On Tin Cast Trust, Los Lobos prove that tough times don't last, but tough music does, and those are words we can all live by.

As it stands, Transit Transit is a beautifully executed work that would have made the band solid contenders if it had been released back in 1992.

Drifting between order and disarray, Menomena's fourth album is like an exercise in controlled chaos.

Crazy for You is meant to be an album that creates a mood, a feeling of gentle despair and wistful longing that grows with each song. On that count, it's a complete success.

Masts of Manhatta walks this line [the pull of the two extremes] throughout, sometimes getting quite a bit livelier, sometimes indulging in decidedly moody textures, always twisting just slightly from the expected, making for a record that's quite intriguing upon the first listen and better on repeats, where the songs begin to dig in and all the textures gain resonance.

How exactly these songs fit together with "Holes"' delicate plucking and the title track's pixelated folk might be locked in Fol Chen's brains, but even if there are more pieces of their puzzle-pop missing here than there were on John Shade, Your Fortune's Made, The New December is never boring.

This may be the most subdued of Richter's Fat Cat releases, but every nuance shows the care with which he crafts all of his music.

This disc does gather the duo's most-known material, including "Destiny," "Distractions," "In the Waiting Line," and "Polaris," all of which were licensed for several compilations and/or used in advertisements.

Beach Fossils may be very 2010 but they aren't just along for the ride, they're driving the bandwagon.

Come and Get It!--his third LP and first for a major label--feels a bit like an unearthed relic, built on songs and sounds that could pass for unheard gems if it wasn't for Reed's unapologetically white voice, free of affectations and ticks.

Release Me wipes away any memories of the band's previous work as well as any boring talk of their famous fathers, and re-introduces the band as first-rate purveyors of thrillingly fun rockin' retro pop.

This is a heartfelt, creative, and deeply inspired album that should appeal to fans of intelligent pop music.

For backpackers and underground fans, it's a must, but anyone who wants their hip-hop both a bit stranger and a lot deeper will fall hard for this one.

Unlike some underground bands, Indian Jewelry just get more uncompromising and honed as they go, and this eerie, unsettling album is a perfect culmination of the duo's work so far.

Somehow, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World's music remains true not just to the comic, but to the work of everyone involved in the story at every stage, with plenty of fun and heart to boot.

This debut only strengthens Lissie's potential to become one of folk music's newest sirens.

While fans of Darker My Love's earlier albums may be a bit put off by this sudden sea change, Alive as You Are marks a pleasant sonic shift for the band, offering anyone willing to listen a love letter to San Francisco's psych-pop past and the sounds of the paisley underground.

That Black City is Dear's most creative and individual album is not, however, up for debate.

Rivers isn't as immediate as either Heartcore or The Snake, but fans should find it satisfying once they've had time to let it soak into their ears, brains and hearts. Rivers isn't as immediate as either Heartcore or The Snake, but fans should find it satisfying once they've had time to let it soak into their ears, brains and hearts.

Strange Weather may get some static for not being groundbreaking or risk taking but that's okay. It's just !!! at their best and that's good enough.

Hawk isn't as startling [as Ballad of the Broken Seas], but it's encouraging to know that the magic between Campbell and Lanegan not only hasn't worn off, it's manifesting itself in new and compelling ways.

Nearly everything else here is loving, sincere, and worthy of hearing by fans of the Beach Boys or Broadway.

No Better Than This proves that good songs need very little to communicate instructive narratives and complex emotions, and that primitive recording methods are still sometimes the best ones.

While nothing can capture the true feeling of being flattened by one of Mogwai's shows except attending one, Special Moves is still a great live document.

Memphis is the most thrilling debut album since the Apples in Stereo's Fun Trick Noisemaker and should be embraced by anyone who likes pop music that sounds small but thinks big. These kids truly have some magic in them.

While Root for Ruin isn't the creative reawakening that Let's Stay Friends was, it might be the band's tightest and most polished album yet.

What really sets Disturbed apart from other 21st century metal acts is their ability to consistently re-package and resell their sound in a way that avoids redundancy.

Like most live albums, Dream Attic is more about the playing than the material, which is a bit different from the way a new Richard Thompson set works, but when it captures a band this good playing with this authority, that's hardly anything to fret about.