Mesmerized by Harry Potter audio books, music has taken a temporary backseat.

New Amsterdams - Killed Or Cured: Cool concept, but Cured was unnecessary.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - Solar Gambling: His best solo album yet. Not that it is terribly great.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - Los Suenos de un Hidalgo: Still nothing to get excited about.

Enmit Rhodes - Recordings: If the 2nd Paul had become a dead man, Rhodes would be a more than adequate 3rd.

Reggie and the Full Effect - Under the Tray: Even more quirky than debut, but songs are not as strong.

Red Fang - Red Fang: Successfully borrowing from classic hard rock bands serves them well.

Chuck Ragan - Gold Country: Easily his best album.

Raekwon - Cuban Linx 2: A couple of misfires don't hold this excellent album from being the best hip-hop of last year.

Against Me! - White Crosses: Their big time arena rock album hinted at on New Wave has arrived to mixed results.

Propagandhi - How To Clean Everything: best political punk band not named Against Me! ?

Polar Bear Club - Chasing Hamburg: Solid follow-up to a more-than-solid debut.

Pinhead Gunpowder - Kick Over The Traces: Best Green Day related band yet.

Pavement - Quarantine The Past: Quintessential indie rock. A must listen.

Page France - Hello, Dear Wind: Hitting all the indie-folk hot buttons, if excessive at times, it's easy to swoon over.

No Age - Losing Feeling: Nothing's lost here.

Network - Money Money 2020: Not my favorite Green Day spin-off, but far from worthless.

Muse - The Resistance: Their best album is their most progressive yet.