There's a tip towards tradition that boasts more than a hint of reverence as well

Swimming in catchy melodies and tantalizing music (along with Wilson's vocal abilities), it may be difficult to select a favorite track within Glowing Mouth--but it's quite easy to enjoy.

Freeclouds balances strummy, acoustic campfire sensitivity with sweeping, anthemic rock a la sometime tour mates in the War on Drugs, tipping both styles into wild, mildly psychotropic territories.

Komba, the band's third album, ups the techno factor from 2008's Black Diamond, pushing Buraka's infectious kuduro-samba-house-rave hybrid into shinier, more modernistic directions.

Gentle introspection--instead of the outright melancholy he often exudes--paired with sway-worthy melodies make Parallax the most listenable Atlas Sound album to date.

It might not qualify as a lost classic, but Social Climbers' sole output does celebrate a band who played what they felt, even if it meant being ostracized by both the sub-underground and the masses.

What he does best is craft heart-string cautionary tales.

I Wake Up Screaming is an absolute delight, a rhythmically exhilarating, lyrically humorous, melodically intoxicating collection of thirteen terrific songs.

Wolfroy Goes to Town haunts you quietly, in a private way that is, somehow, all the more devastating.

The album is not a total departure from previous work, and their admirers will be elated at this crackerjack effort and the opportunity to live music the Strange Boys way once again.

A fine batch of bittersweet pop songs that are nearly impossible to ignore.

Given the complex menagerie of moods and movements interpolated amongst the din of this septet of songs, it seems like the man has indeed accomplished his mission.

There's a dose of the otherworldly in these evocative tracks, but laced, in all but a few cases, with recognizable bits of ordinary life.

Worden does "brave the war" and becomes quite the victor on All Things Will Unwind, the third studio release and a wowing conclusion to the trifecta of work she has produced since 2006.

That's the modesty and humility typically missing in all those acclaimed geniuses. But it's precisely what allows Henry access to the truths that make his songs unforgettable.

Long Vacations isn't a bad album per se (Rouse is too gifted a songwriter to make a genuinely bad album), but it has the sound of an uninspired one.

That McCombs is seeking a specialized niche seems all too obvious, even though his sound flirts with being elusive.

Every bit as riveting as the groundbreaking music is the ever-present studio chatter.

All together, this is a very classy compilation, and an essential piece of the global puzzle of 20th century music.

Harding's adept at melding a simple slice of life with irresistible refrains, and that's what allows The Sound of His Own Voice to soar ever so sweetly.

The album is not terrible, just not terribly original either.

He still has plenty to communicate, his music not losing any creative potency over the years.

It turns out that "Brandenburg Gate" is one of the only songs with an actual melody. The rest of Lulu is full of recycled, repetitive riffs; endless drones; more sex and violence than a slasher movie.

Biophilia is a delicate and highly tactile treat, a unique gem of innovation (pipe organs driven by computers, the mallet-tickled gameleste) and gentle real soul whose breathy endearing heights Bjork hasn't touched in a minute.

It would have been better to be more sharply focused, and more limited in scope, so a wider audience could discover it and maybe love it as much as Johnny Boy.

Co-written and produced by his missus Kathleen Brennan, Waits' songs--Bad as Me included--find their center immediately and stick like a record's skip.

Divine Providence apparently isn't a realm for the faint of heart, but those with the verve to vent their all may find it a welcome retreat.

Conspired in their Windy City origins at Andy's grandmother's house, Gauntlet Hair the LP is otherwise a fantastical recording, a complete artistic metamorphosis from the pair's raw-dog early 7-inches for Forest Family and Mexican Summer that finds Andy and Craig refining their edge to reveal the silver lining behind their inherit sonic clutter.