<|°_°|>

I'd like to say for the record that three of these albums were being given away for free.  (Guess which.)

Björk—Post: 3/10
Highs: Isobel
There is no reason to own this album, or even stream it on Spotify for any reason other than curiosity.

Jessie J—Sweet Talker: 4/10
Highs: Ain't Been Done, Burnin' Up featuring (ugh) 2 Chainz, Bang Bang featuring Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj
It's like a NOW That's What I Call Music sampler of pop music from the last couple years.

Foster the People—Supermodel: 7/10
Highs: Pseudologia Fantastica, Are You What You Want to Be?, The Truth
Rock music solid enough to make me overlook how little I like the lead singer's voice.

Tove Lo—Queen of the Clouds: 8/10
Highs: Moments, Habits (Stay High), Like 'em Young
A mature pop album with no bad tracks.  Particularly impressive for a debut, though I'm not sure how much that matters in an era of modern production.

Jason Derülo—Everything is 4: 3/10
Highs: Want to Want Me, Cheyenne
A couple worthwhile pop-R&B songs wedged between some intolerable crap.

Clean Bandit—New Eyes: 7/10
Highs: Rather Be featuring Jess Glynne,  A+E (Live) featuring BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Telephone Banking featuring Love Ssega
I waffled a lot on this one but decided to pick it up.  Nothing on the 29-track two-disc set is bad, though there are plenty of songs that are just okay, balanced out by several that are quite good.

Caravan Palace—<|°_°|> (aka Robot): 9/10
Highs: Lone Digger, Midnight, Wonderland
Infectiously delightful modern swing music.  Would see in concert again in a heartbeat.

Don't miss these excellent singles:
Macklemore and Ryan Lewis—Downtown featuring Eric Nally, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee, and Grandmaster Caz
Miike Snow—Genghis Khan

Not even once:

Zammuto—Anchor
Dizzy Wright—The Growing Process
Giorgio Moroder—Déjà Vu
Kid Cudi—Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven (would still be abominable even if it weren't for the 8-10 minutes of Beavis and Butthead impressions tacked onto the end of various tracks, such as Adventures at 4:18)