Stretching out with a few more solos would have given listeners a better bang for the buck, and made it more of a true bluegrass record. But if they make a few more albums, Lauderdale and Hunter may well end up attaining the almost mythical status of some of America's great writing teams. That's how good they are together.

Buckingham knows his true strengths. Seeds We Sow waves goodbye, just as it began: with quiet meditation.

Most telling is how glad he is to be free of concept-Obscurities contains songs from five(!) different projects, all of them rescued from any context but musical, which is all the overwhelmed guy who made five projects in the first place wants to focus on in his old age.

Marling has always sounded like an adult, even when she wasn't one. Now that she's got the actual years to back up her world-weary tone, she's all the more thrilling. Maybe it's the beast within.

Still, assuming the point of any tribute album is to show the full breadth of the artist's influence, Rave On is a breezy success.

Because of the lack of strong material and perhaps lack of preparation, The Blackbird Diaries ends up coming off like just one more project for Stewart, a gifted guy who needed something to do while visiting Nashville and making some talented new friends.

Black and White America is a laudable musical statement, and a much needed reminder of how prodigious Kravitz is at melding together rock and funk.

With the right material, this man as an artist has few flaws. Ghost on the Canvas allows Campbell one more chance to prove that again.

The retro inferences of this one male/two female trio's name appear prominently in their spunky, punky, fuzzed out, garage rock.

A handful of high profile ringers (Beck, Beth Orton, the Cure's Robert Smith, Phil Collins, Snow Patrol) join less recognizable names interpreting Martyn songs in versions that will hopefully encourage listeners unfamiliar with his work to seek out his bulging catalog of inspired originals.

The Green Album ends not with that bang, but with the whimper of Matt Nathanson's "I Hope That Something Better Comes Along" and Rachel Yamagata's "I'm Going to Go Back There Someday."

Outside Society is necessarily uneven, but it's persuasive nevertheless, if only because it tells a clear story of an artist who fought to define and redefine herself constantly.

It's all pleasant and inoffensive but with production that sounds phoned in based on market research, little is memorable.

Bridges' rough baritone talk/sung voice just doesn't connect with songs and production that seem lazy, if somewhat less self-indulgent than other successful actors who try to make their mark as singers.

His latest, Songs and Stories, is simply Clark doing what he does best: relating life's joys and sorrows, from "Homegrown Tomatoes" to "The Randall Knife," in song.

The new Jicks album benefits from Beck's imaginative treatment, which foregrounds headphone moments while not stinting on pure, spontaneous rock goodness, and Malkmus's songwriting, which sounds inspired and confident.

The album is a winning mix of traditional and contemporary: her arrangements are often performed with pedal steel and electric guitar, and the age-old problems of infidelity and heavy drinking are represented with modern twists.

Watch the Throne is one of the more interesting, envelope-pushing mainstream rap albums in recent memory.

While this collection isn't uniformly awe-inspiring, Hiatt has outdone himself on a couple of these tunes.

Tailgates & Tanlines is, for the most part, exactly what the title implies: a soundtrack for fun and sun, along with an instantaneous cure for the summertime blues.

Collingwood's nasal vocals–part charming limitation, part annoying affectation–can wear thin, even when sweetened by pristine guitar arrangements and perfect backing harmonies.

Now a husband and soon-to-be father, you might expect Church to express that serenity and joy in songs about married bliss. Not here, where he prefers to sing of bruised heart and booze-filled adventures, even better fodder for his gnarled drawl

Besides the band's signature quirky lyrics, Join Us also retains its well-known staccato guitar and keyboard interplay as well as a tendency for crazy-quilt arrangements.

Young, who hails from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is acutely aware that now is the perfect time to up the musical ante, and it appears he's done just that.

The good news is, it all works.

Sure sounds a bit like a certain New Jersey rocker who was born to run and also tackled the topic of the workingman's plight, both before and after he made it big. Take that example to heart, Sam Roberts Band. Tycoon and rebel? If you do it right, you can be both.

This Loud Morning offers an irresistible balance of pop and rock to satisfy existing fans and entice new ones to Cook's musical camp, especially those oblivious to Cook's season seven Idol win.

Yet, as familiar as some of his phrases sound, lines like "the watertower has more names" are still striking in their simple evocation of what revisiting the past can be like.

Those who liked One Quiet Night, especially those familiar with the pop material Metheny is recalling, should enjoy this record. But many non-jazz listeners will find this CD dreary and sleepy, and jazz purists probably won't like it a lot either.

Red River Blue, alongside recent efforts by Blake's summer tour-mate Brad Paisley and wife Miranda Lambert, pretty much defines mainstream country these days – high-quality songs, great singing and musicianship, big production, and the same time-honored, predictable six or seven themes that we've all heard before.

On Eleven Eleven, Dave Alvin continues his transformation from journeyman musician to becoming one of the people he always idolized: the one of a kind bluesmen and storytellers, rock and rollers and poets, folk singers and road warriors whose influences he's absorbed since he was a kid growing up fast in Downey, California.

Dawes's second album succeeds on its own terms, and will appeal to fans of solid roots-rock songwriting.

A Treasure is full of little disclosures like that, deeply personal without being confessional, engaging without trying to be, and revelatory because of his small observations and his uncommon insight into ordinary detail.

The words are as woodsy and quaint as ever. Pecknold seems to take his inspiration from classic British poetry, and rarely refers to objects, characters, or events that would place him in the 21st century, relying instead on imagery like old stone fountains, seeds, keys, sand, and the night sky.

The original songs here are, perhaps surprisingly, stronger than the parodies, and Yankovich shines brightest when he is just being funny without a direct target.

It's a rich portrait, full of unexpected imagery and odd turns of phrase, which means that even though Welch has sung about drunks and prodigals so many times in the past, the songs on The Harrow & The Harvest sound both pleasingly familiar and starkly new, as if her unique vision of Americana contains an inexhaustible cast of eccentrics and an unending narrative from which she can harvest the most harrowing arcs.

She's spellbinding when she's on--aided by her penetrating and often-literary lyrics. But when her singing meanders too long without focus, you forget she's there--her energy dissipates and she blurs into background, leaving her dependent songs with nothing to do but await her return.

Finally, it seems, she's found her sweet spot in burnished southern folk-pop.

Bon Iver is a marvel.

Ronnie Dunn is an admirable solo effort and is as rock-solid as any Brooks & Dunn album, which should appease old and new fans alike.

No fear on this album, none. It's an all-out emotional outpour, from the ballads to the rockers, a focus that makes sense in its own way.

Vetiver's latest record, The Errant Charm, is certainly more folk than freak.

The music is charismatic and chaotic, full of shouts, clanging and bright guitars--listen to it with your eyes closed and you'll see everything short of sparkling blue stars.

It's a Corporate World is a refreshing full-length debut that would serve well on any summer playlist.

Although the songs on Speed Of Darkness have a heavy theme, this fifth album by the band is anything but sorrowful.

All in all, the album feels like the slightest bit bloodless, the older, wiser Lerche a little less than the yearning teenager we once knew.

Ukulele Songs is lovely as it breezes by, but it doesn't promise a very long shelf-life.

None of these cropped and re-imagined takes are drastic enough to add huge insights into Bush's output as they do her finicky outlook on her own work. Work that is, generally, great in any context.

Circuital sounds like a reaction to the extravagances of its predecessor. My Morning Jacket tamper their more evil urges and settle back into being a solid rock band.

Like John Henry, Strange Negotiations is workman-like. It's a grind from start to finish, but an enjoyable one at that.

Born This Way isn't the landmark record it could or should be.

His charmingly loony and unpredictable qualities are plenty evident over the course of these five hours of music and often unhinged patter. Sound quality varies of course, with the dodgiest not surprisingly on the late 70s tracks, but when you're dealing with this type of raw power, pristine audio is almost a detriment.

With the release of a beautiful new record Follow Me Down, it's time to proceed past the astonishment of Jarosz's remarkable age and acknowledge her place among the prestigious group of musicians currently pursuing acoustic music to exciting and progressive new heights.

Underneath slicker production and diminished guitar usage, are the same melodies and introspective, angsty songwriting, only this time the band may come off as occasionally happy.

Inclusions is a thoughtful and thoroughly imaginative album about what a huge and complicated undertaking it is to truly relate to other human beings, what with all our mismatches in expectations and differences in background, experience and belief.

Although Augustana may not be the year's most cutting-edged release, it is full of strong, if not extraordinary material, which is sure to leave an indelible impression on admirers of pop/rock.

They've perfected the balance of gorgeous songwriting and rabid musicianship, so we can't wait to see what they do next.

For a band that many hoped might come roaring back from Where Are They Now? purgatory with engines in overdrive, this is bound to be a letdown.

his Modern Glitch encapsulates true maturity, both musically and emotionally.

When all is said and done, Angles could make for an exciting introduction to a new chapter for The Strokes, or it could be a disappointing swan song.

According to Paul Simon, his new album So Beautiful Or So What is the best work he has done in decades. That's a bold proclamation. Even more startling: it's not hyperbole.

Each song revisits some real or imagined past that leaves the narrator empty-handed or disappointed, culminating in the impassioned mid-album plea for faith and renewal.

Give Collapse a few listens. The potential is there.

Harris' vocal approach to her folk-based songs, ballads or mid-tempo, is infused with the presence of a time-traveler, visiting modern America from a pre-pop-culture place where music is in the air rather than the airwaves.

With T Bone Burnett's production and Burnett's usual cast of top-notch players (including Sara Watkins on fiddle and vocals), Earle's got another winner. Grammy or not.

Ultimately, this record shows what can go really right when artists push the boundaries. Times New Viking purists fear not, though, the grit's still there and the edges are still rough; they've just dusted off the surface so you can see a bit more of the shine that's been there all along.

The 11 songs on Rockpango show the brothers are not only masters of their art but have a comfort level in their maturing sound that allows them to expand it without losing its essence.

At turns witty, sarcastic, evasive and chilling, Dylan's mercurial song-cycle takes listeners from the exuberant opener, through the sarcastic jibes of "Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues" and into the bleak sorrow of "Ballad of Hollis Brown."

It shows his restless ambition as an artist, but not his ability to make a great, lasting musical statement.

While most of the songs fall into the folk-rock category, the album still displays an impressive range.

It's been a cold three years since 2008's garage-synthy third album Midnight Bloom, but their new effort Blood Pressures is more than worth the wait.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit's Here We Rest is not what you'd call easy listening.

Ultimately, this album will not convince any non-believers. But fans will find a lot to love, and perhaps even notice and enjoy the increased quality of musicianship as they bask in that all-girl garage-fuzz-pop glow and inch towards a future in hi-fi.

Not everything is so different though, and in a good way. The Foo Fighters still adhere to the formula that sells out arenas from London to Japan.

In the end there are no real surprises here; this is just another solid recording from AKUS which the band's fans will no doubt enjoy.

Robertson recruited heavyweights such as Steve Winwood, bassist Pino Palladino and co-producer Marius de Vries to record twelve tracks that wade in soulful atmospheric moods and personal lyrical introspection on this generally inspired comeback.

At times, Amore sounds like a modern Goth-rock romantic tragedy, full of heartbreak and despair, but the pain Atkins expresses in her lyrics ultimately results in the album's most pleasurable moments.

Keys to the Kingdom is both a tribute to and a continuation of the Dickinson musical tradition.

See My Friends proves, if nothing else, that there's simply no force on Earth malevolent enough to destroy a good Ray Davies ditty.

Vices & Virtues combines the best and most memorable elements of Panic! at the Disco's previous two full-length releases, and the end result is their catchiest and most accessible effort to date.

On fifth LP Gimme Some, the Swedish trio has stripped down their sound, and their brand of indie rock has never sounded fresher.

Noah and the Whale are a fine band, but they seem to have lost their direction.

On his latest group of twisted tales, All Eternals Deck, Darnielle rocks between dainty ballads, expertly buttered up with lush string arrangements ("Age of Kings" and "Outer Scorpion Squadron") and hardcore lite/acoust-o-punk ("Estate Sale Sign" and "Prowl Great Cain").

Reportedly recorded in three days, and obviously without many overdubs in such a short span, What Makes Bob Holler is an excellent recording by three skilled musicians who can seemingly just tune up and play, something that's becoming increasingly rare these days

The thoroughly engaging Scandalous certainly satisfying one's hunger for some stick-to-your-ribs rock 'n' soul music. The band, however, seems approaching a crossroads. They definitely demonstrate their skills at successfully reviving these retro sounds but they are still striving to find their own special voice.

On Alexander, Ebert proves he's just as capable on his own as he is sharing a stage with nine other musicians.

Even without his electric axe (and accompanying pedal board and crater of Marshall stacks) Mascis is still a virtuso.

Dancing Backward sounds more like a Buster Poindexter album than a Dolls one.

Middle Brother is a prediction of great things to come. It's a promise that a new generation of songwriters is rising up to carry and brilliantly build on the tradition.

This record is way cool. It may not seem like it upon first listen, but after a couple spins it's hard to forget.

For their part, the band is spotless. The majority of the record adheres to the lilting and forlorn brand of country that one might expect from an album called Invariable Heartache.

This album, produced by Steve Lillywhite whose credits include U2, Dave Matthews Band and The Smiths, shows this band is ready to ready to compete for world-class status. Rock on.

Long Player, Late Bloomer is a record certainly worthy of being played for a long, long time to come.

For folks new to the Truckers, intrigued but a little overwhelmed by their rather expansive catalog, this is the album to start with.

The crooning background vocals rise and trade phrases with a simple guitar solo that follows the melody of the main vocal line. It's a flush and full sound in perfect pairing with a sentiment that defines the entire album.

Blessed ultimately remains an optimistic record that juxtaposes her typically heartrending croon.

While perhaps not the most ambitious of albums, Ben + Vesper's Honors is the kind of record that shows that the artists behind it know where their strengths lie. The duo works fast and works well together, with lush, transportative harmonies that cannot be denied.

The Low Anthem are desperately trying to say something, even if that message is not always crystal clear.