Jewel - Pieces of You

All songs written or co-written by Jewel Kilcher. Jewel was nominated for the 1997 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. "Who Will Save Your Soul" was nominated for a 1997 Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. When this Alaskan decided to give up her day job and move into her Volkswagen van in 1993, she began an almost storybook ascendance to the upper echelon of singer-songwriters. Like so many other aspiring musicians with a guitar and a story to tell, Jewel is a keen observer of human behavior. But it is her voice, a classically-trained instrument that has developed far beyond Jewel's 22 years, that makes her debut album--much of which was recorded at Neil Young's Broken Arrow Ranch with pieces of his Harvest Moon band--such a joy. Jewel's is a special voice, one that can portray enormous emotional range with only slight alterations in color and texture. She sings "I'm Sensitive" with coy innocence, and gives the title track a biting, scolding quality. "Amen," the album's finale, is perhaps Jewel's most stunning vocal display, with her gorgeous, ethereal falsetto lifting us into a world where beautiful voices can speak volumes.

Kula Shaker - Strangefolk

Kula Shaker are best known for the 1997 multi platinum 'K', which became one of the fastest selling UK debuts ever. Now, after a six-year absence, Kula have returned with the brilliant album 'Strangefolk'. Produced in collaboration with an all-star team of hit makers & Grammy winners, including Tchad Blake (Peter Gabriel, Crowded House), Sam Williams (Supergrass) and Chris Sheldon (The Foo Fighters, The Pixies), 'Strangefolk' consists of 13 songs that hurl themselves through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole, echoing with voices of protest and imagination.

Mark Ronson - Version

On the 2007 follow-up to his overlooked full-length '03 debut, HERE COMES THE FUZZ, London-born/New York City-based DJ/producer Mark Ronson presents an appealing and inventive set of cover tunes in collaboration with an eclectic array of artists. A hit upon its release in the U.K., the lively single "Stop Me" finds Ronson working with Australian R&B performer Daniel Merriweather on an intriguing club-oriented interpretation of the Smiths' "Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before" that deftly mixes in a chunk of the Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On." Other highlights of Version are Ronson's funky take on the Kaiser Chiefs' "Oh My God," which features a typically charming turn by British pop singer Lily Allen, and a horn-led rendition of Radiohead's "Just" that includes vocals by Phantom Planet's Alex Greenwald. With its dynamic track listing and guest shots, the entire album is a vibrant party-perfect outing that should win over many listeners outside of Ronson's loyal fanbase.

The Sea and Cake - Everybody

Fans bank on the shimmering, gorgeous pop of the Sea & Cake, and 2007's Everybody will disappoint no one. There aren't any radical departures from the band's smooth, meticulously constructed brand of highbrow sonic candy, but Everybody bears less overt experimentation than previous efforts, placing the emphasis instead on pop hooks and arrangements that wash over the listener like waves. In fact, Everybody more closely resembles a 1970s soft-rock album than it does the music of, say, Tortoise (Sea & Cake drummer John McEntire's post-rock main squeeze). But Everybody is unmistakably an album made by first-rate musicians with a vision. Opener "Up on Crutches" is a sunny, bouncy tune that plays like a summer breeze. The fuzz guitar tones in "Crossing Lines" offset the breathy melody, while "Coconut" spins a plaintive tune against chimed notes. In short, the Sea & Cake make pleasurable pop for smart people, and Everybody--bright, sweet, and beautifully textured--is as pleasurable as anything they've done.

Peter Murphy - Dust

Peter Murphy took six years in between his fifth and sixth solo albums, although the Recall EP and the live effort Alive Just for Love captured what would eventually come next. His 1995 release Cascade tested his dark rock & roll roots while adding musical elements of the Eastern world. It was stylishly optimistic and sonically gorgeous, typical Murphy. By the new millennium, he reinvented himself. Dust marked his spanking new sound, naturally and tastefully. Murphy and world instrumentalist Mercan Dede went for a vast mix of prog rock, trance, and classical music on Dust. Murphy's lyrical depth transforms into individual dreamscapes, particularly on the tribal beats of "Things to Remember." Murphy's spoken-word chant tangos the song's chorus for Dust and jazz bassist to rouse a raw desire. The rhythm escalates with a backing section made of distinguished Turkish and Canadians musicians. Violinist Hugh MarshJamaaladeen Tacuma guide Murphy's lyrical visions to a higher, spiritual place. "Your Face" is a swaggering mix of electronic textures, hauntingly similar to the dark beauty of Murphy's first album, Should the World Fail to Fall Apart. Older tracks "My Last Two Weeks" and the epilogue of "Subway" are reworked as well. Murphy has bravely restructured the simplicities of each song, introducing a massy richness. Dust itself materializes into a new chapter for Murphy. He's crafted a successful solo career to his own liking, never sticking to one formula. Dust is a stunning look into his exotic, sharp imagination and a vibrant effort for those who've watched him evolve.

The Mars Volta - Deloused In The Comatorium

Formed by Cedric Bixler and Omar Rodriguez from the ashes of their previous band At the Drive-In, the Mars Volta takes a dizzying journey to hell and back on this colorfully titled album, traveling inside the mind of a man who attempted suicide but went into a week-long coma before ultimately choosing death. As one might expect the ride is intense and at times disturbing. Galloping bass by Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers) provides the rocky foundation for exploratory psychedelic guitar experimentation and keyboard soundscapes that paint an aural picture of madness. The centerpiece of Deloused In The Comatorium is the 12-minute plus "Cicatriz Esp." Its long, ambient middle section lulls you into a nervous calm before breaking out into a Santana-esque jam. Take care, though; trying to interpret the lyrics, or song titles ("Eriatarka") for that matter, in a literal sense will undoubtedly place you in the same deep psychic void as the subject. In an era where cookie-cutter bands pretending to be angry at life are the norm, the Mars Volta is a shining example of originality and talent.

U2 - The Joshua Tree

Recorded at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin, Ireland. The Joshua Tree won the 1987 Grammy award for album of the year. After their arresting appearance at Live Aid, U2 album sales went berserk across the globe, and the world waited impatiently for their next release. The Joshua Tree arrived, and fans were not disappointed. There are few weaknesses, musical or lyrical, in this album. The pure power of the music and patent honesty of the lyrics steer the band clear of whimsy and self-indulgence. The anguish and questioning is shot through with faith as they chant and stomp and batter their way through instant classics such as 'Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For', 'Where The Streets Have No Name' and 'With Or Without You', leaving the listener bruised but elated.

Rihanna - A Girl Like Me

Rihanna's "Pon the Replay" was the jam of summer 2005, and with good reason: its Caribbean-flavored rhythms and infectious, singalong chorus made it nearly irresistible. The Barbados-born singer's full-length, Music Of The Sun , performed well on the strength of the single, and offered more of Rihanna's commercially tailored dancehall-pop. A GIRL LIKE ME, Rihanna's sophomore release, is less overtly dancehall-influenced than its predecessor. Instead, the album makes a more straightforward play for mainstream R&B appeal. The album's lead-off single and video "SOS," for example, centers on a sample from Soft Cell's version of "Tainted Love" (including the immediately recognizable laser-gun sound), making for a bouncy, sexy pop confection. "Unfaithful" is an R&B ballad that finds Rihanna in torch mode, and sounds like a hit in the making. While there's nothing quite as striking as "Pon the Replay" here, there is plenty to power Rihanna's rise up the charts.

Modest Mouse - Lonesome Crowded West

All tracks have been digitally mastered using HDCD technology. Though echoes of the Minutemen and Nirvana, along with slightly larger ensembles such as Pavement and Thrush Hermit can be heard, Modest Mouse puts an entirely new twist on the post-punk power trio concept. The band eschews the camouflage of noise, effects and attitude employed by many of their indie rock peers to create ironic distance. Instead, they strictly rely on inventive, surprising songwriting and low-key-but-committed performance to lay their claim as innovators and inheritors of the guitar-bass-drums tradition. Even though Modest Mouse's stylistic variations (rock-funk, edgy, brittle pop) often reach back to the American underground boom of the early eighties where the band's roots lie, they are never less than forward-looking. Lonesome Crowded West reveals Modest Mouse to be extraordinarily focused, as it fully realizes their vision of America as a vehicle for their surreal, sometimes oblique portraits of modern life. Melodic enough to be accessible but raw enough to keep things lively, the band has reached a high point in their career here.

Smashing Pumpkins - Adore

Adore was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance. In the wake of drummer Jimmy Chamberlin's departure, the Pumpkins have taken a giant step away from the grunge-flavored, turbo-powered alt-rock anthems that made them famous. On Adore, Billy Corgan and company opt instead for a more scaled-down approach that relies heavily on acoustic instruments and ballads of love and longing. Corgan may still be expressing angst here, but he does it in an understated, romantic way, addressing matters of the heart with subtlety and maturity on tunes like "Shame" and "To Sheila." Don't take all this acoustic-based balladry (a path also explored by James Iha on his solo debut) as a sign that the band is out of touch with contemporary production trends, though. Bon Harris of Nitzer Ebb is on hand to add a sprinkling of electronica to the proceedings via his programming talents. His contributions, like much of Adore itself, remains modestly unobtrusive, providing just the right underpinning for some of the tunes. As the album ends with a solo piano instrumental, we're reminded that Smashing Pumpkins are a band who refuse to ossify, constantly changing and evolving. Adore is just one more leg of their continuing journey.

Stars - Set Yourself on Fire

With 2005's Set Yourself on Fire, the Montreal ensemble Stars grows new blooms from out of its sturdy electro-pop stem. This is largely thanks to the addition of a real drummer (Pat McGee), who opens things up for the band's third full-length album. The raised hand on the cover might lead one to take this record for an angry political outcry, but if so, it's the sort one makes while falling in love at a college rally. Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan trade vocal duties and combine on rich harmonies over alt-rock frameworks painted with thick electronic pulses, sweeping horn and string sections, bass, cello, harmonica, and electric guitar. It's a combination big enough to encompass both the melodramatic grandeur of teenage emotions and the awareness that such feelings are unreliable. Like their Canadian brethren Broken Social Scene (bassist Evan Cranley plays in both bands), Stars freely collapses pop music's pigeonholes into one rich, new-yet-familiar sound. "He Lied About Death" takes a few passing jabs at George W. Bush, but this band knows their best contribution to the cause is crafting epic love songs for the people to cry and dance to, and they contribute very well with Set Yourself on Fire.

Bright Eyes - Cassadaga

It's clear that the year-plus Bright Eyes's Conor Oberst took between 2005's widely acclaimed I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (and the simultaneously released Digital Ash In A Digital Urn URN) and 2007's Cassadaga was well spent. The product of intensive studio time, a crack assembly of musicians, and lavish, lovely production and arrangements, Cassadaga stands as one of Bright Eyes' most confident and consistent works. The album throws together genres--folk, country, rock, pop--and coats it all in a gauzy dressing of strings, harmonies, and high-end atmospherics. Yet at the center of it all is still Obert's songwriting: witty, emotive, literate, and replete, this time out, with references to the expanse and grandeur of America as a playing field for life, love, and politics. At times reflective, at times rousing, Cassadaga plays like a sweet pop dream, and adds another notch to Bright Eyes' already impressive discography.

Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain

Mojo (p.105) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Still rocking their own singularly battle-worn and telepathically tight set-up of bass and drums, effects and volume, Brian Gibson and Chippendale continue to plough a unique path of destruction through rock's deepest strata."

What makes Hypermagic even more heroic beyond its immediate rhythmic grip is the musicianship, the furious dedication to a hyper, jagged groove. Longer tracks like "Dead Cowboy" and "Mohawk Windmill" build into giant fractals of epic noise, with weird little filigrees stolen from old Yes albums bursting forth from roaring bass guitar and splattering drum rolls. At its most chaotic, Hypermagic Mountain could tear open a wormhole into Comets on Fire's Blue Cathedral. It's clear that Lightning Bolt reach stasis at their noisiest, when they're caught deep in the zone.

Porcupine Tree - Deadwing

Considering their cinematic scope, it's fitting that the songs on Deadwing were actually inspired by a film script written by Porcupine Tree mastermind Steven Wilson. Not that this should come as any surprise to longtime fans who know the UK act's reputation for churning out epic progressive rock so sonically descriptive that it's practically visual. Porcupine Tree creates works with complex structures that do not alienate or obscure the songs themselves, pieces that are dark and psychedelic without being sinister. On the 12-minute opening title track, weighty guitar riffs and spacious synths immediately recall Nine Inch Nails, but swooping melodic changes give way to ambient passages, making it plain that this is no industrial-rock rip-off. "Arriving Somewhere But Not Here" begins with processed backwards guitar, building into a harmony-fueled crescendo before dropping off completely to reveal sparse picking over loops and clicks. Guests Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth) and Adrian Belew (King Crimson) contribute vocal harmonies and guitar, respectively, and the disc comes enhanced with behind-the-scenes video footage as a bonus feature.

Bullet for My Valentine - The Poison

Welsh heavy-metal quartet Bullet for My Valentine began making serious headlines in the metal press in 2005, and with good reason. The band combines a vintage U.K. metal sound (think Iron Maiden and Judas Priest) with the ferocity of 21st-century metalcore and the emotional angst of emo. The Poison, the band's punishing full-length debut, finds all these elements mixed to perfect measure via top-tier production. In addition to the relentless sonic attack, Bullet for My Valentine also filled The Poison with solid songs, a factor that distinguishes them favorably from their legions of metal and screamo peers.

Jane's Addiction - Nothing's Shocking

Nothing's Shocking set out to prove that no subject was beyond the gleam in lyricist/vocalist Perry Farrell's (pronounced "peripheral") eye. Serial killer Ted Bundy ("Ted, Just Admit It"), punk ideology as Eastern philosophy ("Pigs In Zen"), mystic romances ("Summertime Rolls") and high-falutin', early-morning thoughts ("Standing In The Shower...Thinking") were all dissected through a psychologically-stimulating viewpoint, with a stream-of-consciousness delivery. Farrell's tales also served the band as a guide to attack the canvas, and the musicians burned heroically behind him, providing the songs with an expansive set of musical colors. Guitarist Dave Navarro continuously exploded on the drop of a dime, while bassist Eric Avery and drummer Stephen Perkins proved to be among the most formidable rhythm sections in all of rock. Above all, Nothing's Shocking helped revive the idea that heavy rock need not be formulaic, or lack any semblance of meaningful content. Rather than focus on the old-hat aspects of the rock rebellion myth (sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll), Jane's Addiction looked in the hard-to-find places for their muse, demonstrating that metal rebels didn't have to be idiots.

Verve - Urban Hymns

"Bitter Sweet Symphony" was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or A Group With Vocal and Best Rock Song. On Urban Hymns The Verve continues to widen the creative spectrum of psychedelic Britrock. The Verve exhibits a great deal of musical depth as they blanket "Bitter Sweet Symphony" with a full string section, employ acoustic guitars to evoke the simple, Carpenters-ish sentiments of "Sonnet" and "The Drugs Don't Work," and utilize heavily processed guitars on "Weeping Willow." Whether exploring the loud or soft extremes of their dynamic range, the band aspires to classic songwriting, tastefully incorporating retro sensibilities with sweet-sounding hooks that yield a tranquil, pastoral beauty.

Animal Collective - Feels

Outsider music's crossover cover boys take a giant step towards mainstream accessibility with this album--then jump right over it into the bushes. Having garnered the highest freak honors with their previous album, Sung Tongs, here they expand from two to four members and take their chirpy call-and-response harmonies to a whole other level, adding a cohesive production that welds all the disparate elements into genuine melodic hooks. The opening track, "Did You See the Words," even has a distinct indie-rock chorus (for a while anyway) in addition to the scattered ivory tinkling and Panda Bear's upper-octave-strained ravings. Not long afterwards they're layering on the war whoops and Beach Boy vocalizing until it all starts rising and falling like the sea, often alongside contrapuntal piano and more robust and full-bodied drum work than previous AC albums. Somehow or other their signature primitivism coalesces into near pop perfection and seldom falters anywhere along its breakneck 52-minute run.

Stereophonics - Word Gets Around

The Welsh pop trio Stereophonics' 1998 debut is a fine, hook-filled Britpop platter. While the clear highlight is the UK hit "Local Boy in the Photograph," an insidiously catchy though lyrically elliptical tune, Word Gets Around contains several tracks nearly as impressive, such as "Not Up to You," with an absurdly over-prominent electronic snare that eventually gets overtaken by Kelly Jones' big, crunchy, Cheap Trick-like guitar. "Check My Eyelids for Holes" and "Same Size Feet," which has one of the catchiest choruses on the album, are also excellent, but perhaps the most affecting track is "Too Many Sandwiches," a sharp but sweet examination of a small-town wedding reception. Word Gets Around is an exceptional debut.

Air - Pocket Symphony

Pocket Symphony finds Air once again working with outside singers, as the French electronica duo did on '01's 10,000 Hz Legend. This time around, the guests are British vocalists Neil Hannon (aka the Divine Comedy) and Jarvis Cocker (formerly of Pulp), with the latter lending his signature droll charm to the woozy "One Hell of a Party." The Hannon and Cocker tracks aside, Pocket Symphony largely serves as a fine companion piece to the supremely laid-back Talkie Walkie, with Nicolas Godin and J.B. Dunckel once again tweaking their own half-whispered vocals under the guidance of producer Nigel Godrich (Beck, Radiohead), most notably on the dreamy, drifting "Once Upon a Time" and "Redhead Girl," which comes across as an ambient cousin to Walkie's "Cherry Blossom Girl." While Air fans hoping for upbeat tunes like "Sexy Boy" and "Radio Number 1" will be left empty-handed, Pocket Symphony reinforces the notion that Godin and Dunckel are most fascinating when thoroughly at ease.