This album is one of his most classicist, not classical, pop records and in that sense, Out of the Game is definitely a winner.

Island Fire wends its way through a variety of approaches, all of which have her own stamp on them first and foremost.

As it stands, Allo Darlin' are as serious as it gets, and despite the lightness and sweetness, they are sophisticated pop music at its finest.

This is music that speaks of the heart, the soul, and the mind; her messages are articulate and well-crafted, and this ranks with her best work of the past decade.

This is the kind of album that can fully define her sound, but is still multifaceted and well crafted enough to be exciting.

Hair represents the best possible outcome of the collaborative record.

The Money Store is an important record that's also compelling, loaded with kinetic blows against the empire and fully stuffed with that attractive maverick spirit.

The lack of physical force (though there is plenty of fire) is more than compensated for, in the thought-provoking concept and complexity with a resonant yet unconventional lyricism.

Life Somewhere Else makes its beautiful way across 67 minutes, an album content to take its own sweet time to reach its destination, happily exploring the nooks and crannies along the way.

It's the closest the band has come yet to something genuinely uplifting and irony-free -- no small feat for these tongue-in-cheek provocateurs, but This Machine suggests that the Dandy Warhols are actually improving with age, which is an even bigger accomplishment.

Without jettisoning the basic stylistic minimalism and scarcity of artistic means which makes footwork such a thrillingly raw, blunt, and immediate form, Traxman manages to subtly expand and redefine the possibilities of the genre.

Rock and Roll Night Club is a confusing record, but not a mess. On the contrary, it's so deeply calculated that the intentions and possible motivations of its songs are likely to be lost on most.

They sound better and more focused than ever.

Even if A Collection is by the numbers, they are great numbers and rounded out by some intriguing collaborations (with Brian Eno, High Contrast, and such) along with powerful live cuts.

It is his most ambitious and focused work, and combines not only instruments and musical traditions, but cultural sonances and histories as well.

Ultimately, there is a musical sophistication and higher maturity level to the Wanted's sound than you might expect.

Not a reinvention so much as an enjoyable detour, Radlands is a set of aural postcards from the Lone Star State that demonstrates just how much good a working vacation can do.

On their Rounder debut, the band continue to challenge their fans with 11 new tunes that show off their growing playing and songwriting skills.

Nootropics is so mired in restraint it will fail to grab many ears on the first go-round. However, once listeners get their heads around the sound, it's a definite on-repeat player.

Fear Fun's deft mix of folly and grandeur strikes a nice balance between the over the top hippie shenanigans of Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and the vapid, calculated debauchery of Lana Del Ray.

It's Talbot's most intimate collection of songs yet; even if The Western Lands was more overtly ambitious, this may be the best gateway into Gravenhurst's world--and it was well worth the wait.

She's meant to be be a superstar and she's never seemed as comfortable with her calling as she does on Blown Away.

Neck of the Woods is an even more infectious and nuanced affair.

An immediately engaging debut, Seasons of My Soul has the potential to repeat the crossover success of Norah Jones' Come Away with Me and Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, its unquestionable authenticity signaling the arrival of an equally timeless and unaffected voice.

Raw but accomplished, tuneful yet noisy, on In the Belly of the Brazen Bull the Cribs are more comfortable with their contradictions than ever.

Drokk: Music Inspired by Mega-City One is a completely satisfying project on its own, but it's also so good that it practically cries out for a film to be made to fit its cues.

By employing hard-rocking, sometimes spacey psychedelia (gloriously) to express the anger he feels as he watches the hard-won gains of history being damaged and destroyed in unsavory ways, Hawley creates an essential listen.

It's not for the faint of heart, but anyone partial to heavy, brooding, uncompromising music will likely be gladly carried away by it.