Thomas doesn’t need to be so shy anymore; with a solid debut and complimentary bandmates, he’s comfortably found his outlet.

With synths that convey the techno side behind Scuba's music, Rose allows the songs to flow within each other by way of carefully-placed transitions. There's a strong ear for melody and a terrific depiction of the sunny summer month.

Appropriately for an album called The Gathering, the esthetic Arbouretum achieves feels somewhat monolithic--overarching and whole instead of neurotic and splintered--and in this manner should provide healing properties for a psyche battered around by all the little specifics of daily life.

Fourteen songs deep, each and every one is a terrific slice of electronic pop that definitely delivers astounding results.

His vision of the album is similarly relational, and this debut brims with variety and skill, coming off with a complex personality at turns exuberantly earnest, darkly melancholy, and dreamily coy.

A series of serene and sensuous treasures rich in texture and laden with rapturous instrumental hooks.

The proceedings, though, are not without occasionally lesser moments and that’s something that fans of Save Everything and Very Soon may be surprised to hear.

For something put together with a supposed casualness, Bird Dog Dante is actually a remarkably industrious--albeit satisfyingly low-key--affair that stands-up as Parish’s most consistent and accessible solo album to date.

Taken as a whole, this endearingly strange collection should force casual-listeners to appreciate the importance of the album as a convoluted, contrary and eternally charismatic art form, which can still be defended by even the most work-shy of songsmiths.

While Era Vulgaris is not cohesive in tone (Could it be a reflection of today’s fragmented, compartmentalized world that pulls in all directions?) and doesn’t fire consistently on all cylinders, the album is still chock-a-block with complex instrumental arrangements, stop-and- start rhythms, gracefully refined harmonies, cranked-up choruses, and pointed commentary on the modern world.

Mo’ Mega starts off strong... But from [the middle] on out the songs lose focus.

The lack of truly classic Calexico moments marks the album as a transitory step: too far for some, not enough for others.

Overall, though, there's a lack of memorability tarring this CD. Very few of the songs sound familiar even after repeated listenings.

Possibly the best Kristin Hersh solo album since 1994's classic Hips & Makers.

The Wave Pictures are a band sufficiently self-confident to take enough risks to keep themselves interested but without distancing themselves from their extant character, which Great Big Flamingo Burning Moon reveals is a durable and entertaining combination for the most part, even if a tad more lubrication would have helped to soften-up some of its drier corners.

Lithium Burns is a far too well crafted and assuredly performed record for a debut album.

While the band is always fun and catchy, it can be a bit much after a while.

Those who are desperately clutching onto the past few months' sunny days and starry nights – or planning for Summer 2011 already – are likely to dig the unpretentious, casual atmosphere of Eternal Summers. For everyone else, there's bound to be something else out there better suited to pumpkins spice lattes and fall harvests.

There are some genuinely good songs on this album. But good bands make music that their listeners don't have to really try to enjoy.

Nothing is Real is an eleven-song effort that showcases Crystal Antlers with a tighter outfit and in turn, a tighter release.

They have indeed created an album that is ultimately rewarding and full of musical promise.

See You in Magic's tracks are so consistently good that determining the album's best poses a challenge.

16 sonorous, brooding alternative-rock tracks that are as open and experimental as they are rocked out and catchy.

RYAT takes her technique a step further on album #2, diversifying her sound to include symphonic strings and other instrumentation. She also delves deeper into a more expressive, sometimes vulnerable, vocal delivery, getting to the root of her emotions and letting them take seed in song.

Whilst Craig Dermody still has some way to go in proving himself as a near-equal to his unconcealed influences, Mid Thirties Single Scene does attest that Scott & Charlene’s Wedding are about far more than a jokey band name, with some increasingly impressive staying-power. Moreover, it’s unquestionably the group’s first keeper collection.

The problem is the songs. Oh, the songs - they're pretty, all right, but there's no substance.

Ultimately, Sunset / Sunrise is a wonderful follow-up for the duo because of how well they are able to combine the best aspects from their debut with new found options.

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.