The result is naturally a bit of a mish-mash, but all of the material is terrific and the sequencing makes this seem like a finished product.

This is classic folk that shimmers with a vitality and determination so hypnotic and cohesive, it seems like they wrote these selections themselves. And except for occasional passé references like “magpie’s nest,” “one evening fair,” and “by the roving of her eye,” there isn’t much dated about the gorgeous approach.

The Beast In Its Tracks is a gracious, relentlessly honest, post-breakup record.

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.

By the time the Beatles’ “Blackbird” closes the set in a slowed down blues arrangement with a string quartet, most listeners will be wrung out emotionally from these expressive takes on generally seldom heard gems. Bettye LaVette may not have penned any, but she owns them just the same.

His latest album, Country Music, is Willie at his finest, characteristically understated and effortless.

There’s so much to absorb here, with creative lyrical and often jagged production twists, let alone melodies that veer all over the map, that you’ll quickly return for another cycle on Gallo’s musical merry-go-round to hear what you missed the first time.

Listening closely to A Small Death all the way through is like watching a melodramatic foreign movie; spellbinding and deliberately paced with an ambiance that leaves you reflective but anticipating better times are (hopefully) ahead.

Tuttle’s supple voice, nimble award winning guitar chops and obvious love for the material carries these versions.

For all the angst it musters, Electro Melodier is still a reasonably emphatic effort, one with a drive and determination that never finds cause to falter.

An immediate comparison that comes to mind is Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks, though by no means as expressive or adventurous. Away is, however, one of Okkervil River’s prettiest records to date.

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 tunes on Set You Free will give his long-time followers more than they could have hoped for, while garnering new fans coast-to-coast.

It's about people, and Mellencamp continues to write and sing about them better and better with each passing year.

On The Dreamer, James includes some unlikely song choices, and most of them work.

Ultimately, the best complement one can pay the band at this point is simply to say that the new album is in fact the perfect primer for newcomers as well as further affirmation for those that have followed them all along. Getting Into Knives makes the point that The Mountain Goats are successfully finding their way to higher heights.

Overall this record shows not just promise, but quite a bit of realization of that promise. Many of these songs seem memorable and enduring… and individualistic.

It’s a perfect combination of restrained vocal phrasing with madly creative production and a certain candidate for one of the finest albums of the year.

It’s a haunting, generally melancholy 40 minutes that cries out for repeated playings to best capture the fleeting melodies, atmospheric performances and the singer’s delicate concepts.

There isn’t a single song here that doesn’t creep under the skin and remain lodged there for the duration of the encounter. Every one speaks directly to its listeners and resonates with them as well.

Despite, or maybe because of, the disparate approaches, the consistently entrancing Eternally Even is a stimulating and often spellbinding listening.

Bruce Springsteen's Wrecking Ball is that rare release that manages to fulfill, defy, and exceed expectations all at once.

It’s Okkervil River’s most mature album yet--coming after six previous records that were already fully formed.

For a songwriter with nearly two decades of performing under her belt, Marshall has never sounded so youthful or commanding.

The result is a warm, generally introspective but far from musty set that revels in predominantly acoustic material sung with Hiatt’s increasingly gruff, whiskeyed voice.

A fine comeback by any measure. Some 60 years on, the Stones are rolling as effortlessly as ever. Welcome back, boys.

The album has one major issue--it’s got too much going on in places.... But despite that flaw on this effort, it has a lot going for it.

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