It's not often that a songwriter comes along that not only gives his listeners a chance to view the inner workings of his soul, but is also able to express his own situation so clearly and in a way that resounds so personally to everyone in earshot.

Instead of rhythmic exploration Braxton is working with a variety of harmonic and melodic developments and in doing so has made a refreshing and similar counterpoint to 'Mirrored'. Central Market may not be as calculated, but it is more fun and in general more easy to digest.

Ohnomite is another solid addition to a growing, consistent discography.

Overall, All Visible Objects acts as a love letter to the early ‘90s techno/trance/rave scene, albeit in a pop-instilled way. Moby pays his respects to the respective era, blending various sounds from his discography into what plays like a smoothly sequenced, nostalgia party mixtape.

All of these tracks are listenable and easy to digest- some are just notably better than others.

Be it the lush, massive hills of Ireland or her genuine gratitude to just breath fresh air, The Two Worlds seems conjured up from the musician’s most isolated, profound moments. Lucky for us, she’s been kind enough to share them--and man, what gorgeous moments these are.

Fans will debate whether Failed States tops previous records, but certainly meets the standards the band has set for themselves.

Cupid Deluxe is by no means an imperfect record, but it is still a powerful reminder of how grossly underrated Dev Hynes is as an artist in his own right.

Air is a masterpiece of production and gives the best few tracks from the entire collection. Earth is a cool-down lap after the more developmental and progressive preceding discs, showing a Thrice that is willing to trade in all that has made them great during their niche period (1999-2004) in favor of pursuing a less challenging but equally viable sound

So good are these songs that you don't realize they're all sort of the same until you've gone through, like, seven of them, and even then it's difficult to fault DIIV for sticking to one sound since they do it so well.

The band sounds fresh from their rest, aren't trying to be something they're not again, and most importantly, they sound young and sincere. Welcome back, Yellowcard.

CHAOS NOW*? Boasting highly energetic rap/hip-hop, acoustically-driven indie-rock, grunge with stadium-sized riffs, and melodic hooks that will invade your mind for days, CHAOS NOW* seemingly has it all. Despite sounding as though it could be too eclectic for its own good, Dawson seamlessly integrates all of these styles into something dynamic and insanely fun.

Adroitly oscillating between creepy and seductive, the album makes for a ravishing piece of occult-rock revival that draws from its retro influences with great artistry and aplomb.

Basically, Black Clouds & Silver Linings is an album that continues the band’s increased use of metal riffs combined with extended musical interludes but also brings in strong compositional skills that give the songs the kind of consistency they require in order to be truly memorable and engaging.

Lamentations keeps you on your toes for its expansive, one hour time span. Even after multiple listens, the layers keep unfolding. William Basinski delivered one of his finest records by choosing to fragment his creative flow and explore dark ambient territories.

The Stage Names, despite being dense, is rarely difficult and is probably the band's most accessible effort to date.

Hammer of the Witches is the post-Midian release fans have been asking for while retaining the riff-oriented sound the band have been attempting for the past 15 years--only this time they’ve actually pulled it all off.

In short, Wish on the Bone is an excellent album, whether your preference is more on the indie rock or the alt-country side.

Because this album sticks so memorably, so unwaveringly brightly, it's useless to resist it. The only thing to do is love, and so I do.

It’s the LP’s sense of cohesion, achieved despite its sonic variety, which makes Hour Of Green Evening a triumph. A measured triumph, but a triumph nonetheless.

Gorgeous melodies are ubiquitous, and seemingly every moment has been carefully crafted with immaculate attention to detail.

The pairing turns out to be ideal - Sparhawk’s voice and presence maintains the kind of somber elegance he’s always had, while Trampled By Turtles provide a rustic backdrop which not only fits the material like a glove, but adds a world-weary sense of depth.

TBD, on the other hand, wrangles with value-laden mindlessness in a manner that is both fun and endearing. TBD succeeds, in other words, on the merit of its recontextualisation of current trends into a project that is equal parts soapbox and sellable product.

At times, it can be a difficult piece of work and its dark themes may require a few spins to grow on the listener. Irrespective, Drums and Guns is a fine piece of work, Low's best since Things We Lost in the Fire.

Born Again is easily one of the best indie-rock/dream-pop debuts to come out in years. Siggelkow’s firm handle on her sound is genuinely remarkable – it seems like she’s been doing this for decades and that Born Again is the album that finally ties it all together.

They are heavier, and denser, and overwhelmingly less instant than their predecessors, as cloaked and finely adorned in all manner of bright, shiny synths as they are, at times almost crushed under the weight of an ambitiously flamboyant band. But these are still Phoenix songs, and by the end of a dozen listens they are as urgent as ever.

No matter which extreme you believe it to favor, Endgame sees Rise Against as fiery, passionate and motivated as ever, when it comes to their wide-reaching social commentary.

Themes for Dying Earth is fragile, beautiful to behold, dazzling at times, and easily one of the best surprises of the year thus far.

Set My Heart on Fire Immediately is an important album for Hadreas because it opens so many doors for the future – but if he really wants to set our hearts on fire, I’d advise him to once again unleash the bombast.

There’s little to complain about here, honestly. I think the only flaws I have with Vol.11 & 12 fall on the things it doesn’t utilise to the fullest. ... The important takeaway from this is that it is a really fun record to listen to. It’s short, it’s tightly written, and it will cater to a broad demographic of listeners.

Born to Die is a brilliant album, but it's one that leaves room for a few improvements, and inspires confidence that they'll happen.

One of 2011's premier releases in alternative rock.

It’s all very Ryan Adams-esque, and the overall quality of the songs here live up to that comparison. Caretakers is at its best when it leans right into its own clichés. The more romantic, summery, and spellbound the music is, the more successful the album becomes.

Carly Rae captures the glitz and glamour and grime and sex and directionless sadness and anxiety of her listeners so, so well, and the way it’s wrapped up in an endlessly compelling composition of synth jams, funk accessories, and modern electro-pop makes it even better.

Its a richly textured, layered, and almost earnest stab at everything this artist ever attempted to do before, all rolled up nice on one album.

The Eternal is simply just another confirmation that Sonic Youth is one of the most essential---if not the most essential---indie collectives of the past thirty years.

Overall, for a band that will soon enter its fourth decade of activity, Laibach sound impressively fresh and relevant. I am sure Also Sprach Zarathustra will raise many eyebrows, but also receive critical acclaim for its effective minimalist approach.

Eery other song on the album has great lines that are now more easily understandable to boot. Pig Destroyer may have switched from a chainsaw that cuts quickly to a hacksaw that takes a bit longer, but they’re still creating phantom limbs, and the blood and viscera are still present.

None of this is as nuanced or beautiful as Sailor’s Guide, but it’s not supposed to be. It’s a momentary pardon from the insanity of daily life. That’s as good of a reason as any to get down and dirty with Sound & Fury – Simpson’s most straightforwardly enjoyable offering to date.

There are enough interesting motifs and musical adventuring on Reflektor that the negatives seem inconsequential on the whole.

Real Emotional Trash is a simultaneously funny and interesting record, shaped with just the right kind of meticulous care to strengthen its band-jam aesthetics.

Simply put, No More Stories… is accessible without being overbearingly so, experimental without sounding too abstract and ridiculous, and most importantly, one of the year's most endearing records.

Stars are quickly carving out their own niche among their peers. And in doing so, they're writing some of the most fluid and organic music of their lives.

Animal Collective is a completely different beast on Strawberry Jam, and it’s beautiful at times, it really is.

It illuminates very real, very constricting emotions that you know you’ll have to either deal with in true form, or kindle within someone you love upon your own passing.

Even though it might not rank as essential Brian Jonestown Massacre, Revelation is a lovely experience.

The material is of a consistently high standard, nary a clunker in the bunch, but while many will be surprised by Send Away The Tigers, few will be bowled over.

All that needs to be said is that C I V I L W A R was well worth the wait.

It's not just the sound, but the structure of the songwriting which can lack variation. Nevertheless, Big Echo, especially its first half, proves my initial thought when first running the record through. The Morning Benders definitely are a band worth getting excited about.

This is an album for coffee and rainy Sunday mornings. For driving your kids to the park on an unseasonably warm February afternoon. For unwinding at the end of the night with a glass of red wine. The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve found beauty within rare moments of calm. Hen’s Teeth is an album that matches that mood, and perhaps you can chalk it up to a personal aligning of the stars, but right now it’s everything I need.

Andorra strikes out further, reaching deeper into Snaith’s box of musical curiosities which are, at once, tasteful and fruitfully tawdry. Phantasmagoric and stunningly organic, another crowd pleaser for fans of Daniel Snaith’s aural hallucinogens.

"Marks of the Evil One" and "Umbra" (I hope you like cowbells) could have easily been singles, they’re that good, and they solidify Skeletá as a worthy new chapter in the history of the only mainstream band that is able to sing about Satan in stadiums while having the ultra catholic zealots silent as a grave.

Youth Lagoon's debut consistently delivers on the suggestion of its appellation: youth.

URGH is creative, scary and club-worthy all at the same time. If you're a fan of industrial music, techno, hip-hop and/or post-punk, there will be something for you to enjoy about this album.

This is a laid-back kind of record, inclined towards porch sitting or walks in the wods. There’s still plenty of exceptional musicianship on display, though, with the guitar work remaining immensely appealing. In addition, despite the mellowness of the material and the seemingly-throwaway album title, Yay! can be surprisingly emotionally potent upon occasion.

The Golden Casket reveals itself to not only be the group’s most colorful release in quite some time, but also one of their most consistent.

The more muscular sound apparent second time around assists the much-discussed lasting value of the sextet, making this album as much of a grower as it is immediate.

With Shake, Shook, Shaken, we get an album that has never sounded truer to The Dø’s strengths as a band.

Some listeners may find the album samey or too similar but one aspect of Mirrored that can't be disputed is that it is a unique album with little to no similar peers.

There are plenty of immediately-engrossing moments, like the dramatic vocal narration of “The Stars Will Leave Their Stage” or the rousing solo in “A Thousand Lives”, but mostly what I return for is the sense of development within songs and from one track to another. This is an album which manages to cover a lot of territory in under fifty minutes, even if the brief intro and outro tracks don’t feel fully fleshed out (my largest criticism).

When Underoath hits it they hit it well, and Lost in the Sound of Separation is still a very good record despite its faults.

In all, Clash the Truth is a major step forward for Beach Fossils, and it’s certainly an album that I’m not going to forget about so easily, if ever at all.

If this is what we're going to be getting from Boeckner and company, perhaps Wolf Parade can stand to take a break for as many years as it needs to.

The resultant journey is a jittery, joyous, glorious, gleaming mess: substantially less coherent than their previous outings, but no less endearing.

Overall, 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons shows A Silver Mount Zion at their hardest rocking, their most powerful, and their most irritating.

It's as colorful as it sounds, and it makes for an album where one can never quite know what to expect next.

Most of these songs are melancholy and soft, waiting for a darkened sky to play to.

Matilda expands on the palette considerably, shooting off on several tangents without muddying the overall aesthetic at all. It's harder to get into than Stateless, but once this sinks in properly, it's even better.

Traditional Synthesizer Music’s rudimentary way of coming to be has an added bonus in that it’s softer on the ears than pretty much any of its predecessors, making the points at which Funk wakes from his slumber all the more palatable.

In the end, what we have is a record that pushes towards an extremely promising new direction while still managing to maintain the band's adored personality.

SMD's latest is an exploration not just in sound, but in concept; it feels like a defining statement, not just for them but for dance music in general.

By making precise tweaks and adjustments to their sound by approaching Koloss with a new attitude, all the while holding fast to their core strengths, Meshuggah have given us the first truly engaging metal album of 2012.

At some point or another, we all feel as though the electricity of our existence is being trapped in a confined space, waiting to break loose. The Things We Do To Find People Who Feel Like Us pops the lid, vigorously releasing that energy into the atmosphere. It’s liberating.

As a whole, Sharon Van Etten really hits the nail on the head with her third try.

She sounds like she truly cares and poured her heart into her songs (and most of them are indeed co-written by her), with the overall result feeling satisfyingly emotional and incredibly fulfilling... something that couldn't be said as strongly about an album like She Wolf.

War Paint may not be an album of 2011 contender, yet it challenges to be the most lyrically impressive.

On Connector, the accomplished quartet have recorded an immersive album that is not only satisfying in the moment, but also reveals further layers and textures upon subsequent listening.

Savoir Adore are best suited for exploring the recesses of indie-pop, noting what’s worked most successfully in the genre’s past and utilizing it to shade their brand of music as they please.

Overall, Flight of the Conchords created a well-rounded, original, and entertaining album filled with classic songs from their hit show.

Once again, Kate's found a new sound world to operate in and made an effortlessly great album that works both as a conceptually cohesive whole and as a set of standlone songs as warm and comforting as a roaring fire.

It's a staggering return from his alleged creative crisis, a terrific addition to his discography, and a wonderful addition to an already fantastic 2010.

From the first minute till the last, this is enthralling, invigorating stuff, and because of that it's comfortably the duo's best album yet.

Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends takes a band who should have been in decline and a sound that’s been tried and true and makes it all sound fantastically fresh.

This is a dazzlingly euphoric and utterly stubborn album.

While Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place isn't the album that will make long time fans of Anberlin still holding out for some sort of magnum opus from the band weak in the knees, it is the third straight near perfect album released by them.

Ghosts, at surface level, appears to be cut from the same futuristic mold with its uninviting and foreboding artwork and premise, but closer inspection finds album no. 8 to be the artist's most approachable album to date.

There is not one note out of place; the music remaining tight, aggressive and addictive throughout.

The strength of the opening trio of tracks on Expert In A Dying Field is a potent reminder of their best attributes.

From the ashes of Volta, an album that occasionally felt like a career-killer, has come an album of startling beauty, furious invention, and inviting, warm atmosphere.

The album almost has a mix-tape esque feel to it and the staggering amount of guests has much to do with this.

When contrasted with the tide of other like-minded electronic albums released recently, Simian Mobile Disco’s effort feels fresh and vibrant and with an execution that consistently delivers on simple but fascinating ideas.

White Fields and Open Devices is simply one of those albums that is well-composed and well-executed.

Slightly more reserved (nothing on the record quite reaches the energy of "When I Write My Master's Thesis"), it is nevertheless capable of things a Weakerthans record might not always be.

While it certainly has a few weaker tracks, the core of the record is truly breathtaking to behold. It’s a moment of self-discovery and commitment to growth that eschews the lavish tendencies of Star-Crossed for something more personal, honest, and vulnerable.

Easy Tiger is at least Adams' best release since Love is Hell and it may even be the long awaited successor to Heartbreaker.

It is both gorgeous and fearsome, and one couldn't ask for anything more.

Hercules and Love Affair is a killer work from Butler, an album not meant to break down any barriers or start a revolution.

Chaos for the Fly might be morose, but it’s also very touching, and full of delicate little moments which make the record more than just the sum of its parts. Frankly, my biggest gripe is that its thirty-six minute runtime is a little too trim, and an epic five-plus minute storytelling track would’ve definitely enhanced the experience.