Nuanced, dark, funny, harrowing, but also amiable, Mark Kozelek and Desertshore is one of the more digestible and entertaining documents of what could stand as the most prolific writing period of Kozelek's already inspired career.

Compared to the self-titled debut and Overgrown, this a more graceful and denser purging, one that can soundtrack some intense wallowing or, at a low volume, throb and murmur unobtrusively in the background.

The final two tracks are a well-deserved comedown from a truly thrilling, energetic sequence.

It's in the album's unlikely combination of weighty sentiments and cheerful (if especially diverse) sounds that Belle and Sebastian grow, offering up an honest assessment of what getting older feels like when you're one of the world's best indie pop bands.

On the whole, Interplay is interesting but inconsistent, landing more like a collection of ideas being fleshed out than a cohesive album experience. Ultimately, it's commendable that Ride continue to reach beyond their past, but the best moments of Interplay are the ones that remind the listener what made the band so unique to begin with.

Here We Go Magic move between more full-on hyperactivity in that vein from songs like "Make Up Your Mind" and "I Believe in Action" to the easier-going grooves of "Alone But Moving," but too often they don't do much with that.

Sucker Punch is a masterful debut from a promising talent unafraid to just be herself.

A fairly brilliant expansion of his debut, turning his spare, menacing hip-hop into a hyper-surreal, wittily disturbing thrill ride.

The album as a whole clearly values the arrangements and overall instrumental performances perhaps even more than the singing, with numerous extended codas and breaks where the performers stretch out to the full.

The album's length is just about right, going by in an efficient 36 minutes but feeling satisfying at the end, and while fans are bound to pick favorites, there's not a real dud in the bunch.

This wonderfully demonstrates Jackmaster's flair for surprising selections while keeping the mix focused on moving the crowd.

Hard Light is far from Delaware's rollercoaster ride, but its update of that album's spirit should please the fans Drop Nineteens made in the decades since their debut.

This leathery roots record contains music that bridges the gap between frail flesh and powerful spirit ruggedly, sensually, and honestly, making it a work of high art.

Much more than a stop-gap substitute that will be forgotten by the time the next Hot Chip full-length comes along; Yesterday stands on its own terms as one of the finest dance/electro-pop records of the year.

A gorgeous showcase that brings together everything you've ever loved about Wareham's music, Emancipated Hearts isn't just a mini-album, it's a minor masterpiece.

Free Humans is a dense album, with sounds stuffed into every available space and fields of ideas painstakingly arranged on each song. Both precisely calculated and boundlessly imaginative, Free Humans creates an expansive world in which Hen Ogledd can continue to sculpt their bizarre brand of pop music.

Like most odds and ends collections, The Fine Print is uneven and doesn't match the consistent quality of the Drive-By Truckers' usual work, but nearly all of these tracks are too genuinely good to have been left to gather dust, and even the DBTs' scraps can make for a pretty satisfying meal.

All in all, this is a rare sophomore album that widens the band's sound without narrowing its appeal.

While there are moments of quiet reflection and affection here, Paul still embraces dissonant alt-rock textures on parts of the album, including on opener "My Blood Runs Through This Land," a noisy, borderline shoegaze-metal entry with menacing chords and barely intelligible lyrics.

Whiteout Conditions shows they're already brighter and more satisfying than just about any of their peers.

There is undeniably something almost romantic about the duo's newfound acceptance of relationships, even if the main evolution is that they now view them as a necessary evil, rather than simply evil.

Hypnotic Underworld is a new high-water mark from one of rock's most interesting bands.

Aereogramme combines abrasive guitars, feedback, and distorted vocals into rock that, in its own way, is as crunchy and dynamic as Weezer, though as decidedly outsider as Mogwai.

Radian created a record that listeners have to let envelope them slowly -- and, if patient enough, Juxtaposition will reveal treasures from an aural dig that are a wonderful, satisfying surprise.

Tyrannosaurus Hives might be a little more complex and polished than the Hives' earlier work, but it's not overthought at all; even though they've evolved, they know how to keep it simple, stupid.

While the band still needs to develop more of its own sound, there's enough promise in stellastarr* to suggest that they might.

On Trouble in Dreams, Bejar and Destroyer have also shown that they can continue to write the literate, complex songs they and their audience love and expand and explore new melodic territory successfully.

How exactly these songs fit together with "Holes"' delicate plucking and the title track's pixelated folk might be locked in Fol Chen's brains, but even if there are more pieces of their puzzle-pop missing here than there were on John Shade, Your Fortune's Made, The New December is never boring.

Revelation Road is the quietest record of Lynne's career, but it feels like her rawest, too, even as it offers, in small bits and pieces, the varying shades, complexities, and pleasures in her musical world.

A few of Liam Finn's fans may be a bit puzzled by the more outré experiments on The Nihilist, but he's still writing great tunes and bringing them to life in an exciting way, and that--as much as the musical shape-shifting on these sessions--is what makes this album worthwhile.

For a band that has consistently switched up their direction with each successive album, the biggest surprise is not that To Be Everywhere Is to Be Nowhere once again manages to add fresh ideas to the Thrice catalog, but that a band 17 years into their career still has new directions to travel.

[The] spirit of fun and togetherness carries even the heaviest moments of the record, making it another valuable example of the unique magic Neil and Crazy Horse keep tapping into, even so many years on.

Nobody's Girl is sometimes tough to listen to as Shires pulls no lyrical punches, but it's never less than compelling, fearless, and brilliantly crafted. As an act of musical exorcism, it's breathtaking.

While they're too nonconformist to be a traditional punk band, they continue to define themselves as something more challenging and encompassing.

Even if The Night Is Young could have been improved by better editing, it's still a welcome return from one of dance's most endearing acts.

Whether or not these songs are ever played next to the latest dance music sensation at a club, Salon des Amateurs is a bold, accomplished work that ranks among Hauschka's most exciting albums.

Despite the overwhelming emotions, Never Let Me Go is an exercise in control and expert execution that finds Placebo on another level of songwriting and point of view, a welcome surprise at this stage in their careers.

Richly layered and emotive even by Hercules & Love Affair's standards, Omnion is equally committed to moving hearts and bodies.

More tonally diverse and thoughtfully arranged than the Bottoms' previous output, Going Grey is still wily enough to please longtime fans while adding new layers to their sound.

The Limiñanas sound like they're too cool and nonchalant to even have a phone, much less use one to make a less than great record.

That Magdalena Bay also augment their capital "P" pop melodies with industrial textures, shoegaze flourishes, and plenty of funked-out bass grooves means that Mercurial World offers both sugary melodic highs and deeper sonic layers to explore.

JPEGMAFIA's confrontational personality can be overbearing at times, especially to listeners who don't consider themselves to be chronically online, but his production is always stellar, and his sheer creativity is unparalleled. I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU is up there with LP! as the artist's most accessible work to date.

As pleasant as the album is, this time it feels like Calexico are just passing through.

Here, he's no longer a stylized, self-conscious innovator, he's a working musician enraptured by making music, and he's so invigorated by creation it's hard not to get sucked in as well.

At times, he can push his influences a little hard--"Hey Mama" is essentially a mash note to Van Morrison--but the impressive thing about Tearing at the Seams is how he and his band seem to be synthesizing their clear influences into their own voice. That's why Tearing at the Seams works.

Not only is Ring one of the few albums to feature the Nepalese stringed instrument the sarangi and a structure inspired by Homer's The Odyssey, it's also a fresh, creative debut that more than fulfills Glasser's potential.

Overall, this is a generous, beautifully packaged retrospective of one of the 2000s' premier synth pop acts.

Whether, taken together, the take-me-or-leave-me Bloodless is ultimately appropriately chaotic and admirably confrontational or, rather, overcooked is up to the beholder, but Samia's knack for strong melodic hooks and open vulnerability here are unquestionable and consistent.

It's their most accessible set of songs yet. Having said that, the group's whimsical practice of injecting far-flung timbres and effects into their songs, as well as a certain flat-tire wobble in their performance style are both joyously still in play.

Fanfare travels easily between intimacy and more psychedelic-influenced euphoria because Wilson's songwriting remains his ace in the hole. For all its laid-back deference to his production, it's tight, clever, and artfully constructed.

Abandoning sculpted hooks for rambling poetry that surges as much for punctuation as emotion is a canny move by Palmer: it forces attention on the lyrics, since the rest of the record feels deliberately amelodic. As such, There Will Be No Intermission is an album designed to demand attention, even if it doesn't necessarily command it-it's too obtuse and willful for that.

While the busy sonics and intricate wordplay of Haunted Painting mean there's a lot going on, Dupuis juggles it all with flair and heart.

Fans looking for more of Fake It Flowers' sass might initially be disappointed, but Beatopia's quiet confidence and well-rounded musicality feels like Beabadoobee is laying the groundwork for a long and varied career while remaining true to herself.

Somedays the Song Writes You is another choice album from one of the greatest songwriters to ever come out of the state of Texas.

The experience of hearing the band's ebb and flow as they organically develop the performance in real-time--as opposed to hearing a package of material that has been cherry-picked after the fact--is one of several advantages that the Live in New York (2009) anthology has over its predecessors. Another is the stunning fidelity throughout, thanks to the work of Doors' original producer/engineer Bruce Botnick and the exhaustive processes of restoring the eight-track, open-reel master tapes.

Where Lana Del Rey seemed weighted down by existential sorrow on her first two albums, Honeymoon seems comfortingly melancholic and that's the truest sign that it is the fullest execution of Lana Del Rey's grand plan yet.

Too often it seems as if Modest Mouse plays it safe on We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.

Toujours is an album of true originality, executed with humor, warmth, and spark, and captivating from beginning to end.

Endless Rooms is another strong outing from the group, definitive proof that they are still gleefully exploring their sound and are more than willing to take whatever approach is needed to put the songs across.

Some might miss the more abstract appeal of the original AF album, but the way the band updates and slightly expands that approach makes this new album a resounding success that works on the sonic level, and maybe more importantly, a deep emotional level.

As on their first two classic full-lengths, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo display excellent crowd control, pacing the record well, spacing the hits, and building the mood like the good crowd-pleasers they are.

Overall, the Sage may be polemical on a level like few other than Dead Prez, but he also has a metaphysical side matched by few other than Jeru tha Damaja.

Jones' faith in her own creative judgment is well-founded, and this is a work whose modest scale belies its emotional strength.

It's striking stuff--definitely not easy listening, but well worth the effort, even if it feels like a slightly lopsided affair, with the final four tracks overshadowed by one terrifically effective and truly inventive epic.

As life seems to move at an ever-faster pace and information threatens to overload, Breakers offers an uneasy but welcome respite if we just take the time to listen.

And even though it's a more emotionally heavy album than a lot of his previous work, Coulton still knows how to leave people with a smile, ending the album with two new versions of his famous Portal and Portal 2 theme songs.

Dead in the Boot is a quieter, more abstract affair that feels surprisingly autonomous.

It's the Haden Triplets and their untouched yet effortless harmonies, the kind that can only be derived via the preternatural harmonic instinct shared by siblings, that provide all of the chills (the good, non-flu kind).

Supernova is unapologetically and indulgently retro; a casual listen might dismiss it as mere nostalgia. But pairing Auerbach's detailed, careful production with LaMontagne's open, expertly crafted songwriting and breezy, sensual, emotionally unburdened signing, that boundary is shattered.

Luke Winslow-King may sound like a gentleman on Everlasting Arms, but one listen to this album will convince you that when it comes to music, nice guys really can finish first.

Subtle, yet curiously persuasive, No News From Home is as unassuming as it is alluring.

As with many of the album's highlights, the song is an aggressive blast of post-punk that never sticks to the same tempo and ends quickly (in this case, in under a minute and a half). Other songs on the album are a bit more brooding, even tipping toward goth.

Elkhorn spends The Storm Sessions softly constructing the sonic equivalent of the situation they were in: stuck inside with no way out, passing the hours while the snow silently piled up outside.

Lately doesn't always sound like the album Lilly Hiatt might have cut under ordinary circumstances, but it comes from the heart and speaks to the time and place in which it was made. It's a compelling, generous work from a songwriter who grows a bit each time she heads into the studio.

Throughout, these ghostly and propulsive rhythms communicate, divide, and commingle, and are woven through with deep dub effects, avant-jazz, global pop, hip-hop, and woven rhythms drawn from several global traditions spindled, reshaped, and presented anew by the creators.

The score ends with a string-based version of "Sunlight Zone," which feels a bit lighter and more ethereal than the original, but doesn't quite capture the same sense of awestruck wonder. In general, though, Midnight Zone is evocative of a journey into the unknown depths, and it succeeds at creating an atmosphere of curiosity and discovery.

A vibrant album that explores the political and cultural tumult of the late 2010s with anthemic heft and individualistic perspectives.

A genuine disappointment after the creative comeback of Stereo.

It's not the band's most immediate music, but the album's challenging mix of heartbroken words and aloof sounds rewards patient and repeated listening.

The House That Jack Built may be aimed at a new audience, or it might simply be the record that Hoop had to make. Either way, it's welcome for the risks it takes and delivers on.

A stunning display of the grit and poetry that have been hallmarks of her music for decades, Possible Dust Clouds makes a convincing case that Hersh is becoming a more powerful, more creative rocker as the years pass.

Maybe it'd be easier to digest if it was broken into a series of EPs, but part of the point of Typical Music is that it offers an immersion into an expansive, eccentric worldview. It needs all of its messiness to paint a full portrait.

Like any of rousay's other releases, a little death is a homemade portrait, incorporating sounds from her life and her friends into earnest, personal work.

The resulting Run Rabbit Run dutifully re-creates its creator's hypnotic, quirky, and oddly sweet song cycle, and peppers it with enough dissonant bow slides and odd harmonics to please the avant-garde crowd while keeping the twee melodies intact for the casual indie pop fan.

The English Riviera is a challenging but ultimately rewarding effort which cements Mount's reputation as one of Britain's most intriguing pop mavericks.

Best Troubador does a splendid job of showing how right he is about Haggard and his songs, and you'd have to go back to 1994's splendid multi-artist disc Tulare Dust to hear as sincere and affecting a tribute to this most American of artists.

Taken as pieces, these songs are prime 2000s indie rock; added together they make Play It Strange a satisfying step forward for the band.

Depending on listeners' patience, however, The Bride's slower second half may be hypnotic or dreary.

If Metz's debut was unnerving in its most powerful moments, II is the rock equivalent of Wes Craven's Last House on the Left; just keep telling yourself, "It's only an album ... only an album .... only an album ..."

Whether she's writing original material or covering traditional tunes... the effect is the same. It's intimate, like a secret told readily.

2nd Grade make the small moments count, and Gill and his friends have made a record that fans of indie pop, power pop, and good old-fashioned small "p" pop should rally around and share with their friends and family.

If it isn't quite a masterpiece, along with Dinosaur Jr.'s surprisingly strong reunion albums, this suggests Mascis has been quietly enjoying an impressive career renaissance, as if the venerable slacker has discovered something welcome in the onset of maturity.

At its best, Seeds is a fine tribute to Smith and the sound of enduring unimaginable loss.

The resulting eleven tracks do not disappoint, striking the perfect balance between dissonance and melody with a backbeat that shakes the foundations of everything he's tried before.

Depending on what aspect of the band the listener pays the most attention to, Chastity Belt can be either brazenly hilarious or mysterious and moving.

The album's overall effect is one of strolling along a seaside path, maybe with a stray dog and a straw hat, in a less-frequented village somewhere far from home, and it's one of Banhart's most satisfying.

This is stoner rock for the indie set, so every suggestion of Led Zeppelin or Queen gets filtered through a Sonic Youth or Yo La Tengo aesthetic, which helps keep the bombast and pagan iconography at bay.

The only downfall is that Here's to Taking It Easy is so easy to take that at only nine songs, it flies by in no time at all.