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Diamond Rings | Free Dimensional

Astralwerks (2012)
"Love is a drug, and it's the only one I'm dealing," raps gender-bending synth-pop siren John O'Regan deep into his sophomore album.

By: RYAN REED | October 18, 2012

Titus Andronicus | Local Business

XL Records (2012)
That intersection of punk and prog isn't new, but the prog/punk back-to-basics album is. Enter Titus Andronicus.

By: DAN WEISS | October 18, 2012

Benjamin Gibbard | Former Lives

Barsuk Records (2012)
"It's been a basement of a year," Ben Gibbard sings over a perky two-chord strum on the saccharine "Oh, Woe." It's hard not to take him literally.

By: RYAN REED | October 09, 2012

Black Moth Super Rainbow | Cobra Juicy

Rad Cult Records (2012)
Technology makes secrecy well-nigh impossible, so Black Moth Super Rainbow settle for employing it as a narrative device.

By: RYAN FOLEY | October 09, 2012

Sun Airway | Soft Fall

Dead Oceans Records (2012)
One of the more remarkable evolutions in the contemporary musical underground may be Jon Barthmus's decade-long peregrination from hardcore punk to the ambitious electro-pop of Sun Airway.

By: JAY BREITLING | October 09, 2012

Flying Lotus | Until The Quiet Comes

Warp Records (2012)
On Until the Quiet Comes , his reliably solid fourth studio album, Flying Lotus's Steven Ellison continues to bang out mind-bending electro-donut jams for folks who don't quite "get" electronic music.

By: RYAN REED | October 03, 2012

Old 97's | Too Far To Care [15th Anniversary Edition]

Omnivore Records (2012)
What if the Beatles didn't have an audience? That's a crude way of putting the seminal talent of Old 97's vs. the size of their cult, a small swatch of rock fans not put off by Rhett Miller's extra-Texan twang and country fans who could stomach Philip Peeples's steamroller rhythms in 1997, when they made this, their Rum Sodomy and the Lash .

By: DAN WEISS | October 03, 2012

Tame Impala | Lonerism

Modular Records (2012)
Australia's Tame Impala make music as the Lester Bangs character describes it in Almost Famous : if and when their psychedelic rock and roll "chooses you," it begs for intimate consumption.

By: ARIEL SHEARER | October 03, 2012

Dark Dark Dark | Who Needs Who

Supply and Demand
Back in 2010, the loosely Minneapolis-based quirk-folk jamboree Dark Dark Dark wrote songs that felt like they were about being outside (even if they weren't).

By: BARRY THOMPSON | September 25, 2012

Dum Dum Girls | End of Daze

Sub Pop (2012)
More than an artistic evolution, End of Daze is a stylistic one.

By: DEVON MALONEY | September 25, 2012

Mumford & Sons | Babel

Glassnote (2012)
Three years ago, London folk-rock quartet Mumford & Sons blew up in a major way with "The Cave," an angst-fueled, Grammy-nominated strummer built on quiet-loud dynamics, Country Marshall's propulsive banjo, and Marcus Mumford's gruff bellow, which churned like a locomotive in free-fall.

By: RYAN REED | September 25, 2012

Field Report | Field Report

Partisan (2012)
Just because Chris Porterfield recorded his debut solo record at ex-DeYarmond Edison bandmate Justin Vernon's April Base studio in Eau Claire does not mean it will break your heart like Vernon's mythic cabin in the woods.

By: DEVON MALONEY | September 25, 2012

Grizzly Bear | Shields

Warp (2012)
The initial moments of "Sleeping Ute" are so quintessentially Grizzly Bear, they almost have no impact — Daniel Rossen nurses jagged, staggering chords on an electric guitar likely purchased from a 12th-century pawn shop.

By: RYAN REED | September 19, 2012

R.E.M. | Document [25th Anniversary Edition]

Capitol/I.R.S. Records (2012)
Fans of R.E.M. enjoy arguing over which album was the band's true shark-jump, but 1987's Document was inarguably the end of a groundbreaking era.

By: ZETH LUNDY | September 19, 2012

Band of Horses | Mirage Rock

Columbia (2012)
Mirage Rock kicks off with an oddly agreeable "wooo-ooo" from singer/guitarist Ben Bridwell on "Knock Knock," a fun and energetic opening song for this mostly gentle album.

By: SEAN CORBETT | September 12, 2012

Cat Power | Sun

Matador (2012)
Mental illness, bankruptcy, heartbreak, sonic impotence: Chan Marshall has suffered through her share of crises since her last album of original material, 2006's highly praised The Greatest .

By: RYAN REED | September 12, 2012

Dinosaur Jr. | I Bet On Sky

Jagjaguwar Records (2012)
It's hard to believe, but Dinosaur Jr. released their debut 27 years ago.

By: JAY BREITLING | September 12, 2012

Glen Hansard | Rhythm & Repose

Anti (2012)
The Frames' Glen Hansard releases Rhythm & Repose, his first solo album, having created an unusual juggernaut with Once .

By: NICK A. ZAINO III | September 13, 2012

How To Dress Well | Total Loss

Acephale (2012)
To the casual ear, there might not be a dramatic difference between Tom Krell's debut album (2010's Love Remains) and Total Loss, his potent new collection of ethereal hymns.

By: ANDREW GRAHAM | September 12, 2012

Abadabad | The Wild

Self-release
I'm no expert on pop music, but I know a good pop song when I hear it, and ABADABAD's first full-length, The Wild, is full of them.

By: PERRY EATON | September 04, 2012

Four Tet | Pink

Text Records (2012)
Ironically, this patchwork of 12-inch singles is Kieran Hebden's most delectable album-as-album.

By: DAN WEISS | September 04, 2012

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