The band's ability to shift tempos and feelings without coming across as prog rock dorks is definitely a secret weapon.

Music for Confluence may lack the usual highs and lows associated with film scores, but it more than compensates for them with its sad, yet lovely strangeness.

It's all played with an energy and focus that will impress even the most die-hard fan of '70s prog who claim "they just don't make 'em like that anymore".

One of the more riveting and idiosyncratic tribute albums of the past ten years.

At the Crossroads delivers what its title promises: a portrait of the Organ Trio at the point where they look back at B-3 jazz history and move it ever forward.

In Case You Didn't Know is assuredly going to help Murs become one of Britain's finest national male pop stars for the next little while.

Roberts is in her own league as an improviser, a composer, and conceptualist.

Adjusting things just enough between tracks that they stay engaging without ever jarring the listener out of their cocoon of atmosphere, while deftly splitting the difference between the passiveness of purely ambient music and the active intellectualization required to fully absorb the skittering glitches of IDM.

It's a testament to the always entertaining, sometimes enlightening Murs that the album hangs together thanks to his words.

Produced by Rancid member and Hellcat Records owner Tim Armstrong, Jimmy Cliff's Sacred Fire EP is a wonderful jumble of time and place that ends much too soon.

That Back to Love is not a major shake-up is not a bad thing. Most of the songs are instantly ingratiating in some way, with none of the lighter, upbeat numbers the least bit out of character.

Stetson's transcendent and muscular ability to layer sound, breath, and rhythm in a meditative compositional style sticks with you long after Judges is over.

This Is Christmas is a joyous and affectionate affair that already feels like an instant festive classic.

Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland chronicles a typically strong, consistent Rush show.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a musical labyrinth that is well worth getting lost in for Ross and Reznor fans as well as soundtrack buffs.

An enticing listen.

You'd have to go a long way to find a better indie rock album in 2011.

For the Good Times [is] colorful and quietly engaging.

Anyone expecting the bar rock bravado of the Hold Steady is probably going to be disappointed by Clear Heart Full Eyes' subdued vibe, but anyone looking for more of Craig Finn's sprawling tales will feel right at home.

Old Ideas is a very good Cohen album; it may be great, but only time reveals that when it comes to his work.

It's an enjoyable look back at one of the main players during an interesting era of American indie rock.

Strange Weekend is a very impressive debut album, full of craft, emotion, and songs that you'll want to listen to again and again.

While each track on Cyrk brings to mind somebody else (Velvet Underground, "Genesis Hall"-era Fairport Convention, Comus, Spacemen 3), Le Bon somehow manages to make it all feel surprising natural.

Like the title suggests, Stars burns bright and fast.

Something is a different beast: wilder than its predecessor, stronger in the songwriting department, and totally, wonderfully weird.

Samson's words are the star of the show, and their ornate depictions of rural Canada, soft romantic devotion and computer programming make Provincial a quietly beautiful experience.

This album expands the very definition of musical collaboration.

100 Proof is the album where Kellie Pickler stops being a TV star and turns into a genuine recording artist: it's an album that's not just good when graded on a curve, but good by any measure.