Completists looking for some new insights to Drake's sounds will come up empty-handed with this collection. Although the music at its best approaches flawlessness, almost all of it has been widely available long before this packaging.

The Future's Void's often dazzling vignettes aren't quite as striking as Anderson's debut, but they show she's an artist unconfined by any one sound or perspective, and more than capable of engaging minds as well as hearts.

Per usual, it's the Unthanks' acumen for crafting highly refined overcast ballads that ultimately wins out, and some of us are all the better for it.

If Hi Honey is a resurrection, think of it as a rowdy revival tent: they're preaching the gospel of good old rock & roll sleaze and boogie, sounds that are always infectious when they sound as good as this.

Loaded with vocal hooks, sassy, R&B-infused performances, and textured, groove-powered tunes, it's a hypnotic set that's definitely got its own thing going on.

There's a charming looseness to the album; while never abrasive, the samples sometimes clash with each other a bit, and it all has the feeling of a cut-and-paste collage, sounding far less refined than Eluvium or Explosions' dramatic, labored-over epics. ... The album is a poignant, playful collection of future memories.

It's clear that they miss their friend and the pain of carrying on without him is crushing. That they manage to convey those feelings to the listener in such a pleasantly sweet fashion is a credit to them as a group and the album takes them from just another (albeit really good) chirpy indie pop band to one ready for the big leagues, sonically and emotionally.

If made by a group other than them, might have topped year end list made by serious music publications. As it is, the record will likely exist as a lost treasure to be excavated years down the road to be loved and emulated. Saint Etienne have more than their share of great albums over the years, chalk this up as one of the best and proof that the band have become more than just a brilliant pop act.

With its fuller sound and relaxed flights of fancy, Icky Thump is a mature, but far from stodgy, album -- and, as is usually the case, it's just great fun to hear the band play.

If there isn't much spark, there is a surplus of warmth; the trio is comfortable and relaxed, and it's hard not to succumb to such friendly, familiar vibes.

River is not only the work of a master guitarist, but also that of a sophisticated composer. Bachman's confidence in interpreting his own musical ideas on the fretboard is now equal to his skill in playing the lineage music that inspires him.

Paradise suggests it may be a very long time before Anohni gives us another album like I Am a Bird Now (if she ever does), but the strength and vision of this EP offers the promise that she may soon offer us something similarly powerful and moving in her new musical frameworks.

Altogether, it's a rock-solid set, notable for good songs as well as a distinctive if simultaneously throwback sound.

The term "triumphant return" might be thrown around too casually, but it certainly applies to I Thought of You.

Whatever hopes you held in the aftermath of "I Am a Bird Now," they have been exponentially exceeded in poetry, music, and honesty here.

Nobody Wants to Be Here and Nobody Wants to Leave's naked emotions and sophisticated music mark a new high point for the Twilight Sad.

Sahel Folk is an enriching and meditative listening experience, and introduces another aspect of the great -- and seemingly inexhaustible -- Malian Songhai musical tradition to the West.

At the outset, it seems austere, but by its conclusion it's a robust celebration of all the weird, wonderful parts of America.

Traditional Techniques feels starkly openhearted and relaxed, which means that the album can surprise emotionally even if it is firmly rooted within his musical wheelhouse.

The Argument never seems like work, as Hart is thoroughly engaged, delivering songs that work on their own terms but purposefully add up to an intriguing, tantalizing enigma.

Never once do they sound desperate on Bloodsports; they sound confident, and comfortable in the knowledge that this is where they all should be.

Lyrically it's so strong and vulnerable that it works, leaving the listener haunted with the notion that something special has occurred, that he or she has born witness to a man becoming aware of the preciousness of his own life.

More New Order and Saint Etienne than Smiths, and with male and female vocals, the band comes across as an electro-pop Belle and Sebastian.

Kid A is easily the most successful electronica album from a rock band -- so much so that it doesn't sound like the work of a rock band, even if it does sound like Radiohead.... Despite its admirable ambition -- ambition that is all the more impressive in 2000, the year when most bands simply stopped trying -- Kid A never is as visionary or stunning as OK Computer, nor does it really repay the intensive time it demands in order for it to sink in.

Filled with vocoders, stylish neo-electro beats, dalliances with trip-hop, and, occasionally, eerie synthesized atmospherics, Music blows by in a kaleidoscopic rush of color, technique, style, and substance.... an appealing, addictive record.

Layer after layer of preconceived notions and excess noise are stripped away to unveil both soft-spoken charm and intense newfound confidence.

This is a good document of Morphine's excellent live show and displays the energy and passion that they played with during the tour that supported their breakthrough album.

Presumably it's not enough for Patterson Hood that he fronts one of the best rock bands in America--Murdering Oscar shows him stepping into an equally impressive solo career, but when the songs he's set aside for himself are this good, you can't blame the man for wanting to share.