Virtually every element, whether played or programmed, is in service to Parks' sybaritic visions, and they all stimulate movement free from restraint.

The abiding impression left from this album is one of comfort, not despair, which makes Morning Phase distinctly different than its companion Sea Change.

Not only is it their best-sounding album yet, totally alive and raw, but it contains some of the hookiest songs and most thrilling performances of their almost-35-year career in rock & roll.

There's plenty more heavy material to uncover (including a song called "Coma"), though it's all wrapped in a captivating musicality that combines the power of folk storytelling, poetry, and rock angst. In the case of Capacity, it's a quiet power.

By choosing to take on the subject [mental health] head-on, they've crafted an album which is half-noise rock record and half-audio representation of Kiely's mind. While it may be a struggle to listen to for anyone caught unaware, it's that same struggle that makes their output so captivating as an experience.

If the game needed Illmatic, this is the one Nas needed to get out of his system, acting as a clearing house for all venom and bile, plus some gloss that doesn't fit but needed to go as well.

It's easily the most accomplished work yet from the mighty S U R V I V E, who tower over the majority of other synth-wave revivalists.

While Picaresque follows its predecessor's -- the treacly Her Majesty -- predilection for seafaring and mythology, its boot-covered feet are more firmly planted in the present, resulting in the group's most accessible -- and decidedly upbeat -- product to date.

Listeners willing to approach The Ruby Cord on its own terms will be treated to a remarkable, thoughtful, and emotionally literate cycle of songs that ranks with his most rewarding work.

If there's a knock against Take Me to the Alley, it's that it feels a bit long. Editing out two or three tunes would have heightened its impact. That Porter doesn't break new ground here isn't a big deal; he doesn't need to.

As good as each of these songs is individually--and there isn't a bad song in the bunch--what's best about From a Room, Vol. 1 is how it holds together. There's no grand concept here: it's just a collection of good tunes, delivered simply and soulfully, and that's more than enough.

They Want My Soul is more of a welcome return than a comeback, and too complex to be considered back-to-basics--especially when they reinvent the basics on each album.

Abandon is an exercise in precision, drawing in its prey and exposing it to a sonic assault that will leave it both exhausted and enlightened.

The album is highly focused and engrossing, and continues Hauschildt's run of nearly flawless albums.

On Deep Politics, Grails sound more like themselves than ever, while taking their music to an entirely new level.

At the surface, the temperature is icy. But like a cold lake's waters, the music of Public Strain becomes less drastic; comforting even, given time.

Splazsh and R.I.P. remain Cunningham's most novel and creative full-lengths, but this thrill-filled one, whatever it's about, is his most direct.

Equally steeped in Southern and Midwest Gothic Americana, the son of a pair of neuroscientists has crafted his most unique collection of songs to date, borrowing characters from mythology, literature, and world history and letting them run wild in the increasingly adventurous, neo-traditional folk style that his become his forte over the last decade.

Altogether, A Fever Dream is confrontational, warped, emotionally and aurally high-contrast, and full of turmoil, but reliable in its infectiousness.

Moments of unfulfilled anticipation and endless, directionless drifting might make Antidawn seem difficult compared to other Burial releases, but there's something quietly powerful in the way he's able to express the sensation of being inexplicably lost.

The sense of fun that buoyed Loner and Superstar is muted on The Art of Forgetting, but the intelligence and songwriting chops are very much there, and this music brilliantly merges form and content, an exercise in pop music as therapy that's intensely personal and easily relatable.

Some songs come across as organic as anything from Michels' past. Whatever the method employed, all the productions are worthy of the hard-boiled South Philly griot. Glorious Game does not dilute the Black Thought catalog, either. Thought switches subjects and vantage points with typical ease and is almost as piercing throughout as he was on Cheat Codes.

It's a keen and catchy, often poetic, always emotionally honest outing that raises the bar on the project's already well-established strengths.

Package it all together in an album that's sensibly sized and runs smooth as silk, and the evolving and growing Mount Kimbie remain a keeper.

It's an album filled with wonderful moments from the delicious grooves of "Evil" to "Mother Fighter's" entrancing hooks, and they only ever serve to deepen Shah's message.

While first-timers to this era would be best served listening to the parent album first, existing fans who can't get enough of that LP will find Club Future Nostalgia to be an absolute blast.

True to form, Shamir continues to push boundaries as the album comes to a close with the dramatic vocals and strings of "In This Hole." Moments like this make it clear that this album isn't a simple return to pop for Shamir; it's a wide embrace of everything he can do with his music -- at this point in his career, anyway.

Power more than lives up to the high standards Sarah Tudzin established on Let Me Do One More, and if you're in the mood for smart, insightful indie pop that's not afraid to rock, Illuminati Hotties is a band you need to hear.

Plague Vendor have captured the feeling of youthful defiance that spurred the genre's pioneers to action, and while their debut might not be long enough to be the soundtrack to your late-night antics, it's the perfect album to light the fuse on a night you probably won't remember in the morning.

Easily his richest, most complex music to date, A Western Circular is where Archer reaches the sound he's been striving towards.

Taken as a whole, Blowout is Kirby's most adventurous record as well as his most accessible, thanks to hip arrangements, imaginative compositions, and focused, expert musicianship.

Overall, Rebuilding is a winsome and rather wistful listen from a complementary pair of musicians who could certainly find their niche as occasional film composer

Easily Taylor's best solo album, Paris in the Spring is a moving, playful, and accomplished statement that'll strike a chord with anyone weathering a crisis.

An improvement over & the Charm, Written Into Changes demonstrates Emerson's growing prowess as a pop songwriter.

Sleaford Mods' range keeps growing along with their success. It's a slightly more disjointed experience than Spare Ribs, but Fearn and Williamson are making music for themselves first and fighting back against evil and stupidity the only way they can.

The album is densely dynamic, but never relies on loud-then-soft clichés or screaming histrionics to make any of its points.

Unity feels richly varied instead of disjointed, and it's a testament to Wood and Day's creativity that they're still finding fresh ways to express themselves this far into their career.

It's brave, smart, honest, and expressive -- an uncompromised vision from musicians with something to say and the means to say it. It's another triumph from one of the finest, most satisfying bands in the indie underground.

Should've Learned By Now makes it clear things still aren't always a breeze for them, but they've learned sometimes you just need to plug in that guitar and shake off the bad times as best you can, and they've done so like the great band they are. Put this on, turn it up, and join them in the party.

What impresses is the consistency. Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016 not only is a strong set of songs but it makes it plain that White has been mining the same territory, finding something new within it for nearly two decades.

Konoyo takes several listens to fully appreciate, as do most Hecker releases, but it's another excellent example of the distinct mixture of bleakness and majesty which he excels at creating.

Liars and Prayers' only flaw may be that its unflagging intensity is almost overwhelming, given that the album is nearly an hour long, but it's still some of Zedek's most thoughtful and full-bodied work.

Bogguss has been quick to say that this is not a tribute album, but of course it is, both to the power and rough-edged beauty of Haggard's songwriting, and to Bogguss' creative and spiritual affinity to singing those songs. It's a match made in Honky Tonk Heaven, actually, although don't expect to hear any of these tracks on contemporary country radio.

Just like the Aurora Borealis on the front cover, Northern Passages is something mysterious, dark, and beautiful, and it's a further reminder that the Sadies are one of the truly great, original bands of their day.

She grafts and threads striated post-bop harmony, edgeless dissonance, and kinetic drama simultaneously, then blurs the edges expressionistically in crafting a detailed, multivalent, resonant, deeply satisfying whole from seemingly disparate individual elements.

Down in the Weeds avoids being either a phoned-in nostalgia trip or a wildly new direction that would alienate fans. Instead it continues Bright Eyes' evolution without skipping a beat, and manages to be one of their stronger records in the process.

Pair Akron/Family with Angels of Light and what you get, apologies to the label-sensitive, is Grade A art rock.

It's rare that a band gets better after releasing a few albums; usually their initial inspiration gets used up and they are left foundering. Wye Oak have done it, and on Civilian, they insert themselves into the upper echelon of indie rock bands.

As sprawling and combustible as this entire album seems, all of the musicians maintain a deadly, razor-sharp focus, and the whole thing is powerful and full of purpose and conviction. Completely unbelievable.

Amelia might have worked better if Anderson had kept the focus on Earhart's internal dialogue as she struggled to live up to the goal she set for herself and why she chose such a brave and challenging feat, but as it is, it's a collection of interesting ideas and striking moments where the whole doesn't quite equal the sum of the parts.

McKee's High Dive is simply an awe-inspiring album and easily her finest recorded moment.

Though Herbert has outdone himself and matches his ambitions with his achievements, the songs are unmistakably his and Siciliano's, sounding like no one else, twisting and swinging and drifting with optimum vibrancy.

While it may not bring anything too new to the table, it still makes for a delicious spread.

Blueprint confirms that album's excellence was no fluke, and as she approaches 60 years of age, Alice Bag is one of the most exciting and compelling new artists currently making music. Let's hope she has another album this good in her to make this a hat trick.

Tool managed to improve and perfect their sound even further, resulting in one of the strongest statements in their catalog. Whether 10,000 days or the actual 4,868, Fear Inoculum was well worth the wait.

By tuning in to his past, Lopatin shares something special with his audience. Equally challenging and comforting, Magic Oneohtrix Point Never just might be the album that moves listeners who appreciated, but didn't fully embrace, his previous music.

Deep in View is a sturdy, engaging, and highly listenable debut that feels less like a continuation of Ought and more like a new path branching off some of their best work.

The result is rich and resonant, a testament to the power of communal music over solo soul-baring.

Hospice may have been organic and fragile, but Burst Apart is sleek and self-assured, and the new image suits Silberman and the Antlers well.

Without it ever deliberately going for the jugular, Nuclear Daydream is nevertheless an album that is difficult to shake out of your ears; moreover, it's one that only grows stronger with every repeated play.

Album closer "Banganesiba" finds Tal National climbing to the summit of their collective powers, the song encapsulating all the mesmerizing guitar patterns, blinding polyrhythms, and joyous, celebratory currents of the rest of the album as a whole.

There's no fat, no excess, so the craft that services the emotion is difficult to deny.

More often than not, Avatar is stunningly beautiful, even if the definition of that word needs to expand a bit to embrace it.

It's easily his best, most enjoyable work.

Stapleton could use a bit of Petty's flair -- there's not a lot of humor here, nor are there any flirtations with modern sounds -- but his straight-ahead style nevertheless satisfies on Starting Over.

On Intercepted Message he's filled the music with enough frantic energy and lyrical urgency that this clearly comes from his musical imagination, even if it explores new territory, and as a loving re-creation of the futuristic sounds of the past, it's well worth a listen.

Perhaps there are no permanent additions to her canon here, but the remarkable thing is how satisfying an album this is: it sounds good and the songs are sturdy, proof that Parton is far from resting on her laurels.

Motion Graphics is a highly intriguing album of warped bitstream pop.

This glorious, vulnerable set offers pure collaborative inspiration at once strident and vulnerable, minimal, and aesthetically expansive.

Just as Holly Herndon's debut album Movement had abundant layers in its title alone, its follow-up Platform is just as nuanced in how it combines political, technological and structural and ideological concepts into a single word.

Tyler and a motorcade's worth of supporting vocalists fulfill the promise and threat with what plays out, a creatively vital and emotionally heartsick set with as much pain, vulnerability, and compulsion as a classic soul LP.

Too insider to cross over or consider one of their classics, but an otherwise solid Fall effort offering everything fans require.

Spaced over 17 tracks and 70 minutes, it's a rich listen, demanding headphones but rewarding the investment.

X'ed Out is more fleshed-out, listenable, and revelatory than one could ever expect.

It all makes for riveting listening for anyone willing to let Vessel punish--and reward--their ears.

A 25-minute blast of brief, confused, oversaturated synth rock tunes, All Day Gentle Hold! is over before you know it but won't soon fade from memory.

There's not much one can do to deny the emotional weight or the eerily '70s character of Goon; it's probably best to settle into the La-Z-Boy, flick feathered hair off of your polyester lapel, grab a box of tissues, and let it be.

For the most part, the album showcases Oneohtrix Point Never's restlessness and ambition in flattering ways; if it's equal parts mystifying and beautiful, it's also a puzzle well worth trying to figure out.

The sonic sea change is deliberate, but given what a vastly musical band the Bad Seeds have always been, this more economical approach is jarring and delightfully unsettling.

Between the exquisite wordplay and dusky melodies, there's plenty to return to in these tunes.

A sense of excited satisfaction runs through L'Ami du Peuple, finding a still curious and motivated Kinsella a little bit older, but learning new things all the time and coming up with some of his best songs yet.

It's a shame that such a vanguard effort is weakened by a few clever and jokey interludes that don't warrant a return, but that just leaves Shabazz Palaces room for a proper masterpiece as the brilliant Lese Majesty is so very close.

Sea Island feels like an evolution of the sounds and ideas he explored on his previous full-length, 2012's excellent Sketches from New Brighton, and the short-form releases that followed it, the piano-driven Intervalo and his split EP with the British ambient group Fieldhead.

The digital kick drum sounds wander across the stereo field as Ambarchi deftly mixes in sounds ranging from his own haunted guitar harmonics to synth gurgling from Jim O'Rourke and even long stretches of heavily lingering string arrangements from the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.

He doubles down on funk and digitally erased cultural boundaries without losing a specific sense of self or place.

Shine on Rainy Day is personal and soulful, with little of contemporary country's gloss and a stripped-down, earthy poeticism that some have likened to Kris Kristofferson's early albums

The presence of the Glorifiers adds an exclamation point as gospel music's past and present are seamlessly united. This is nothing less than essential for fans of American roots music.

There aren't many current groups that do what Antibalas does so well, especially in the United States, and Where The Gods Are In Peace reminds us they take their art and their message seriously, even as their music generates an impressive degree of joy.

This warm, soulful undercurrent, along with the wry sense of humor, elevates The Knowledge, turning it into a masterly latter-day work.

While some older fans who haven't kept up with Buffy Sainte-Marie's work from 1992's Coincidence and Likely Stories onward might be surprised by the sound and spirit of Medicine Songs, this music leaves no doubt that she has no interest in aging gracefully; at 76, she's as fierce, aware, and committed as any artist a third her age, and these tunes speak to the madness of 2017 with a stunning clarity.

Chenaux has made a gorgeously hypnotic record that feels like a genuine break from life's often aggressive pace.

While challenging, the album seems to symbolize a struggle to achieve balance and harmony, and the results are frequently exciting.

Self-aware and unrepentant, the Struts succeed where other artists who look to the past often fail, in large part because, like the Darkness before them, they possess both pop smarts and considerable amounts of moxie.

It Rains Love is a master class in the art of modern soul music from an artist who only gets better and wiser as he matures.

Older, wiser and more concerned with the greater good than selfish excess, Duff McKagan's punk edge hasn't left him, but instead has been refined into a loving world view that believes there's still a chance for humanity. This bright outlook combines nicely with some of the strongest and most disarming songwriting of McKagan's winding career.

As promising as Dommengang's first two albums were, No Keys, with its dark, swirling emotions, layered sound, and canny songwriting, stands head and shoulders above them in both imagination and execution.

It's a nice dose of rock & roll, but the heart of Sunset Kids lies at twilight, when the day is done, and there are some lingering regrets, but still a glimmer of hope. That bittersweet undercurrent is what lifts this album into the ranks of one of Malin's best records.

One Step Behind sees Garcia Peoples continuing their rapid, curious evolution. That the band can take such a huge leap from their previous material in such a short period of time points to an even more radical exploration of what's to come.