The result is another eclectic, iconoclastic record that doesn't sound like anything else happening in the world. That the Go! Team can sound as fresh and inventive on Semicircle as they did when they started is an impressive, almost miraculous, feat that defies nature and defines triumphant joy.

Ruins is never complacent, though, keeping its rough, rustic edges, and allowing for the sounds of fingers on frets on quieter tunes like "To Live a Life." Lyrics don't put on a false front, either, and that's ultimately what makes the album linger.

The tones, timbres, and sounds that draw listeners to this type of music are all there, but as a whole, Jaguwar struggle to establish their own voice on this debut.

On Wrong Creatures, it's refreshing to hear a band so wrought with spiritual and emotional demons find their rock & roll grace and let it rip.

Along with the aforementioned "Havana," these [Latin-inflected songs] are easily the most potent songs on the album, and showcase Cabello's effusively resonant voice and playful charisma. Admittedly, the album leans a little too heavily on ballads and midtempo acoustic guitar numbers that work against the vibrancy and momentum of the Latin tracks.

While the bulk of Underworld is immediately enjoyable, there is a lot of material that is ultimately unmemorable, despite a handful of key tracks that serve to satiate until the next release.

While the feisty, Imagine Dragons-meets-Twisted Sister vibe remains their forte, it's Vale's pop proclivities that ultimately win out, suggesting that future endeavors may rely less on fighting the man, and more on working alongside him.

If he sometimes sounds like he leans too hard into his rasp, this vocal tic is mitigated by those songwriting skills and the supple sound of Cobb's production, elements that turn Encore into a minor gem.

Traversing a wide range of moods and textures, World of the Waking State is a highly introspective work, perfectly suited for late nights spent lost in deep thoughts.

It looks like they were having fun, but sounds slightly less so--overall, it's clear that no one here was expecting to blow the industry apart; instead, they sound content just making music and recording the experience.

Ultimately, while it takes on big-picture perspectives and complicated emotions, Mount Qaf is a feel-good release whose hooks and invigorating spirit may be its most powerful takeaway.

Even if Piteous Gate was more abrasive overall, Hesaitix ends up being more challenging, never giving away any easy answers and causing the listener to listen deeper.

Regardless of a stumble or two, Asking Alexandria is well worth a listen. While The Black was a passable offering at a time when it seemed like it would be a permanent arrangement, this reunion simply feels right.

Full Closure and No Details is messy and not entirely focused, but it possesses charm and character, and points to greater things ahead from Cohen.

It's an album that feels lived-in, filled with songs etched from hard-earned experiences with music to match.

A quick blast of rock action that roars with gleeful release.

With his often muted horn and inclination toward long, extended phrases, Scott feels as much like a vocalist as he does a trumpeter. It's a sound contrasted nicely by his bandmates Cook and Pinderhughes, who accent what are often purposefully pixelated grooves with soulful, harmonically nuanced improvisations.

Playful, fun, and steamy, Afternooners is another remarkable collection of obscure heat from the visionary artist.

Lost at Last, Vol. 1 is filled with loose ends and mess. ... Even if Langhorne Slim can't come up with the tunes to suit his sound, that sound is bewitching enough to make Lost at Last, Vol. 1 worth a listen.

As a songwriter Garrie is the consummate craftsman, playing the everyman bard while Olson and Forester's production sets the stage without ever being cumbersome on this strong release.

Even though some of the tracks are a bit slower and obviously produced while Thomas was ill and bed-ridden, they don't seem too sluggish or lazy for their own good. An easy success.

These are complex songs worthy of a band as rich as the Turnpike Troubadours, and both Felker and his group are at a peak on A Long Way from Your Heart.

Wood$ still writes primarily about his indulgences--liquor, weed, pills, women whose acquiescence evidently falls short of his standard--and occasionally shows some vulnerability.

On Pressure, the solid if routine follow-up to Trap or Die 3, Jeezy doesn't deviate from his standard set of themes. He's still rhyming about his rise from the bottom, the product he's shifting, and all the disposable wealth and women that have come with it, all the while castigating would-be detractors and snitches.

The addition of meandering, deeply scuffed instrumentals like "(You Can't Hide)," "Maine Vision," and "(Crowded)" come off a bit like unnecessary exercises marring the terrain. For the most part, though, Bonny Doon is a charmer, rambling contentedly down its lost highway of rickety guitar pop.

With an inspired guest list and excellent production, The Beautiful & Damned is a satisfying artistic accomplishment that cautions as much as it seduces.

The energy level is high and restless, in a near-permanent state of agitation, heightened with machine beats that judder and bounce, synthesizers that plink and probe, and Williams' animated protestations. The rollicking temperament gives all the material, and that includes "Don't Don't Do It!," regarding the fatal police shooting of Keith Scott, a replayable quality.

Their fourth album of 2017 may not be their most exciting of the year, but it is their strongest and shows that King Gizzard don't need any bells and whistles to make a great psychedelic splash.

Provocative and muddled, Revival percolates with ambition but doesn't lack in laziness either.

Steffi excels as both a curator and mixer, crafting an extraordinary mix which feels like one whole composition rather than several pieces stitched together.

Sillion is all top-shelf and one of the strongest releases of his career.

Keeping up with Children of Alice's quicksilver changes and hypnotic passages requires listeners' full attention, but it's well worth it--these ever-transforming soundworlds honor the magic that Broadcast tapped into with Keenan while suggesting an equally fascinating way forward.

Stranger has its cloud-rap niche and should please listeners eager to enter this world, but casual rap fans should arm themselves with enough patience and caffeine before taking the plunge.

The project's new direction is unexpected, and it works quite well. Woolford is still more of a master of dubplate pressure than cinematic soundscapes, but this is a promising direction for him.

While by no means a replacement for the originals, this is a fine collection highlighting several of Funkadelic's many aspects, serving as a party celebrating P-Funk and the Detroit music scene.

Sure, the set meanders a bit too far into the woods here and there, but overall, Elizabethan Times is a winner from two great minds of U.K. pop.

Covered in a shiny electronic gloss, the album flits between slow-burners and mellow pop.

For all the conflict imagery, War & Leisure is often brightly colored, even upbeat.

The future will not be too kind if subsequent efforts continue to climb the stairway to heaven, but there are worse ways to get your Led out. Ramble on, gents.

Small Town is an excellent showcase for this duo; here's hoping it's only a first volley.

Despite its more collaborative origins, Thanks for Listening plays like a singer/songwriter album from Thile, one with moments of humor, poignancy, dread, and playfulness. Particularly "for anyone trying to hear through the din of a boorish year," it captures the Zeitgeist of the first half of 2017 with a very human touch.

What's most important is that nearly everything here is brilliant. Highly recommended for anyone with the urge to plunge deeper into the Fall's tremendous body of work.

Laila's Wisdom is Evans' lyrically broadest and musically richest work, yet it doesn't have the sprawling quality of the first album.

Overall, The Animal Spirits feels very organic, brought about by the spontaneity of the performances, the brief window of time in which it was recorded, and Holden's own evolutionary arc. It also offers a glimpse into the deeper corners of his psyche, peeling back another layer to reveal just how colorful his imagination can be.

It's the razor-sharp precision of his words that allows for effective interlocking with the rest of the band, so much so that they seem to move through each song as a combined force of nature, matching tight yet crunchy instruments to the poignancy of every syllable.

The kind of musically rich and emotionally powerful debut that feels timeless and stands far enough apart from the rest of the music scene surrounding it that it feels like a cleansing blast of fresh air.

The journey to dive into commitment that Dreijer takes her listeners on with Plunge boasts more moods and colors than Fever Ray's debut, or any single Knife album; ultimately, it's some of her most powerful work with yet.

With We All Want the Same Things, Finn has crafted some of the strongest and most moving music of his career, and if his tales aren't often upbeat, they have the ring of truth and will stay in your memory long after the album is over.

The Way Is Read's sequencing, which mixes songs and connective tissue, sometimes within and across tracks, has the effect of an album-length work, if one with distinct tunes. Perhaps its biggest achievement is that it so often seems the work of a single group of nine.

Lackluster as music and downright puzzling as a cultural artifact, Unleash the Love confirms that whatever you think of Mike Love's 21st century edition of the Beach Boys, he's better off doing that than trying to make music by himself.

Rot is the kind of album only a band with a full grasp of rock & roll history could have made--no doubt they've worn out a copy or two of Radios Appear in their time--and it should appeal to anyone who likes their punk scrappy as can be with a bunch of wiry pop mixed in, too.

Overall, this is a strong debut with heart, style, and some nice hooks.

Ultimately, Tribute to 2 is uneven and fuzzy. When it works, it's lovely; when it doesn't, it's a head-scratcher. This is for fans only.

Like Ryuichi Sakamoto's async, Finding Shore seems to find magic in everyday objects and scenes.

Front-loaded with a trio of deceptively powerful singles ("Smoke Signals," "Motion Sickness," and "Funeral"), the ten-track set loses some focus near the end, but Bridgers remains such a compelling presence throughout, that even her less immediate material bears weight.

Although Uzi's post-breakup pain rears its head throughout the entirety of the album, many of the tracks are too fun to get too bogged down in emotions.

A thrumming version of "Afro Blue" excepted, Lilies is a set of originals--one that's enticing and breathtaking in an unconventional, as in almost stifling, sense.

All of this is familiar, so what counts on Prince of Tears is execution, and from top to bottom, it's one of his strongest albums, benefitting from his assurance and lack of nonsense.

As a debut, it has enough standout moments to pique interest in a future when Smith could stand toe to toe with his many inspirations.

With Rest, she grows more fearless as an artist while facing her losses, and the future, with courage and love.

Permo is a fine work by a band finding its feet; a rousing rumble through the wilds of Scottish pop; and the kind of record lovers of knotty guitars, deadpan (but deep) emotions, and undersold (but undeniably lasting) melodies should recognize and embrace like an old friend in new clothing.

Kweli persists as one of the most inspired storytellers, wasting no syllables as he condenses and elucidates complex non-fiction.

With The Architect, Faith has constructed an album of empowered, mainstream pop that retains all of the complexity, artfulness, and raw emotion of her previous work.

Post Self is more moody than direct, and isn't the most hard-hitting, immediate album in the Godflesh catalog, but for anyone who equally appreciates Broadrick's metal and electronic sides, the album is as stunning as one would expect.

Neil is making music for the moment and he doesn't much care if it lasts beyond that day or not, and while living in the moment is a good way to get through life, it doesn't do much for albums.

It's a collection of moments, just like From a Room, Vol. 1, but that's the charm of From a Room, Vol. 2. Stapleton isn't crafting a major statement; he's knocking out a bunch of songs that work on their own terms--and when the two records are combined, it's clear he's the lifer he intends to be.

A bigger soundstage doesn't necessarily suit the BBC sessions, where the primitive production suits the raw performances--for proof, listen to the second disc in the deluxe set, which wasn't de-mixed--but it's ultimately a minor flaw in what's otherwise an essential set.

Retro-conning the existing Songs of Experience material to suit the political climate wasn't the easiest task and the album often shows its seams, particularly when Bono decides to tackle the crisis head-on.

Versatile certainly has its flaws and will likely appeal mostly to longtime fans, but Morrison invests himself in each tune, singing as if he wrote them. This is head and shoulders above similar efforts by his peers.

The soft rock/cosmic country angle of In an Open Field is another chapter that further cements his mastery as a singer, composer, and producer.

This kind of proudly theatrical arrangement would suit Amy Lee well for years, and that's why Synthesis doesn't feel like a holding pattern: It feels like the start of a new chapter.

While the B-52's belatedly embraced electronics on 2008's Funplex, Change finds Wilson doing the same, but from a decidedly different vantage point, and it fits her beautifully; it's a successful musical reinvention that presents her talent in a whole new light.

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.

Compared to the debut, this has a little more definition.

Dark Eyed Messenger is easily the songwriter's most intimate and sparsely decorated album thanks to assistance from Doveman. Their pairing amounts to a nearly alchemical wonder that gives us one of the songwriter's best offerings.

Ultimately, listeners who can embrace the idiosyncrasies of Rothman's voice and the throwback production (don't miss the Kristin Kontrol track, "Jordan," for that niche Casio-and-saxophone sound) will find an intriguing if hit-and-miss set of underlying songs with strokes of classic Brill Building and sophisti-pop.

Not all of his juxtapositions or segues seem to make sense, and the album seems a bit overstuffed, but Jonti's ambition and creativity are undeniably admirable, and the entire album is a delightfully strange trip.

The tracks feel more like musical poems than songs. Poetic lyrics that refer to ogres, unicorns, and ghosts only reinforce this impression. Taken together, the album may challenge even some indie-tuned ears, but at its best, its catchy, composed strangeness is refreshing and compelling.

The Greatest Gift works best as a companion piece to Carrie & Lowell, a variation that offers a different spin on its themes, but it's also a powerful and absorbing work in its own right, and fans of Stevens' work will appreciate it.

Over the course of the album, Sia tries to cover all the moods of the season: "Ho Ho Ho" gets into the Christmas spirit with gin, bourbon, and loopy cartoon sound effects; "Puppies Are Forever" could be from a children's holiday album; and "Sunshine" finds Sia helping a sad friend with heroic doses of Christmas cheer. However, some of the album's best moments tone down the merriment.

Noel knows how to construct a sturdy song and Holmes knows how to dress them up in flashy clothes, and the combination results in Gallagher's best album since splitting up Oasis.

The Wasted Years is a fine collection of works by an overlooked and sometimes underestimated band.

Murderburgers shows that King Khan is growing as a songwriter and a vocalist, and he's a great collaborator, as he and the Gris Gris bring out the best in one another in the studio; hopefully the next bunch of friends he works with will work as hard and as well for him.

Bajas Fresh is a masterful union of the group's jazz, Krautrock, and new age inspirations, and another rewarding chapter in their saga.

Nearly 30 years after the group called it a day, the material on U-Men barely seems to have aged at all; like the best rock & roll outliers, the U-Men created something that was less a product of a specific time and place than music that existed in a world of its own, and that planet is still a wild, fractured, and thoroughly compelling place to visit in the 21st century.

Langford's songs reflect his fascination with the culture and legacy of the American South, for better and for worse, and if his Welsh-accented voice sometimes seems to run counter to the music, Bethany Thomas and Tawny Newsome are both marvelous, putting their own spin on this music while honoring the traditions of Muscle Shoals soul.

Richly textured yet spacious and meditative, L'Orange, L'Orange is some of Kowalsky's most rewarding work yet.

Utterly unpredictable and thoroughly devastating, this album slays from start to finish, and upholds both acts' reputations as groundbreaking artists.

The lyrics sometimes reflect Tweedy's usual tropes as a writer, but Staples gives them a musical and emotional force that sets them apart. Her voice is in splendid shape for a septuagenarian, still supple and able to navigate the twists of the melodies while sailing confidently over the arrangements that fuse indie rock with the feel of '70s soul. ... Quite simply, this is an album America needs.

Soul of a Woman is a rich, life-affirming work from an artist who valued her life and her music too much to not make the most of them up to the very end. This isn't just a fitting farewell to Sharon Jones; it's one of the best albums of her career.

Despite its evocation of many source inspirations all applied in unusual ways, Out Her Space is pure Blau. He never lets his ambitious charts get in the way of his melodies, ample spaciousness, and warm multivalent textures. Add to this excellent core songwriting and inspired playing from all involved, and this date follows Introducing Karl Blau like a falling domino. All killer, no filler.

This album is a trippy, spooky delight.

Low in High School can seem as aurally conflicted as it is politically, and that may be an appropriate look for Morrissey in 2017: He's opted for a mad world of his own creation and doesn't much care whether his fans follow or not.

Upon repeated plays, these lyrics fade, as does the monochromatic production, and what's left is a coming of age album anchored by some strong Swift songs, most of which are bunched at the end of the record.

In a world that's turning upside down on a regular basis, the topical EP may be just the right format for Billy Bragg's socially conscious side, and Bridges Not Walls is smart, insightful music from a man who's made such things his business for nearly 35 years.

Even for longtime fans, Savage Young Dü is revelatory, charting a young band's progress as it achieved its potential for greatness.

If Introduction to Escape-Ism lacks the punch of some of his band projects, this he is as purely himself as you could hope for, and hearing him work his songs over his own thrift store soundscapes is an engaging experience.

Value is bleak, uncertain, and disconcerting, and even fans of Safe might find it a bit hard to connect with, but Visionist has a talent for reaching deep within and channeling existential crisis, and the album is another success. No one said this would be easy.