Although much of the album sounds amateurish, and sometimes painfully so, the Unicorns regularly remind us that it's all shtick.

If Tall Dark and Handcuffed was Cex's Slim Shady LP then Being Ridden is most-assuredly his Marshall Mathers LP -- the point at which the protagonistic and absurd becomes personal and nihilistic.

A fairly average jaunt into familiar indie rock territory.

There are times on this record, though, when the quaver fades for a few notes and [Oberst's] voice drops out of hysterical high range, and it's actually pleasant to listen to -- but that never lasts, and that's a shame.

The Ponys have achieved a certain level of competence, and if you're willing to accept that in place of originality or innovation, Celebration Castle is worth checking out.

While there's undoubtedly a wealth of ideas to be found here, listenability is the real wildcard.

It's comforting, for sure, and you could very well fall asleep listening, or use it as background music, but you'd be missing a lot.

Without a doubt the best Elvis Costello record that Costello never recorded.... wistfully irresistible pop confections filled with effervescent melodies and clever lyrical wordplay.

The beauty in all this melancholy is that, interspersed among the reverberating guitars and mournful keyboards, you'll find an assortment of cheerful instruments, such as the accordion, that help to create an underlying tone of optimism.

It pulls from a grab bag of influences, from Bob Dylan to Broadway, The Who to honky-tonk, and tosses them around with apparent abandon. In spite of this (or maybe because of it), The FFs spin all of this into a sound that's consistent, yet almost magically unique.

On Virginia Creeper, he shows a sharpened sense of Midwestern melancholy that is really quite appealing, despite the sometimes hackneyed musical arrangements.

Like Madlib or MF DOOM, Four Tet is at the crest of the electronica/hip-hop wave, forcing the genre's evolution into new realms and making everyone else look like amateurs in the process.

One of the few discs I've encountered that not only attempts to be something more than a simple album, but succeeds.

Darnielle's willingness to throw himself so completely into collaboration is what makes this effort such a triumph.

A unique indie-prog masterpiece that owes as much to Hendrix as it does to Sonic Youth.

At their best, Some Girls can sound like the Stones fronted by Margo Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies -- a contradictory mix of rough passionate instrumentals and vocals that are airy and unconcerned.

It's good stuff, to be sure -- but if Hot Shots II excites you at all, it's probably time to lay off the pot.

All of the tunes are energetic, but their similarity will definitely become apparent by the time you reach the album's end.

Producer Jim Diamond has distilled the manic energy of one of the world's greatest live bands in Electric Sweat, and if the result is not letter-perfect, it is raw and true and powerful.

The more time you spend with Summer Sun, the more fun it turns out to be.

A vibrant, engrossing album by a seasoned band whose best years are still ahead of them.

Slug hasn't grown a whole lot.... Still, his lyricism and delivery are generally smart and entertaining, and Ant's production goes even further toward making You Can't Imagine... a thoroughly enjoyable record.

While they don't quite have the cross-gender appeal of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, the pouty disagreeability of the Strokes or the urbane refinement of the Walkmen, they heedlessly summon the spirits of post-punk monoliths like PiL, A Certain Ratio and the Pop Group without forsaking their gritty New Yawk-ian roots.

Far more mysterious and (perhaps not coincidentally) alluring than most Buckner outings, Dents and Shells is a claustrophobic comedown album wrapped in disillusion and sorrow.

This time around, the man actually sounds excited to be making music.

Coxon's effortless cool comes to the fore, imbuing each song with a wiry, infectious energy.

Punk Rock bears little resemblance to the commodified dross that passes for punk in 2004; it's proud, smart, defiantly working-class stuff that'll remind you why the movement mattered.

Margerine Eclipse isn't a revelation, but it offers a number of minor departures from the established Stereolab standard -- and given the weighty expectations that surround each new 'Lab album, that's probably the best we can hope for.

While The Secret of Elena's Tomb is over in less than 20 minutes, it's more impressive than what most bands do in an hour.

Like the Austin Powers films, there's a sense that authenticity has been betrayed in some vague and troubling way.

The impromptu feel is often charming and sometimes campy, but always sincere.

If you like smart, complicated rock and roll that nevertheless puts on a show, they are as good as it gets.

The melodies are hauntingly memorable; the band is smart enough to add just enough supporting touches to augment and support, without ever threatening to overwhelm.

I doubt the public at large is ready for a full-scale introduction to an artist who can mesh big bands and big beats, but those of us who are ready for such a union should be glad we have it all to ourselves, for now.

Though it's fair to question their sense of tradition, they succeed where other blues-aping artists, like Gomez and Arnold, have failed, because they're not wholly indebted to the customs of the blues. They've merely co-opted its grisly spirit and transformed it into something unique.

This is a record in which Warren has fused elements of dance, rock, trance and folk to create exquisite pieces of crystalline future-leaning pop.

Ultimately, the album's even-handed mix of [vocalists Helen] Marnie and [Mira] Aroyo makes Light & Magic a tasty cocktail of fiery sensuality and icy perfection.

The band's most realized effort to date -- a brilliant amalgam of dense future-primitive soundscapes and heartbreaking twilight flourish, bolstered by curveball arrangements and a sense of unified purpose.

If the Throwing Muses are not still at the top of their game, they are very, very close.

After a couple of trips through Trust, you might feel like I did -- uncertain whether you'd just had the best sex of your life, witnessed an astonishingly moving church service, or attended the funeral of a life-long friend.

Young Prayer is a visceral religious experience, its lyrics forsaken in favor of mantras that are more chanted than sung.

These songs are reminders of a time when death wasn't a distant bogeyman but a mundane reality of everyday life. Alasdair Roberts's versions are somewhat modernized, but utterly immediate.

Does nothing if not cement her place as one of the most unique, intelligent and subtly disarming artists in music today.

It's achingly beautiful without relying on maudlin sentimentality to win the listener over. Genius.

A modern-rock radio record for folks with a few more brain cells to rub together than the Andrew WK set.

Magic is liberally scattered throughout the album.

The songs are simpler, livelier, a little more direct and a lot more hummable.

As much as it hurts to admit it, not everybody will get so much out of Smog's latest understated masterpiece.

United States of Atlanta is guilty of just about every modern hip-hop cliché in the book... but its glimmering, capped-toothed, post-millennial party platform is a rousing success in spite of itself.

Before the Poison is a wonderful disc, the sound of a well-established artist continuing to grow and explore.

Perhaps there's nothing here as immediately catchy as "Tally Ho!" or "Getting Older", but the latter-day Clean are still amazingly good.

Add N to (X) have retained their sense of direction and honed their sound into a powerful and persuasive entity.

Let Us Never Speak of It Again is the sticky, panting, sexually deviant album Louden Up Now should have been.

Despite the diverse array of styles on display throughout Lost Planets..., this is Sprout's most cohesive set of songs to date.

After you've listened to Rock Action for the first time, you may be hard pressed to believe that Mogwai merely wrote these songs; you'll feel as if they created these symphonies out of thin air, pulling gorgeous sounds from within the deepest recesses of the human soul. Eventually you'll come back down to earth and realize that Rock Action is by no means divine...but it is very, very good.

For the most part, words and music are woven together in interesting and convincing ways.

It's rather spotty (both in production and songwriting) and unfocused.

Sure, Hersh could be your mom, but only if your mom routinely blows out big stacks of Marshall amps.

Seldom has "laptop" music been more magical or more joyful.

As spiritual as Talib Kweli, as musically complex as Mos Def, as joyfully syncopated as the Roots, Power in Numbers sets the standard for intelligent hip hop.

People who listened to Sahara Hotnights' albums in their proper sequence will appreciate their improvement, but those who heard Jennie Bomb first may well end up preferring it.

McNeely and Matz have found their calling and left a lasting impression with this fierce yet fragile album.

Stereo/Mono is less polished than Westerberg's other solo efforts, but the song quality is consistent.

There's emotion, extraordinary technique, and a surprising, oh-so-welcome passion in the singing.

You say you don't give a shit about lyrics? That's good; most of Echoes' lyrics aren't worth giving a shit about.

It is a more intimate and more cohesive work than anything else he has done, but it is decidedly difficult, tossing aside more ingratiating effects in favor of a haunting, ethereal mood and a single, thematic narrative.

Don't look to Open Season to get your heart pounding or your blood flowing; it trades in less cathartic experiences.

No more fancy studios, no more high priced producers; this is truly GBV as nature intended -- reckless, hook-laden and drunk as hell.

Today Is the Day! is much better than most between-albums rehashes.

It is refreshing to encounter an album that does a number of different things well rather than sticking to a tried and true formula.

They so precisely meet your expectations that no matter how good the music might be, you can't help but be disappointed by the sheer dearth of surprises.

Winds Take No Shape's compositions are not as varied as their debut, but it's a more atmospheric, cohesive and significant work because of it.

Flashes of the energy and precision JOA exhibit in the live forum are, arguably for the first time, perfectly realized here.

White Hot Peach displays a precise and inventive nature that has a lot in common with Guided By Voices' Do the Collapse.

It's everything we've come to expect from Forrest in one gloriously hack 'n' sawed package, meticulously pieced together from his wide-ranging record collection.

The music is comfortable, lacking the self-conscious over-rehearsed feeling of other new bands.

Control stands apart from previous Pedro the Lion releases because its harder material is among its most satisfying.

Bavarian Fruit Bread comes with the same warning as most of the winter season's baked goods -- it's rich, warm and full of flavor, but overindulgence will result in unplanned napping.

This is the smartest fun music (and the most fun smart music) I've heard this year.

With Frances the Mute, the Mars Volta have unfurled a big and bold artistic statement... Unfortunately, that bold artistic statement is rife with pomposity and glimpses of prog-rock at its most horrifically self-indulgent.

Six of the seven songs are understated, melodic mid-tempo pieces.... The song that breaks the mold is also the album's best moment[:]"Astronaut."

A thump-and-groove driven Cadillac ride down the shadowy streets of Motown.

Dignity and Shame is sparse and vulnerable, showcasing nothing but Bachmann's bittersweet musings and his deep growl of a voice. It is by no means a unique album, but it's an effective one.

This is sensual, prophetic, dense and romantic, sumptuous and altogether eerie.

Despite some great moments... L'Avventura never quite comes into its own -- there just aren't enough perfect Phillips/Wareham moments here to cash in on Romantica's promise.

Sorry I Make You Lush runs on fresh sounds and non-drowsy wit.

It's true that a lot of Musique Automatique can get old really fast.

Even if their big 'n' bashy brand of party-happy tech-hop gets a bit familiar by album's end, it's destined to be a staple of 2003's party mixes.

The giddy shift towards pop and even traditional dance music structure that Mouse on Mars take here is so irresistibly fun and persuasive that the very thought of loyalists furrowing their brows and crossing their arms is comical.

Though Maximo Park has enough electricity to light Manhattan, there's a faint but inescapable whiff of calculation about them.

[A] decisive step in a darker, weirder direction.

Harper performs his knock-offs so earnestly you'd think he were resuscitating some forgotten art, rather than aping tunes that are played 24/7 on oldies radio.

An intelligent brew of bare-bones Casio drumbeats, static-driven guitar lines and widescreen arrangements.

As Higden struggles to make his way to the forefront, his bandmates appear greedy, desperately reaching for moments of startling stateliness -- much to the detriment of the songs themselves, which are lost in an atmospheric morass with delusions of (Radiohead) grandeur written all over it.

Soft pop isn't everyone's favorite genre, and there are those who will find Soft Commands too sweet for comfort Still, even at its most pop-friendly moments, there's enough muscle and intelligence here to keep the album from cloying.

The Ladybug Transistor's relative lack of instrumental bravado suggests renewed confidence; the group doesn't make an obvious attempt to hook us with atmosphere or instrumental stunts, because the album already has enough going on to keep us listening.

Wine drinkers' music, you might say -- likeable, pleasant, but lacking in consuming, driving passion.

Mitchell is a skilled producer, weaving a tangle of complex melodies and countermelodies, rhythms and accents, into a vibrant tapestry; there's a lot more going on in these songs than you can pick up in one pass.