The album sees the singer-songwriter moving in a different direction.
The live cuts definitely flesh out the anthology and make it essential for Bentley’s die-hard fans.
Talking Through Tin Cans is one of the most unabashedly fun pop debuts in recent memory.
Her second act is comprised of bucketfuls of well-earned praise from the indie sect and lots of love from metropolitan gays in the know.
Dan Bejar has encrypted his creations to the point that their significance is entirely his to bear.
Flying Upside Down is merely good for what it is without offering anything more challenging or progressive.
Insides Out offers some catchy pop hooks, but it’s an album that, in spite of Zevon’s famous surname, ultimately sounds anonymous.
The Evangelist manages to function as an amalgam of a Forster solo record.
Maths + English derails pretty spectacularly at regular intervals.
There is no hard evidence that Jamie Lidell is now, or has ever been, in possession of any kind of device enabling time travel.
Emily Jane White’s Dark Undercoat is a solemn trek down familiar roads.
Great Northern is a band capable of reaching great heights—if only their producer were willing to take them there.
Santogold is a fantastic amalgam of punk-rock battle cries, dancehall/dub rhythms, Nintendo sound effects, Dave Stewart-style programming, and “Rock Lobster” yelps.
Unfortunately, the album’s effervescent uptempo tracks give way to same-y filler.
Hard Candy is the album Confessions on a Dance Floor was supposed to be, both in terms of musical style and overall progression.
Canadian yelpers Tokyo Police Club map out the crucial difference between cursory and terse on their debut full length.
The album finds the duo looking far beyond themselves and their single guitar and drum kit for the first time.
Elbow’s Guy Garvey fancies himself a man of importance on The Seldom Seen Kid.
Bittersweet World is another step in the right direction for Ashlee Simpson.
The Bristol trip-hop pioneers’ Third is starker, leaner, and more dissonant than its immediate sibling.
Robyn is definitely a slow-burner, but it’s also everything pop music should be: provocative, poignant, inventive, and fun.