The album gains a newfound polish, particularly in the production, but also loses some of the spontaneous energy and wide-ranging influences that characterize the rest of Stereo Total's work.

If Cobblestone Runway's surfaces may initially puzzle a few fans, the heart, soul and hard-won wisdom of these performances confirm that he's finally mastered the recording studio, and it ranks with his best-realized work to date.

These lo-fi crunches carve out a retro-minimalist experimentation not often found in musical eroticism.

Jurassic 5's Power in Numbers is darker than their first full-length; not as fresh and exuberant, but much more mature and intelligent.

Throughout The Last DJ, Petty sounds utterly lost -- and instead of liberating him like it did in the past, it paralyzes him, boxing him into a corner where he can't draw on his strengths. It's the first true flop in a career that, until now, had none.

Sure, it could've been worse, but it also could've been slightly different.

Read & Burn 02 shares its predecessor's hit-and-run aesthetic: it's a post-industrial punk rock barrage of buzzing, stinging guitars; chunky bass lines; and clockwork beats littered with terse, strangled vocals that fall somewhere between bolshy, pre-brawl aggression and football-terrace chants.

A free-flowing, just cohesive enough forty-five minute listen that, in keeping with the booklet contents, has an air of strange melancholy throughout, perhaps most evident on the album's haunting heart, "Cherry."

Though the focus on range and experimentation is fascinating for those who've already heard Squarepusher doing the standard drill'n'bass rigamarole, the randomness evident on productions like "Kill Robok" makes the LP about as infectious as a surgical bandage.

A wonderful balance of beautiful indie rock and subtle country.

The Ragpicker’s Dream is a restrained success, at least on its own terms. It may not please some of Knopfler’s old “Money For Nothing” fans, but at this stage, he’s obviously not trying to.

Nothing short of astonishing.

Song for song, it's better and more consistent than Head Music... thanks partially to Stephen Street's focused, flattering production, but also due to a sharp set of songs.

Nextdoorland is a more than worthy addition to their catalog, and proves that two decades apart has not diluted their remarkable chemistry.

What's startling about Sea Change is how it brings everything that's run beneath the surface of Beck's music to the forefront, as he's unafraid to not just reveal emotions, but to elliptically examine them in this wonderfully melancholy song cycle.

Impossibly crisp production, impeccable interplay between rhythm and effects, and the most difficult quality for any electronica producer to nail down: a crucial, distinctive sound.

Perhaps appropriately, Up sounds like an album that was ten years in the making, revealing not just its pleasures but its intent very, very slowly.

Hearing Miller's unmistakable singing and songwriting style without Murry Hammond's backing vocals and the rest of the 97's chunky country-rock-pop behind him seems a little less than it could be.

A stunning debut and one of the best records of 2002.

From a few listens, it's clear most of these weren't bumped because they were low-quality; "Doo Rags," "No Idea's Original," and "Black Zombie" stand up to anything Nas has recorded since the original Illmatic.

It's a record that easily equals her debut, boasting better vocal performances but also better songwriting and accompanying production.

The songs lack the energy, the feeling, and even the melody of Underworld's classic records.

Jerusalem is the work of a thinking troublemaker with a loving heart, and while more than a few people will be angered by some of his views, Earle asks too many important questions to ignore, and the album is a brave and thought-provoking work of political art.

The band manages to retain a good deal of their trademark zaniness while producing what might be their most focused and polished work.

How Sweet It Is is a rare example of an album of covers that doesn't sound like a holding action, and makes clear Joan Osborne is still an artist well worth watching.

Light & Magic is a logical, elegant progression for Ladytron, balancing their pop and experimental instincts even more ably than their debut.

When he sticks with the slide guitar, Martsch's combination of downhome blues and meandering indie-rock is a winning one.

The guest appearances on the mic by Akrobatik, a fellow fledgling Bostonion, Edan, Aesop Rock, El-P, and Jean Grae make all the tracks quality and seal the deal on Lif's breakthrough set.