[Domo Genesis] still talks about weed and weirdness, and sometimes with a star-studded guest list, as the killer "Go (Gas)" features Wiz Khalifa, Juicy J, and Tyler, The Creator. Mac Miller figures into the great "Coming Back", but the bits about Domo's family, his autistic brother, and his own search for self make this a meatier album than expected.

Dark, dislodged, and blown out while still being approachable, Better Strangers is a very impressive album.

Taken together, Craft delivers a fun and loose breakup album replete with colorful characters, memorable tunes, and an even more memorable vocal delivery--a noteworthy debut.

With 12 songs that include the band's usual absence of lazy filler, Delusions of Grand Fur is a sturdy and worthwhile outing that's likely to please and impress fans.

The Ship is a memorial to and meditation on history and human foibles. Just as importantly, it places an exclamation point on Eno's career as curiosity, experimentation, chance, and form gel; his relentless sense of adventure remains undiminished by time.

The cathartic and wounded moments here resonate in a manner matched by few, if any, of Beyoncé's contemporaries. She sometimes eclipses herself in terms of raw emotion, as on the throttling Jack White encounter "Don't Hurt Yourself." At the low-volume end, there's more power in the few seconds she chokes back tears while singing "Come back"--timed with the backing vocal in Isaac Hayes' version of "Walk on By"--than there is in most contemporary ballads.

I Long to See You is well worth investigating even if, at times, it is overly tentative.

The album is a hypnotic, slightly silly expression of physical as well as spiritual desires.

Ty Segall's influence may permeate Feels, but these musicians have enough ideas of their own to give this a compelling sound and personality of their own.

Apart from the relatively lively pulse of the aching "Another One," everything plays out at slow-jam tempo, and the vocals often slip into falsetto mode with lapses in enunciation. The duo is at their most effective on finale "The Line," a bare, subtly churchified pleader.

Overall, there's nothing very slick to be heard. Like they did on the excellent Feast of Love, Pity Sex do a great job of balancing noise with melody, using both in equal amounts throughout the record and always making good use of shoegaze's standard loud-quiet dynamics.

The album sounds as billowing and ethereal as one would expect from a solo harpist, but Lattimore's sense of experimentation gives her a distinctive sound, and At the Dam is simply a magnificent album.

The album sounds like it was spontaneously recorded and bashed out on cheap instruments onto a malfunctioning tape deck, and there are several tracks that cut off or feel like the tape has been smudged. Even as the music barely holds together, it still sounds like something Moothart obsessed over and poured all his conflicting emotions into.

Congleton's unhinged vocals add to the visceral nature of the outing, and some fatigue sets in toward the back half, but at just under 40 minutes, Until the Horror Goes is certainly digestible. However, listeners should definitely wait an hour before going swimming.

As far as sophomore efforts go, Greys have stepped up their game considerably.

A lovely, stimulating debut album, Contrepoint is a beautifully written love letter to musical history and creativity.

Higher Authorities doesn't seem to have any ambitions beyond being an informal extracurricular venture, but it sounds decent and trippy enough.

Odd as it seems, the majority of the track titles resemble those of an R&B release. That's far from the only feature in support of the notion that Too Many Voices is Stott's brightest and most open-hearted work.

With this solid album, he ain't the A$AP Mob's second banana anymore, either. Cutting-edge production from Clams Casino, Lex Luger, Cashmere Cat, and DJ Mustard help him get the job done.

Even if Nocturnal Koreans' sound isn't always textbook Wire, its imagery and wit most certainly are, making the album much more than the collection of leftovers its origins might have suggested.

As a celebration of GbV's core virtues, Please Be Honest really does honor the sound of the band as much as the skills of its frontman and founder.

All their records to this point have been really strong; Malamore is where they make a grab for brilliance.

Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets reaffirms that the songwriter/composer is an arranger at home in many styles, with the ability to make this kind of sprawling, genre-surfing project unfold with elegance.

Ambitious and masterful, Atomic is another peak in Mogwai's career.

The Peace & Truce of Future of the Left is one of their most roaring dissents against the increasingly frustrating state of the world in the 2010s. Of course, this band is angry even when it isn't fashionable, but even so, this is some of their most cathartic music in a while.

Oh My Goodness is informal and intimate, but with enough grit and groove to make it a joy. Given its quality, one hopes that Fritts will record again, and soon.

English Heart is a great concept, and for the most part the execution works, but one can't help but wish it had been recorded in the '70s or '80s, when Ronnie's voice was strong enough to make the most of the material.

A thoroughly delightful album, it's hard to imagine fans of Jóhannsson and Dunckel's other projects not falling hard for Starwalker's charming galactic pop.

Overall, Blind Spot works well on many levels. It shows the bandmembers aren't just exercising their nostalgic muscles while looking for a quick buck. It shows they are still capable of writing and recording very Lush-sounding music.

It all makes for a more balanced, arguably more enjoyable listening experience than the original Lost Themes, and with the triumphant yet suspenseful "Utopian Facade" suggesting a threequel, it's another must for Carpenter fans.

[Cuomo's] eccentricities slip out from the cracks in his carefully constructed songs. Sinclair wisely decides to accentuate all these quirks, whether they derive from Cuomo or the band's interplay, so The White Album crackles underneath its tight presentation.

The ten tracks here range in character and texture, but all generally fall into MacIntyre's wheelhouse of warmly crafted, introspective guitar pop.

Tweet has lost nothing vocally while gaining a decade's worth of wisdom. As ever, she exudes euphoria, longing, and irritation with the slightest of adjustments, and remains one of the best soft-voiced, low-volume singers around.

Befitting its origins, the album's sound is blunt and raw, mixing rock, blues, jazz, spirituals, and field recordings into the musical equivalent of photojournalism.

There's something admirable about the album's solemnity: the Lumineers are on a quest to be taken seriously, and even if they overplay their hand, the earnestness is ingratiating.

Love Letter for Fire sounds like Beam and Hoop were born to work together. The yin and yang of their individual perspectives fit together marvelously, and this rests comfortably with the best of both their recorded works.

The Diary of J Dilla might not rival its maker's best output, but it's a pivotal and illuminating chapter, even when heard out of sequence. Just as importantly, it fulfills the wish of a master musician.

Le Bon's clever and often abstract turns of both melody and phrase are abundant throughout.

All Saints' sound has matured with confidence--much like Kylie Minogue's or Melanie C's--resulting in an album that is both secure and content.

If calling Nosebleed Weekend the Coathangers' most professional work to date sounds like damning with faint praise, it admirably confirms this band isn't messing around.

The match of songs and sounds on Singing Saw delivers on all the promise of his earlier records, while firmly establishing Morby as one of the best singer/songwriters going.

It's heavy stuff, but it's delivered with the humility of someone who has enough road behind him now that the rear-view mirror is no longer a window into the past, but a seconds-old snapshot of the present.

PersonA finds the group still offering music-festival-friendly fare, but of a nature that's more jammy than jamboree.

Flaws aside, IV is quite enjoyable--especially split over a couple of listens.

At times, the production carries an adult contemporary air reminiscent of Daylight Again, elsewhere it's as spare as he's ever been, and the two aesthetics blend into a record that's comforting yet not complacent. Nash is no longer looking at the past; he's looking at the future and he's embracing all the changes to come.

Even more so than Blunt's previous work, BBF is a difficult, sometimes impenetrable listen, but it's the most powerful statement he's made yet.

Even at its darkest and strangest, Koosha's music rarely feels like it's trying to punish or alienate the listener. He seems excited to explore the possibilities of music-making technology, and the results are endlessly fascinating.

Even if some of the songs have spare, measured rhythms that seem easy enough to follow, the group will make the guitar notes spiral into strange directions or build the feedback up to hair-raising levels.

With the canny assistance of Henry's sensitive production, the songwriter's vulnerability rises into open view and elevates his craft along with it. In Carll's world--and hopefully ours--love wins no matter what.

Little Windows clocks in at less than half an hour, which is certainly appropriate to the period that Jones and Thompson are honoring. But given how well they mine their influences and bring them into the present day, it's not hard to wish a second Little Windows will open soon.

His songs are resonant with the weight of experience, and his musical settings, even in their relative sparsity, are powerful and at times nearly elegant.

At times, the heaviness of both the production and material weighs a little too heavily, begging for the kind of sunny pop touch the band has proven capable of, but ultimately, Age of Indignation is a significant artistic leap forward for the band.

Focused without sounding rigid or confined, Ears is imaginative and alive.

Though Psychic Lovers sometimes feels a little labored, it proves that the seemingly accidental brilliance of Dinner's earlier music was anything but.

A fascinating open-ended audio experiment, Felder is an unpredictable album that pushes the limits of technology and composition.

The front placement of two T-Pain collaborations gets the album off to a strong, strutting start. Several of her established associates, such as Blac Elvis and Pop & Oak, eventually arrive to ensure a familiar mix of traditional structures and contemporary dressing.

There are times when A Sailor's Guide to Earth threatens to float away on a slipstream of strings and melodies that are heartfelt and hookless. Even at these moments, his ambition remains ingratiating: he might not quite arrive precisely where he intended, but as he makes it so clear throughout the album, what matters is the journey itself.

With more life, richer texture, and an inspiring attitude, Beautiful Lies is Birdy's declaration that she is more than able to make her mark in the big leagues and join the ranks of the alternative pop pantheon.

Sorrow is a radical reinterpretation, but it should be accessible to many. Stetson delivers an acute, wider, deeper hearing of Górecki's symphony as a powerful, beautiful, musically diverse meditation on unspeakable loss.

When he's backed by the Innocent Criminals, Harper never seems to be trying too hard, and that's why Call It What It Is is a cut above many of his records.

Man About Town doesn't boast much in the way of radical steps forward. But it confirms the man is still very good at what he does.

Anyone willing to make the leap with the band will find that the adventurousness and exploration displayed by all involved pay off with yet another impressive Woods album to add to their collection.

Love Streams is easily Hecker's most accessible work to date, yet it's also one of his most challenging, as it finds him pushing his sound into new directions while he explores the possibilities of the human voice.

Although it isn't their strongest work, Distortland is an enjoyable late-era addition to their catalog that breathes as much as it pleases.

PSB B-sides are larks and experiments of the highest order, so while Super scores as high as the crossover-ish Electric, it's built more for the fan who puts "Paninaro" at the top of their list, well ahead of "West End Girls."

Sunbathing Animal began the process with great success, and Human Performance shows that the band is just as vital and alive when it dials the intensity (way) down, cleans up some of the messy parts, and generally grows up in all the right ways.

[III's] not all that different from their great 2013 album, II, but III experiments more, sacrificing none of its attractiveness while venturing into skittish micro-trap (lead single "Reminder"), exotic ethno-techno ("Animal Trails"), and something akin to Adele singing William S. Burroughs lyrics over classic glitch ("Eating Hooks").

While all listeners may not share his fascination with '80s pop culture detritus, it's hard not to respect how expertly he transforms it into something genuine.

Painting of a Panic Attack, like previous albums, can get a bit mired in wistful, midtempo soul searching, but it's by far the most immediate and inclusive collection of songs that the band has laid to tape to date.

It doesn't matter that Out My Feelings (In My Past) runs 18 tracks long, as Boosie Badazz is on point the whole way through this dark yet empowering album.

On Vacation isn't CFCF's most focused work, but it isn't supposed to be. As the title states, this is music for escaping day-to-day life and getting pleasantly lost.

The album is a generally successful experiment in low-end heaviness.

They've emerged from a quagmire that could have ended the band and ended up writing their tightest album yet.

Hollowed is a dark, sometimes devastating album that finds Ital Tek letting go of his previous methods of composition, resulting in his most personal, accomplished work yet.

Gore is a triumphant reminder that a veteran act can continue to grow and still remain relevant.

The lyrics are generally focused around breakups, loss, and loneliness, and while those subjects are well-trod territory, Redway sings them with conviction, and his passionate vocals complement the tracks nicely.

Keith Troup, who was slain in 2015 and gets a moving tribute in the mixtape's highlight "King TROUP." The rest of the best comes from the empowering music that reflects the mixtape's title.

Yes, I'm a Witch Too may be somewhat uneven, but its wildly different tracks reaffirm that Ono's music contains multitudes.

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.

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

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

Moomin is not making house for dancefloors; A Minor Thought aims for the sunrise, the morning after, the calm days devoid of storms.

Begin resonates most when Hervey and Goodman are left to themselves.

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

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

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 all makes for a heartfelt, satisfying whole that reaffirms Lust for Youth as one of the few bands reinterpreting the '80s that can rival and surpass its influences as well as its contemporaries.

Psychopomp is an impressive work by an artist well worth watching in the future.

As its title suggests, Welcome the Worms is a portrait of embracing life's changes and challenges and growing stronger in the process.

Silicon Tare is an exciting warm-up for the epic conclusion to the Com Truise story.

A few adornments like horns, cello, and piano add additional color to some of the tracks, but by and large, Bent Shapes are a ripping guitar band with pop smarts and punk sensibility.

However they adapt, it's always on their own terms, and #N/A is some of their most radical music yet.

On an album that, from a musical perspective, seems incongruously loaded with self-doubt ("I'm 20, washed up already," "I don't know what I'm cut out for") the material is consistently hooky, endearing, elegant, and uncommonly candid.

As it stands, Metal Resistance is still worth hearing, if only for the half of the record that captures the insanely silly balancing act that their debut managed so well.

This combining of the human-organic and the quirky-mechanical not only rewards repeat listens, but ultimately fascinates with warm alienation.

Ultimately, Everything You've Come to Expect plays like a west coast film noir fever dream, scored by Ennio Morricone, with Kane and Turner the doomed protagonists, chasing icy blondes and lollipop Lolitas down their own debauched Hitchcock-ian spiral.

As ever, indisposed listeners with little patience will hear Willner's tracks as distended and routine. Those who can't get enough of the stuff have another reliably durable set of techno that draws from dream pop, dub, and Krautrock. It has the potential to stupefy, if in very familiar fashion.

As spare and gently satisfying as a warm spring afternoon, Upland Stories is a reminder that the brilliance of Gone Away Backward was no fluke, and that in his mid-fifties, Robbie Fulks is only getting better, both as a songwriter and as a recording artist. Highly recommended.