Wugazi - 13 Chambers: Why do not more hip-hop albums use traditional instrumentation?

Saul Williams - Volcanic Sunlight: More tolerable than his past albums, but just barely.

George Watsky - A New Kind Of Sexy Mixtape: His poetry is still better, but the divide is getting narrower.

Coldplay - Mylo Xyloto: No easy way to put this: it is garbage, maybe even more than X&Y.

Touche Amore - Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me: More vocal-heavy than past albums.

Thrice - Major/Minor: I just could not get into it. Certainly not a bad album, but felt a bit generic.

Taking Back Sunday - Taking Back Sunday: I am sure fans of their earlier work will love this.

System Of A Down - System Of A Down: So glad I listened to Toxicity, a stronger album, first.

Eleanor Friedberger - Last Summer: Better than her brother's output, but no match for the Fiery Furnaces.

Polar Bear Club - Clash Battle Guilt Pride: More melodic than I remember, but it is to their benefit.

Pentimento - Wrecked: I feel like this band would not exist with Hot Water Music.

Park - It Won't Snow Where You're Going: Fairly generic pop/punk from the mid-2000s.

Jay-Z and Kanye West - Watch the Throne: Far exceeded my admittedly low expectations.

The Elected - Bury Me In My Ring: Disappointing.

The Drums - Portamento: No reason to choose this over their debut.

Death Grips - Exmilitary: I am completelY surprised by how much I enjoyed this.