Where inexperienced programmers might collapse under the weight of such complexity, Autechre utilize it with precision. As punishing as it is, it never sounds too cluttered.

The icy joylessness with which Bulmer humors her band's recordings doesn't ruin everything, shockingly enough.

For devote metal heads, Early Man may represent a renaissance of the original, pure metal sound that started it all. For everyone else, Closing In will be received as a retro novelty rather than a serious musical accomplishment.

Some of the songs even stack up against the band's original catalogue.

A mixed bag of bouncy, speed-fueled pop songs and spacey neo-psychedelia flooded with waves of synthesizer.

Perhaps more so than any other band out there today, the pair channel the spirit of the wandering troubadour in all of his dusty, down and out glory.

Although Mice Parade isn't necessarily the group's paramount album, it certainly makes their stock soar high.

This is a band that has a sterile aesthetic but is somehow able to create plenty of emotion and energy.

The thirteen-song cycle does a lot to support the minor hype that's built around the band, yet simultaneously flattens some of the bubbling hyperbole.

It appears they’ve decided to mimic the vague Abbey Road allusions Yo La Tengo made in Beat Your Ass by giving the White Album a sideways 'you-da-man' here in So Divided.

Body of Song truly falters in its inability to successfully blend two sensibilities.

If you continually dig out your Go-Gos and 80s-era Blondie records to bask in the lip gloss-smacking sound, Dying To Say This To You is the modern recoat for you.

Like all free jazz albums, The Exchange Session, Vol. 1 should be approached with caution. It’s a great night-driving companion and opens up to the patient listener willing to give it more than one chance.

It would almost be pretty or epic if Tankian hadn't done this sort of thing ten times over already: nonsensical title, half-time verses balladeered in a faux-operatic style before rushing into the "unpredictable" chorus, which is uncomfortably wordier than ever I might add.

For what it is, namely a strong, if somewhat benign, collection of songs from a weather beaten soul who plays a mean guitar, Makers is a therapeutic listen with a gentle, if somewhat morose, melodic sensibility.

It's every bit as enjoyable as the last two. Which isn't to say it's a masterpiece, just that the abrupt backlash is proportionate to the fawning affection she received on Kala and Arular.

The end results in UNKLE's later years have been rather mixed, but Lavelle always miraculously pulls some new sonic trick to keep his pet project from falling completely out of favor.

If they ultimately self-destruct as they appear to be these days, their legacy is hopefully remembered for self-produced fuzz-rock and sloppy onstage antics. More importantly, hopefully they're remembered.

An interesting listen, Face Control has an eerie vibe, as though something beneath the surface is just a bit off.

I can't say with conviction that Elephant Shell will stand the test of time--it could be forgotten within a year--but such is the peril of retreading well-worn musical ground. The album should, however, stay fresh for the summer.

The next album from the Most Serene Republic will be the real deal breaker, though; they'll have to define their role within Arts & Crafts either by diverging from the Broken Social Scene sound, or by mimicking it even more.

Either you’ll go nuts for this or run screaming from it.

His best tracks are truly phenomenal, worthy of the talent he’s enlisted and speaking well of his own abilities.

For 80s nostalgia freaks, you might find that We Are Scientists have a few things in common with The Cure, and you might find that charming. But that’ll tide you over only so long before you realize this is nothing more than a major label trying to play catch-up by signing somebody who sounds like the flavor-of-the-month.

Review #1: As pandering as the lyrics may be, they could be forgiven if the songs still brought the rock, and they don’t. [score=35]; Review #2: Worlds Apart is stunning. [score=95]

In the end Continuum feels like little-more than the self-indulgent effort of a possibly-peaked pop star.

It's not the easiest listening by any means, but how fitting that on an album that pays tribute to Darwin, The Knife unveils their most significant evolution yet.

They can't be accused of not making spirited music, but Northern State are still looking for the right words to express their sensible worldview.

When the sun comes out, you'll want to put Milkwhite Sheets away for a long time. It leaves you with an inexplicable chill and a sense that Campbell overplayed her hand.

Omnibus offers a lot of quality songs from a quality songwriter.

Noah’s Ark is a distant album - one that outgrows a few fast friends made on Le Maison de Mon Reve and depends on those truly willing to listen. It is a record designed to make believers out of its fans, and is certainly not for the faint-spirited or fickle.

Some may blow off Tongues as too jammy or underdeveloped, but neither is truly the case and, in fact, it's unpolished characteristic is core to it's sound.

El Perro Del Mar will find a bigger following abroad with From The Valley To The Stars; the sound is more refined, the melodies stand out more, and Assbring's vocals are much more accomplished than on her earlier digital releases and the eponymous freshman release.

There isn’t much that Lady Sovereign did prior to Public Warning to gain the amount of respect that she attempts to command and, to some extent, she still doesn’t make it all up here. But at least this is a good start to showcase her abilities.

This really is pretty music.

This is an album worthy of unpretentious adoration.

Nightcrawler is essentially a sequence of fourteen overproduced songs that bleed into one another. Mind you these are not bad songs... But there is an overwhelming feeling that he is merely going through the motions.

Regardless of lyrical legitimacy, the sentiment is captivating, but across the album as a whole this substance is fleeting, and is what fans will be missing the most.

The album's vibrancy and idiosyncratic traits certainly warrant another listen, especially for those willing to let a fanciful mind wander.

Mentor Tormentor is an inviting listen; it is, among other things, an advanced course in baroque pop and a warm reminder of the thriving music scene in and around their renowned namesake town.

Exquisite Corpse does little to expand upon Daedelus’ aesthetic; it does, however, explore the hip-hop direction that he’s been moving towards in his collaborative work more thoroughly than any of his previous efforts.

It’s Interpol drinking with the Stratford 4 while doing their best Catherine Wheel impression.

While there's merit to the charges that songs suffer from sameness and that musicianship is a secondary facet of the band, the Girls' detractors don't consider tradition; walking in the footprints of Bikini Kill, Ramones, and other like predecessors who faced similar criticisms, their flaws serve to be their most interesting, differentiating features.

An incredible pop record whose lyrics take a backset to the music.

So if some of the songs sound a little too catchy, it’s because they’re supposed to. Kweli’s trying to draw you in for something important.

Despite the variety of acts on the disc, the songs are surprisingly uniform in structure: stripped down to Beck's vocals (which are left intact) and rebuilt with a drum machine set to either "monotonous" or "uninspired."

There is experimentation for the sake of experimentation and experimentation for sake of enjoyment. Money, unfortunately, is mostly the former.

So here we are, with the record Shimura smartly did not title Same Shit, Five Years Later…, because that would've made it slightly easier to tell he's stuck in his own brain.

They are not so much copycats as they are skilled apprentices.

Chase This Light's would-be killer singles make for enjoyable listening, but taken as a whole it feels uninspired for a band known for its ambition.

Even with a couple of clunkers, “Adventures in the Underground Journey to The Stars is without question South’s best effort to date simply because it has done more to command the listener’s attention.

Places Like This is right up there with the year's best madcap adventures into dance and rock.

Packed with emotion and feeling, in Eyes At Half Mast Talkdemonic have issued a powerful statement of beauty.

For the better part of an hour, the trio's experimental pop melodies create their own breeze that, in a very Zen-like manner, becomes one with the surroundings of the listener.

The Cost is an emotional trip worth taking, one that seems to move further inward in its focus and insight with each track.

Skipping over a few songs, such as "When Butterflies Leave" and "Whispers From A Spiritual Garden" — because who wants to hear spiritual babbling when Islam can sing so diatonically correct — the album flourishes into a masterpiece of sincerity to its core.

A Weekend in the City showcases what all the band's initial buzz was about, but twists and filters what might have been expected, leaving them open to praise for different reasons.

While indie purists might resent Bianchi's one-eighty, it shouldn't be regarded as a betrayal, but rather as escapist fun.

The end result is a rewarding record fraught with introspection and melancholy but also one that perhaps signifies that Moby's shaken off his early 90's sentimentality...for now.

Sex Change makes for an interesting listen and most certainly marks a milestone in the band's discography.

The songs were full of meaning and memories.

I can count three sure hits on this club-crossover coup if radio plays it right.

Too familiar, too gloomy and too bland.

The music is jovial and upbeat, yet utterly simplistic.

Fail[s] to constantly engage the listener.

There is a feeling of being sucked into a mid-90s vortex here.

An album to which listening compares to watching The Break-up or The Last Kiss.

For the most part Dave Gahan has a lot of catching up to do after his lackluster solo debut, and Hourglass, while an improvement, will likely suffer from the continued fallout of "Paper Monsters."

Kill Them With Kindness works on some levels, but overall it lacks the gravitas of other contemporary pop specialists like... Stars.

There is sort of a standard formula from song to song within this album.... They need to vary it up just a touch.

An album that doesn't immediately astound, but gradually unfurls in dense atmospheric strands.

Funplex, the band's first album since 1992, is loads of fun and totally free of 'plex.

The Bronx III is muscular and solid and is, more often than not, good clean fun.

Things get really sketchy, in the sense that most of the tunes are just that, sketches, with an arrangement or melodic idea worth pursuing that doesn't reach high enough.

The Believer is a strong and enormous album about sex.

Hill’s disc captures everything that’s easy to hate about Hella.... Seim’s album, on the other hand, is easily the most fully-realized work to bear the Hella name.

In my experience, there have been few albums such as In A Space Outta Sound that I have heard within the realm of electronica, where a musical palette was spread so broadly while still managing to sound like part of the same project.

At once introspective and indisputably catchy, their complex dynamic and easy likeability should certainly satiate the radio gods.

If there is a problem with Some Loud Thunder it is the album’s lack of consistency.

Do the Bambi proves that art rock can be both obvious and alien at the same time.

14 songs focused intently on melody and chord progressions, not licks or repetitive riffs or tricky drumbeats.

There is nothing here that pushes past what we expect from New Order in their current incarnation, but it is facile, shiny, bright and well-behaved around strangers.

Where Cale flaps up is in not allowing himself enough space for nuance atop his overdriven guitars, forcing the deployment of gaudy keyboard settings to match the guitars’ "intensity" and even fumbling into a bona fide mall-punk chorus in "Perfect."

This is the kind of headphone or background music that won’t have you looking to change discs, but won’t distract you from whatever else you’re doing, either.

Blake Sennett’s second album with The Elected is more magical and limitless than his first and reminds us why we love his projects in the first place.

Familiarity can be a good thing, but The Stands get plain fresh, crossing the line between feeling safe and feeling violated.

The pair accomplished what they set out to do, but by no means are they causing any whiplash with the results.

Instead of infectious innovation, on Ripe the audience is served a mostly useless platter of fluff pieces, wittiness minus the wit, and hooks that flail aimlessly through the air around them.

The album is at many times more open and engaging than some of those earlier gems and has a lighthearted nature that retains the balance of sating old fans and sparking new ones.

Happiness Ltd. is a big mess.

Some of the tracks may be fun, but The Best Little Secrets Are Kept is little more than mindlessness parading as innovation.

Like The Replacements in the early days, The Beautiful New Born Children are a glorious mess, gleefully bashing out songs in 4/4 time without much regard for melody or variety.

A dark carnival for pale shoegazers who burn up when the sun hits their papery skin, Surgery is acid rock cloaked in leather jackets and chains.

A handful of these recordings show promise, and should prove enjoyable for diehards and newcomers alike.... These standouts sadly don’t compensate for the rest of the album’s general blandness.

It’s too bad more songs don’t skip the sophomoric lyrics. Tinker around with your equalizer - you may be able to drown out the vocals and save the otherwise interesting CD.

Help Wanted Nights may leave longtime fans of Kasher's tension-and-release cold at first, but after repeated listens it probably hangs together better than any other Good Life release.

Cash grab? Perhaps. Phoning it in? Maybe. Or maybe it’s their attempt to open up to a new crowd - but whatever it is it’s better left as an experiment.