It’s softer, but it’s nice to see a band unafraid of mellowing.

Devoid of filler and pop vocalist appearances, Red Gone Wild's a solid surprise for fans who thought the Funk Doc's career had gone up in smoke.

Battles have a fascinating, distinct sound of their own; they don't need Gary Numan crooning overtop.

This time his band has gelled into an effective stadium-rocking outfit, and his dark humour actually seems connected to some real emotion rather than a strategy designed to create some ironic distance.

Preoccupations don't fully hit their stride until album closer Fever, which sounds a bit like Heroes-era Bowie without coming across as derivative.

Like her prior work, the songs are thematically dark and diffuse, but the dancey impulses on Vessel and Seekir signal headier paths ahead.

West delivers another failsafe collection of sharp, soulful songs, exposing his new affinity for synths and electronic drums while adding new lyrical ground to that campus-sized ego.

While it took a little while for the magic to finally get laid down to tape, the results are worth the wait.

It’s characterized by both futile resignation and hopeful nostalgia. That’s a generous way to write, and Phoenix stands as a complex, giving record backed by some of Pedro the Lion’s finest musical compositions.

Being authentically emotional also serves to reframe their earlier material, revealing that there've always been some truly moving sentiments hidden under the sonic reference points and clever wordplay.

Created during Iceland’s dark, cold winter, Nepenthe’s intimate vibe immediately warms and envelops. In short: mesmerizing.

They put their cloudy heads together and came up with the power-chord-slashing and hobbitty keyboard werping goods but wisely didn’t lose all the dirty distortion and strummy acoustic bits.

Sometimes a sequel can out do the original. That's the case with Curren$y's follow-up to Pilot Talk, thanks largely to stepped-up production by Ski Beatz, whose beats sound like a minute hasn't passed since he worked on Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt.

Wacky pseudoscience aside, the results here are relatively accessible, at least by Matmos standards.

This time around, though, female backing vocals add interest and drama to what is essentially a rich batch of breakup songs that somehow leave you feeling good.

Assists aside, Land of Talk continue to showcase Powell’s singular musical vision, sounding a hopeful, tuneful note in her long-awaited return.

Girls continue to bypass fads by making timeless music about the universal themes of love, heartache and drugs.

It’s full of the proggy rhythmic U-turns, complex structures and virtuoso playing for which the band’s known.

It's cliched to remark on a duo's ability to sound like a full band, but the Dodos' virtuosic acoustic guitar playing and busy arrangements undeniably defy their numbers.

These songs, short and sparsely arranged, are more fragile. Crutchfield’s hardly beautiful, unadorned singing helps this idea along, and the ways she uses her voice introduce a complicating factor: confidence.

No, the sound isn’t all that different from what Petty does with the Heartbreakers, but the Mudcrutch album has the looser feel you get from old buddies jamming for kicks.

Fuzz do one thing--creepy, heavy fuzz rock--but do it really well.

There's not much that's accessible about The Most Lamentable Tragedy, but that's a good thing.

A vigorous 11-song collection that keeps the lyrics and melodies straightforward, allowing the complexity and uniqueness of his guitar-playing to burst through.

It’s a challenging album, one you might not put on often.

Kings of Leon often seem torn between their stadium rawk impulses and their hip underground aspirations.

Daniel Lopatin's newest Oneohtrix Point Never album is one of the more unique, powerful recordings to come out this year. It's uncomfortable but distinctly compelling.

Unfortunately, the rest is incidental disco-lite dross, with a couple of bland bumpers and a little East-meets-West fusion thrown in for good measure. The three M.I.A. tracks would’ve made a solid EP.