Besides connecting the dots between the chugging side of Neil Young and the slightly warped alterna-pop of the Flaming Lips, Built to Spill continue releasing some of the most affecting, beguiling indie rock of the 2000s.

The Centre Cannot Hold constantly seems on the verge of collapse, but it never descends into utter chaos. It gets abrasive and engulfing, but it isn't accurate to describe it as a noise album. Frost and his associates expertly harness levels of sheer energy, resulting in a brilliantly forceful, commanding work.

With every manifesto being tempered by a transforming mantra, Generation Indigo is quintessential Styrene.

His growth is evident on every one of Jonny's touching, impressive moments and near-perfect blend of all the sides of the Drums' music -- and that makes his artistic triumph all the sweeter.

They may be eternal adolescents, but they're also true believers in what made rock & roll great in the first place. They won't hide--can't hide--that enthusiasm, and it's contagious on Art Brut vs. Satan.

This is by far +/-'s most mature work to date.

Me and Armini emerges as an album suitable for bookworms and beach bunnies, homebodies and world travelers, dancers and wallflowers. Highly recommended.

Laconic and acidly textured, Delta Kream is a perfect balance of the Black Keys' lo-fi swagger and keen ear for the Mississippi blues traditions that inspired it.

The focus on a single mood occasionally threatens to lead only to a creative dead-end, but Out from Out Where arguably betters its successors by coming together as a single work.

A hit-and-miss affair.

The whole album feels a little too slick and reverbed-out... While there are intriguing moments in the album, it lacks the spark that So Long So Wrong had in spades, and even their few moments on the O Brother soundtrack seemed to breathe more life into the band than New Favorite does.

Cole, at age 40, seems comfortable with himself and his career -- quirks, blemishes, and all -- and one would be hard pressed to find any of his U.K. '80s contemporaries making such a strong, winningly melodic album... if they're still making albums at all.

Another stunning effort from one of rock's underground heroes.

The ability to make a genuine album -- and not just a collage of songs -- from a wide interest in musical styles is truly what makes this album such a delightful and great surprise.

While their beginning might have had many labeling Elliott as just another emo band, the growth and beauty in their albums continues to show their remarkable resiliency and evolution.

Stringfellow has concocted a frustratingly obtuse record that's as beautiful and bold as it is shapeless and erratic.

It's hard not to wish that the songs stuck in your head the way they used to, even if it's still enjoyable as a whole.

The Ladybug Transistor is a return to form for the band and is right up there with its best work. That ranks it right up there as some of the best pop music being made today.

A hypnotic, bittersweet, transcendental pop masterpiece.

The Magnificent has an incredible range; Jeff does it all well, even when moving from soulful R&B ("Rock Wit U" with Eric Roberson) to basement hip-hop on the very next track ("Scram" with Freddie Foxxx).

Muzikizum is informed by a slim, spare aesthetic that sounds more 1992 than 2002, evoking simply produced, imperial-sounding tracks from Spooky and Leftfield; in other words, the glory days of progressive house.

Horror and dark electronics fanatics alike will put this one on repeat for days, but its very powerful specificity will likely cut out a swath of listeners not interested in either ravenously dedicated sub-genre.

For longtime fans, Cloud Room, Glass Room offers exactly you desire from PA. For those who've listened in occasionally, enjoyed what you've heard, and are seeking change in Nelson's aural aesthetic, listen elsewhere; this music wasn't made for you in the first place.

The band's overall distaste for sound quality will probably put some listeners off, as much of the record sounds like it was recorded in real time on an old Tascam four-track in somebody's basement, but King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard possess enough pop acumen and oddball charm to lure even the most unsuspecting psych-rock fan downstairs for a taste.

Balancing transparency and grit with a knowing sense of proportion, Long Lost Suitcase, like the two albums that preceded it, demonstrates Jones' enduring strength as a singer as well as a powerful late-career desire to make music that matters to himself, and it's a powerful and welcome effort from one of pop's most powerful vocalists.

As is the case with much of A Sentimental Education, both of those songs [Bob Dylan's "Most of the Time" and Mercury Rev's "Car Wash Hair"] find Luna deftly straddling the line between deep reverence and inspired reclamation, a perfect balance that renders each track a new addition to the band's own storied oeuvre.

Berdan deals with organized religion and his personal conflict of identifying as a Catholic but being repulsed by the bigotry, repression, and hateful acts committed in the name of religion. It isn't quite clear if he comes to a resolution, or if that's even possible. Regardless, The Long Walk is some of Uniform's most challenging, disrupting work yet.

While I Want the Door to Open is likely to both alienate some fans of Lala Lala's rawer early material and capture the attention of new ones, taken on its own, it feels like a deliberately unsettled middle ground.