A brave and uncompromising debut, Always Want is an always intriguing listen which appears to have fulfilled the potential of her fairy tale beginnings.

For the most part, Out of Frequency is a joyous and effortlessly vivacious slice of Scandinavian pop which yet again brings a refreshing, childlike quality to the '60s retro table.

This album comes to the listener as a gift wrapped in tattered paper, making it all the more precious to receive.

If Ringo 2012 is slighter than the lighter-than-air 2010 Y Not, it still has enough good cheer to bring a smile to longtime Beatles lovers.

Despite the lo-fi nature of the source tape, which was made in an ad hoc manner by a local friend, the sparse setting--just acoustic guitar and banjo--gives Dalton's distinctive voice plenty of room to do its thing.

As with much of their late-career output, Old Mad Joy begs for a few spins before it reveals its charms.

More cinematic, melodic, and mellow than their usual experimental indie pop output.

It's all very definitely Walkabouts in its sound -- with some glorious lyrics from Chris Eckman

The Coldest Winter for a Hundred Years may not be the most cheerful record you'll hear all year, but it's one which proves that a curmudgeonly middle age demeanor isn't a barrier to producing triumphant indie pop.

The result is an album that manages to sound both elegant and organic, like classical music made by people living off the land.

Vanity Is Forever maintains this same general feeling throughout its 12 songs, often feeling as if it's set in a coffee house on an easygoing ocean liner being filmed for a video in 1984.

Familiar they may be, but some credit has to go to De Backer for managing to weave these eclectic retro sounds into a cohesive affair.

These jaunty experiments are some of Hagerty's most insular work in a while, but that doesn't make Wilson Semiconductors any less enjoyable.

There is a chasm that separates "Video Games" from the other material and performances on the album, which aims for exactly the same target--sultry, sexy, wasted--but with none of the same lyrical grace, emotional power, or sympathetic productions.

Keep Your Dreams is, for the most part, a breath of fresh air suggesting that two pairs of Aussie DJ hands are certainly better than one.

There is not a single weak track on this album. It's an unusually moving and haunting document from one of the unsung heroes of American (and, oddly enough, Jamaican) roots music.

The band's free-form style of playing is every bit as anti-musical and explosive as '70s no wave, making for a savage listen.

As rewarding as his earlier slow-paced drones are, so is his incremental development as an artist with each subsequent album, I Love You being one more step along the way.

While this mixed bag of sounds ensures Wonderland is a far more intriguing affair than most superstar DJ's crossover efforts, it also means Aoki may struggle to reel in the same mainstream audience that its guest list suggests he desires.

The wealth of hook-heavy pop wonders alone makes Feel the Sound a fantastic record, but the sure-footed air of confidence and self-assurance that carries the record is what truly cements Imperial Teen as more of an institution than a band.

The drumming that helps ground it all is elastic and malleable, making this follow-up a more successful and well-rounded album that seems to be just the beginning of something really good.

As distant whirs and an understated funk beat get accentuated by a classic '80s electronic handclap, the title track from Dillon's debut album almost sounds like a collation of a variety of styles from across years and locations.

It's an impressively timeless debut that suggests Howard should have no problem standing out from the overpopulated nu-folk crowd.

Invitation documents Dominant Legs' sound as it jells into something they can call their own; even when it isn't strikingly original, it's always enjoyable.

Gangrene is dirty, underground hip-hop excellence as expected, but Vodka & Ayahuasca takes it to another level, or realm.

When Human Again ditches the feel-good stuff and goes straight into drama-queen territory, though, it feels like we're finally getting to watch Michaelson come to grips with her broken heart, realizing that the only way to make things better is to fix the damn thing herself.

Like the title suggests, Stars burns bright and fast.

Strange Weekend is a very impressive debut album, full of craft, emotion, and songs that you'll want to listen to again and again.