His knack for hooks and his skill at construction may mirror that of his father, but Liam Finn is his own man, displaying a keen fondness for psychedelia, and spending as much time crafting sound as song, resulting in a record that has enough hooks to pull a listener in on first spin, yet is dense enough to warrant decoding on subsequent plays.

This is a hip-hop-flavored club effort of Elephunk proportions and another high-water mark for the don of pop-rap's glitter dome.

Musically however, Shangri-La keeps things fairly light and upbeat, with plenty of memorable, chanted vocal hooks and a satisfying mixture of live and sequenced instrumentation.

Ultimately, What's It All About is an intimate work revealing Metheny's investigation of composition itself. The notion of song is inherent in everything he does, and he reveals that inspiration in spades here.

As the mainstream becomes more and more predictable, Shabazz Palaces' inscrutability is a welcome change. Because the beats are so abstract, roots take precedent, and a strong presence on the microphone becomes the most important aspect.

The key feeling could be summed up in the album title, in a way -- it's not necessarily that the album is all about love, but it's definitely about warmth and happy energy with a definite male slant, a blissed feeling over the heavy crunch and impact of the music.

Eleven Eleven shows he's a long way away from running out of ideas, and these 11 portraits of life in the Golden State are engrossing, thoughtful music that should satisfy old fans and engage those introducing themselves to his work for the first time.

For now, as long as she makes records as good and as much fun as When the Sun Goes Down, everything will be fine.

Parton has never sounded fresher or more spirited, and with "Somebody's Missing You" in particular, she shows she still knows how to write a timeless song.

She's never been more as completely herself on record as she is here.

New Brigade is charmingly underdeveloped, slapdash, and direct--in other words, absolutely thrilling.

There's a strong sense that Valley aims to reinterpret a kind of never-never land of angelic male singing and electronic-driven arrangements that seems to recombine a variety of impulses from the '80s into a combination that never could have existed until a later moment.... A strikingly good debut effort.

On Bring Me Your Love Dallas Green laments, pines, and celebrates loves both won and lost, employing a dusky, electrified patina of old and new country with a tinge of soul that's miles (sonically) from his work with the post-hardcore outfit Alexisonfire.

This is indie rock where the big hooks and bold arrangements never get in the way of the complex emotions at the heart of these nine songs, and that's why five years isn't too long to wait for music this special.

Special Affections is both special and affectionate, highly infectious and recommended.

The decision to vary the speaking participants helps distinguish each piece, and gives the album just the hint of variety it needs.

SBTRKT's downtempo, mellow nature means it's a dance album that's unlikely to ever be played in a club, but showing James Blake that sparse, minimal dubstep and well-crafted pop melodies aren't mutually exclusive, it's a daring debut which lives up to the masked man's "next big thing" label.

There's no denying that, a half-decade late or not, SebastiAn has delivered.

The result is easily her best record yet: a soundtrack equally comforting during a lazy weekend afternoon or a hard Monday morning.

On his third album, John Maus continues his pursuit of immediacy-in-action mixed with a certain calm, developing a further tension that infuses both his music and words.

You could single out any song on the album for praise or inclusion on a killer summer mixtape and you wouldn't go wrong... this album is one of the sleeper picks for best-of 2011.

Happily, the partnership succeeds more often than not.

An extended pilgrimage to New Orleans allowed the longtime friends to hone the 11 songs that make up Through Low Light and Trees into something truly magical, and while the album is clearly the product of the green fields and misty mountains of their homeland, it's obvious that the time spent in the Big Easy had a profound effect on them.

Random Axe the album barely crosses the 40-minute mark and it doesn't bother pleasing the crowd, but it rewards its core audience with a freestyle feel and an uncompromising allegiance to true hip-hop.

Whether your primary interest is in the comedy or the music, this is a solidly enjoyable album.

Lord of the Birdcage is strong and diverse enough to stand out among Pollard's solo efforts, and proves once again this man's talents shine brightest when he finds new ways to challenge himself.

While his technical acumen remains uncontested, the addition of blistering bluegrass singer/guitarist Michael Daves and notorious engineering luddite White into the mix has helped to temper Thile's signature refinements into something raw and primal.

Sagara shows the Norwegian to be an equally effective mood painter without his trusty beats, and in some respects, his accomplishment here is his most adept and impressive yet.