In short, if you've been waiting for Yo La Tengo to rediscover the amps they used on "Mushroom Cloud of Hiss" or "Attack on Love," well, this isn't quite your dream disc but it's a step in the right direction.

Shipp, whose restless vision is never clouded by grandiosity or pretense, has become the most important pianist on the scene today. Equilibrium is soul music for the mind.

This is a breath of cognac- and cigarette-scented air on an almost-dead pop scene.

It would have been nice to lift the haze with an uptempo track or two, but at only ten songs and 37 minutes, the album never drags. It is a rare reinvention that comes across as well as this.

The group's finest creation yet.

The best record of his career.

This record is really nothing more than a collection of sharp, witty, well-constructed pop songs.

The mix of frothy pop with a strange flavor makes this disc particularly compelling.

Tales of a GrassWidow may not be as overtly challenging as Grey Oceans, but it offers some of CocoRosie's most focused, accomplished songs yet.

Runners in the Nerved World is a step forward on the path toward a new approach that was clearly the Sidekicks' new focus on Awkward Breeds, and if this band doesn't rock as hard, they sound intent and committed on these songs, and this is the work of musicians who know where they're going and what they intend to find.

Though it never feels disjointed, it never feels fully realized, either. In the end, it's hard to tell exactly what the album is aiming for, but taken as another rowdy set of tunes from a living legend, Night & Day delivers from both sides of whichever dichotomy it's grappling with at any given moment.

Quite possibly the finest of the group' s five albums to date.... A sophisticated pop pleasure from start to finish, Oui is the aural equivalent of a perpetual Indian summer.

There is no commercial slant on this music, but it's more relevant than anyone dared expect.

An affecting, dreamlike, decayed din that incorporates voice samples twisted to such an extent that they sound sourced from torture victims and brokenhearted zombies.

It's tough stuff but it's also enthusiastic, infectious fun, a record of three-minute songs that blazes by in just over a half-hour.

Unlike their previous two albums, Arms Around a Vision isn't simple to get into. It might take a little work, but it's an enjoyable endeavor and it makes for an ultimately more enjoyable album in the long run.

New Spirit's shifts from experimental to pop and back again aren't always smooth, but they prove once again that PVT's unpredictability is reliably fascinating.

While typically low-key and rustic in nature, with touches of (mostly) atmospheric keyboards and electronics, the album is further distinguished by the use of brief instrumentals that make up about one-third of its extensive track list.

The record is a little shaky, but it's to the band's benefit that they retain a desire to not be so serious. At those moments, the Vaccines deliver some rock & roll spark.

As for this being a Shelby Lynne record, its quality and confidence is unassailable.

Their version of soul revival captures the sweat and fire of classic soul music better than almost anyone else in 2012.

Clearly hyper-detailed and considered with the utmost patience, the album still feels spontaneous and more than anything captures a stark honesty that makes every song glow. It's a brilliant return.

In all, it's a winner, a solid, consistently crafted "new country" record that wears rock & roll proudly on its sleeve.

Though they may lose a few fans with their new sound, You Say Party! We Say Die! do a fine job of growing into a truly interesting band on XXXX.

There is great reward in actually focusing on what "happens" in this quiet landscape, because Lux betrays the implication of vastness and musical adventure just underneath its dulcet tones and restrained palettes.

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.

While the album is unrelentingly positive and clean-cut--a relief for listeners who winced at the lurid content laced through Discipline and certain earlier points in the discography--it's a little erratic in style and quality.

Ultimately, the band has arrived with a poppier-sounding album while their signature sour earnestness remains intact.