A superb set of smart and literate pop music that nods to the past, present, and future, In Triangle Time is another great record from a man who knows how it's done.

A Coliseum Complex Museum is further proof that the Besnard Lakes are a band with big ideas and real vision, and just as importantly, they have the talent and focus to makes those ideas into something worth hearing.

Curve of the Earth wastes little time in setting the controls for the heart of the sun with the lead single "Telomare," a big, atmospheric blast of anthemic, mid-'90s stadium rock that segues nicely into the equally dreamy "Bombay Blue." From there things bounce back and forth between the bucolic and the sublime.

It's exciting to hear someone so young and confident on the cusp of greatness.

Compared to the impressive and occasionally brilliant Venice, this album's mix of high and hard times has deeper resonance.

Key track "Rhythm Is All You Dance" is the zeitgeist with a thumb piano plus a keyboard line that's kin to the Ohio Players' "Funky Worm," but this excellent debut is a journey worth taking from beginning to end, and often.

It's easy to appreciate the music on Dystopia; it showcases Mustaine and a crack new version of Megadeth at a creative peak.

Even if said listener is inundated with shiny, R&B-based pop, as is anyone who has access to a radio or the Internet in 2016, there's something about the way Chairlift operate that helps them to stand out just enough to truly shine.

After releasing one of the best and boldest albums of her career with Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone, Williams goes from strength to strength with The Ghosts of Highway 20.

In the Magic Hour lives up to its title. O'Donovan's sometimes searing, always poetically rendered lyrics are matched by astute, economically articulated melodies.

On Pond Scum, these songs seem to escape fully formed from Oldham's soul, even the no-frills cover of Prince's "The Cross," and if one has to take an educated guess about which Bonnie "Prince" Billy we get on this album, it's certain that what he has to say is well worth hearing.

Third Law is a startling, fascinating listen and another triumph for Porter.

As extreme music, Bloodiest is excessive, unforgiving, and unrelenting. It's bent and twisted. As such, this album nearly dictates compulsive listening.

Williams remains the data-age Gil Scott-Heron plus a collaborator who elevates, as Reznor, and now Warfield, have both upped their game in the presence of such a radiant creative force.

The whole thing comes off as an imaginary Tricky radio station where the DJ plays his own stuff and mixes himself into other artist's tracks, so if alternate views and unclassifiable collections are desired, Skilled Mechanics isn't a lark or a side project but a necessity.

A record that exists out of time but feels fresh in how it evokes portions of our collective past.

By the end of Anti, Rihanna may not arrive at any definitive conclusions about her art but she's allowed herself to be unguarded and anti-commercial, resulting in her most compelling record to date.

Pawn Shop never dwells on such contradictions. It rolls along, easing from funky little workouts to immaculate ballads, the duo benefitting from a heightened sense of craft aided in part by the collaborations of such pro songsmiths as Craig Wiseman, Barry Dean, and Shane McAnally.

Though a couple cuts aren't as quick to stick to memory as the sweet and sour soul displayed throughout the stunning 2011 album, this less novel but engrossing sequel is another worthy addition to the Younge discography.

Nugent may not distinguish himself from his influences on Night Vision, but, like fellow guitar slinger Ryley Walker, he couldn't care less. He's only interested in playing the music he likes and growing from what he learns in doing so. In the process, we get a killer rock & roll album.

Armed with sounds of vintage gear recorded at a hospitable Austin, Texas instrument shop, Anand created Para in a number of locations, yet the album sounds like it was made in deep, zoned-out concentration. Its track sequencing is fluid as well, even when the array of approaches verges on excessive.

As demanding as it is, the story and music are worth the effort. Dream Theater have invested in the "album" concept (and in listeners' attention spans) even as the music biz doubles down on the notion that long-players are merely envelopes to hold singles.

Ultimately, with Promise Everything, Basement return from the brink of oblivion and deliver an album that more than lives up to its title.

Human Ceremony is an impressive debut from a band who seem positioned to make many more excellent albums if they can continue to do such a good job of mining the past for gold and revamping it in their own fashion like they do so well here.

Here and throughout Is the Is Are, DIIV reveal themselves as a more thoughtful, more rewarding band than could have been expected from their debut.

The addition of simple pop elements to Commontime and the fact that the Brewis brothers manage to keep cranking out music this intelligent and flat-out fun to listen to without ever having the slightest dip in quality, makes it one of their more interesting and rewarding efforts to date.

The talent and vision of these artists makes this a surprisingly powerful and impressive work, and is a testament to the fact both the Mekons and Robbie Fulks need to record more often. When they do, the results are never ordinary, and neither disappoints.

Raitt's signature slide guitar is back out front; it shines throughout the recording. Her earthy singing voice, with just a hint of time's grain, is more disciplined and holds more emotional authority than ever before. It soars through a song collection balanced between rough, rowdy rockers and searing ballads.

Much like Deftones, NIN, and Tool successfully coexist alongside their respective sibling projects, Puciato, Eustis, and Alexander have created a refreshing entity to foster an alternative outlet for their emotions and creativity with satisfying results.

All the good stuff is still here, one might just have to do a little digging, hang in through a couple listens, and then the songs on Life of Pause will begin to connect with the head and the heart.

With this sophomore record, Nap Eyes offer a subtle gem that ultimately improves on their debut.

The overwhelming stillness of Promise demands attention but ultimately rewards it: it's an album that comforts the unease that arrives in moments of solitude, whether they arrive in the dead of night or in the chill of the morning.

By the time the meditative, strings-driven "Zone Null" brings Void Beats/Invocation Trex to a close, it feels like the end of a journey that reveals Cavern of Anti-Matter as a playful yet profound group capable of touching on the cosmic as well as kosmiche.

If Perfect is a tighter and better-focused album than one would have expected from Half Japanese in the '80s or '90s, miraculously it still sound like them, wild but fully engaged, and you'd be hard-pressed to name a band that not only sounds fresh but is still finding new creative paths close to 40 years after it began.

Check the excellent singles "Kno One," "Really Really," and "La Familia" for some easy persuasion, and then know that the album is devoid of superstar appearances because the captivating Gates doesn't need them.

Undeniably great sounding, the record puts Animal Collective's brightest colors forward and, if history is any indication, is no predictor whatsoever of what they may do next.

It ends School of Seven Bells in moving form and suggests a new and vital start for Deheza.

Much like Jepsen's Emotion or Swift's 1989, Foxes' All I Need is vibrant, intelligently crafted pop pleasure.

Scheherazade isn't exactly the Feel Good Album of 2016, but being lost and forsaken with Freakwater is a more satisfying experience than feeling perky with most other acts, and Scheherazade is a brilliant reminder of what Catherine Irwin and Janet Beveridge Bean do so strikingly well.

Hold On! provides the best evidence yet that he and his band can find more rhythmic, harmonic, and dynamic paths to explore inside the well of musical history.

Fans of any of Mason's earlier projects will find something to love on what is easily the gifted popsmith's best solo effort to date.

What they lack in showiness or branding, they make up for in honesty and slightly battered spirit.

With Né So, Traoré feels completely dialed in and in control, delivering her most compelling record yet.

The appeal of Down to My Last Bad Habit feels more Memphis than Nashville: it's Vince Gill's soul album, which is a welcome thing indeed.

Equally sensual and challenging, it's the work of a band capable of commitment as well as grand gestures.

Just as you think the trio are going to lock up legs and topple over, they fall into a gorgeous minor-key stride and dissipate into a sweepingly ominous mid-song bass solo. Ultimately, it's these moments of dazzling group dynamics that help make Man Made Object a jazz-infused work of art on GoGo Penguin's own terms.

Opus, the album, is keenly constructed and an excellent beginning-to-end journey in spite of its size.

Even if Quilt don't always find the answers they're looking for on Plaza, they've found some of their most confident and cohesive music.

The making of Synesthetica was a big deal for Radiation City; the result is a big deal to those who like their modern pop smart, fun, and with just the right amount of modernity.

It might have been interesting to boil the track list down a bit, then spend a disc catching up on the post-1995 bands that have kept the sound alive. That being said, the story they do tell on Still in a Dream is a fascinating one, full of guitar-mangling bliss and soaring melodic grandeur suitable for a fuzzy trip down memory lane or a deep dive of discovery for the novice gazer.

Equally meticulous and mischievous, this is some of Matmos' most engaging work, especially for fans who are as fascinated by their process as their results.

Arts & Leisure is so easygoing that it's easy to underestimate, but it reveals Martin as a first-rate storyteller who captures the joys of new sights and new ways of thinking in songs full of life and humor.

Phase is an exciting debut from a talented artist, a case where the hype is duly warranted.

Daze is an astounding leap forward, harnessing an overwhelming amount of energy and transforming it into an arsenal of sonic warfare. The album also feels like it's the beginning of what could become a lengthy saga, with many additional battles to come.

Ultimately, Need Your Light is an ambitious, thrilling album, full of songs that aim to grab your heart as well as your ears.

Even with the album's epic length, it never feels meandering or indulgent, as Prins Thomas remains supremely focused throughout the entire journey, finding the duality between the different types of "cosmic" music.

Banshee is a smart and impressive piece of work that speaks to the mind and the soul with similar clarity.

Dixon judiciously edited over one-third of the tracks to facilitate flow, his craftiness most evident in the way Talc's breezy part-soft rock/part-Daft Punk hybrid melts into one of Beady Belle's graceful lounge laments. Dixon's taste dips back several decades, but he keeps it relatively contemporary all the way through.

Anyone who was into previous El Guincho albums will be satisfied by the new direction he's taken, and who knows, some R&B fans with an adventurous nature may even find his sound to be something worth checking out.

There's no pretense here: this album is pure, no-frills, feel-good fun, a start-to-finish crowd-pleaser for fans of that classic pop-punk sound.

The album constantly maintains feelings of loneliness and obsession, and serves equally as a soundtrack for fantasy exploration as well as late-night dancefloor enrapturement.

Crowded and long overdue as it is, In My Mind is a satisfying and mature showcase for one of the most skilled and creative talents in R&B.

Grandfeathered shows them looking outward while successfully building upon their already impressive sound.

As the title implies, it may take the 1975 a while to get to the point on I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, but when they do, the results are revelatory.

How to Dance is a quietly remarkable work from a group that can make modesty and excellence coexist.

Within Ward's canon, More Rain may not work overtime to distinguish itself, but like nearly all of his releases, it's a companionable listen with a lot of craft hidden under its layers.

This mix of genres at work makes for an exciting listen, another addictive affair of dark melody and bold beats from a trio that excels in intelligent, deftly produced art pop.

Consistent in character and quality, WYWALDYAT is a rare debut, one that impacts second to second rather than by hook or groove.

Fallon has found a way to distill his band's fiery nostalgia into something a little more refined, but no less affecting.

It's the sound of a great band evolving with the times, even as those times try their soul and conscience.

United Crushers is driven by the seemingly contradictory desires to bring things together and break them apart, but Poliça bring them into harmony with a gloves-off fearlessness, resulting in their most impassioned and immediate music yet.

As produced by her daughter and family friend, Lynn is in good, trusting hands who wish to present her at her best and, more or less, that's precisely what Full Circle offers.

It's not quite Hunx and it's definitely not punk, but Seth Bogart is a blast.

The bookends are tracks that aim to be masterworks and fall just one step short, but everything in between is delightful, stunning, or both, making the album's title less than one-tenth apt, and Macklemore & Lewis both emo under-promisers and Grammy-worthy over-deliverers.

Unlike a lot of bands that seem to reunite just to cash in or repeat the past, the Coral came back with a renewed focus and a new sound. That's impressive in itself, and resulted in one of the band's best albums to date.

It's an intense and trippy odyssey, one that should make fans old and new appreciative of Jurado's depth while mulling along.

Near perfect and a step forward as well, Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future belongs on Underworld's top shelf.

Maybe his previous effort, 2013's I Am, flowed better and came with more of a sense of purpose, but this loose LP is still well above satisfying and features highlights that stand with the man's best.

Freed of commercial expectations and paired with an empathetic band, Wynonna will sing anything she damn well pleases and she's wound up with a monster of an album.

Creative songcraft and catching melodies are also in full force here, as expected by this point from Nguyen, though the strongest impact of the A Man Alive may be the temerity of its sound--thankfully, there's no need to separate the two. Even at 12 tracks, the album will leave many wanting more (and more Nguyen-Garbus collabs).

On their debut album, they strike a balance between delicate, pastoral folk and heavy, loud space rock, with Meg Baird's fragile, wispy vocals sharing the stage with Noel von Harmonson and Charlie Saufley's crushing guitar solos.

While Spalding never sounds anything less than original on the album, part of the beauty here is in recognizing her inspirations and reveling in how she has made them her own.

For those willing to take this on its own terms, the payoff for listening is enormous.

untitled unmastered. is no mere offcut dump. It's as vital as anything else its maker has released.

Calling Forever Sounds a masterpiece would probably be wildly premature, but this is a deeply satisfying work that reveals new pleasures with repeated listens, and reminds listeners this band is still expanding on what they do best.

Altogether an effective cross between the less gloomy range of '70s singer/songwriters and acerbic British tunesmiths like Paul Heaton and Robyn Hitchcock, the Cambridge, England native's style feels at once sentimental and pointed, a combination that charms.

A smart young band in an increasingly dumbed-down world, Big Ups may have found their voice in the past, but they're clearly swinging for a brighter future.

Significantly more experimental than Colleran's previous work, Luneworks also feels much more personal, and it continues to establish MMOTHS as a unique voice in the indie electronic scene.

Busy and engrossing, Arcology marks an exhilarating development in Thug Entrancer's sound.

It's a great record filled with emotion, imagination, and passion that's on par with any album labeled "emo," past or present.

Jones covers a lot of musical ground on this album, and it's all of high quality, confirming his place as one of the top-tier American Primitive guitarists.

An album that once again proves Pop never was and never will be an ordinary guy.

No Manchester is a delight from start to finish, while being the absolute best kind of tribute album. It brings out what's special in the songs while giving them new life in a brand new context.

Still a teenager at the time of the album's release, Aurora proves to be an already skilled fashioner of dynamic, affecting pop.

The band sounded just fine before, quite properly psychedelic and dream state-y; on Freaks of Nurture they have made all the right moves to jump themselves out of the pack and up near the front of the line of their fellow time-traveling freaks.

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.

An excellent debut that flows perfectly and offers something new with every return.

For the rest of us, Weighted Mind is a poignant, bracing work by an adept singer and songwriter. She openly invites us into her world with real vulnerability and honesty, and reveals her inner strength in doing so.