for fans whose allegiances lie with Carter and Carroll's previous incarnations, the engaging but jarring Anthems will probably prove awfully hard to digest.

It has all the fire and fury of the debut, the same live-wire dual-guitar attack, and a similarly top-notch batch of songs that deliver plenty of rock-hard punch and are loaded with a nicely strutting power that has as much swing as it does thud, but also a few that show just the smallest bit of restraint and Spoon-like attention to sonic detail.

Highly personal, heavily detailed, and brimming with wounded optimism.

Taylor's chameleon-like always-hiding-in-plain-sight aesthetic gives us a poignant, compelling recording that warrants repeated listening.

Moving toward more mainstream sounds makes this album some of Autre Ne Veut's most distinct and confident music yet.

For those unfamiliar with Parenthetical Girls, it could be the perfect introduction to their fascinating music.

Thanks to the production, the overall strength of the songs, and the quietly intense energy the bandmembers put into their performances, Optica is a welcome return to form and solidifies Shout Out Louds' position as one of the best indie pop bands of their era.