It's surprisingly mellow and restrained.

Babylon introduces a likable pop sheen to the mix that both elevates and homogenizes the end product.

This is an album that hints at plenty of promise for the future, but most of it has yet to be realized.

This isn't really a Cinematic Orchestra album--it's a compilation of pieces ("songs" would not be the right word) by Grey Reverend, Dorian Concept, and Tom Chant, and Austin Peralta, plus three tracks by The Cinematic Orchestra.

When they're on a roll, Guantanamo Baywatch deliver some ripping surf tunes, and they clearly know how to deliver a good time with a beat you can dance to, but Chest Crawl is never quite as exciting as it wants to be, and the flat, confined sound of the audio doesn't help one bit.

Havoc and Bright Lights is as soothing as a Sunday afternoon nap or a warm bath: it's music for when you know you're right where you want to be.

Though Infinity Overhead isn't exactly a return to form for Minus the Bear, it does find them moving back toward what they do best, and is a step in a promising direction for fans hoping for the band to return to the more vigorous sound of Menos el Oso.

Fortunately for Flobots, the messages in The Circle in the Square feel pretty universal. While the matter of whether or not hip-hop backed by a live band is your taste is purely a subjective one.

Anastasis will more than likely please longtime fans--and to be fair that is who it seems geared to--rather than win many new ones.

For the most part, The Soul Sessions, Vol. 2 does feel right: it has the form and sound of classic soul while never acknowledging that R&B continued to develop past, say, 1972. For an audience that agrees with that thesis, this is fun.

Matthew E. White's Hometapes' debut, Big Inner, is as frustrating as it is cosmically transcendent.

The Vaccines have crafted a perfectly acceptable sophomore record that neither helps nor harms them, which is probably exactly what they wanted.

It's this kind of mellow eclecticism that has helped Greenwood to develop such a devoted following, and it's his music's sticky, molasses-like sweetness that keeps those fans coming back for more and more.

Elysium is an interesting, sour, and insider-aimed dispatch from backstage, interrupted by some big moments that sound entirely commissioned.

Stein and Brock still seem to be working out their garage and pop influences in their guitar work; they don't deliver a fully satisfying fusion of their influences, but instead split the difference between jangle and crunch, watering it all down in the process.

The more adventurous shifts in style aren't without merit, but feel more curious than exciting.

There's nothing outstanding here but fans of the band will have no complaints, and for newcomers it's as good a starting point as any, with arguably the same ratio of clever understated brilliance to uninspired mediocrity as any other phase of their discography.

Breakthrough splatters so many short ideas across its 47 minutes that a front-to-back listen is wearying, like hearing a dozen erratic interludes mixed in with a handful of lengthier sketches that are no more settled.

Tomorrowland is the disruptive, chaotic, creative process of the artist revealed; it's full of frustration, anger, conviction, and excitement, all worn plainly on its tattered sleeve.

Sometimes things get a little too sweetly sleepy, but at its best this is a handsome, enjoyable listen.

Two albums in and Mumford & Sons still sound like a talented outfit fused to the starting block, paralyzed by the thought of having to truly race for their lives.

Straying far from home, Tomahawk Technique isn't an awful Sean Paul album, but it is an odd one.

Cast the Same Old Shadow ultimately crumbles under the weight of its own despondency.

Oh No I Love You feels softer but it also is more adventurous and satisfying, the sound of a pop obsessive finally letting himself indulge in the weirder areas of his imagination.

YokoKimThurston feels more focused and risk-taking than some weekend distraction between friends. Sonic Youth have never shied away from releasing indulgent noise jams in the name of art for art's sake, but this album ranks above the best of their non-rock experimentation, and adds a new dimension, with both Gordon and Moore stepping back to serve as supporting noisemakers for Ono's one-of-a-kind voice.

Flying in the face of his public persona, this is a sprawling (could be tighter) and humble (could be more persuasive) Deadmau5 album and one best suited for established fans.

Though not all of the band's experiments necessarily pay off, the album feels like a worthy proving ground for the ideas that will take the band boldly into the future.

The whole program bounces back and forth in this way, sometimes impressing with complex and compelling beats and textures, then disappointing with relentless repetition of uninspired ideas.