Dirty Projectors - Rise Above: A reinterpretation of classic Black Flag songs is more unique than I thought possible.

Dillinger Escape Plan - Calculating Infinity: Need more mathcore in your life? Look no further.

Destroyer - Bay Of Pigs: I don't remember Destroyer bring so Bowie-esque.

Desert City Soundtrack - Funeral Car: Attempting to be all things to a potential fanbase yields nothing to anyone outside of it.

Dead To Me - African Elephants: Ambitious, if not schizophrenic emo/punk that shows as much potential as it causes confusion.

Converge - Axe To Fall: Their best since Jane Doe. An album in the style of Cruel Bloom would be welcome.

Coheed And Cambria - Neverender: Awesome concept but mediocre production means it's unlikely that I'll pick this up in lieu of studio ones.

Clipse - 'til The Casket Drops: Good hip-hop albums are lightning in a bottle. Something Clipse can't catch a third time.

Clientele - Bonfires On The Hearth: Like the soundtrack to your fuzzy dreams.

Clem Snide - The Meat Of Life: May be my last Clem Snide album. Not because it's bad, but because it offers nothing new to their formula.

Julian Casablancas - Phrazes For The Young: Not the biggest Strokes fan, but I'm highly impressed.

Campaign - H1N1: For fans of Hot Water Music and Polar Bear Club.

Bob Dylan - Self Portrait: Terribly uneven, but not as bad as the lore foretold.

Jello Biafra - The Audacity Of Hype: Ever the vigilant, it's nice to hear that he's still as feisty as he used to be.

Califone - All My Friends Are Funeral: I always want to like Califone, but there's never enough to keep me engaged.

Sebastian Cabot - Bob Dylan, Dramatic Reading With Music: A-ma-zing!

Burns Out Bright - Save Yourself A Lifetime: Pop-punk barely good enough to get by.

Burns Out Bright - Save Yourself A Lifetime: Pop-punk barely good enough to get by.

Brandsron - Trying To Figure Each Other Out: Adequate, though hardly revolutionary, emo.

Brand New - Daisy: Pretty hit-or-miss, but I'm sure I'll love it. Eventually.

Boy Sets Fire - The Day The Sun Went Out: Proto-screamo whose melodic side shines through muddy production.

Blitzen Trapper - Black River Killer: Every song sounds like a classic rock standard that's been around forever.

Blacklisted - No One Deserves This: Outstanding hardcore album. Probably the best of last year.

Between The Buried And Me - Colors: Hit-or-miss metal that has me sold on a second listen based on the strength of the last track.

Arctic Monkeys - Humbug: Given the chance, I'm sure it would grow on me. Just not sure it's with it.

Appeared Cast - Lost Songs: Just interesting enough, considering it's a bunch of throwaway tracks.

Apostle Of Hustle - Eats Darkness: Another adequate album, with just enough good songs to make it worthwhile.

Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind: Smaller doses typically yield more success. Just not this time.

Amusement Parks On Fire - Young Fight: Can't hold a candle to their debut.

Neil Young - Fork In The Road: Just terrible.

Jenny Owen Youngs - Transmitter Failure: Such potential for the future, but misses the mark a few too many times.

Yesterdays New Quintet - Yesterday's Universe: Not as charismatic as the debut, but good enough.

XO Skeletons - Bored By Heaven: Of all Wes Eisold's post-American Nightmare output, this is my favorite.

X - Los Angeles: A punk rock classic for a reason.

Wilco - Wilco: Fun pop/rock record that comes across like a soundtrack to a summer.

Wasted Youth UK - Wild And Wandering: A little too mopey for everyday listening, but quality post-punk, proto-goth.

M. Ward - Hold Time: His best collection of songs yet.

Kurt Vile - God Its Saying This To You: Is unmemorable a word?

The Veils - Sun Gangs: Pick a band to rip off and then do it well. Not poorly of several.

Various - Dark Was The Night: Outstanding sequencing considering the eclectic mix and thirty one tracks. Even without considering.

Various - Carry The Torch: Makes me miss Kid Dynamite.

Various - Once OST: Fantastic music from a fantastic movie.

Various - Experiments In Audio Rocketry: Awesome collection of acoustic punk without a terrible track.

Two Tongues - Two Tongues: Underwhelming results from an interesting concept.

Two Gallants - The Throes: Mildly disappointing follow-up nc

Trial - Darkest Days: As expected, nowhere near as good as Are These Our Lives

Title Fight - Last Thing You Forget: Solid melodic hardcore from a band still trying to find its footing.

Thursday - Common Existence: Not enough up-front incentive to commit to a long-term relationship.

Thrice - Beggars: Someone's been listening to a lot of Radiohead and TV on the Radio. That's a good thing nv

This Charming Man - Every Little Secret: Pre-Gaslight anthem that's a little rough around the edges, but more than listenable.

Telepathic Butterflies -Introducing: Psychedelic pop as expected from a band called Telepathic Butterflies.

Tear It Up - Nothing To Nothing: Musical taste is dictated largely by time and place. I listened to this hardcore album at the right time.

Taking Back Sunday - New Again: A good starting point for the second (third?) part of their career.

Super Furry Animals - Dark Days: I was bored, uninterested and felt uninvolved.

Sunset Rubdown - Dragonslayer: Another failed attempt at converting me into a fan.

Starflyer 59 - Dial M: Unmemorable shoegaze from a once-memorable band.

Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream: Other than a few good tracks it's pretty mediocre.

Regiona Spektor - Far: More hits than misses make for an enjoyable listen with revisiting.

Sparks - Exotic Creatures: Like the similar-sounding Of Montreal, you have to be n the mood for the wackiness.

The Sonics - Here Are The Sonics: Mid-60s
proto-punk is worth a listen of just for historic reasons.

Sonic Youth - Eternal: Apt name for a still-relevant band.

Son Volt - American Central Dust: If you weren't already a fan, this won't do much to change your mind.

Some Girls - Rains/Blues: Exactly the transition you'd expect coming from American Nightmare.

Sin Fang Bous - Ciangour: Seems like an uncohesive to start, but quickly gels as the quirkiness becomes normal and expected.

Shelter - Discography: Frustratingly uneven journey from Krishna-core trailblazers to nu metal to H2O clone.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez - Old Money: Best non-Mars Volta album he's released yet. Not that I can keep up.

Reggie and the Full Effect - Greatest Hits: Odd, quirky, weird, yet compelling, emo from a Get Up Kid.

Q-Tip - Kamaal, The Abstract: A prog-R&B album that, justifiably, has been sitting on the record label's shelves for years.

Propaganhi - Supporting Caste: I will be on the lookout for everything else they've done.

Project Citizen - Get Angry, Fight United: 41!? tracks of DIY anarcho-folk is a bit much, even if some of the tracks are great.

The Progress - Golden State: Sounds like very early Brand New.

Poison the Well - Opposite of December: There was a time when I would have, but I just don't care.

Plant and Krauss - Raising Sand: some great songs, but not some I'll listen to frequently.

Papercuts - You Can't Always Have What you Want: I want to not fall asleep while listening.

Paper Chase - Someday, Volume 1: Easily their best since before, or after, Kitchen Knives.

Outkast - Stankonia: Together is better, but too many tracks are skip-worthy.

Organized Konfusion - Stress: Old school hip hop needs to resurrected.

Off With Their Heads - All Is Not Well: Amazing, catchy punk. Can't believe they aren't more well known.

Conor Oberst - Outer South: Always enjoyable, rarely memorable.

Noah And The Whale - First Days of Spring: Probably the most beautiful album of the year.

New Found Glory - Not Without A Fight: Way better than expected.

Movielife - 40 Hour Train: Pop-punk perfection.

Movielife - Has A Gambling Problem: Finding their footing with solid production.

Movielife - This Time Next Year: Almost too poppy. Almost.

Movielife - Its Go Time: A little rough around the edges but you can see the potential.

Mouthpiece - Can't Kill What's Inside: Wish I could have seen them live. Heavy, slow and catchy in perfect compliment.

Mountain Man - Demo: Do you like American Nightmare, Suicide File, et al? Then check these guys out.

The Most Serene Republic - ...And The Ever Expanding Universe: Turn it up or it'll pass you by.

Mos Def - The Ecstatic: Hailed as a return to form, it's more hit-and-miss. So, yes, a return to form.

Modest Mouse - No One's First And You're Next: They just don't do anything for me.

Metallica - Master Of Puppets: I really wanted to hate this, but it's pretty awesome.

Mastodon - Crack The Skye: Easily their most accessible album. For better or worse.

Mastodon - Remission: Another solid album, just not my favorite.

Lucero - Rebels, Rogues and Sworn Brothers: I'm a little burned out on Lucero so this came across as merely adequate. Will try again later.

Lucero - Nobody's Darlings: An unjustifiably disappointing follow-up to Further West.

Lucero - That Much Further West: Easily their richest, fullest and most complete album.

Lucero - Tennessee: Qualifiable nuance escapes another solid album.

The Love Language - The Love Language: Deserving of a few more listens.

Jeffrey Lewis And The Junkyard - Em Are I: For fans of Daniel Johnston or quirky pop/rock.

Sondre Lerche - Faces Down: My new favorite Sondre album.