It's an aural lava lamp, kicking up slow-bursting explosions of texture and sound.

Kanye West grants taut, grimace-inducing beats, assisted infrequently by Mike Dean and Andrew Dawson, enabling Pusha to pack each one of the seven tracks with characteristically trenchant and terse rhymes. The lyrical focus is similarly laser-sharp.

If Tomorrow's Daughter isn't a great Matthew Sweet album, it's most certainly a good one, featuring a batch of strong songs played with genuine skill and commitment by one of the most distinctive artists in contemporary power pop. If you liked Tomorrow Forever, you'll enjoy the sequel, and even if you missed the first installment, this is well worth a spin for pop obsessives.

The resulting Violet Psalms is more measured, but no less distinctive (and destructive) than previous outings, delivering all of the architectural twists and turns, fragmented rhythms, and surreal narratives that have come to define the group over the years.

A musical getaway, Rebound finds Friedberger freed from expectations, and with a spring in her music's step that hasn't been heard in some time.

While in some ways Testing is more musical than anything we've heard from A$AP Rocky before, it's also more confused, with ideas and musical shifts colliding at times to the point of randomness.

Equally soothing and exciting, heartfelt and innovative, Ecstatic Arrow is Virginia Wing's finest work yet.

Every track on this album is densely constructed, colorful, and unpredictable, and while it may seem lighthearted at first, it manages to cover a wide range of emotions. One of the most inventive debut albums of 2018, for sure.

Shannon in Nashville demonstrates she's capable of more than she's shown us in the past, and this is an experiment that succeeds with flying colors.

Soil captures a passionate, complex artist coming into his own.

The epic length of Our Raw Heart requires patience. While it unfolds slowly, the reward is big. It's shot through with musical invention and a clarity that makes it the new high-water mark in this trio's oeuvre.

On Prequelle, Ghost deliver fully on the promises of earlier records. Their strengths--including one for imitation--are fully assembled and focused in an exercise of irresistible arena rock excess without sounding like a pastiche.

Li's defeat and grief are palpable, yet she delivers with such grace and control, which offers a glimmer of hope for the fellow romantically downtrodden. With production to match, so sad so sexy succeeds in providing a relatable therapy session for love's final gasps.

Flasher appear to have arrived fully formed, with a deeply satisfying debut that's both coherent and imaginative.

Collectively, the songs play like movements of a single work, making for a consistent set of low-light, David Lynch-ian ambience.

Without Tinsley nor the late LeRoi Moore, Dave Matthews Band doesn't seem as loopy or rangy as it did in its prime, yet this leaner sound suits a middle-aged Matthews who is comfortable in his skin yet restless in his mind.

The Alligator Bride is louder and prouder than Mansion Songs, but it's also somehow more relaxed, as if there is nothing to prove. Hopefully, Miller will keep this rocking line-up together for the foreseeable future.

It's an impressive formula for a debut, and one that succeeds whether listeners are tuning in more for the soundscape or more for the sentiment.

With Hell-On, Case has once again given herself an ideal showcase for her talents as a vocalist, songwriter, and producer; it's lush but intimate, and one of the strongest and most satisfying records she's delivered to date. Which, given her catalog, says a great deal.

The EP is classic Mazzy Star, showing none of the ravages of time one might expect and still making beautiful music that weaves a spell that's hard to break.

It doubles down on his distinctively mellow, '60s- and '70s-vintage sound. This time around, after demoing the songs with a four-track tape machine, he borrowed an eight-track reel-to-reel recorder to capture the official takes with his band.

The extensively detailed liner notes feature interviews with the musicians as well as plenty of gorgeous photos, but the music itself is the main attraction, and it all sounds uniformly incredible.

To dive into Whale City is to immerse yourself in the stranger side of rock & roll, but it's worth losing your mind over.

It's not difficult to call an album as multi-layered and fascinating as Age Of a landmark work.

Noonday Dream can feel ephemeral at times, but never is it unpleasant, even when it's fishing for emotional truth in unstable waters. Introspection rarely feels this inclusive.

https://www.allmusic.com/album/gods-favorite-customer-mw0003172246

Despite these two tracks ["Psy-Fi/Fantasy" and "Forever Jung"] and the presence of electronics, 1984 is memorable for its folky, Scout Finch-like recollections that mix the playful, unfortunate, and innocent.

Vibras is more consistent and varied than Energia. Its songwriting, performances, and production are truly inspired, making for an utterly compelling listen and one of the essential soundtracks of summer.

A really good album; one that shows Rault reshaping his sound and sounding even better than before.

Not everyone who digs Donovan's more rock-oriented projects will connect completely with How to Get Your Record Played in Shops, but if you want to experience his musical vision in primal form, this merits your time and attention.

Emotionally effective but quite different from anything he's done prior, it's an endearing, rewarding peek into Davis' interests outside of his day job.

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

It's truly a team effort and the result is a heartbreakingly emotional record that sounds great and has tunes that will leave the listener humming long after the final melancholy notes fade.

The most impressive thing about Love is Dead might be that as big as its sound gets, Chvrches never lose touch with the humanity that's at the core of their music.

Argonauta is, by the nature of its inspiration, a brooding work, but it's also a comfort, providing a place to sit amongst warm tones, elegant harmonies, and pensive understanding.

Stylish and yearning, Love Yourself: Tear is BTS at a polished and focused peak, cohesive enough to feel like it was conceived in one particular period rather than cobbled together like some of their previous releases.

Throughout Wildness, Lightbody pushes his message with evocative lyrical imagery and the consoling empathy of someone who has fought the battle and emerged triumphant. The result is one of the most comforting and relatable inclusions in the band's catalog.

Their playing is energetic and in good spirits, and most importantly, their positivity never sounds forced or unnatural. They're not acting like clowns and forcing anyone to smile, and they never sound too eager to please. They're simply having a good time and making relaxed, not-too-heavy boogie rock fit for a summer gathering or a road trip through the desert.

If the decision to make Tunnel of Love, Human Touch, and In Concert into double LPs means they're slightly cumbersome listens, they nevertheless sound wonderful, and that's the ultimate reason for acquiring this box: these records have never sounded--or have been presented--better than they are here.

Rich and soothing, it's a focused and warmly crafted debut that sounds unlike anything else in Watson's previous recordings.

All the songs may be good, but they're given life by a group that has been broken in by endless dates on the road, a difference that helps turn Weiner's best set of songs into Low Cut Connie's best album.

Like its predecessor, the album revels in the dark and danceable timbres of English, German, and American clubs circa Joy Division, Suicide, early Cabaret Voltaire, et al.

While the acoustic treatment is more effective on some tracks than others (certain Alex lyrics and melodies demand noise, including "Filthy Luck"), the naked distress of these versions often delivers its own power.

Beerbongs & Bentleys is an apt reflection of his lavish lifestyle and his subsequently begotten hardships, but its attempts at sincerity work only when Post Malone stops trying so hard.

Harris takes a minimalist approach on Grid of Points, but she imbues it with so much feeling that it could never be called slight.

Similar to her previous works, composer Christina Vantzou's fourth solo album blends orchestral and electronic instruments as well as unearthly voices, resulting in slow-moving, calmly introspective soundscapes.

As her first official salvo into the pop arena, Speak Your Mind hints at an enticing amount of potential for Anne-Marie and her engaging vocals.

Kinetic and heartfelt, Beautiful Thing lives up to its name and delivers some of Taylor's finest solo music yet.

Taken as a whole--SR3MM is nearly two hours long--the album is a serious time investment. However, broken up into three parts as intended, it provides a trio of easily digestible bites that gives Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi freedom to indulge their own artistry while maintaining their bond as a duo.

Somehow more sophisticated and savage, Welcome Strangers is quite a leap from the bucolic folk of their debut and quite a bit more exciting too.

Those who are open to hearing the band take on a variety of styles and bend them to their will should be very happy with Wide Awake! Those who want the band to crank out an album of just bitter, bopping punk may have to wait until next time.

Success may have almost spoiled Puth, but it fueled his upward creative swing.

Bay never seems like he's pandering; he sounds thrilled that he has a chance to make the kind of layered, genre-bending pop that he wants to make, and listeners may well find that freedom alluring.

With its fascination quotient running so high, Walker's musical restlessness generously offers a sense of welcome anticipation that listeners can return to almost endlessly.

Malkmus may still stand on the outside smirking, poaching different elements of the underground and mainstream, assembling them in a fashion that's undeniably unique, but the craft and cleverness of Sparkle Hard can't disguise the simple fact that he means this music, man.

The album isn't an album of a moments, it's a collection that sustains a mood. A mood that's ragged and slack, but too dulled to charm.

Hundreds of Days finds Lattimore gracefully adapting to her new surroundings, adding new dimensions to her sound but keeping its dreaminess and sentimentality intact.

While Rausch initially doesn't feel like quite as much of a momentous occasion as Narkopop did when it first arrived, it certainly isn't any less beautiful, and holds up to repeated listens as well as anything else in the project's essential discography.

The melodies are engaging, and the turns of phrase are typically sardonic, with song highlights arriving via the breezy but narratively decadent "Everybody's Coming Together for the Summer" and the winking opener, "Angry Man on a Small Train." It's also nearly impenetrable for anyone outside of the U.K., as it's immeasurably steeped in the region's culture and vernacular.

Turner nails the concept, wallowing in warped dreams and painting widescreen soundscapes, but the foundation is wobbly; at a glance, it's impressive, but the slipshod details reveal themselves upon close inspection.

At 13 tracks, Let's Make Love drags just a little, especially in its first quarter, but as a whole, it's a welcome comeback from an enduringly creative act.

The Siren's Song is perhaps a bit too gentle in its attack to make Kacy & Clayton stars, but anyone with an interest in modern-day folk music will be happily mesmerized by it.

Prodigal Son is yet another act of committed intention from one of American music's greatest guardians and purveyors. In its grain, aesthetic pleasure and the will for justice converse and ultimately convince the rest of us to act.

The album's pace slows down a bit in the second half, making it seem a bit front-loaded, but the swagger and tuneful songwriting that hooked fans in the first place remain in full effect here.

This album is smart fun from a band that actually makes something fresh out of the sounds of the past, and as long as La Luz keep doing that, they'll be worth hearing.

With Brent, Dave has a singer/songwriter who is sly, well-versed in the history of country and funky Americana, who places equal emphasis on the song and the performance. As a result, Providence Canyon is fleet on its feet but also substantial: it’s a record that can be enjoyed as a vibe, as a sharp musical interplay and as a set of song that are malleable yet enduring.

Mark Kozelek is as long and rambling as one would expect from the singer/songwriter, but his mixture of poignancy, humanity, and levity continues to make his music worth hearing.

Throughout 7, Beach House feel more concerned with capturing moments fully rather than conforming to notions of what a cohesive album is. That these songs sound like they came from different albums is ultimately more refreshing than disorienting, and the excitement that courses through each track is palpable.

At its core, Attention Attention is a fun, engaging ride, maintaining Shinedown's power while making subtle bids to attract a wider audience.

There really isn't anyone else who combines ear-bleeding noise, desolation, and ravenous beauty like the Body, and I Have Fought Against It is one of their most emotionally heavy albums yet.

There's nothing fashionable about the Sea and Cake's music, and therein lies much of their charm.

Murmurations is a standout moment for Deep Throat Choir, while in the Simian Mobile Disco canon it sits as an interesting and pleasant experience but, ultimately, a sideline in their discography.

What makes the record so satisfying is how Millsap winds up fusing this thoroughly Southern sound with his literate, folky storytelling, which means that Other Arrangements is vibrant and alive even when he's evoking styles that have been around for ages.

Just as the group's first two albums fit into the shoegaze revival category without coming close to playing by the rules, Miserable Miracles demonstrates Pinkshinyultrablast's truly unique approach to making pop music, which is equally as exciting and refreshing.

All eight compositions do a fine job of painting audio portraits of locations one might remember from childhood, with each maintaining a distinct character, but also resembling background scenery. Recommended for fans of Robin Guthrie's solo albums who are in the mood for something just a little bit less hazy or drowsy.

Godfather II isn't bad, but coming after a career highlight, it's quite disappointing.

Much of the spooky sparseness of Girly-Sound was stripped away on Exile in Guyville, which in this context feels big, bold, and colorful--not the beginning of something, but rather the culmination of fearless bedroom exploration. When paired, it's impossible to deny that both Exile and Girly-Sound retain their artful power: What's amazing about this reissue is, it points out how distinct those two projects are.

Maximizing that powerful female energy is Tennessee-raised lead singer Rachael Price, whose dusky, highly resonant vocals, reminiscent of Dusty Springfield, ground the album with a warm virtuosity. It also doesn't hurt that Kearney, guitarist Mike Olson, drummer Mike Calabrese, and touring keyboardist Akie Bermiss frame her in earthy, organic arrangements with a tactile, live-in-the-studio feel.

If Shakey Graves sometimes seems to overplay his arty hand, pushing the record toward the brink of murk, it's the price of ambition and there is much here to admire.

Like so many records of 2018, it is clearly cut together on computer, with dense rhythms competing with smooth surfaces--but also not chasing pop trends. Instead, it's a mature modern album, one filled with questions but also curiously settled, a combination that makes World's Strongest Man more rewarding with each listen.

As the value of Cole's witticisms, and the intellect required to decrypt full meaning of his verses, continues to be debated, the increased strength in his clear-cut writing evinces promise of greater work ahead.

At 33 minutes, the album is an intense but abrupt ride, with both musicians soaring into bold new territories. For dedicated fans who couldn't get enough, pre-orders of the album were bundled with a bonus disc containing eight additional tracks from the same sessions, which are just as mindblowing as the album proper, if not more so.

It's a wonderful debut, and even if Clarke and Cut Worms veer away from this sound in the future, at least he will have left the world this one slice of genius retro-pop.

Be More Kind is musically inventive in its use of punk, folk, soul, and electronica but deceptively simple in its message, which is as complex as the times we live in.

Profoundly authentic, nostalgic, and graceful throughout, The Horizon Just Laughed does nothing less than reaffirm that Jurado is one of the best songwriters in the business.

The singer and songwriter's second album similarly displays different approaches that skillfully build off and depart from the previous release.

As striking as Immunity was, Singularity feels more developed, and it's ultimately a tough call as to which album is more exciting.

They're a band who refuse to stop moving and exploring their sound, emerging every time with a more refined approach to the music. That they can achieve this with integrity should be celebrated, except maybe this time with a bottle of red wine instead of cheap beer.

An absurdly emotional, innovative album.

The set's detailed liner notes are fascinating and well written, and the music is as lovely and evocative as one would expect from Eno's ambient works.

Anxiety-stricken yet somehow finding ways to enjoy life, BMSR sound creatively re-energized on the excellent Panic Blooms.

While Megaplex has its moments, the pleasures are fleeting and listeners aren't left with much meat to stick to their bones.

It's easily the band's most direct album, but rather than dumbing things down, they've removed anything that might get in the way of their messages. The more defiant they are, the more accessible they get, and they kick off the album with some of their hookiest songs.

While this is easily the most loaded Monáe album in terms of guests, with Brian Wilson, Stevie Wonder, and Grimes among the contributors, there's no doubt that it's a Wondaland product. It demonstrates that artful resistance and pop music are not mutually exclusive.

Rather than breaking the mold, Dr. Dog instead double down on their strengths to make Critical Equation a surprisingly vital outing.

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.

Conquistador marks another fine chapter in this intrepid frontiersman's musical journey.

Altogether, it's a rock-solid set, notable for good songs as well as a distinctive if simultaneously throwback sound.