If your desire for that one record that both challenges and inspires you has not yet been satisfied this year, the new album from The Dirty Projectors may be your answer. Bitte Orca offers up a set of songs that defy your usual musical expectations and is overwhelmingly successful.

The French pop band Phoenix continue to write utterly engaging, dance-inspired songs on their fourth studio album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. And while the band has already garnered some minor buzz and success with their previous releases, this new album boasts the potential to draw an even wider fan base.

For as much discussion that's been made about Wilco's decision to self-title their latest album, an equal amount of excitement should surround the music the band churns out on this new effort, Wilco (The Album).

Spektor's light-hearted, nonconformist approach to music helped create a rabid fan base and has certainly upped the anticipation for her new album. A personality seemingly less concerned with success and more consumed in the creative process, Spektor returns with the release of Far.

Back and Fourth marks the fourth studio album from singer-songwriter Pete Yorn, and his first since Nightcrawler in 2006. No doubt an important point in his career, the new album witnesses Pete letting go of responsibilities to which he'd become accustomed and writing perhaps the most personal songs of his career.

Ryan Bingham's sophomore effort, Roadhouse Sun, picks up where his debut album, Mescalito, left off. A strong set of southwestern country songs, Roadhouse Sun speaks to Bingham's life experiences, his trials and convictions.

Who would've imagined that a collection of songs, written and produced by a college student as a belated Valentine's Day gift for his girlfriend would've launched a music career? Well, for Emerson College undergrad Michael Angelakos his six song EP not only served as an overdue present for a loved one, but it launched the career of the yet-to-be realized band Passion Pit. In fact, demand for the EP entitled, Chunk Of Change, grew so quickly around the campus that the rise of Passion Pit seemed inevitable.

One of the year's most anticipated releases, Grizzly Bear's Veckatimest, witnesses a relatively young band take to the studio with a veteran-like attitude. The feverish pitch of anticipation from bloggers and faithful fans alike is answered in an album that is meticulous in its production and lavish in its overall sound.

Abnormally Attracted To Sin, the tenth studio album from Tori Amos is a sprawling, ambitious effort plentiful in its results. The seventeen song collection is clearly a creative outpouring that is seemingly unrestrained by any theme or narrative.

There's that cliché about putting the "bounce back in your step. Well, after recruiting the Austin-based rock band Relentless7 to join forces, Ben Harper not only put the "bounce back in his step," but he refueled with a group of musicians that take his highly emotional songs to an explosive level.