It's the band's most impressive outing to date, and easily one of the best metal albums of 2011.

Casablanca Nights should serve as an inspiration to producers everywhere as an example of how to do an "And Friends" record the right way. For the rest of us, it's a thrilling blast of heartbreak beats and sweet club emotion.

You should know from Hernandez's track record that there will be plenty of hooky melodies and songs that will be stuck like glue in your head and on your lips, and he certainly doesn't let you down here.

While Last Summer has enough ties to her work with the Fiery Furnaces to please fans, it gives Friedberger the time in the spotlight she deserves.

The original mixtape is worth checking for the Sweatshirt bits alone, but this version does a better job of putting the spotlight on Mellowhype, the Odd Future crew's secret weapon.

The kinetic, mini-funk monster "Swimsuits" with Mayer Hawthorne puts it over the top, making the long wait forgivable and the album highly recommendable.

Vol. 2 shows the full breadth of the group's sound, from the ballads to the rockers to the various gems in between.

Whether this is a one-off or a bridge to something more substantial, it's satisfying in the present and will likely increase in stature as years pass.

In the Mountain in the Cloud is also the band's most cohesive album, suffering from none of the unevenness that crept into some of their earlier work.

Heavy on atmosphere and hooks alike, Pleasure comes one bounding step closer in the eternal quest to marry refined song craft and ungovernable noise.

The group puts some twists on its sound, and Yukimi Nagano's lyrical thorns, typically concealed by her subtle approach -- are sharper than ever.

They execute it all with a fullness of sound and compelling melodic content that pulls the listener in, almost as surely as any first-rate opera.

On Again and Again, Brilliant Colors aren't doing anything radically different than their contemporaries with similar influences and a similar sound, but they do what they do with conviction and just enough weirdness to give them a leg up on the competition.

The bottom line is that some of the immediacy of her rockabilly jazz is lost once she goes for romance and seduction, but Mayhem is still a fresh, invigorating record that is worth picking up, no matter what your musical convictions are; it's that good.

Our Blood, with its tattered, frayed grace, reflects Buckner's compellingly listenable, weary yet stubborn poetic journey, for answers to questions -- both past and and present, elliptical and enormous --that lie just beyond his grasp.

If Neon does anything, it proves that Young can manage this delicate balance all the while seeming like it's no trouble at all.

Fans looking for a middle ground between Jamey Jasta's output with melodic hardcore outfit Hatebreed and sludgy metalcore group Kingdom of Sorrow will find a great deal to love about the workhorse frontman's solo debut.

Although very eclectic taste is required to appreciate in full, this is clearly Rowland's brightest, most confident album yet.

They are of interest as a curiosity, especially for pub rock fanatics, but Harlan County illustrates why Jim Ford never became a cult artist in his own right.

Far from descending into a pale imitation like, say, a Kingdom Come or late-'80s Whitesnake, however, BCC's offerings rise above and fly true thanks to the unimpeachable pedigree and recognizable musical personalities of all involved here.

If a new artist released an album as strong and well-crafted as Roses at the End of Time as their debut, they'd likely be hailed as a major new force on the contemporary singer/songwriter scene; just because it's the work of a seasoned veteran doesn't mean it's too late for Gilkyson to be celebrated as a talent deserving of a larger and wider recognition.

Though it is one long cut, Night Gallery is free of noodling or self indulgence; it proves that acid jam is alive and well in the hands of the right musicians.

The 33 cuts on this sprawling collection offer so many fine and unusual moments, Red Hot + Rio 2 is every bit as unique and groundbreaking, puzzling and dazzling, as its predecessor; only more so.

Despite the recycling, it's one of his most inventive and potent albums to date, full of aggression, euphoria, and hope--alongside the rage, indignation and bitterness--and powered by idealism, pride, honor, and some of his strongest jams yet.

With keyboard and drum machine-led swirls, higher-pitched and echoed vocals, and an embrace for what could be called art-pop-not-rock, Moonface's Organ Music is very much in the right place for 2011.

Its versatility is quite dazzling, making it one of the best records in the Romweber catalog.

Longtime fans will be pleased, and folks who only know Newman from his film scores will be startled at the depth of the man's body of work, even on a collection with a couple of (relative) ringers.

The essence of the music might be simple but the band squeezes remarkable emotions from it. The new world order of psychedelia is here.