Coldplay's music has always sounded universal and huge, but they take on an enormity on Mylo Xyloto that alternately thrills and leaves the listener distant.

For someone who has said he doesn't spend a great deal of time in front of a computer, Tom Waits knows how to use the internet to get his message across. Remember the 2008 "press conference" for his Glitter and Doom tour?

Now 21 years old, Laura's already on her third album, has garnered two Mercury Music Prize nominations, released an EP produced by Jack White and continues to reap a ton of critical acclaim.

With their debut album In Heaven, which was released on September 27 by Domino Records, the group make good on the hype. Twin Sister have hit upon a compelling, spacious sound that blends indie rock songwriting with a lush instrumental palette that drawns upon influences as wide-ranging as '70s AM-radio-style soft-rock and '90s-esque trip-hop.

You never quite know what direction he'll take with each new record, so upon first listen, I was pleased to hear that he went for the mellowed-out, melodic sound similar to his Cold Roses album that he did with The Cardinals in 2005.

Metals experiments with other sounds while still maintaining what makes Feist, Feist: a voice that is its own distinct instrument and conveys her emotion and meaning.

This is one of the most visual recordings I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. Full disclosure -- when I heard about this project for the first time I was very excited... but I was excited more about Nick Hornby than Ben Folds!

I can give no higher compliment to "The Whole Love" than to favorably compare it to "Summerteeth," and while it may not reach the peaks of the Wilco catalog, it is clearly their best record in nearly a decade.

The best songs on "Father, Son, Holy Ghost" hit all the right notes, perfectly balancing and taming the chaotic and emotionally fraught brattiness that made "Album" stand out.

The album shows a kinder, gentler Jayhawks, with fewer blazing Louris guitar solos, but still with plenty of the band's signature "close harmonies," as heard in one the album's highlights, "She Walks In So Many Ways."