As the Academy Awards approach, I’m reminded of the great injustice that occurs each year when several very good films, including “Invictus” and “The Road,” are overlooked. However, none have been quite as maltreated as the movie “Nine.” Directed by Rob Marshall, director of the hit film “Chicago,” “Nine” musically leaps into the hedonistic flair and fashion we have come to associate with Italy.

Director Guido Contini, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, looks to recover from a series of flops by artistically unfolding the Italian psyche across the silver screen.

“Realism,” the latest album from The Magnetic Fields, covers up a well-known fact of indie pop: The genius of Stephin Merritt’s song writing cannot be denied. This latest effort is a far cry from those created during the glory days of The Magnetic Fields.

It wasn’t long ago that I’d spend my lazy summer afternoons running around grass fields and watching clouds drift across blue skies. I’d lie beside loved ones and stretch my arms toward the heavens, tracing my fingers along the edges of clouds and imprinting my own designs onto the endless canvas above me.

As I get older, memories like these drift further and further away from my present self. Time carries them to the dusty corners of my mind, where they become distant, distorted, and dreamlike. That’s the funny thing about my memories.

The Fiery Furnaces’s new album “Take Me Round Again” is a testament to refinement — a deliciously simple collection evocative of the first album by Matt and Eleanor Friedberger, “Gallowsbird’s Peak.”

After years of avant-garde experimentation — including tape loops, psychedelic keyboard squelches and narraton by their grandmother for the entirety of “Rehearsing My Choir,” Matt and Eleanor Friedberger have unleashed a catchy, folksy album that retains the depth and romantic disillusion which characterizes their earlier works.

With her fourth studio album, “Rated R”, Rihanna is holding back no punches. She gets rough and aggressive, using no subtleties or confectionary lyrics that a pop princesses would; she’s not that person anymore. A tenacity and ferocious attitude has emerged beneath the sweet, good-natured superstar we envisioned her to be.

But maybe we had it wrong. It’s possible that her stardom and infectious music would have led her down this edgy, slippery slope of celebrity fame, barring the emotional and psychological scars of domestic abuse by Chris Brown.

I feel it’s important that I’m straightforward with you: I love Wale. I drove to Richmond last year to see him in concert, and I know the words to just about every mixtape he’s ever released. I’m that guy at parties who plays his songs instead of the latest Wale or Akon in hopes of converting new Wale fans.

With that being said, I was skeptical when I heard Washington, D.C.-native Wale (pronounced “wah-LAY”) had released his first major label album.

It can be dicey when a musician who is part of a band decides to embark on solo work. History shows it can be quite the hit or miss ordeal for an artist; Smashing Pumpkins fans were probably relieved when Billy Corgan gave up his attempt, whereas Phil Collins was able to find much success apart from Genesis.

This was the big question when Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas announced he would be releasing a solo album. Thankfully, “Phrazes for the Young,” the fourth side project to come from a Strokes member, is an 8-song glass of musical refreshment.

This is just a spur of the moment post inspired by a Stereogum tweet giving us a glimpse of Weezer’s recent musical derailment. Well, you could dismiss it as such or you could take it in the absurdly idealist way that I’m about to. Your choice.

I was once a loyal Weezer fan. Like you I enjoyed their priceless “older stuff” and let that new crap slide (“Make Believe,” etc.). But it got to the point, in my mind, where I was letting so much slide that Rivers and I just grew apart. He had lost sight of the dream and I was stuck in my old-fashioned ways.

Rejoice. Bradford Cox has created a whole new level of experimental rock. Cox, the lead singer of the Atlanta ambient punk band Deerhunter, started his musical solo project Atlas Sound in 1994. “Logos” is his second studio album. The 11-track album, combined with six-track bonus LP, The Rough Trade, were released in Europe Oct. 19 by 4AD and in the United States Oct. 20 by Kranky Records.

Nov. 3. The date all Carrie Underwood uberfans have eagerly anticipated. When Carrie’s newest album hit iTunes at 10:54 p.m. Monday, I hit “buy” with trembling fingers. My mind swirled with questions: “What if I didn’t like this one?” “Will it be better than ‘Some Hearts?’” After hearing the album “Play On” once, I knew that all my worry was for naught — the album blew me away.

After selling more than 10 million copies of her first two albums, Carrie comes to a crossroads with her third: Should she pursue commercial success or artistic growth?