Languid, pastoral, and remarkably serene (each track segues into each other like ice melting on a spring pond), Diamond Mine is so unobtrusive that it barely registers.... A lovely collection of ambient folk songs.

Paper Airplane is very polished -- pristine, even -- but there isn't an extra thing on it. It feels organic and authentic, allowing plenty of room for the emotional power in these songs to come forth.

Folks who were hoping Sing It Loud would be k.d. lang's return to the approach of Absolute Torch & Twang are going to be left wanting again, but if you've been eager to see her clear out a stylistic direction that's her own and make something of it, this album feels like a strong step in a bold, satisfying new direction.

C'mon, while well short of sunny, is an album devoted to the search for answers amidst the darkness, and it's a powerful, deeply moving work from a truly singular band.

Despite Tomboy's significant changes, it feels less like a radical shift than a subtle progression; while it may not be quite as dazzling as Person Pitch, it should still please fans of that album and Lennox's many other outlets.

If the band had explored their bluesy leanings more, Light Me Up could have been a small-scale revolution, but even as it stands now, it's still a wicked good record.

No Devolución is an album that could easily make converts out of the skeptical, allowing the band to reintroduce themselves to the world over a decade after their first album was released.

Not many bands can recover from a disastrous album and come back better than ever. Thanks to some hard work and good choices, you can add Vivian Girls to that short list.

Human Hearts is the kind of end-to-end solid album that most bands strive for, rarely attain, and usually only achieve once in their career, with track after track of immediately addictive, sparklingly produced, and emotionally heartfelt pop.

Canary is a true find from a band that's quietly created one of the most powerful albums of the year.

Paradoxical as it may seem, the more structured version of the band that Do Whatever You Want All the Time presents just may be more exciting, and offer more potential, than what Ponytail were doing before.

The English Riviera is a challenging but ultimately rewarding effort which cements Mount's reputation as one of Britain's most intriguing pop mavericks.

If she can avoid the "trying to sound American" and "over-bearing lyrical preaching" mistakes of her pioneering U.K. urban predecessors, there's no reason why On a Mission can't be the start of a fruitful and glittering career.

Compared to most releases of its kind, Nostalgia, Ultra is plotted with care, not slapped together with haste.

It feels like Hungtai is still developing his sound to its fullest, but Badlands is still an intriguing and often haunting official debut.

With every manifesto being tempered by a transforming mantra, Generation Indigo is quintessential Styrene.

Dancer Equired! should be required listening for any band looking to grow its brand in new ways without losing its core audience--and also for those who like their pop dirty, sweet, and fairly audible.

The Royal Bangs don't just grab you by the throat and demand your attention, they threaten to rip apart your speakers, drench you in your own dancefloor sweat, and leave you begging for more.

She tosses jazz, folk, R&B, hip-hop and whatever else strikes her fancy into fascinating collisions that are as melodic as they are abrasive, and as globally minded as they are distinctly urban.

When the Heart Emerges is a breakthrough jazz album that reminds us that in this music, listening closely is of equal importance to speaking out. Akinmusire excels at both.

Even if the producer's layered constructions cover the spectrum genre-wise, the overall feel of Some Cold Rock Stuf is classically J-Rocc and generally Stones Throw, coming with that right combination of lazy, purposeful, clever, odd, and organic.

Cat's Eyes is an intriguing album of heartbroken, shadowy pop that transcends its influences when it aims directly for the heart.

All the pieces fit together perfectly for Brown Recluse on Evening Tapestry, and it's a pleasure from beginning to end.

This self-titled offering is monster; a masterpiece of tough, psychedelic soul.

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

He pushes the notion further on the brilliantly melodic, ennui-ridden baroque pop ballad "Anti-D," in which Blur's "karaoke songs" from "The Universal" have been replaced by the Wombats' own songs, which are better than "citalopram" and "to be prescribed as freely as any decongestants." The song, like the rest This Modern Glitch, makes the case for the Wombats as both rock stars and fools in their own pop star sitcom.

Overall, this is a generous, beautifully packaged retrospective of one of the 2000s' premier synth pop acts.

Rockpango is the most satisfying recording that Los Lonely Boys have come up with yet. It confirms the notion that the Garza brothers know exactly what they want and how to get it, with a sound that is inviting, infectious, and inventive.