Ultimately, with too few albums to warrant a truly outstanding collection and a top-heavy chronological ordering the hits may be direct, but the death feels painfully slow.

Array 1 contains enough moments of unparalleled brilliance to make autumn's projected follow-up EP a mouthwatering prospect.

Everything that made Transverse great is here on f (x). Carter Tutti Void are reimagining industrial music without the need for in-your-face defiant transgression.

Feelin Kinda Free could be the best apocalypse soundtrack you’ll ever hear.

Compulsion Songs highlights each individual element of The Lucid Dream's make-up and like its predecessor, takes the listener on a journey that is never predictable but always rewarding.

In What The Toll Tells we’ve been served up an In The Aeroplane Over The Sea for ’06 – full of misty-eyed dreams and incredible characters.

Out with the old and in with the new, so to speak. Which is exactly what Pollock has attempted and, for the majority of Watch The Fireworks, achieved.

Angles doesn't feel like an over-indulgent record, nor one that speaks of a dearth of ideas.

The music of Unmap ticks with signature twists and sounds, things that suggest Justin Vernon could be a national treasure on the lines of Neil Young or Elliott Smith instead of the heartbroken one hit wonder that some might have expected.

It's far from perfect, but Smoke Fairies can be viewed as a record that speak of future potential, rather than wasted potential.

Going, Going..., the group's ninth record, is full of bizarre twists and turns that make it unlike any album they have released to date.

PVT still frequently show flashes of promise and brilliance, but soon undercut themselves through the poor balance between vocal and musicianship.

In all, it’s an album with an admirable sense of ambition and innovation, a band pushing themselves sonically and lyrically in new directions; that they at times come up short is therefore a shame.

Sure, there's no serious wheel re-invention taking place here, and only a sycophantic fool would suggest that. Nevertheless, Who We Touch can hold its head high, safe in the knowledge that its creators are by no means a spent force.

Stripped bare of anything other than Stevens’ voice, a guitar and a slightly imperfect recording, their power and beauty still shine through. The added bells-and-whistles of remixes and alternate versions are an interesting side-note, sure, but still, in the end, lead you back to the original album in all its complex, bruised and beautiful glory.

This is hardly revelatory stuff--the days of Sebadoh blowing minds and claiming hearts are now far behind them, but then maybe they don’t have to do that anymore.

Land and Fixed's deliberately obscured pop elements--irrefutable though they are--come across slightly too studied to tempt that kind of empathy. The album hovers between the audacity of no wave at its most impulsive and the poignancy of crossover artists who've openly borrowed from the genre, reaping the benefits of neither extreme.

What does make sense is songs that can be related to the world over, not just in Williamsburg, and the songs on Any Port In A Storm fall very much into this category. A brilliant record.

The first half of the album is characterised by high energy, fast-paced songs, best shown by raucous singalong ‘All This Way’ and ‘Getting Along’. At points these are in danger of blurring into each other but I think this may just be because of the specific order they’re listed in. ... The second half of the record is quieter, with a more musing outlook.

On New Gods there’s a sense of logical progression, an aim of expression that might have been missing from some of his earlier work.

Wolf's music has always held itself in reverence of a wild, untamed Mother Nature; and while The Bachelor is less organic and unfettered in its sonics than, say, the snap and crackle of Wind In The Wires, its message--to preserve all the things a broadband connection cannot provide for us--is clearer than ever.

While Causers Of This appears lo-fi on a superficial level with its rough, oversaturated sound quality, it's evident that Bundick has achieved a level of familiarity with his tools which goes way beyond awkward, sophomoric fumbling.

LP3 will keep a handful of indie-rockers happy but may not satisfy listeners looking for Daft Punk danceability.

Unlike Madonna who seemed to just ingest cool genres, it seems from the very concept of this album and woven into her manifesto, that Gaga gets far more about the modern world than she's letting on.

Initally, it all rushes by so fast as to rock you onto your heels, but further listens offer a quick grasp of a set of insidiously catchy songs.

It feels like there are more synthetic things of interest here. There are significantly less organic things--lyrics, sentiments, meaning--that will keep you coming back.

Leanness is their ideal body state, dirt under the fingernails a sign of rude health. No doubt Riot Now! will only be purchased by those who know, but it's a commendable album.

Warrior is never dull, always fun, and frequently a thrillingly unpredictable ride.