So the Obits might just have the stuff to save rock & roll, or at least keep it off life support for a while, but as good as I Blame You may be, they're going to have to get their songwriting chops in order before they can really finish the job.

Family shows that Le Loup have really come into their own since the release of their 2007 debut.

While some of Constellations lulls a bit, seven-minute suite "Steerage and the Lamp," a snow flurry of Lowe's rolling piano arpeggios accentuated by subtle strings, captures the classical wonderment of Balmorhea at its finest.

As it stands, New Shapes of Life is a solid record that connects quite often on an emotional level, but is far too easy to tune out and shift to the background, something that can almost never be said about any of Carr's previous work.

This first official release is a soul searcher and may require more patience than your everyday debut. Still, the chilly, complicated Man on the Moon perfects the futuristic bleak-beat hip-hop Kanye purposed a year earlier, and rewards the listener with every tripped-out return.

John Hiatt's muse hasn't stopped keeping him on task, and the work he's doing remains satisfying, and anyone who can crank out an album as good as The Open Road every 18 months or so would be well advised to keep up the good work.

While this collection obviously isn't the best place for newcomers to cut their teeth, From the Vaults, Vol. 1 is a collection that will give longtime fans a taste of what could have been in some kind of alternate time line, making the album essential listening for Kylesa diehards.

Despite a personnel list that borders on audacious, Big Sean is at his best on Detroit 2 when he sounds like he's standing alone in his room giving himself a pep talk.

The decision to rein in the forward-thinking, more ambitious, and colorful musical and textural steps she made on her last recording makes this rather monochromatic affair feel somewhat longer than its scant 33 minutes.

Childish Prodigy is split between drunken caterwauling and quiet hangover-recovery sessions, and both sides of the spectrum are fantastic.

Ishibashi follows suit with the meaty "Carry on Phenomenon," a lyrically impenetrable, impossibly catchy blast of ELO worship that, like all of the songs on the tightly packed rainbow canon that is Lighght, skillfully applies a dizzying array of bells and whistles to what is essentially a simple, relatable, and reliable pop melody.

Cuts Across the Land is a strong, self-assured debut, even if the Duke Spirit needs to work a little harder to escape the long shadow of their forebears.

Red Velvet Car has something of a meditative mood -- the punchy Townshend power chords are used as color, not fuel -- triggered somewhat by a preponderance of textured, acoustic-laden arrangements and miniature epics, all elements that hearken back to Heart's golden age yet wind up feeling right in line with their vibe in 2010.

A collection of songs that are both ardent and humble.

With Past Life, Lost in the Trees have risen to the occasion and crafted a record that's no less haunted, but decidedly more open to interpretation.

Clipped down to 40 minutes, Nobody Lives Here Anymore would have the potential to be a great album; at 77 minutes, it's quality music that somehow wears out its welcome.

Echo Party ends up being that rarest of commodities: a party record equally suited to the under 20 and over 40 crowds.

Phox is an undeniably tight unit, and their long history as friends imbues each track with a distinctive warmth that eludes similar-sounding acts, but their not-so-secret weapon is Martin, who can bend cliches to her will, and does so often throughout the 12-song set.

It's an environment that rewards more often than it disappoints.

What makes a difference here is the general lightness of his new songs and Was and Lee's sympathetic production; the two play off each other perfectly, turning this into the first latter-day Diamond record to feel quintessentially Neil Diamond.

Ultimately, with Turn to Gold, Diarrhea Planet, a group with arguably one of the best-worst band names in rock history, have crafted their first truly great album.

Timbaland has revitalized Nelly Furtado both creatively and commercially.

While Pink's peers take incremental, cautious artistic steps forward, she's slyly fearless, choosing the right collaborators that help her create pop music that has both style and substance to spare.

There's a newfound sense of poignancy that overrides much of Mississauga's patchwork nihilism.

He sticks with simple acoustics and subtle string arrangements; however, A New Day at Midnight doesn't possess the heavy heart of White Ladder.

A truly twisted masterpiece that offers new rewards with each new listen.

This album will have to remain the a mark of a band's crazy potential and perhaps a warning siren of what is to come.

More fully realized and bolstered with a stronger song selection than its predecessor, Wallpaper for the Soul is a well-crafted collection of infectious tunes that won't necessarily stick with you for years to come, but should be quite enjoyable while you're listening.