What doesn't make a direct hit on the hips and heart is, at the least, well constructed.

At the age of 64, Emmylou Harris has made an album as fresh and distinctive as any in her catalog, and Hard Bargain is a reminder that her evolution into a songwriter is one of the most pleasant surprises in a career that's produced rewarding music for nearly 40 years.

He pushes the notion further on the brilliantly melodic, ennui-ridden baroque pop ballad "Anti-D," in which Blur's "karaoke songs" from "The Universal" have been replaced by the Wombats' own songs, which are better than "citalopram" and "to be prescribed as freely as any decongestants." The song, like the rest This Modern Glitch, makes the case for the Wombats as both rock stars and fools in their own pop star sitcom.

I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive's lone downer is Burnett's unnecessarily heavy-handed production. That said, Earle's vocals front and center in a brilliant song cycle transcend it.

Dancer Equired! should be required listening for any band looking to grow its brand in new ways without losing its core audience--and also for those who like their pop dirty, sweet, and fairly audible.

While this may not make it the most immediately exciting album of Explosions in the Sky's career, it easily stands to be one of their most rewarding.

Just two-and-a-half hours and 34 tracks (including two hidden bonuses at the end of the third disc) of solid rhyming and beatmaking, most of them excellent, some of them brilliant, a handful of them merely good. That's quite a batting average.

It's pretty much what you'd expect, which makes it both essential for Of Montreal devotees and nothing all that special.

With this hybrid sound in their arsenal, Silverstein don't need to worry about reinventing the wheel, but rather are able to think about refining the very good wheel they've been selling for over a decade. While this approach probably isn't going to make new fans out of anyone who just doesn't get what the band is going for, it certainly makes Rescue an easy sell for the initiated.

It's not an especially coherent album, nor a very revealing one, offering surprisingly little insight into Thao & Mirah's relationship either as musical or romantic partners. But it does sound like they're having fun, and that counts for a good deal.

This album should be heard as such in a single sitting, where its labyrinthine beauty can be fully experienced and integrated. This is "acid rock" at its best.

Talahomi Way's details can speak louder than its actual songs, but this isn't a criticism: here, O'Hagan and crew use those details to make an album that is equally pastoral and meticulous, and listening to it is like visiting a perfectly arranged topiary garden.

It's had to imagine how long Ha Ha Tonka can continue to grow on each album, considering how good they've become, but if you're looking for music that's smart, ambitious, literate, and fun at the same time, Death of a Decade could well be your introduction to your new favorite band.

Across the album, there is not much advancement production-wise, yet there is just enough contrast that it does not make like Treddin' on More Thin Ice.

Lundgren and crew may have lost some of the buzz they initially had when the band first started, but they've gained grace and emotional strength in return. That's a pretty good trade, and for the fans who have stuck with them, it makes Forever Today their most satisfying record to date.

Last is not the sort of music you'll want to play at a party on a Friday night, but if you're looking for the proper accompaniment as you ponder life's twists and turns on a rainy Sunday afternoon, the Unthanks will give you all the deeply shaded wisdom you could use.

She tosses jazz, folk, R&B, hip-hop and whatever else strikes her fancy into fascinating collisions that are as melodic as they are abrasive, and as globally minded as they are distinctly urban.

There is nothing in the fiery spirit of "Low End," but there are some dynamic moments where songs like "Pushing Out" or "Looking Out" crescendo almost to a majestic rock-out. However, most of the album is more in a mellow Americana/alt-rock style that favors bluegrass instruments, and lush orchestration.

Everything sounds gorgeous, from Little Scream's hazy warble to the two minutes of rainfall, audible rush-hour traffic, and wind chimes that end the album. This is an absolute beast of a debut.

Mazes is all about songwriting growth, lyric melody, more elaborate textures, and accessible riffs. They underscore Moon Duo's heavy stuff and offer something refreshingly different in the process.

Utilizing a pit band that includes percussion, melodica, pump organ, bassoon, cello, glockenspiel, tuba, and sousaphone, Regifted Light is largely instrumental, allowing listeners the pleasure of hearing Dee's artfully constructed melodies and arrangements, as well as her truly impressive ivory work, without the arguable distraction of her divisive, thespian-bred voice.

It's hard to know where to start in praising her: she has a voice as clear and carefully modulated as that of a young Alison Krauss; her songs are rooted in tradition but full of sly and subtle complications that will take any careful listener by delighted surprise, and her mandolin playing is a thrilling combination of sparkling precision and jazzy abandon.

Even when Young Widows' scorn escalates and the mood becomes more frenetic, In and Out of Youth and Lightness always feels detached. Maybe that's what makes it so unnerving, and so good.

Whether or not these songs are ever played next to the latest dance music sensation at a club, Salon des Amateurs is a bold, accomplished work that ranks among Hauschka's most exciting albums.

Rockpango is the most satisfying recording that Los Lonely Boys have come up with yet. It confirms the notion that the Garza brothers know exactly what they want and how to get it, with a sound that is inviting, infectious, and inventive.

Overall, this is a generous, beautifully packaged retrospective of one of the 2000s' premier synth pop acts.

Meanwhile, David Bottrill's dynamic production (his credits include King Crimson and Dream Theater) is perfectly suited, and only enhances the band's ever-intensifying talents.

If the show doesn't quite manage to be memorable, it is certainly engaging, a worthwhile 38 minutes even if it doesn't quite have much more than a historic hook to warrant repeated plays.