Remember those old days when everything was perfect, when you were happy and all was right in your world, The Stand Ins achieves this.

His most complete album to date, Chad Van Gaalen's Soft Airplane carries aisles of contradictions through turbulence and diffused sunlight. Here, the talented artist plays to his strengths.

Although it dodges near-perfection almost deliberately, it confirms that Gelb’s maverick creativity has an astute methodology in its benevolent madness.

If you aren't at least a little cozy to the sound commonly produced by Whitney and company, you certainly won't be any more into Jaguar Love. Well, that may not be totally accurate, as I can see this being some of most accessible stuff spawned by any Blood Brothers alumni.

The album’s majestic brilliance reveals itself through subtle perfections that appear with repeated listens.

It requires headphones, or at least some form of solidarity, to enjoy the carefully composed post-rock that only a band like Apse can deliver. It can be a bleak listen at time but this is a beautiful album that should be experienced at least once.

The opening and closing tracks prove that Conor Oberst is a more reflective and personal venture as both are stripped down affairs, one summoning childhood memories while the other seems to contemplate suicide.

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

All in all this is a great album.

Ultimately, this is a winner and though it may not offer the new, revelatory sounds and styles that some were hoping, in the end it wins out because of its heart.

The music on Something for All of Us… is focused, melodic and utterly impressive. Not only does it sound terrific but it sounds like it was a complete pleasure to make.

Stay Positive is a true testament that good music will always prevail. One can only hope that a band like this will continue to make music for years and years to come because we desperately need it.

There isn’t anything outlandishly overdone on this album as Beck offers a more stripped down approach. These are obvious efforts to return to a more cohesive, solid form and with a steady dose of subtle harmonies, crafty melodies and hooks, interesting instrumentation and oh yeah, two songs that feature Cat Power, Beck doesn’t disappoint.

This album is not a quick or necessarily easy listen, but it is one of the better ones that I have had the pleasure of listening to this year.

This is a winner in so many different ways; the music is impeccable, the sequencing is seamless, the production inhales and exhales life and the overall sound is killer.

Whether it is the new production, the new sounds, the new language or maybe just the unique cover, everything works for Sigur Rós; on Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust is something exceptional.

Taken as a whole, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea stills far short of the Silver Jews’ seminal statements--namely 1998’s "American Water" and 1994’s "Starlite Walker"--but its mix of mischief and melancholy provides more than enough to keep David Berman in the game he continues to reassuringly and unpredictably play on his own terms.

Each track is unique, thanks in part to Markus Acher's peculiar voice and The Notwist's ability to seamlessly blend acoustic pop and electronic rock into a genre-bending, intriguing, and sometimes catchy, electro-fuzz pop, resulting in an uncommonly captivating album that gets better with each spin.

Sure, you can kind of tell--except for the finale--they each sing four songs and their styles are unmistakable; however, they result in one tight, unified, startling beast of an album--it’s downright astonishing.

This is an excellent release from an already accomplished band.

Minor misgivings aside, All I Intended To Be is another assured latter-day Emmylou Harris long-player.

Lo-fi recording and lackluster production force the songs to rely on the comforting characteristics of the understated indie-twee-folk, of which there are too little to make it real appealing.

This is great music from a fantastic UK band.

All in all, this is pretty good album and it is by no means horrible.

With their self-titled debut, Fleet Foxes have attained this and have delivered one of the best albums of the year.

With Rook they have fashioned an album that is melodic, tender, outstanding but above all, captivating. One thing is for sure, this is one of the best albums of the year.

Everything on Lay it Down is gorgeous, memorable and absolutely stunning.

All the Saints pound out lumbering hard rock. And it sounds good.