These are songs riddled with illiteracy, cancer, unemployment, crime and consequence, fashioned by the brutal pen of one of the most promising American songwriters of the last decade.

A quietly ambitious effort that nudges the Shins' trademark indie pop into unexpected new directions.

Sparxxx proves he's upgraded his whip-quick flow.

This enchanting album is rife with homespun reflections on philosophy, religion and the never-ending quest for true love.

The group backs it up with a forceful sonic fusillade that recalls Disturbed's 2000 debut, "The Sickness," while doing away with some of the melodic niceties that crept into "Ten Thousand Fists" and 2002's "Believe," right down to Draiman's jungle animal vocals.

If there were any doubts about how Darius Rucker would fare in the country world, the Hootie & the Blowfish frontman puts them solidly to rest on his genre debut.

Another winner full of eerie beauty and restraint.

Rich in melody and mood, guitar and piano; it is more rock than pop.

With the addition of trumpet, trombone, and alto sax to his quartet sound, however, Frisell is on the job with a jumbo-sized sonic palette. The results, tune by tune, are as eccentric as they are intriguing.

Boomslang is the album Marr fans have been waiting a lifetime for.

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

Pitch-shifting strings punctuate the background like reminders of the cinema of the past, but this Portishead doesn't wink at anything, eschewing style altogether. In our self-referential culture, an album like this is an aberration. Again.

Much has been made of the fact that Gang Gang Dance named this record after the patron saint of outcasts and rebels, but this effort shows more crossover potential than anything the act has ever done.

Between tunes Cohen recites lyrics from the next song to be performed, and these 26 tunes, delivered in his steady rumbling baritone, may have never sounded better, certainly not in one place on one special night.

Showcases Nas' incredible talent as a lyricist and social commentator.

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.

Dark yet delectable, Velocifer suits Ladytron just right.

Barnes isn't so much indulgent as he is overly ambitious and seemingly out of his mind, making Skeletal Lamping as wonderfully brilliant as it is weird.

This eulogy is a celebration, and Big Whiskey is a dense, humid album that, befitting its New Orleans origins, shrewdly cuts its melancholy with exuberance and vice versa.

Masterful blends of R&B, jazz and gospel accented by soulful harmonies.

At least until that new Coldplay record drops, the Kaiser Chiefs have positioned themselves to hold the title of Baddest Musicians in the World With a British Return Address.

Seven years after breaking out of Sweden's eternal garage-revival scene, this color-coordinated quintet has somehow created its liveliest, most playable album.

Returns to hip-hop basics.

A dreamy gem steeped in the tradition of '90s shoegazer rock.

Indeed, "Awake" is Lee's strongest album in years; so good that you can even forgive the Har Mar Superstar cameo.

While the batch he's cooked up on his the latest LP... stays true to the songwriting formula that has gained him over a decade of accolades, "Bright Ideas" does, in fact, find McCaughan at his most sonically expansive to date.

Revels in dirty guitars and fuzzy distortion while maintaining Depeche Mode's familiar electronic sound. [22 Oct 2005]

Vast in scope, rich in trope and full of hope. [25 Nov 2006]