A Small Turn of Human Kindness, finds the band returning to the top of their game with an album that is as heartbreaking as it is crushing.

Higher Than the Eiffel is most reminiscent of the work that Freestylers and Lo-Fidelity Allstars were doing eight to ten years ago. Both of them aged into their classic full-length statement with surprising grace, and made intriguing music long after most punters had deserted them.

The uptempo songs are full of life and happiness, the few slow songs have a subdued grace that is trademark Club 8, and when taken together, they add up to the band’s best record to date.

Pretty much every track on Spirit Youth sports a bewitching melody that makes perfect use of the hypnotic swirl of guitars and electronics, moving in an elegant arc as it unfolds. You can hear it in the delivery, too, with nuanced vocals that seem to say "Hey, after all the trouble we went to in writing these tunes, we're damn well gonna give ‘em their due."

Revolutions Per Minute is an album that’s been a long time coming, and Kweli and Hi-Tek prove once again that there’s more to rap than club bangers, delivering another dose of socially and politically conscious music that’s more about opening people’s eyes to what’s happening in the world than telling them how to feel about it.

There is no album in her catalog like The Foundling; it's a terrible beauty whose jewels gleam darkly, endlessly. Its songs hold truth for anyone who has either shared this experience or merely has the willingness to ask difficult questions with an open heart.

The relatively stripped-down setting winds up letting the rockers of the album’s first half latch in, particularly the rather propulsive “Trouble,” the nimble “She’s Alright,” and rolling “I Got Your Number,” and does keep the succession of anthems and ballads on the second half from seeming too languid.

White and company make almost no concessions to their audience, and fewer songs stand out here than they did on Horehound. And yet, this is a more satisfying album overall. Fortunately, Sea of Cowards' mysteries are more intriguing than frustrating.

scular, miserable, mighty, and meandering, High Violet aims for the seats, but only hits about half of them.

It’s all very eclectic and a bit unexpected -- two qualities that seem to be Keane’s modus operandi as of late -- but what’s missing is a pop anthem along the lines of “Again and Again” or “Bend and Break,” both of which allowed Tom Chaplin to flex his vocal chops on past albums.

For Holy Fuck, Latin is a monumental step forward. By trimming back the choppy art-house disjointedness and quirky Casio tones, the band has successfully evolved their sound into something much more provocative, heavy duty, and rewarding.

It’s an explicit leap into new territory for the band, and though the second half may drag a bit, songs like “Natural Selection,” “Joy Factory,” "The Answer," and “On a Wire” make for some of UNKLE’s all-time best singles, ones that rank right up there with “Rabbit in Your Headlights” and “Lonely Soul.”

Not that dignity was ever that important to Meat Loaf, but the shallow spectacle of Hang Cool Teddy Bear lacks the absurd joy of his best: you can hear everybody involved working far too hard to achieve next to nothing.

[Moody has] created a record that could have been released in 2005 instead of one that sounded just a bit like 2010.

As a band, AILD has grown most is in their songwriting and production skills (the latter of which are now off the charts in terms of precision). The Powerless Rise, delivers on what their previous outings have handsomely promised.

The only downfall is that Here's to Taking It Easy is so easy to take that at only nine songs, it flies by in no time at all.

While they have many good ideas, sometimes they have too many good ideas at once and end up gilding the lily (or putting a blue fake fur mustache on it, as the case may be).

Taking on both the BS and sobering-side-of-life lessons while straddling genres would be difficult for any musician, but Sage did it and came up with a B-plus effort. More tangible proof that he’s a gifted artist.

Nothing Hurts is a strong debut, even when it's gentle.

With a slower pace and dreamier, echo-laden feeling than the original, guitars sounding somewhere between Morricone and the Cocteau Twins, it's an inspired nod back to a still underrated team of artists that works equally well on its own.

Like the title suggests, Warm Slime is gooey but curiously inviting stuff, and sinking into it might not be the safest way to pass the time, but it's a genuinely pleasurable experience.

Unlike some underground bands, Indian Jewelry just get more uncompromising and honed as they go, and this eerie, unsettling album is a perfect culmination of the duo's work so far.

The Optimist won’t make anyone forget Fantastic Playroom, but it does work as a nice complement and shows that the group may have some staying power.

Stuck on Nothing isn’t going to change rock & roll history even a little, but for a good time, give the album a listen and you won’t be disappointed.

The album has a quality about it that's sweeping without being out and out uplifting, feeling more informed by the rigors of touring than the denizens of the Twin Cities and their lapsed Catholic revelations.

Too insider to cross over or consider one of their classics, but an otherwise solid Fall effort offering everything fans require.

Luckily, the endlessly creative and surprisingly fluid Forgiveness Rock Record dispels any notion of opportunism by sticking to what the group does best: crafting clever, ramshackle, occasionally soaring bedroom pop songs (listen close for sirens) in a big expensive studio.

Cosmogramma is an instrumental genre-jumping journey for head-bopping intellectuals, and the meditative melodies by vocalists Thundercat, Laura Darlington and Thom Yorke only add to the experience.