He’s a self-proclaimed lover of Cyndi Lauper and a proud balladeer with a knack for writing glimmering melodies.

While angular, skittering tracks like Stutter and album opener Haircuts/Uniforms add post-punk energy and experimental variety to the album, they also kill the mood.

Riveting, memorable, substantial stuff that’ll make you sit up and listen, and possibly wear you out by the 11th song.

Ono brings out the unexpected in everyone, and even the most conventional indie pop acts sound edgy with her idiosyncratic vocals on top.... The album would have benefited greatly from more careful curation, though.

Compared to his earlier work, it's just decent.

Though the album can get somewhat repetitive, Adem's polished production and intimate songwriting minimize any flaws.

Generally solid with more hits than misses, but my usual advice to DiFranco still applies: don't record everything you write – wait a few months and give us the best ones.

The band sounds like it’s trying to rejuvenate itself, thus injecting the release with a certain energy and vitality that "R.E.M. Live" lacked.

At times, this sense of vulnerability in the music can grow stagnant and forgettable, but it’s usually pleasurable in the moment.

Not a single note feels unplanned, yet every lick also comes across as completely natural.

Half Moon Run's embracing of bands they love (Radiohead, large swaths of Montreal's breakout mid-00s scene) make much of Sun Leads Me On sound familiar. But it's not so bad to be visited by old friends.

Some songs work. He makes great use of Ethiopian-sounding jazz samples and M.I.A.-style children’s chants on ABCs, and excels while rapping over some of the album’s otherworldly beats.

Pink's weirdness is a major part of his appeal. It just requires a lot of patience.

While a layer of fuzz covered most of that debut, here the production is sharper and highlights Dee Dee's voice and twangy guitar lines, and her vocals are more confident and evocative.

What's missing is the emotional heat.

Although the album's frenetic energy doesn't quite match that of their breakthrough (whether they like it or not, 2008's Visiter will always be their benchmark), it's a solid new direction.

Once you wrap your head around The Knife's strange little world, it's actually a pretty interesting place.

They occasionally slip into derivative territory, Beggars Banquet-era Stones in particular, but strong solo material saves Lifeline near the end.

Dreams In The Rat House isn’t as diverse or ambitious as its predecessor, Sleep Talk, but it shows an increasing ability to balance winsome harmonies, raucous drumming and jangly guitar riffs while maintaining the unvarnished punk quality that makes them irresistible.

Long-time fans will appreciate that Napalm haven't toned down their extreme approach to metal.

Some will long for Oldham’s minimalist era, but Beware is still an engaging record from one of the indie world’s best songwriters.

The intricate vocal arrangements and alluring harmonica parts of opener 'Shampoo' grab the listener with bright potential, while 'Hey' is a lovely upbeat duet with Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark.

It's experimental and improvisational but familiar. When she puts her psychedelic soul spin on the trappy drums of today (what she calls trap&B), it's the sound of an artist embracing change and all the new possibilities and complications that go with it.

It’s their most accessible release in ages. The Melvins hit the riff-heavy heights of their foundational 90s records while freewheeling into plenty of experimentation (like chimes and accordions on The Bunk Up) and straight-up curiosities.

This album is a stylized, slightly-paranoid romp sure to pluck the heartstrings of anyone who has ever lived life with reckless abandon.

Arriving ahead of a full-length, this five-song EP confirms our suspicion of the duo's pop genius.

They have yet to capture the spontaneity of their live performances on record (leave that to recent doc The Ballad Of Shovels And Rope), but their sophomore effort certainly gets closer, even as it shows off the duo’s newfound musical breadth.

The music often verges on innocuous, but it serves its purpose as a backdrop for Darnielle’s steadily churning imagination.