Frankly, you could pick pretty much any song at random and be guaranteed either a gorgeous slab of jubilation or a bittersweet drop of beatification.

Bird is in full control and evokes his The Swimming Hour and everyone’s favorite, Mysterious Production of Eggs, days; those days where he did everything on his own. All of the aforementioned allows him to present one of his best albums to date.

What it Means to Be Left-Handed is just that: a diverse assortment of refreshing new music from a band that has already developed and progressed their chops. It's a joyful occasion and for Mice Parade; a loud celebration down the street, rodents and all.

Like the music, there is always a vast amount of territory enclosed and in that same sense, Alpers covers a lot of ground with careful trepidation. The meticulous feel of the album stems from its creator and the calmness of the music is a sheer result of it.

Closure is undoubtedly a reliably contrarian, brutally honest and uncompromisingly human album for a great band to--at least try--calling it quits on.

In all seriousness, Wondervisions isn't hard to handle. There's nothing abrasive here to worry about, and the variation in structure and theme is exciting enough.

The listener gets acoustic ballads, guitar-driven rock exercises, poppy refrains, and jazz-inflected asides in a single package, and at no point does it really feel that the Scottish quartet is overextending itself or sacrificing the vitality of its work for the ability to slap the name of another sonic digression on the board.

Bleach showed instances of promise and a few songs went on to become some of the best they ever wrote, but in comparison, it pales to the band’s later work. So take it all in stride because Bleach is surely for fanatics but certainly not for everyone.

Some of the mid-tempo tracks towards the end of the album may slow the momentum created by the first half, yet Only In Dreams is ultimately a triumphant, self-assured release that proves the Dum Dum Girls are here to stay and will continue to evolve into full-fledged rock stars, a role they seemed destined to fill.

Barnes is literally all over the place and his cryptic storytelling makes for an eccentric album. And although each song may shift styles five or six times, as a whole, it’s a tightly constructed and smartly shaped listen.

This tandem of dream pop has crafted a beautiful, spectral and memorable album with Devotion.

It’s a glorious low-frequency hootenanny that slurs soul, punk, psych-rock, and pop until you’re not sure what language you’re hearing anymore.

Whereas previous Elbow records set a mood, Build A Rocket Boys! may require a certain mood, and a few spins, before the lofty expectations are shed and you're left delighting in its radiance.

The fuzz and drone of Today is the Day is a refreshing look back at the band’s mid-90s, Painful/Electropura era.

On the whole this is a richly inventive and enthralling eponymous long-player from a side-project with legs of its own.

Hopefully those that came to SunnO))) through "Black One" will find much to love here. If they don’t they will be seriously missing out as Monoliths & Dimensions is devastatingly epic.

One of his finest efforts to date.

Taken for what it is: strong folk leanings, with a sweet country shuffle, delivered with some of the best lyrics of the year, they all make for one brilliant combination.

While it definitely is more static and sustain, you really need to turn this up, put down whatever else you're doing, and connect with it in the moment, as this is very present music. It feels like a refined version of his past esthetics, and is more intense for the limitations he has decided to work under.

Art-punk, post-punk, hardcore, alternative, slap whatever label you would like on it; I'll stick to youthful, captivating, raw, and memorable as my descriptors.

With Radical Connector, Mouse on Mars is taking an important step forward – both in terms of musical vision and international standing.

Such is the rich detail dispersed across Kiss Each Other Clean that it demands some intensive listening to absorb all of its pleasures, especially when the choruses are not as cleanly-cut as one might expect of such a well-groomed higher-profile release.

Thirteen tracks of exceptional music and a clear-cut success for Boucher.

It might take a couple of rotations, but upon spinning Let Us Never Speak of it Again, be prepared to suffer from involuntary dance fits from surfeits of jollity. Asinine lyrics be damned, I’m dancing here.

From those opening, gorgeous, chords – their sultry delivery, their soulful demeanor, their jazzy glean, everything – signals that The Roots are back.

What I am here to do is to point you in the direction of Take My Breath Away, Boratto’s exceptionally crafted new album.

Heron King Blues, for all its successes, is not an album for Califone rookies.

Blood Red Shoes still rocks out on most tracks, all riled up and restless, keeping the rhythms chunky and choppy on standouts like the defiantly-played and shouted "Light It Up," the revved-up guitar and drums of "Don't Ask," and the guitar jags and slamming drums on "Keeping It Close."