1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Login or Register to rate this item.

Just eight months after releasing their first full-length, Hold on Now, Youngster..., these Welsh indie poppers come bounding back with another album that's as melodramatic as a teen love letter. This time, though, the scrawl is a bit neater.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Login or Register to rate this item.

In the spirit of music milestones such as Dylan going electric and Kiss removing their makeup, Sigur Rós have written their first song in English. They save the big reveal for the end, but the rest of their fifth album proves to be almost as noteworthy, swapping ethereal splendor for tighter songcraft.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Login or Register to rate this item.

This U.K. group's 2004 first album was a breakneck feat of dazzling harmonizing, while 2006's follow-up was a bit of a snoozer, but their third recaptures, and reshapes, that original vigor. This Is Not the World isn't quite the breathless playground once populated by robots and carnival kids, but "Think Tonight" possesses a fist-pumping riff that's one piano short of an Andrew W.K.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Login or Register to rate this item.

Entrancing chamber-pop songstress Joan Wasser easily could get by on just voice and piano, but for her second album, she flexes more ambition, and the results are rewarding.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Login or Register to rate this item.

On their sixth album, these ever-evolving German indie rockers stick with the electronic-tinged direction of 2003’s Neon Golden, but with a little less emotional heft.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Login or Register to rate this item.

This New Zealand duo dignify the term "novelty band," whether spoofing Pet Shop Boys or decrying the high cost of sneakers made by "little slave kids" in a socially conscious soul anthem. Divorced from their HBO series, the songs have room to stretch a little, only occasionally sacrificing context.