Paisley's determination to keep This Is Country Music lean and lanky does mean it's not as wily as his other records, but his consummate skill as a musician and big heart are always evident, always keeping things compelling.

Even though she's borrowed a lot here--from Animal Collective, from Pakistani music--Bergsman manages to give it all a tender, sad-yet-sprightly touch that's completely her own.

Even when other albums by Panda Bear or Sonic Boom have suggested positivity and low-stakes fun, none have quite delivered that feeling like Reset does.

Some Reigning Sound fans might miss the harder-rocking side of the band, but if you're looking for ten new Greg Cartwright songs sung with real heart and soul, Shattered is just what you've been waiting for.

Just as it seems like it's about to spin out of control, the band regain focus and add strings that shift it closer to a vaguely country-ish lament, then end the suite with the sounds of distant explosions. ... On the second suite, wayward drums and haunting strings tumble like a ship rocking from side to side, then the group locks into a steady, churning rhythm, slowly getting heavier and hotter until it all seems engulfed in smoke.

The Toronto trio is just a ball of heavy genres, lumping together noise rock, post-punk, hardcore, no wave, or any style that might punish a pair of eardrums.

A truly passionate and expressive collection of songs that will live long in the memories of all who listen to it.

Sure, his collaborators have some of the best beats in the business. But they can't always take up the slack when Bubba's raps start to wither in the heat.

As on the first, the Bragg-written and sung music is the most convincing, since he captures the cadences and spirit of Guthrie's music. They sound like classic, weathered folk songs whereas Wilco's numbers are modern inventions, splicing music that is clearly theirs with Guthrie's words.

Listening to this album, one can't get around the knowledge that it is a posthumous collection made in Cash's last days, but even without that context, it would have much the same impact.

Watershed marks a new chapter for Opeth, one that promises infinitely more than its predecessors.

They have done many good, verging on excellent records, over the past decade, but only this has the songs and the atmosphere to be placed next to their best albums.

His voice is clear over the sparse arrangements, and his words are more direct than before.

The 33 cuts on this sprawling collection offer so many fine and unusual moments, Red Hot + Rio 2 is every bit as unique and groundbreaking, puzzling and dazzling, as its predecessor; only more so.

Three albums in, the young singer/songwriter sounds brave and confident yet breakable and guarded, and while A Creature I Don't Know may not be the bolt from the blue fans and critics were hoping for, it's most certainly storm born.

For now, Dark Roots of Earth improves upon 2008's comeback The Formation of Damnation and, in tandem with those rejuvenated live performances, promises a well-deserved second act for a band that so narrowly missed grasping the golden ring their first time around.

Suffice to say that In the Lair of the Sun God delivers from start to finish, and can't even be marred by Dawnbringer main man Chris Black's strained singing, which falls somewhere between Lemmy, Slough Feg's Mike Scalzi, and frequent collaborator Blake Judd of Nachtmystium, but fits right in with his band's lo-fi aesthetic.

Evoken gave themselves half a decade in which to stockpile this much quality material for Atra Mors--just one of many reasons why what could have been a truly funereal occasion (no pun intended) may instead signal a new lease on life for the group.

An album that's engrossing and just a little hard to break away from--but in a good way, of course.

This theatricality is easily the album's most engaging feature, making The Resistance: Rise of the Runaway a unique offering in an otherwise dull post-hardcore landscape.

Russell's view of history may be romantic but it is also gritty as hell, and enduring. This is his masterpiece.

What makes the record so terrific--and it is one of Stamey's best albums--is how it crackles with a vitality that makes the strong song and studio craft feel vibrant and alive, not a stale exercise in pining for the way things used to be.

Servant of Love is an album that needs a few spins to be fully appreciated, but it's as sincere, heartfelt, and artful as anything Griffin has released to date, and if the form may seem elusive to some listeners, the content is powerful and satisfying, a reminder of why Patty Griffin is one of our best singer/songwriters.

As a composer, singer, and sound sculptor, Hausswolff is in full control on The Miraculous, balancing harshness and intimacy, heaviness and airy melancholy. It's an uncompromising view, but it's also welcoming.

Even with the album's graceful inclinations, it still sounds as bleak its title, but the way the Body combine disparate components into their brand of mutilated "gross pop" is truly fascinating.

The Peace & Truce of Future of the Left is one of their most roaring dissents against the increasingly frustrating state of the world in the 2010s. Of course, this band is angry even when it isn't fashionable, but even so, this is some of their most cathartic music in a while.

It takes nothing for granted. The guitarist accounts for every sound and impression from his instrument and surroundings here, allowing the listener deep inside a sound world at the moment of its creation.

Arrival is a fantastic album and a great piece of film score work, delivering menacing, daunting cacophonies of noise that evoke all types of fear, wonder, and intrigue that are evident within the movie itself.

Oddisee's all-round strengths as producer, mixer, and lyricist make for a more cohesive record, allowing for his personality and message to shine that much brighter.

Graveyard Shift is a highly enjoyable and entertaining continuation for a band that knowingly winks along with the madness they concoct.

Inconspicuousness notwithstanding, Pretty Girls Like Trap Music is among Epps' most significant and enjoyable work.

If the question on The Knife is what is an aging punk rocker to do, then the answer according to Feldmann is keep doing what you're doing--just be sure to be the best at it. It's a brave sentiment, and Goldfinger definitely lives up to it.

Found in Far Away Places, was a bold smorgasbord of stylistic trial and error--but Phantom Anthem is rooted in pure power, and it just never lets up.

The Disarmers are the perfect bunch of honky tonk rockers to help Shook bring these tunes across. 2015's Sidelong showed Sarah Shook & the Disarmers had plenty of potential, and Years shows there are plenty more great songs where those came from.

Created in a time of turmoil, Fighting Season is an album that always reflects the era that informed it, and while Thalia Zedek never pretends to have all the answers, her musings are brave, literate, and full of heart, and this is an important statement from an important artist.

Despite a couple of duds, the gloomy groove of the album is musically vivid and lyrically vulnerable. Taking cues from some of his era of rap's most boundary-pushing figures, Boogie's debut sets the scene for even greater things to come.

1977 was a vanguard year for music, and Cherry Red does a brilliant job excavating and polishing the gems, both obvious and obscure.

Here and throughout A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip, Ron and Russel Mael riff on their history deftly, and the results are both timely and quintessentially Sparks.

A fine showcase for how Sleaford Mods boil down punk and hip-hop's frustration into eloquent outrage and anger, All That Glue helps the converted and newcomers alike play catch-up.

All of his pleasantly confusing sounds align, creating an atmosphere that perfectly communicates the themes of openness and quiet excitement for the entirety of the album.

A pleasing amalgam of propulsive uptempo shoegaze, misty psych-pop, and layered acoustic songwriting, The View from Halfway Down offers an attractive compendium of Bell's accumulated strengths.

Even with the occasional programmed drums, some kind of peace is a consistently tranquil set, with enough shape and variety to the tracks to stave off ambient or easy listening claims.

This is more modest than monumental, and that small scale is appealing in its own right.

While THIB is a back-to-front vibe and an intriguing experiment for Zay's mellowed-out sound, it's one that's still negotiating its own limits.

Whilst it doesn't always stick the landing, the new spaces it does explore are well worth the journey.

Time has shaped their voices fascinatingly, adding comforting heft to Callahan's baritone and resilience to Oldham's warbly tenor. The former lends some warmth to the wry elegance of Steely Dan's "Deacon Blues," while the latter adds a mystical melody to Leonard Cohen's "The Night of Santiago," a spoken-word piece from his final album Thanks for the Dance. When they join their voices, they complement each other perfectly.

The result is a fine archival release that goes a long way toward proving that 1972 wasn't a lost year for the band and that their growing pains and tribulations make for fascinating listening.

All of this adds up to another well-made record that evolved from Squid's origins.

More accessible than past Slauson Malone releases, Excelsior is still a strange, mysterious creation that warrants extensive, engrossed listening.

Thanks to the always sympathetic production, Cottrill's dedication, and the overall strength of the songs, it's a living, breathing sound that end sup as Clairo's most inviting and easy to love record yet.

Caws and Nada Surf hone in so eloquently on the essential, bittersweet ideas at the core of Moon Mirror that their honesty and sweetness can hit unexpectedly hard in the way the best rock albums often do.

If there's one thing that's evident while listening to the refreshing, back-to-basics craftsmanship of Oh Brother, it's that the Goldsmith brothers clearly know what they and Dawes are all about.

In Love Again is a buzzy indie pop delight, full of surprises that pay off handsomely.

Tucked into these strange, loose songs are bits of enduring architecture, interesting philosophies, and the transcendent melodies that have been his bailiwick since the '80s. Of Cope's latter-day records, Friar Tuck is a triumph.

Wasner's music has always felt reflective, but these songs take introspection to a new level and showcase her voice both as a writer and singer. Good art doesn't have to come from darkness, but songs like "Not Yet Free" and "River in My Arms" are proof that riches await on the other side of a crucible.

Long March Through the Jazz Age is a wonderful final statement for Bailey and the Saints: it's reminiscent of their best post-punk work and serves as a reminder for all who may have forgotten that Bailey's skills as a writer and singer were immense.

With its highly developed songwriting, excellent vocal performances, and rootsy production style that support and showcase both albums, Can't Take My Story Away is a career-defining album.

With When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, she demonstrates that she can do it all, hinting at a bright future that could truly go in any direction, as messy and hopeful as youth can get.

Utopia isn't quite as idyllic as its title implies, but its mix of idealism and realism makes it an even greater success as a manifesto for radically open love and as a document of thriving after loss.

It's hard to imagine any of these songs immediately becoming crowd favorites, but as a carefully considered mood piece, Cousin is a powerful, affecting work that once again shows how many great things Wilco can do -- and how well they respond to the right kind of creative direction.

Boasting a mere seven songs, Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Sharon Van Etten's sophomore effort hardly lives up to the lofty promise of its name, but where Epic fails to deliver in size, it more than makes up for in sound.

Joyce Manor make 20 minutes feel way more epic than the running time might promise, and Never Hungover Again ends up as the kind of record that feels like an instant classic.

If Richard Dawson is Fairport Unconventional, Peasant is his Liege & Lief, a strange but fascinating journey through the frameworks of British folk music as seen by one truly unique set of eyes.

Dynamic is just what it is -- these songs show Weiss is again living up to her status as one of the best rock drummers on the planet. ... The songs are splendid, full of clever, catchy melodies, and Coomes' dramatic delivery is a great vehicle for his often topical and always quotable lyrics, taking on a variety of political and social maladies with a wit that's as charming as it is venomous.

First off, a warning: the best way to encounter Mastodon's Crack the Skye for the first time is with headphones. Reported to be a mystical -- if crunchy -- concept record about Tsarist Russia, this is actually the most involved set of tracks, both in terms of music and production, the band has ever recorded. "Ambitious" is a word that regularly greets Mastodon -- after all, they did an entire album based on Moby Dick -- but until now, that adjective may have been an understatement. There is so much going on in these seven tracks that it's difficult to get it all in a listen or two (one of the reasons that close encounters of the headphone kind are recommended). It may seem strange that the band worked with Bruce Springsteen producer Brendan O'Brien this time out, but it turns out to be a boon for both parties: for the band because O'Brien is obsessive about sounds, textures, and finding spaces in just the right places; for O'Brien because in his work with the Boss he's all but forgotten what the sounds of big roaring electric guitars and overdriven thudding drums can sound like. The guitar arrangements on tracks like "Divinations" and "The Czar," while wildly different from one another, are the most intricate, melodically complex things the band has ever recorded. There are also more subtle moments such as the menacing, brooding, and ultimately downer cuts such as "The Last Baron," where tempos are slowed and keyboards enter the fray and stretch the time, adding a much more multidimensional sense of atmosphere and texture. Still, Crack the Skye rocks, and hard! Its shifting tempos and key structures are far more meaty and forceful than most prog metal, and menace and cosmological speculation exist in equal measure, providing for a spot-on sense of balance. Some of the hardcore death metal conservatives may have trouble with this set, but the album wasn't recorded for them -- or anybody else. Crack the Skye is the sound of a band stretching itself to its limits and exploring the depth of its collective musical identity as a series of possibilities rather than as signatures. And yes, that is a good thing.

Ellis may have suggested this level of melodic songcraft on his previous albums, but he never hinted at this wit, and his dexterous combination of craft and humor makes Texas Piano Man a rich, resonant good time.

While lyrics stick better than hooks here, the album is not without a handful of low-key anthems (including the latter track's high-flying, Auto-Tuned "it's gonna be okay"), and the atmosphere manages to be consistently warm and inviting despite its mechanical veneer.

Fancy That is some of Pink's most carefree work, but it's still highly emotional, and its songs are as well-crafted, catchy, and creative as anything else she's done.

Stetson's transcendent and muscular ability to layer sound, breath, and rhythm in a meditative compositional style sticks with you long after Judges is over.

Gary Clark Jr.'s catalog shows he has the talent, intelligence, and vision to make a grand scale musical statement out of any style he chooses, and JPEG RAW only reinforces that notion; he's been creating some of the boldest and most interesting guitar-based music of his time, and this is as exciting and rewarding as anyone could hope.

It cannot be understated how bold it is to go against the grain in a genre where adherence to style can equal respect, but Stormzy's ambition exceeds potential judgment from purists. He's more concerned with expressing himself and adapting to survive, so that he can express further for years to come.

Equally as detailed and as entertaining as The ArchAndroid, The Electric Lady likewise is a product of overactive imaginations and detailed concept engineering, and it also plays out like a sci-fi opera-slash-variety program with style and era-hopping galore.

These are candy-coated rhythmic noise pop songs, and they're astounding.

Throughout, very human lyrics, wistful intervals, a mechanical palette, and components that are sometimes altered to confuse organic and inorganic make for an elegant synth art-pop. Like the world her lyrics inhabit, it is icy and intimate at once.

Resonant Body is an inspiring release that demonstrates the healing qualities of dance music.

Striking a balance between hypnotic pop and cloudy soul-searching, the album delivers all the ends of the spectrum Lennox has spent years perfecting, giving fully realized and refreshingly jubilant examples of a type of pop music so distinctive to its creator, he ends up in a class by himself.

If you're already a serious Mark Lanegan fan, Has God Seen My Shadow covers a lot of familiar ground, but the 12 unreleased tracks amount to an album's worth on unheard pleasures, and if you've never been introduced to Lanegan's music, this is beautiful, challenging stuff for those dark nights of the soul.

While this album isn't quite as adventurous as The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons, it's among the Hives' most consistent. Like its title suggests, The Hives Forever Forever the Hives is a potent reflection of their blunt force, sharp wit, and refusal to sit still.

A representative mix of personal and political atrocities, All That Is Over is far from a grim headbanger, rather offering a cathartic, frustrated call to action that seems timely as ever in its blunt demands for care and safe spaces in a world on fire.

If there's any bone to pick, it's that some of the slower, more atmospheric numbers don't quite gel as well as the rest of the tracks. Still, the high points make Cutouts every bit as worthy of devoted listening as the first two Smile albums.

Revelator is a roots record that sets a modern standard even as it draws its inspiration from the past. It's got everything a listener could want: grit, groove, raw, spiritual emotion, and expert-level musical truth.

Punctuated by DJ Khalab (and Baba Sissoko)'s rolling and disorienting "Kumu," this is Dear's funnest and oddest mix yet.

If Forever Blue was a great debut, As the Moon Rests is a very good follow-up, and leaves no doubt that A.A. Williams is a remarkable talent who is still honoring her singular vision.

The appeal in this refurbished soft rock lies in the atmosphere and supple interplay, how the musicians twist melodic clichés without refuting their power, an execution that mirrors how Webster writes songs that feel slightly off-center: she delivers subtle surprises without neglecting basic pop pleasures.

While it may not be the proper sequel to the ambitious Charli, how i'm feeling now's rawness and immediacy give it an appeal all its own. More than just an interesting social media experiment or a way to fend off quarantine boredom, it's an artistic challenge that's true to the very best parts of XCX's music.

Between the steady maturation displayed by those ensuing color-coded works and the quantity of songs here, both undeniably infectious and innovative, many more fans are bound to embark on the Georgians' strange, strange ride.

Homme has marshaled all of his strengths on ...Like Clockwork and has found a way forward, a way to deepen his music without compromising his identity.

It's a record where Lady Gaga can join in for a six-minute slow-burner styled after prime Faces ("Find Yourself") and feel at home because this is a place where anybody is invited just as long as they share the same vibe. And, as a listener, if you happen to share that vibe, Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real is a pure pleasure.

Poised and spacious, warm and inclusive, and highly provoked, Stonechild is another memorable addition to Hoop's discography.

It's another extremely strong effort for McKenna, whose growing catalog is already known for its quality.

Even at its most wounded and immediate, the cavernous "Riverbed" and the spooky yet oddly comforting "Passions," there is a rich vein of humanity that remains tapped into.

The record is so personal that the only one able to understand every layer is Hynes himself. As a result, Freetown Sound can come across as weighty, indecipherable chaos to some. But for anyone who can relate to him on some level, it's hard not to be in awe of a man as complicated as Devonté Hynes being able to compose such an insightful, personal experience.

While not the project's most mind-bending or boundary-pushing album, it’s their most stunningly gorgeous, and a successful, timely countermeasure to the symbolic cover art depicting a rainbow in flames.

The vocals, the songs, the music, and the production work together to make Singles a one-of-a-kind experience that's nearly perfect.

The art never gets too over-indulgent and it never gets in the way of the songs.

Ultimately, the disc is a mix of Afrocentrifugal explosiveness -- not only from the music, but also from her powerful lyrics that make the political personal and the personal political.

Read & Burn 02 shares its predecessor's hit-and-run aesthetic: it's a post-industrial punk rock barrage of buzzing, stinging guitars; chunky bass lines; and clockwork beats littered with terse, strangled vocals that fall somewhere between bolshy, pre-brawl aggression and football-terrace chants.

Red Devil Dawn is a welcome masterpiece of emotional subtleties -- the great record that Crooked Fingers missed the mark on with 2001's drunken, bluesy and somewhat disappointing Bring On the Snakes.