I Predict a Graceful Expulsion feels like a late round in a long fight, and while it may not deliver a knockout punch, it most certainly deserves the win.

While Spirit in the Room matches its predecessor on a track-by-track level, it's only in those last moments that the whole package seems as thematically sound and well designed.

Those two sounds [folk and country] are the best vehicles for the kind of solipsism Mayer engages in on Born and Raised, where he does his best to sound sorrowful and contrite yet manages to stumble upon his own deep-seated desire to remain a lover-man.

While Magic Hour may not be as satisfying to fans who just wanna dance as albums like Night Work and Scissor Sisters were, it should please those who enjoy the band's formidable songwriting skills as much as cutting a rug.

An impressive debut, Passage has as many great moments as it does moments that suggest future greatness.

This is another step into the sonic and lyric terrain plowed on Retribution, but one in which SF's aggressive, thrashing abandon, musical sophistication, and melodies co-exist in near perfect balance.

Heartfelt, ragged, and stoic.

Natural History [is] something of a stop-start effort rather than an unqualified success, but if Dope Body can keep playing around with elements like the grinding, crackling hook of "Out of My Mind," it'll be interesting to see what a third album can bring.

With spot-on production and their most engaging material yet, Grass Widow come into their own on Internal Logic, and have given themselves enough room to grow into something more vivid and lasting than ever before.

Alt-J's wave is far more awesome when it's at its most schizophrenic.

[The album's] drifting momentum makes 2:54 a lot like taking a trip on a train, allowing listeners to simply sit back and enjoy the scenery without needing to think too much about how they're getting from one end of the journey to the other.

The album is a lush, somewhat orchestral album that finds Gardot delving into various Brazilian, Spanish, and African-influenced sounds -- including bits of samba, tango, bossa nova, and calypso -- that evince her global journey.

A fully realized summer record from the street to the beach to the campfire.

Celebration Rock could arguably lack the powerful impact of the first record. Still, it's a hell of lot of fun.

We'll Be the Moon doesn't always hit the mark, but it's an encouraging first offering proving that Fixers can walk the walk as well as they talk the talk.

Very nicely done.

Even with years between albums and the tragic loss of a key contributor, the band's sounds are more locked in, realized, and focused on the same relentless track than ever.

DZ Deathrays' roaring rawness and furied energy create a sense of momentum that makes the sound their own.

Fans of Anda Jaleo will immediately warm to this ten-song set.

Schrader and Rice apply their take on it [minimalism as art] brilliantly throughout Jazz Mind, via a different set of goals and reference points.

These may not be the songs that will ever light up their live sets, but together they form what is easily the best Beach Boys record in 35 years -- and a surprisingly cohesive, reflective, listenable one at that.

Mascis sounds like he's having a blast cranking up the amps with his old buddies, no matter if they're real or imaginary.

While Blood Speaks may lack the immediate hooks of its predecessor, it's got longer legs, deeper corners, and attitude to spare.

Anyone open-minded enough to approach the project without any expectations will be quickly swept off into the spacious perennial twilight created by these two master craftsmen.

All the Hives really need is energy and good songs, and they have enough of both on Lex Hives to bring smiles to their fans' faces.

Live from the Underground winds up both an easy introduction to the man's talents and a crowd-pleasing effort with no stale sell-out aftertaste.

The majority of tracks follow the tried and true template of atmospheric intro/staccato breakdown/huge power chorus/repeat, but the balance between sheen and filth is handled with aplomb.

Snider seems to know he'll never top Walker's original recordings, but he sure likes sharing these tunes that he clearly loves and understands, and enough of that soul and belief is caught on tape to make this as purely enjoyable as anything Snider has released in the past decade.