Ra Ra Riot - The Orchard: Sophomore slump indeed.

Ghostface Killah - Apollo Kids: Is there a more consistent artist in hip-hop?

Fiya - Magic Words: Solid album of Hot Water-inspired punk rock.

Defiance, Ohio - Midwestern Minutes: Missing some of the catchiness I remember them for.

Decemberists - King Is Dead: My favorite Decemberists album, hands down. Less pretentious than previous outings put it over the top.

The Bees - Every Step's A Yes: Folky music for a simpler time.

Kings Of Leon - Come Around Sundown: Increased accessibility results in decreased enjoyability.

Go! Team - Rolling Blackouts: Not as infectious as their debut but more than solid.

The Drums - The Drums: I tried so hard to dislike it, but it proved irresistible.

Joanna Newsom - Have One On Me: As outstanding as it is it's still hard to reconcile the length at 3 discs.

Eminem - Recovery: So hungry you can feel it. A fantastic return to form.

Various - Fast Music 7: Good to know I'm not missing much.

TS And Past Haunts - EP: No substitute for a new Piebald album, but far from terrible.

System Of A Down - Toxicity: Easily the best nu metal album I've ever heard. Still a few tracks too long.

Off - Four EPs: Fantastic early Black Flag.

Go Rydell - The Golden Age: A bit more gravelly but an easy substitute for those missing Kid Dynamite. I know I am.

Beatles - Decca Audition: Historically essential, but nothing more.

My Chemical Romance - Danger Days: Drops remaining pretense of being a punk band, opting for a pop album. And it's fantastic.

Jordaan Mason And Horse Museum - Divorce Lawyers: Obviously NMH inspired, but without any if the euphoria it's a tough listen.

Crazy Arm - Born To Ruin: Modern Against Me! without the arena-level hooks.

Kanye West - Beautiful Twisted Fantasy: Somewhere in the middle it lost me and was never able to recover.

Wovenhand - The Threshing Floor: Another solid album for fans of Califone.

Tom Waits - Closing Time: Sometimes perfect execution can mask a lack of innovation.

Vampire Weekend - Contra: Epitome of a sophmore slump, failing to achieve any of the high water marks found on their debut.

Titus Adronicus - The Monitor: Very rewarding, but sometimes flawed execution of a perfect blend of Two Gallants and Hold Steady.

Wrong Side - Of The Tracks: Mosh-heavy hardcore reminiscent of Death Threat.

Wolfmother - Cosmic Egg: Save yourself some time and listen to Muse.

White Stripes - Under Northern Lights: Too good to feel so short.

White Lies - To Lose My Life: The album Interpol always wanted to make?

Jim Ward - In the Valley, On the Shore: Refreshing to hear him out of arena mode.

War Pigs - Degeneration: Hardcore that didn't live up to the high expectations, namely for its seeming self indulgence.

Volcano Choir - Unmap: Radiohead-esque meets (obviously) Bon Iver.

Bob Dylan - Wittmark Demos: Beyond essential at half the fidelity.

Various - Stroke: Come for Mangum, stay for the rest, come back for the songs.

Various - At Both Ends: Fantastic grouping of bands. Wish they all had at least 1 more track.

Various - Abbey Road Now: Fails to surpass mediocre expectations.

Pete Townsend - Lifehouse Chronicles: Thoroughly enjoyable collection of demos from an innately creative visionary.

Touche Amore - ...To The Beat Of A Dead Horse: Filling the void that Verse left behind.

Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures: Mostly succeeds as proof a supergroup can be better than individual components.

Tegan And Sara - So Jealous: Solid pop rock, but nothing to get too excited about.

Tallest Man on Earth - Wild Hunt: Dylan comparison impossible not to make. Deservingly.

Surrounded - Safety In Numbers: Equal parts Swell Season, post-rock and shoegaze. But listenable.

Sunny Day Real Estate - The Rising Tide: Big time arena rock record.

Sunny Day Real Estate - How It Feels To Be Something On: The experimentation had to begin sometime.

Sunny Day Real Estate - Pink Album: Deceptively heavy.

Strike Anywhere - Iron Front: Best album since, and maybe including, their debut.

Street Dogs - Demo: DKM-nostalgia not enough to keep afloat a band still finding its way.

Spoon - Transference: The indie rock Mission of Burma. Laid back yet taut.

Sounds Like Violence - The Pistol: Virtually forgettable.

Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle: Too much filler, but with listening to for the highs alone.

Smoke Or Fire - Sinking Ship: Excellent pop-punk that rips off the best parts of other bands and executes flawlessly.

Smashing Pumpkins - Mellon Collie: 2 discs and a seemingly forever runtime yet still manages to succeed far more than fail.

Slowride - C/S: '90s indie rock for when you're feeling nostalgic.

Sleep - Dopesmoker: Prog for the heavy metal crowd.

Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra - Kollaps Tradixionales: Perfect blend of their post-rock roots and more choral efforts.

Shook Ones - Unquotable AMH: Not the 2nd coming of Kid Dynamite I was hoping for, but solid pop-punk nonetheless.

Settlefish - Plural of the Choir: Ultimately forgettable.

Settlefish - Dance a While, Upset: Semi-screamo that starts strong but fails to hold interest.

Pete Seeger - Live '57: Not an everyday listen, but certainly worth listening to. Spontaneity in stark contrast to contemporary live acts.

Rural Alberta Advantage - Hometowns: Uneven with heaps of potential.

Roxy Music - Country Life: Like the Talking Heads but mellower and more experimental. And sometimes too long.

Ben Folds - Lonely Avenue: Feels less forced than his last few albums.

Halfway through Order of the Phoenix. Skipping Deathly Hallows until after movie is released.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs: Unexpectedly low key and long.

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.

Mountain Goats - Life Of The World To Come: Life his voice and everything he does. Just sad that it never compares to Sunset Tree.

Mark Mulcahy - Fathering: While good, it lacks a sense if engagement.

The Germs - (GI): Classic and essential punk rock for when you are in that mood.

EPMD - Strictly Business: For when you're in the mood for some old school hip-hop you're not terribly familiar with.

Eazy-E - Eazy-Duz-It: A refreshing look back at how simple and effective hip-hop used to be. What happened?

Monsters Of Folk - Monsters Of Folk: Hard not to compare to Traveling Wilburys, both in make up and spirit.

Mission Of Burma - Sound Speed Light: Good, but missing something that's made past efforts great.

Miracle Legion - Surprise Surprise Surprise: Early version of Polaris that was obviously influenced by REM, so it's pretty awesome.

Mansions - Mansions: Had I not known better, I'd swear these were Bright Eyes tracks

Doom - Unexpected Guests: With an emphasis on rapping and virtually skit-free, it's surprisingly coherent given its disjointed nature.

Mark Lind - Homeward Bound: More balancing of his classic rock ambitions and punk rock roots. Mostly successful too.

Mark Lind - Truth Can Be Brutal: Close enough to a Sinners And Saints follow-up.

Liars - Sisterworld: A little too slow and quiet. Good enough for further listens.

Lewis - Even So: Doing nothing more than the basics really well is sometimes enough. This is such a case.

Lewd Acts - Black Eye Blues: Not exactly innovative, but not stagnant, it balances a lounge between slow but heavy and fast and aggressive.

Dan In Real Life Soundtrack: Sondre Lerche-dominated soundtrack has moved this movie up my "to watch" list.

Kurtis Blow - Kingdom Blow: Mostly terrible old school hip-hop. Notable only for the involvement of Bob Dylan.

Karen O - Where The Wild Things Are: Perfect soundtrack to an excellent movie.