For the most part, Silver & Gold stays true to Stevens' predilection for kitchen sink, lo-fi chamber pop, but he plays fast and loose with the formula.

The Remixes is as well balanced as it is eclectic, finding room for tracks that clearly bear the stamp of their remixers.

The Whigs have zeroed in on their strengths and wound up with a rich, layered pop album that suggests a long, interesting future.

It gets closer to the spirit and sound of what Hucknall loves.

Given that Ferry doesn't sing on The Jazz Age, the appeal for casual fans is debatable. But for the faithful, trad-jazz heads, and open-minded listeners, the musical quality--from expert arrangements, virtuosic playing, and the brilliant concept--offer something wholly different and rewarding.

This live CD shows all of her brilliance and promise, her command and vitality, and much of that is shown on the videos as well.

Good news is, the too-pop Roman Reloaded now feels more balanced once this eight-track EP worth of material tips the scales.

After a pair of bombastic anthems--including the oddly written "Girl on Fire," which has her "living in a world, and it's on fire," then "on top of the world" with "both feet on the ground" and "our head in the clouds"--the album loses its grip.

While it may occasionally get bogged down by its near constant need to reach the nosebleed seats, the desperation that the band emits ultimately feels inclusive rather than brazen.

Signs & Signifiers paints a picture of McPherson as a kind of post-structuralist retro-rocker, living in the moment with one boot in the past and the other boot in the future.

Where earlier albums seemed to be meticulously crafted soundtracks to strange dream worlds, Aimlessness lacks the cohesion or attention to detail of those productions, opting instead for a soup of loosely pieced ideas, many of which feel moved on from more than worked over.

Into the Future fares better than the stale output of most reunited punk acts and also rises above a weak rehash for the sake of nostalgia. Always true to their original vision, Bad Brains continue sailing on.

Albums like these always have to strike a careful balance between mimicking the original and killing the spirit of the original, but it's a balance that The Flip Is Another Honey is able to find quite comfortably.

The expert elastic roots rock of the Rumour gives his songs depth, making Three Chords Good the rare reunion that simultaneously looks back while living in the present

Grim and exultant at once, this is low-profile hustling on wax at its finest.

Pitbull's Global Warming is the spicy pop-rap place to forget the world's problems, so forgive the fat, forgive the mess, and enjoy the heat.

Wreck & Ruin sounds fresh as the dew and old as the hills all at once, and anyone who doubts that Kasey Chambers and Shane Nicholson are two of the finest natural talents in country and folk music today need only listen to this to be convinced.

Their approach is basic and there are moments of yesteryear reflection, but (with the exception of a few too many crunchy guitars) almost everything on this EP fits perfectly in place with a band that nailed the vibe of a simple good time decades prior.

The Odds shows The Evens as more refined and understated than ever. Instead of softening, their jagged angles and obtuse political commentary have just become more involved, and in some ways, more intense.

This is so good that this is how you want to remember them: older, perhaps wiser, and still majestic.

On these songs, Lopatin and Hecker take the sounds in their intentionally limited palette to places they may never have been expected to go, and the journey is intriguing and frequently lovely.

Rebel Soul is appropriately rebellious and conservative, a dose of old-time rock & roll at a time when the style is starting to fade.

While this is a fine, if uneven album, the only way to enjoy a significant portion of it is by taking it as pure entertainment.

Oui, Oui isn't living in the past, it's using the past to address the present, which gives some soul to these nifty little songs, and turns this album into another mini latter-day gem from the Nutty Boys.

Overall, Medicine is an enjoyable diversion.

Certainly The Mystery of Heaven is a standalone recording and is to be enjoyed on its own.

18 Months shows Harris to be a solid producer with an easily identifiable sound.

Given the discipline and experimentation in the short pieces, and in the creative imagination displayed in rearranging the longer ones to accommodate a larger band, 'Allelujah! Don't Bend Ascend proves, that GY!BE still has plenty of captivating things to say.