Front Bottoms - Front Bottoms: Closest band, from presentation perspective, would be Hold Steady.

Front Bottoms - I Hate My Friends: Earnest like early Saves the Day, Brand New, and Dashboard Confessional.

Front Bottoms - My Grandma vs Pneumonia: Transitional album from earnest minimalism to full time band.

Foo Fighters - Sonic Highways: Great concept, looking forward to watching the documentary, but mediocre results.

Field Report - Marigolden: Great little indie band.

Father John Misty - I Love You Honeybear: Outdoing an excellent debut is hard to do, but mission accomplished.

Father - Young Hot Ebony: Hip-hop continues to innovate at a pace I did not anticipate.

Roky Erickson - I Have Always Been Here: Certainly hit-or-miss, but looking forward to digging deeper.

Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) - You Will Eventually Be Forgotten: Traditional emo done very well.

DRI - Dealing With It: Was expecting more from a genre-defining album.

Dresden Dolls - No, Virginia: Such a captivating singer in everything she does.

Dream Theater - Metropolis, Part 2; Scenes From a Memory: Not normally one for prog rock, this floored me.

Drake - If You're Reading This, It's Too Late: Throwaway tracks as intended.

Mac Demarco - Salad Days: I fought it for a while, but I get it now. Where can I get more?

Kevin Devine - Bulldozer: Such a letdown coming off Bubblegum.

Kevin Devine - Bubblegum: Bigger is better for the songwriter.

Devil Makes Three - I'm a Stranger Here: Mixing country, bluegrass, and folky-punk does not work on disc, but could be great live.

Decemberists - What a Terrible/Beautiful World: Always enjoyable, but not as great as King is Dead.

Death Grips - Jenny Death: Huge payoff when listening right after Fashion Week and Niggas on the Moon.

Death Grips - Niggas on the Moon: Their "acoustic" album as things get quieter and less chaotic.

Death Grips - Fashion Week: My least favorite release from them, but if someone puts words on top I could be swayed.

Davenport Cabinet - Damned Renegades: My favorite current classic rock album. Needs to tour with Blitzen Trapper.

Cymbals Eat Guitars - Lose: Stopgap from where they came from to where they want to go.

The Cramps - Songs the Lord Taught Us: Pyschobilly is perfect characterization.

Crain - Heater: Less Spiderland, more traditional.

Crain - Speed: Undeniable Spiderland influence in the best way possible.

Consolation Prize - Consolation Prize: Not exactly hardcore, but not exactly hard rock.

Codeine - Frigid Stars/Barely Real: Slowcore not always my thing, but deserves another listen.

Code Orange - I Am King: Huge step forward for the band.

Cloud Nothings - Here and Nowhere: Pretty good, but far from great.

Clipping - Clppng: Death Grips lite is not a bad comparison, but it tries too hard at times and goes too long.

Circulatory System - Mosaics Within Mosaics: Sometimes hit-or-miss, but this one is a huge hit.

Circa Survive - On Letting Go: Glorious amalgamation of Mars Volta, Coheed, and Silversun Pickups.

Chrysalis - Definition: More hit than miss, but too much miss.

Childish Gambino - Kauai/STN MTN: A good EP worth of material spread out over an hour.

Cheap Girls - Famous Graves: Solid as ever.

Cerebellum - Cerebellum: Louisville in the '90s was a special place.

Michael Cera - True That: Uhh.

Julian Casablancas - Tyranny: Been a while since I found a great headphones album. Now to find my headphones.

The Bronx - The Bronx (IV): Diminishing returns have arrived.

Bob Dylan - Basement Tapes Complete: Absolutely essential.

The Bronx - The Bronx (III): A harder Foo Fighters.

The Bronx - The Bronx (II): Losing some of the edge of their debut is slightly less compelling, but enjoyable nonetheless.

Braid - No Coast: Mostly great.

Braid - Closer to Closed: Without revisiting Frame and Canvas, this is their best to date.

Braid - Movie Music, Vols. 1 and 2: Pretty safe to skip. Cover of My Life is great.

Braid - The Age of Octeen: Starting to come together a bit more.

Braid - Frankie Welfare Boy Age Five: So young, so innocent.

Born Against - Discography: Worth listening to, worth returning to for the message.

Blacklisted - When People Grow, People Go: Please keep going and growing. Slowly.

Bjork - Vulnicura: More subdued, but hard to complain about it.

Bjork - Homogenic: And I am back in love.

Bjork - Post: Not quite as compelling, but that cover of It's Oh So Quiet is fantastic.

Bjork - Debut: How exciting this must have been to listen to when it was released.

Bitch Magnet - Umber/Star Booty: Not as polished as Ben Hur, but worth listening to.

Bitch Magnet - Ben Hur: The most Spiderland-esque album not by Slint I have ever heard.

Andrew Bird - Things are Really Great Here, Sort Of: Sort of a very good choice of words.

Between Earth and Sky - Of Roots and Wings: Trial by another name.

BadBadNotGood and Ghostface Killah - Sour Soul: More apt title would have been "The Shape of Hip-Hop to Come"

Bad Books - II: Bigger, just as engaging.

Bad Books - Bad Books: The closest to early Rilo Kiley I have found yet.

Brian Auger et al - Streetnoise: Avant garde for today, never mind for 1969.

Area Code 615 - Area Code 615: Interesting instrumentals.

Antemasque - Antemasque: Glad it was not under Mars Volta moniker. Hard rock built for the stage.

Alkaline Trio - Goddamnit: Does not hold up, or I am too old to enjoy it.

Adele - 21: Most important woman in music? Not sure, but she gets my vote.

AC/DC - Powerage: There's a subtlety and nuance I was not expecting.

XTRMST - XTRMST: Interesting only because of who is involved.

Wonder Years - The Greatest Generation: Pretty great indeed.

Wake Owl - The Private World Of Paradise: Nothing worth listening to again.

Various - Inside Llewyn Davis Soundtrack: A little too slick on the production.

Various - Treme, Music from the Series, Seasons 1 and 2: I really, really miss this show.

Various - Standing in the Shadows of Motown: Greatly looking forward to the film.

Uncle Tupelo - No Depression: Love the more upbeat songs. Some more than Wilco.

Usurp Synapse - Disinformation Fix: Unrelenting screamo for when you are in the mood.

Trash Talk - No Peace: Fantastic production, especially for what is essentially a hardcore album, but needs more listens

U.S. Bombs - Generation Kennedy No More: What the doc on Duane Peters. Worth it.

TS And The Past Haunts - Heart Attack: More Piebald, please.

Trash Talk - No Peace: Fantastic production, especially for what is essentially a hardcore album, but needs more listens

Pete Townshend - Empty Glass: Not The Who, but still pretty good.

Touche Amore - Is Survived By: GREAT first half. Love the desperation in the vocals.

Tool - Lateralus: I should have listened to this a long, long time ago.

Tool - Salival: Nice to have, but not essential.

Tool - Aenima: Firmly in the progressive rock genre. Top 5 for me.

Tool - 72826/Opiate: You can hear the beginnings of what would become.

Tokyo Police Club - Forcefield: Run of the mill.

Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden: I get the comparisons to Slint's style, but it is more than that.

Silver Mt. Zion - Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light On Everything: I love the direction they have taken themselves in recent years.

Talk Talk - Spirit of Eden: I get the comparisons to Slint's style, but it is more than that.

Taking Back Sunday - Happiness Is: I really enjoyed this. Certainly more on first listen than most of their releases.

Sundowner - Neon Fiction: I keep coming back for more.

Jonathan Stewart - Droning: Not really my thing.

Bruce Springsteen - High Hopes: Always seems to disappoint me.

Sheer Terror - Just Can't Hate Enough: This is great.

Solution Unknown - Discography: Great on its own. Even better in context.

Slint - Spiderland Remaster Bonus: Fascinating look. Wish there were more.

Shark? - True Waste: Great live band. Good enough studio output.

Saosin - In Search of Solid Ground: Musically between Coheed and Silversun. Easy to see the reason for attachment.

Sam Black Church - Let In Life: I weep for early '90s hardcore.

Safe and Sound - The Tides: Pretty good hardcore.