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.

Lou Reed - Animal Serenade: I wish I could have seen him play.

Lou Reed - The Blue Mask: Every note, every syllable hangs with anticipation.

Lou Reed - Coney Island Baby: Where has this been all my life?

The Ramones - The Ramones/Rocket To Russia: Biopic gives me new appreciation for the band, beginning with these albums.

Chuck Ragan - 'til Midnight: Drawing from the best of his influences to make a great solo album.

Pusha T - My Name Is My Name: Well, now I know who was keeping Clipse afloat.

Of Montreal - Lousy With Sylvianbriar: Their best since Hissing Fauna.

Matt Pryor and James Dewees - EP: These guys need to work together more.

Matt Pryor - Wrist Slitter: My favorite of his solo albums.

Matt Pryor - Still, There's A Light: Great collection of B-Sides.

Polar Bear Club - Death Chorus: Less idiosyncratic, more awesome.

Orchid - Totality: Love it.

Orchid - Dance Tonight! Revolution Tomorrow!: Screamo at its finest.

One Small Step For Landmines - If You Could Get Over Me: Great acoustic songs.

One Small Step For Landmines - S/T: Less early-Saves The Day than their split with Davenport Cabinet.

Okkervil River - Silvery Gymnasium: This may be my favorite of theirs.

Connor Oberst - Upside Down Mountain: Feels very personal.

OFF! - Wasted Years: More of the same. Which is fine with me.

Nothing - Guilty of Everything: I need to be in the right headspace for shoegaze. I was not there for this.

Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks: I just cannot seem to care enough about what they do.

New Amsterdams - Outroduction: Some day, Matt Pryor will get his due in larger circles.

Mr. Little Jeans - Pocketknife: Not for me.

Mott The Hoople - Al The Young Dudes: Classic title track lives up to the hype.

Paul McCartney - New: Legends get more leeway in consideration for future listens.

Los Saicos - Demolicion The Complete Recordings: Death redux this is not. Worth listening this is.

Majority Rule - Emergency Numbers: Less hardcore, more avant garde.

Majority Rule - Interviews With David Frost: City of Caterpillar is now missed less.

Macklemore - The Heist: Overhyped.

Lorde - Pure Heroine: Considering the attention, I was expecting more.

Leaves - See You In The Afterglow: Always good.

Lawrence Arms - Metropole: Less than a stand out, more than a fill in.

Kings Of Leon - Mechanical Bull: Stadium rock that can be skipped.

Kay Dot - Hubardo: Greatness from a hit-or-miss band.

Joan Jett - Unvarnished: Meh from beginning to end.

Into It. Over It. - Intersections: Good, but not as much as Proper.

Into It. Over It. - Proper: Does not do the live show justice.

I Am The Avalanche - Wolverines: Nothing unexpected.

Hotelier - Home, Like NoPlace Is There: Great first track makes way for good rest of the album.

Tony Molina - Dissed And Dismissed: So simple, so great.

Hold Steady - Teeth Dreams: Not even close to Boys & Girls In America.