Graduates of the same Liverpool prep school as John Lennon, No Exit formed as a stripped-down rock outfit in 1981: one on vocals/bass, one guitar, and one drummer. Inspired and influenced by fellow English rockers The Jam, No Exit blended catchy pop melodies with youthful malaise and deeply personal lyrics.

Sharing two members with fellow Montreal group The Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre are yet another reason the city is renowned for musical innovation. Recording A Tape The Colours Of The Light, the band's 2005 debut, is a joyfully experimental mix of violins, horns, handclaps, and at one point even the sound of typewriters.

Parisian space-rock quartet Cyann & Ben give the genre what they call a "Gallic makeover" on Sweet Beliefs, combining warm, dreamy vocals with harder guitars, ominous melodies, and dark soundscapes.

The fifth album by Glasgow's renowned post-rock outfit Mogwai is a full-circle return to form, echoing the sound and structure of their brilliant debut. With stretches of ambient, expansive beauty next to straightforward headbangers, it's also some of their most varied and exciting work yet.

The newest release from Hi-Fidel is a strikingly real piece of hip hop: no fillers or skits, no intro bragging about the rapper's skills, no pretense. Just immediate, undiluted lyricism. With beats by DJ Crucial, FF Express: The Company of Wolves is rich and extremely powerful. Don't pass this if you dig thoughtful hip hop, period.

Hans-Joachim Roedelius, experimental composer and longtime collaborator with Brian Eno, has released over 100 albums and is still actively performing in festivals around the world. The BBC has said, "If you're a fan of contemporary electronic music, but Roedelius is an unfamiliar name to you, then you're missing out on one of that genre's most important well-springs."

Works (1968-2005) collects 31 of his solo recordings and various projects, and is a fantastic entry point for anyone unfamiliar with this artist and his legacy.

Critics Pass Away is one of those albums that will grab you from the first note. You can imagine nightclub curtains pulling back to reveal the horn section on a bandstand and Baby Dayliner in the center spotlight, with a spread-collar shirt and Morrissey haircut.

But here's the funny thing: when he starts singing, you realize he's kind of just a dude. His voice is great, but it's nothing superhuman. It seems like he's still having fun with every bit of vibrato, like a slightly-drunk friend of yours on karaoke night realizing he really can sing. And the crowd loves it.

Before Bangers & Cash, Spank Rock broke out with 2006's YoYoYoYoYo -- an album that thrilled some (like Thom Yorke) and offended others (like Pitchfork). But one thing it did unequivocally was establish Naeem Juwan's lyricism and XXXChange's production as razor-sharp: flailing lightsabers instead of Wu-Tang swords and elbowing censors to the side.

The Feelies made a huge mark on rock music in the '80s and '90s, with bands like They Might Be Giants, Yo La Tengo, and R.E.M. citing them as a major influence (and a WFMU DJ reputedly calling them "the best thing to come out of New Jersey since the light bulb").

So it's after considerable anticipation that former songwriter and lead singer Glenn Mercer has come back on the scene with his solo debut, Wheels In Motion -- an album that the Chicago Sun-Times calls "as melodically infectious and hypnotically captivating as the Feelies at their very best."

Lou Reed, the ex-Velvet Underground frontman and widely acclaimed solo artist, has just released two songs inspired by the 2007 documentary Nanking. The film is an anti-war look at the World War II invasion of the Chinese city of Nanking, an event (and portrayal) that is said to have moved Reed immensely, and luckily for his fans resulted in even more creative output.