This stellar, adventurous album just may be the best thing they've attempted since 1989's "The Mekons Rock'n'Roll."

A melancholy gem of gorgeous, whispery folk and delicate countrified rock.

The trio's most complete effort since 1996's Stakes Is High.

While by no means disastrous musically, it's a pale imitation of much better Stereolab albums, and in the end altogether dispensable.

Marah manages to convey the manic energy that makes it such a great performer, and the result is its best album yet.

Anyone who found the alien sonic landscapes of "Kid A" a bit overwhelming will feel much more at home with these nine less fussy but primarily electronica-dominated compositions.

A revelatory, emotional listen from start to finish, "With the Lights Out" crystallizes Cobain's tortured genius.

On this fine self-titled set (produced, as was the most recent 97's album, by Dallas-based Salim Nourallah) Miller works his familiar mixture of '60s-pop jangle and alt-country twang, singing about the highs and lows of love like someone who just experienced them for the first time.

For The Alchemy Index Vols. III & IV: Air & Earth, the material is appropriately lofty to represent the former element but surprisingly sparse for the latter.

Conor Oberst doesn't sound much different from any of Bright Eyes' acoustic material, except that it is lacking in the bare honesty of his earlier albums.

Pierce ties the dark to the light with poetic folk ballads like closing lullaby "Goodnight Goodnight," making A&E a strange and pleasing concoction of old and new.

Such uniformly dark material makes one long for a tune or two to lighten the vibe.

Overall, it's a solid, unashamedly honest portrait.

Though audibly relaxed in their freedom from the label system, the duo delivers a few real emotional stunners.

This new recording is richer and more daring in its arrangements and choice of material.

Watershed, k.d. lang's new torch-and-twang exploration, will hover delicately in the background of many a coffee shop, but it does little to elevate itself to a more conscious musical experience.

Similar to the artist's Under the Pink in tone and continuity, Scarlet demands repeated spins to fully appreciate its chapters' musical and lyrical complexities.

Guster's loudest and most ambitious effort to date.

Fresh and imaginative, "Anything" is one intoxicating recording.

A delicious blend of acoustic guitar, raw grooves and sublime melodies. [11 Feb 2006]

Apollo Sunshine's third album is a delightful head-scratcher that explores old and new elements of psychedelia alike, from string sections, melting organs and echoey vocals to gritty, traveling guitar lines and lyrics about love and reincarnation.

"Myth Takes" ... should see the festive art-rock collective bop its way out of cult status, as each of the 10 cuts on this album adventurously cascade through genres without ever losing a groove. [10 Mar 2007]

Too often his songs fail to captivate beyond a curiosity factor.

In each case, a brand-new track has been crafted, but some work better than others. [10 Feb 2007]

Janet Weiss adds welcome flavor on drums and vocals, but overall, how much you enjoy rummaging through this Trash will probably depend on the amount of patience you have for the Malkmus' indulgences.

It is such a perfect counterfeit that it feels like the genuine article.

Songs of losers and loss tempered by only a taste of wry humor.

On "The Mirror Conspiracy," the duo fine-tunes its deft merging of all things dub, electronica, and bossa nova, creating sweet and savory tracks...

Whole New You easily rises above the din of the sound-alike pop and rock recordings currently crowding the marketplace, offering a plethora of complex yet sweet melodies and lyrics that are both smart and rife with empathetic emotion.

The alluring texture of every track on "Tres Cosas" makes it a winner.

The M's and their "Future Women" not only jog the memories of rock past, but are memorable in their own right.

Cooder has fine musical companions on his journey. [10 Mar 2007]

With poetic melancholy, absurdist whimsy and direct shout-outs to a world no more just than it was on his last album, there's enough to carry fans until Chao's next one.

It's fun to hear Trent Reznor play other roles and fire holes into the technology he's been so vital in employing. [21 Apr 2007]

Not only does this album hum with the magic that endowed the pair's past hits ("Let's Stay Together"), it shows that talent isn't the sole realm of the young.

Overall though, is the album better than "Prairie Wind" or "Living With War"? Yes.

District Line is a fine showcase for the differing sides of ex-Hüsker Dü/Sugar frontman Bob Mould's repertoire.

You could count the number of hooks on one hand and most tracks clock in at the three-minute mark, ostensibly to let GZA inhale occasionally. But it's worth a listen to hear what sneaky, suspicious, image-heavy tricks still emerge from his notebook.

"Spirit Stereo Frequency" unburies the dark side of this wistfulness by scrambling it with deep bouts of psychedelia and ghostly falsetto croons. The result is a debut that captures the vicissitudes of the past with greater authenticity and interesting sonic flair.

By making an album that's utterly listenable without sacrificing its integrity, Luna provides the season's greatest guilty pleasure--without the guilt.

A fascinating listen, a psychedelic journey through time and space, where vintage keyboards create a musical dream.

Manners, the debut album from the Boston-based electro-pop outfit Passion Pit, is a charming combination of danceable synth grooves, falsetto shouts and infectious vocal hooks.

There are clunkers, like the half-there torch song "Life Is Hard." But the great thing about 67-year-old Dylan is that even when it's not working, it's working.

[It] doesn't offer many surprises, and as usual that's OK.

His new album is not exactly like the last or the one before that, and is pleasantly surprising in its evolution.

Clever but tasteful arrangements and an impeccable shine make songs like 'Same Old Thing' seem anything but.

"The Good, the Bad and the Queen" seems to be waiting for a payoff that never materializes.

This winning collaborative combination makes "Before the Poison" even stronger than its 2002 predecessor, "Kissin' Time," but with production and arrangements that are minimalist, dark and desolate.

New Zealand supergroup the Clean once again makes a case that the world's most intriguing pop music comes from that small, faraway land.

"Loud Like Nature" is hard to take seriously, but it shows that those old analog treasures still have a few good songs left in them.

Much like KOC's albums, which tend to fade into the background as sonic wallpaper, the IKEA-sterile mood of "Unrest" does grow less distinctive by disc's end.

On first listen, "The Loon" is not as immediate as several key tracks are individually. But after further study, the pieces eventually fall into place, and it becomes clear that this foursome has a solid debut on its hands.

A young, kick-ass band with a dusty, unpolished garage sound, Wolfmother excels in what everyone else has already done.

Hearing a crowd go wild for a kick drum has to do the dance community proud.

The new album's lyrical plotlines feel more organized than on past efforts, and musical twists are easier to follow, with Matthew's piano grounding the recording.

Gone are the meandering Sonic Youth impressions, and in their place are imaginative songs that don't alienate.

Believe the hype: The 10-track set is a real treat, rewarding repeated listens with fun, groove-driven tunes.

His most inspired effort in years.

Just as the busking, basement-tapes balladry of Stereo feels wan and undercooked, the rough-and-ready rock of Mono brims with the thoughtfulness and soulful energy of Westerberg's 1993 solo debut, 14 Songs, and his ever-influential Replacements catalog.

Lofty comparisons, sure. But Bingham's not a "new" anything: He's his own man, and a singular talent at that.

It seems that the more comfortable the principals get with Gnarls Barkley, the more haunted Gnarls Barkley gets. And it gets stronger, too.

All sound pretty wonderful in the hands of Peyroux's stealthy, silk-draped vocals, delivered with a winning air of slightly detached mystery.

This "Tiger" is fairly tame, but that's OK. [30 Jun 2007]

A substantive collection of back-to-basics indie rock.

Like bourbon, his voice only gets more seductively potent with age.

In signature Björk fashion, the songs are emotionally intense, beautifully orchestrated, sensually sweet, and wickedly exotic.

Shows his growth as an MC.

Costello proves that all the balladry hasn't dulled his ability to rock.

Even during the second-tier moments, there's a sense that he's regained his artistic footing. [31 Mar 2007]

While the upbeat Lambchop records of the past are missed, OH (ohio) is a well-paced and engaging trip through Wagner's lush, scenic tunes.

Their most organic-sounding album since 1995's "Clouds Taste Metallic."

Luckily, [the a bland name and album title are] the most awkward things about this surprisingly rewarding collection of dusky, mesquite-flavored torch songs.

Joining fellow hotly tipped Brooklyn bands Vampire Weekend and Yeasayer, MGMT (pronounced "management") merits just as much attention for its psychedelic experimentation as it does for its melodies and hooks.

Shaggy uses Intoxication to once again show that while he and his crew can crank out solid pop, they can match it with cuts that genuinely rock the dancehall.

Flexing a bit of the angry lyrical edge he boasted on 2005's "Awfully Deep," Roots digs into "fickle DJs," no-talent rappers, Trustafarians and "bourgeois hippies" who "wanna fight my flow," as he proclaims on the track '2 Much 2 Soon.'

It's that mix of sad-sack circumstances and cautious optimism that makes the Scottish quartet's debut such a rich exercise in self-aware spleen-venting.

Though answers don't come easily, the process of getting to know them is fascinating nonetheless.

What makes Equilibrium special is the wonderfully atmospheric combination of Shipp's most minimalist playing and Jamal's glowing vibes; the rhythms, too, have a hypnotic sense of groove.

Yearwood's voice is a treasure, alternating between jaw-dropping heights and ideal understatement.

An ambitious and artful set of songs.

Nine of the album's dozen songs were written by Partridge, and each unfolds like an act of a melodious Shakespearean play -- lyrics drenched in imagery and metaphor, plots twisting through the experience of love and betrayal.

TSAC have spun their most lush and intricately produced long-player yet.... "Oui" wisely bumps the electronics to secondary status, giving the album a much more unified, live band feel missing from "The Fawn".... One of this year's most enjoyable albums.

Instead of paying tribute as concept, Lynne owns these songs, taking inspiration from the renowned blue-eyed soul singer to create her own sober renditions of indelible melodies from the '60s and '70s.

Such a musical mind-meld, so expressive of both artists' perspective, is rare.

Most of the dozen songs on Midnight Boom are driven more by looped beats. As a result, the melodies on such tracks as "Getting Down," "Cheap and Cheerful" and the hand-clapping "Sour Cherry" are framed with spare urgency, while "U.R.A. Fever" and "Alphabet Pony" boast an urban, nearly hip-hop ambience.

"Security" lunges in a new experimental direction every few minutes... but never strays far from the groove, nor its compelling indignation. [10 Mar 2007]

With a tiny voice, minimalist arrangements and simple lyrics, this Swedish songwriter has crafted what seems like a magical album, where all its small elements coalesce into something quite big.

By resolutely forgetting formula, Radiohead proves itself all the more relevant with Amnesiac.

Unfortunately, for all the hype surrounding "Restless," Xzibit has lost some of the lyrical ferociousness that made his previous releases underground favorites.

Continues in [the debut's] innovative spirit, both elemental and experimental. [15 Apr 2006]

The net result is smart, personal and potent.

While lyrically his songs are top-drawer, Thompson's guitar prowess is also noteworthy. [13 Aug 2005]

The 77-minute-long "Frances" unfolds upon multiple listens, sometimes threatening to collapse under its own pretensions (meandering musical passages, sound effects), but ultimately, it is an ambitious and rewarding album.

For greatness, look to the irresistibly melodic "Twentieth Century," the New Order-hued "Minimal" and the Diane Warren-penned ballad "Numb."

An album of stunning simplicity.

"Sounds" sounds great, alternating between driving, percussive romps like "Love Caught Up To Me," "Free To Go," and "Dreams Of Clay" and moments of sheer country perfection in "Time Spent Missing You," "A Promise You Can't Keep," and the wonderfully hangdog Hank Williams knockoff "The Heartaches Are Free."

This set may not satisfy every fan, but it should please those who have hoped that McCartney would branch out from a safe sound.

Full of breezy vocals and sunny instrumentation, this album redefines beach music for the new millennium.