You could say that there is nothing really new or groundbreaking added to the mix, but their souls, natural instincts, and ability shined through with their highest flying colors to date. The music is gentle but mystifying and the vocals are presented more like a conversation peace than song lyrics. This is best displayed when the words don't rhyme, therefore sounding more like unread letters to a loved one and a whole lot of it sounds hauntingly familiar and at other times, just downright haunting.

All of this will not blow you away because much of it is subtle and you've heard it from countless other artists, but it will surely leave you feeling comfy, warm and cozy, not least because the Shins do it more sincerely and sensationaly than the average band.

The thing I like best about this, their third album, is how the songs fit together. On their first two lp's, there were a couple moments here and there that stuck out like sore thumbs, but on this one, all hands are fully intact, holding a final product that may be the best collection of tunes to fall asleep to since Andrew Bird's Mysterious Production of Eggs.

Most Shins fans liked this album, but I was one of the few who went batty over it. I think everything they've made is a must own, but this was the first one that consistently spoke to me and kept me company on those cold and lonely nights like a close friend with all the right answers. The electricity may have been conserved for a healthy portion of the proceedings, but the internal light still glowed more than I could ever hope for. It turns out the Shins really can change your life. The most impressive thing is that they keep doing it again and again and in different ways. Call it a simple complexity. Or just call it beautiful music.

For fans of: the Smiths, Modest Mouse, XTC, the Cure, Flake Music

Out of the Park
13. the Field - From Here We Go Sublime (Kompakt)
I don't know if this is supposed to be trance music, or ambient, or whatever, but it's the second best dance album of the year. It's driving, straight forward, catchy, techno music and it's wonderful, even though a lot of it sounds the same until you catch the subtle nuances and clever samples folded in to distinguish this album as a track by track masterpiece rather than a non-stop dance party. Though, it works pretty good as both.

Any fan of classic electronica is going to want this and they probably already have it, but the rest of you who, like me, find this genre to be pretty hit or miss, will want to make sure you give it a spin, too, because this hits on pretty much all the levels all the time.