If there's one thing that defines Midnight Boom, it's the new sense of fun that The Kills seem to have discovered.

This is a great record but is very often hit or miss.

On the whole, The Odd Couple has a much more unified atmosphere, but in quality the album is sporadic and unpredictable.

She & Him's debut release is more like a collection of songs rather than a cohesive, fresh album, and as such, is a letdown for a singer that showed a lot of promise.

Crystal Castles is definitely a fun listen just don’t expect something highly experimental or interesting.

Visiter is an impressive sophomore album, a wonderful growth for the Dodos, and one of the year’s subtlest surprises, even if it took thirty listens to get there.

They’ve crafted a record that feels more like imitation than originality.

Alopecia stands out as an interesting little album.

Del sways wildly between hit and miss. And Eleventh Hour, for all its boisterous and awkward handling, fails with a resounding thud.

obZen is a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging record, and is without question an early contender for metal Album of the Year.

Bouzilich however, does have some good ideas and there are some very good moments to be found on Hello, Voyager, it's just the convoluted mess of ideas that is the rest of the album overwhelms its strongest points.

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.

This represents a new territory for both Dulli and Lanegan, and it's one that they (generally) excel in.

The changes Murder by Death have brought with Red Of Tooth and Claw are a sufficiently demanding and acceptable result.

Float is rescued from abject tedium by the deep, poetic lure of the subject matter and a couple of genuinely outstanding compositions in ‘Float’ and ‘(No More) Paddy’s Lament.’

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.

New Amerykah reveals its considerable depths and strengths, and invites the listener to invest the time needed to explore them.

The album truly is beautiful within its down tempo setting, and as a soundtrack for the morning after, there’s nothing quite like keeping the lights off and the volume low and simply letting Devotion get you through the day.

Heretic Pride is a stunning, well-rounded piece of music that only The Mountain Goats could pull off.

Lyrically, too, the album excels.

For Emma, Forever Ago is a heartbreaking and heartwarming album that ventures deeper than the its simple history could predict.

Atlas Sound meanders where it ponders, a purely ethereal trip without the oomph.

There’re a lot of fumbles here unfortunately, a couple tepid ballads, a lot of irritating goon-hop, and a couple songs that go on for far too long (though most of those fall under one of the former categories.) However, the band impress again on ‘Touch too Much’, possibly the album’s best track.

The Bedlam in Goliath is simply an immense album.

Vampire Weekend banks on showering its tribal pop with lyrics poised for literary analysis, skimping pretentious by appearing completely natural.

Though I can't say this album has as many of these killer tracks as Xiu Xiu's previous albums, Women as Lovers is a satisfying installment for fans of Xiu Xiu's singular style.

While at times angrier and more energetic than Death Cab for Cutie, many songs could be (and are) B-sides of "Plans" or "Transatlanticism."

It's a scarily mature album for a bunch of 21 year olds to have recorded, and the pairing of its ambitious lyrical concepts and motivated songwriting is something to be admired.