The music is bold, intelligent, and quirky--maybe a little too quirky, but that’s up for debate. If Peanut Butter has a fault, it’s too much consistency.

Formerly, you’d envision a samba paced song like “An Insular Life” to grow into a meaty, strong-armed force but here, Meiburg and Co. allow for the strings to bring it to a lifting end, well after they’d taken the drum’s pattern to a heavenly new place.

With The Brutalist Bricks, they’ve silenced doubters with another skillful dose of catchy rock and it’s quite the remedy for any sour disbelievers.

All 12 tracks on Love Is All’s new LP Two Thousand and Ten Injuries provide instant intrigue, and after 20 listens to the album – it’s that addicting--not one of the songs managed to lose its initial charm.

If it doesn't put you to sleep, WIT'S END provides a rich and empathetic companion to loneliness.

The chemistry between the members of Rahim is quite apparent from the beginning to the end of the album.

The worst thing you can say about On My Way is that it isn't as good as Sha Sha.

Let the bloggers cry about the change all they want but None Shall Pass is the most focused and dare I say accessible album of Aesop’s career

While it drifts away from the listener somewhat during its middle section, Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light is, for the most part, a captivating listen.

It’s obvious Adamson possesses some serious musical vision, but Stranger on the Sofa takes so many musical missteps and is so laughable lyrically, I have trouble recommending it.

It isn’t leaps and bounds better than its predecessor but within that time frame, they’ve all fine-tuned their act.

The group's strength and distinguishing characteristics rest in its superior sense of melody.

For a de facto second bite of the comeback cherry, Snow Bound has plenty to warrant continued active-veteran status for The Chills.

The question then arises whether this double album is “necessary” in the overall scheme of Sigur Ros’s work.... When listening to Hvarf, the answer is decidedly “yes” for sustaining their known output, but on the Heim side of things, with its stripped down, string-focused, acoustic sound, the answer leans towards “no”.

Given the wider reach and greater ambition at play, Trouble is indeed a vastly improved Hospitality studio set. Admittedly, the album could have done with more a few more truly standouts statements.

Whereas Magnolia was instantly gratifying – a sea change for Molina both sonically and emotionally - What Comes After the Blues is scattered and tangled.

The album never challenges the conventions of a political punk rock record. Because so many political punk rock records have come and gone, Anti-Flag missed another opportunity to at least make The People or the Gun a little more compelling than its army of predecessors.

Wrongly cast as a chicken-fried version The Strokes after 2003’s stellar Youth & Young Manhood, on their latest, Aha Shake Heartbreak, The Kings prove that they’re a band of significant depth and originality.

Amanda Palmer Goes Down Under is, simply, a lot of fun. Some of that fun might most appeal to the countries it's directed at, but those feeling no particular kinship to Australia or New Zealand will still find Amanda's quirkiness endearing.

As reunion records go this is certainly no lazy phoned-in companion to more lucrative live shows, as it captures promising movements forward as opposed to just fumbled nostalgic flashbacks.

While it’s very good hard rock and there are the little differences, the overall sound of the album is largely the same.

Strong and very durable, the somewhat live album is an interesting release, with many free-forming ideas and passing blunders abounding.

Mark the musical prowess of individual band members as key to fragile moments, nuances and nods to a variety of other styles: country twangs and slides, soul, classical, punk, funk, and even, blue-grass.

A solid – albeit unadventurous - long-player, which refines instead of redefines and consolidates more than it innovates.

At the root of all good music is a dying cause to tell a good story and Future Islands take that kind of attitude to heart with In Evening Air; there is nothing dismissible, or close to it, on here.

A memorable display from a band we need to acknowledge as true greats and it’s a thrill ride from beginning to end.

False Priest generally packs the kind of shock and awe that made 2007's Hissing Fauna such a delight. Throw in some deft work at the boards by one of today's hottest producers and a couple of guest appearances by notable female vocalists, and you've got one of 2010's most colorful releases. It's not for everyone, but that's half the fun of it.

The vocal parts are slathered in a hazy, echoing ambience and aren’t smoothly integrated with the songs. That being said, it’s not reason enough to dismiss the album, as there is enough substantive music to overcome this imperfection.