Fall Forever’s bare-bones approach is perfectly pretty, but never vital; perhaps, sometimes, more is more.

While Strange Little Birds might not be Garbage’s most immediate release, lyrically it’s certainly their bravest and 20 years into their career, it feels like they’ve entered a new era.

Disposable lyrics and an overly polished sound doesn’t necessarily mean that this is a bad album, though--it’s not, although it is likely to get lost in the midst of this year’s more thought-provoking and risk-taking albums.

If you're expecting a record which really takes off, Patience probably isn't it, but its downtempo, late night charms aren't hard to find (especially if you chuck it on headphones).

With so much powerful percussion on display, it takes a few listens before you finally settle down and appreciate the more intimate and painstakingly-beautiful arrangements that fall in between Stranger to Stranger’s colossal thunderclaps.

Making an instrumental concept record is no easy feat, but Tourist’s U manages to take you through his emotional journey in a nuanced way that showcases his song crafting talent.

Wild Things does get it right in parts, especially when the approach is that of slightly anxious pop.

Turning it up to eleven, PUP’s second album is a tongue-in-cheek rampage through everything that matters. The dream might not be what they thought it would be, but when they’re capable of a record as unrelenting as this one, then it’s certainly not over.

A wonderful, accomplished return.

By the culmination of these nine songs, it’s hard to not be left with the impression that Bloom Forever is an album that Thomas Cohen really needed to make, and make public.

Mourn is clearly a band developing at a rapid pace while continuing to play with an ability, set of musical touchpoints and a belly full of fire that belies their youth.

With just one track over four minutes and only ten cuts overall, Light Upon the Lake is the kind of record you could easily find yourself blazing through three or four times in a row without even realizing.

Making experimental music is certainly a noble calling. Sneaking the adventurous spirit of improvisation into a relatively conventional song-based record such as Eyes On The Lines, however: that's truly radical.

Lanza's second album is brief, bright and sophisticated, and while it doesn't push any boundaries or cross borders/genres as much or as often as a fan might hope, it does deliver on the sonic and melodic promise of her debut and offer that chance of a wider audience that has been promised since her first appearance.

Whatever the nuances of the arrangement, it is one that both sides would be wise to return to.

Love You To Death is a really, really good pop record.

Although his impressions of Sinatra give an insight into the music of his formative years and remind of the beauty and genius of that era, they are unlikely to appeal very far beyond hardcore Dylan fans.

Beth Orton has fluidly transformed her trip-hop+singer/songwriter roots into a fresh, original sound, which will surely resonate with both her longtime fans and new listeners alike, while providing a rich foundation for Orton to build upon during her third creative decade of casting intoxicating musical spells over us all.

Ash & Ice ultimately represents the contemporary tension of two talented artists finding their way back from the brink by leaning on each other as well as their music.

House in the Tall Grass is a sonically pure endeavor, but its beauty does not withstand scrutiny. Though it aspires to soundtrack, music by which to have interesting experiences, it amounts to mere mood music; ambience and suggestions of potential, but little else.

While so much EDM sounds the same right now, his tracks are thankfully hard to pigeonhole--as they weave industrial, deep house, dubstep, minimal and hip hop influences into a cohesive whole that’s both danceable and perfect for sofa listening too.

That’s just what this album’s got. A heart. Mathmatical, mechanical parts that once evoked landscapes, snowscapes, a view frozen in time now evoke emotions and memories. Fleshy stuff, any mistakes made with a smile. It’s that searched for human touch, something no mere tin man could create.

This is ain't your average country record.

Executed with conviction and instilled with its spirited concept, Good Luck and Do Your Best is an excitingly off-beat take on a feel-good album. This is Gold Panda’s most accomplished and adventurous work yet.

Summer of ’13 is an album that takes itself with a pinch of salt, experimenting with good humor and having a lot of fun in the process.

Richard Ashcroft’s fifth solo effort ultimately feels like an unruly mess--there are lots of ideas here, but none that feel truly developed.

With this effort Shauf successfully portrays the complicated smogarsbord that is youth by capturing in its crudest form at a party, with its hedonism and heartbreak, and in doing so propels himself miles ahead of his singer-songwriter peers who have tried to do the same.

Heidecker has been releasing music for the past eight years in various forms, but it’s a blast to see him strike out on his own and create an album that is sharp, insightful, and often hysterical.