Their music is always exciting, soulful, and expertly played; they never fall prey to world fusion clichés.

While its melancholic and understated nature may not make much of an impression on first listen, it soon reveals itself to be a record of beauty which only confirms her undeniable class.

Phillip Taylor, Matt Scott, and Josh Swinney fuse together blood-pumping indie rock with an unwitting gift for power pop to craft a tight, fun-packed debut that never misses the mark.

Ultimately, the album sounds more like Tangerine Dream than it does Justice, but the songs unfold and soar in ways indebted to both the patience of space rock and the immediacy of electronic party music.

The Sean "Diddy" Combs connection adds a little too much gloss to the grime, hanging Lace Up somewhere between the underground intensity that it seems born from and the commercial overexposure that MGK seems bound for.

As Animator fades out, however, all that's left is a lingering feeling equal parts hushed and disquieting. The Luyas' ability to cultivate a mood so thick with this album is a huge accomplishment, and the strangely beautiful world they've created in these songs is one worth revisiting over and over.

Skynyrd are making sturdy, old-time rock & roll for an audience that's likely peppered with Tea Partiers, the kind of Middle American worried that the world they knew is slipping away, and Last of a Dyin' Breed provides a bit of a rallying point for them: it's true to their roots but living in the moment.

Mark Sasso's expressive lead vocals convey the anguish and desperation of the characters they sing about while the instrumental work of Stephen Pitkin on drums and percussion, and Casey Laforet's inventive contributions on lead guitar, bass pedals, and keyboards provide subtle, cinematic coloring to the tunes.

Stringfellow's fourth solo outing is as riveting as it is willfully schizophrenic, incorporating elements of progressive art rock, country, soul, R&B, and straight-up Posies-inspired jangle pop without a care in the world, resulting in his most daring studio offering to date.

K'NAAN's a rock-solid songwriter with a charismatic delivery that rains down sparks of cool guy and clever.

If Let It Come Down was Iha's sun-dappled West Coast folk-rock break from the creative turmoil and personal squabbles of the Pumpkins, then Look to the Sky is his more austere, if no less captivating, look back from the sun and toward the dark moon of his alt-rock '90s past.

Local H are not only still making great music, but have released their bravest, most provocative, and most ambitious album to date, and Hallelujah! I'm a Bum is a powerful look into a side of America that will be uncomfortably familiar to nearly everyone who hears it.

This balance between seriousness and metal excess is a tough one to pull off, but AxeWound manage it nicely, reining in the songs with enough genuine aggression that they're not in danger of devolving into parody.

A serviceable slab of unpretentious yet utterly forgettable '80s retro-metal that adheres to every cliché in the book.

Remy's greatest gift has always been her unique ability to dismantle and reassemble the pop form in a single song, and Gem is the most vivid document of that gift yet.

While Payback's status as a concept album makes it a rarity in the hip-hop world, even rarer for that realm is an album that's more focused on a continued narrative than creating a breakout single, making the album something that's to be experienced in its entirety.

On their fifth album, One Wing, the Chariot avoid the pitfalls that have caught up many a band, striking just the right balance between technique and raw fury to create a sound that is both emotionally and intellectually satisfying.

Everything Touching is far more direct, less convoluted, often shamelessly anthemic.

Rogers' guttural growls sound more menacing than ever, and what the album lacks in originality it makes up for with feverishly inventive riffs and melodies, making The Parallax II: Future Sequence the band's most inspired release since Alaska.

Ultimately, while Vital is Anberlin's most challenging album to date, as the title implies, it is perhaps the band's most rewarding album.

A promising debut and one more considered, nuanced, and realized than most bands achieve deep into their tenures.

With a sound this strong, Miglis could quite conceivably have gotten by with a series of random abstractions, but in fact her lyrics show a strong poetic sense that enhances Hundred Waters' promising maiden voyage even further.

Nothing on the album truly startles or surprises, its sources are clear, and its impact song for song is the kind of satisfying fix one might expect from labels like m_nus and Kompakt as much as Ostgut Ton itself. Where things stand out are in the smaller details.

At 15 tracks, it's a bit too full for newcomers to take in one go, but by mixing the strongest bits of their early days (song structure, smoky attitude) and their later years (technically gifted musicians who form a tight, but swinging band) the Herbaliser return to greatness and no fan should sit this one out.

Though having an entertaining show backing it up will make Dethalbum III an easy purchase for fans of the program, it's an album good enough to stand all on its own.

Traveler reveals that with its four brand-new songs and revisioned versions of live staples, Anastasio's creative force is healthy and his taste is, as ever, impeccable.

Even though Information Retrieved is an excellent album, it won't do a whole lot to win over anyone who has already decided that Pinback isn't for them. For everyone else, the album delivers plenty of the gloomy/sunny/plaintive/happy pop that has made them one of the more instantly recognizable bands in the indie landscape.

This may or may not be Williams' final album but if it is, it serves as a superb coda to a career that always found deep meaning in ease.