While the story presumably makes more sense if one had the opportunity to witness the installation, or listen to the audio fiction (released several months after the album), Escapology still works as a stunning experience in its own right. Heavy on brief interludes, filled with buzzing and whirring noises as well as computerized voices, the more developed, beat-driven tracks are incredible fusions of multiple styles of futuristic dance music, showcasing some of Kode9's most complex sound design to date.

King may be letting his feelings spill onto the page here -- his originals were written in the wake of a bad 2021 breakup -- but his signature stamp isn't emotionality so much as it's enthusiasm. He gets a thrill out of cranking up his amp and trying to sing as loud as his guitar, and that's the energy that truly fuels Young Blood.

Curiously, the weakest moment on High Noon Hymns comes at the very end, as they deliver a nice but unremarkable cover of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" -- truly ironic, since the previous 12 tunes confirm the Long Ryders haven't aged out of making music worth hearing, not by a long shot.

She has been able to do what few others before her have: cater to her crossover audience without losing the essence of what she really is and where she came from, and so all of Growing Pains, from its upbeat beginning to its reflective, personal ending (though the last track, 'Come to Me [Peace]' is the only real miss on the entire album), doesn't seem forced or calculated.

Maybe Mick Collins can't save the world, but he's got plenty of worthwhile things to say on this album, and his global angst beats Bono's for sheer entertainment value any day of the week.

Songs and Stories suggests he's coasting just a bit, and though he's still one of the true legends of the Texas songwriting community, this simply doesn't capture him at the top of his game.

How to Dress Well still works best when Krell favors the more ethereal side of his music, blurring together his influences into something more unique.

Cut Your Teeth is great, passionate, rabble-rousing rock from a group with something to say, and if this is how good they've come be after a few months of pretending they were a band, imagine what might accomplished if they put on their thinking caps and pondered global warming for a year or so.

Gliss Riffer may not be the next step many expected after America, but it leaves no doubt he remains a force to be reckoned with in indie electronic, creating smart and satisfying work with a stubbornly individual perspective.

Typhoons is designed as a late-night party record and if Homme occasionally pushes Royal Blood to lean in a bit too hard in this direction, the results are quite effective.

Lo is maturing but holding onto the most important parts of herself. Dirt Femme gives the confessional, sexual, and danceable sides of her music equal time and offers a fuller portrait of her music than we've heard before.

Skip the dogs, stick to the weird, raw, and experimental songs and Glasgow Eyes might be considered one of the band's best albums in a very long time. Add them back and it makes for a frustrating and exhilarating listening experience that's brutally honest, completely ridiculous, and in some ways it sums up everything good and bad about the Jesus and Mary Chain all on one slab of plastic.

Most of the tracks are written by Cartwright and they have all the hard-won wisdom and desperate melancholy of his best work.

Segall didn't write any of the songs on Fudge Sandwich, but these performances are as much his as anything that's come from his pen, and if you still need to be convinced that he's one of the freest and most adventurous minds in contemporary rock & roll, this might just do the trick.

Normally, a live album without a ton of rarities would be a hard sell to fans of the band, but We All Raise Our Voices to the Air is such a strong set of performances that even Decemberists diehards might have a hard time passing up on this one.

Although it shares superficial sonic similarities with his other records, 22 Dreams is really unlike any of Weller's other albums, as it's rich in sound and feeling, possessing a shimmering dreamy quality. It's an album to get lost in.

What keeps Family Perfume, Vol. 2 interesting even with its dips into overly derivative songcraft is its constantly shifting production.

While more accessible than most of his previous work, the three pieces here are just as tormented, in particular the septic relentlessness of the 18-minute title track.

An album that's only predictable insofar as you know it's going to attempt to take you on a vicious, 30-minute hell ride through some of the darkest parts of the metal world.

The whole work hits like a long-forgotten memory. Fans of Picture You, or of wistful atmosphere in general, will want to dig deep into Ambulance, and, to its credit, will find the room to do so.

The sheer size of The Bob's Burgers Music Album means that Gene Belcher might be the only one with the stamina to listen to the entire set more than once, but it's great for obsessive fans who can finally own the whole shebang.

The album sounds even more emphatically Bully, with many of its hooky and grungy, visceral tracks examining the end and aftermath of a relationship.

Goodnight Oslo is good enough and engaged enough that you can hardly believe Robyn Hitchcock has been making records like this since 1979.

With a handful of impressive releases already under their belt, Tiny Ruins have outdone themselves here, with a full set of compellingly crafted songs that are enriched rather than overwhelmed by the fuller sound.

Isn't It Now? carries over the inspiration and fire Animal Collective rekindled on Time Skiffs. It finds them reveling in a state of joyful curiosity, but exploring with a knowing control earned through years of getting to know themselves and their singular sound inside out.

Crucially, all these nods to Blanche's influences end up enhancing the band's uniqueness; rooted equally in the traditional and more experimental sides of Americana, country, and rock, Little Amber Bottles expands what a Blanche album can be, and it's a joy to hear.

The band's third record is consistent, but that also means that there's no standout song that can bring these guys into the limelight.

At their best, recall a sort of world-weary punk troubadour but occasionally feel a bit too put on. For the most part, though, Restorations succeed in delivering a well-built album that feels ambitious but remains engaging, with its sights set on the wide-open horizon.

Committed fans and casual admirers will find Notes of Blue worth a listen, but ultimately this is the work of an artist who has done better with similar ingredients in the past.

Yorkston's devotion to regionalism and his own self-mythology remains a central aspect of his presentation, and with this album, he offers another mesmerizing glimpse into that strange but increasingly familiar world.

Half-Light is a sprawling, passionate musical memoir; as far as remembrances of things past go, this one is remarkably forward-sounding.

It puts together all the elements they've worked with in the past and added a few more, and the result is an emotionally powerful work that sounds great and is easy to dance, dream, or get bummed along to.

The SoCal indie cowboys deliver an album completely displaying musical, songwriting, and repertory growth from their critically acclaimed self-titled debut.

Brainwashed isn't just a success, it's one of the finest records Harrison ever made.

His strongest album since he delved into unabashed crossover with Fresh Horses.

It's the Mekons' most accomplished bit of record making in some time.

No matter how you feel about Pixies worship or Star Wars references, if you have an affinity for loud, fast, but brainy, punky pop that is fun and full of hooky jams that'll have you bobbing your head like a maniac, The Late Great Whatever is just what you need to make you happy.

International announces Lust for Youth as one of the finest acts giving synth pop new life in the 2010s.

Summoning Suns is no less ambitious than Blackshaw's more deliberately experimental records. Though it is the first time he has brought his vocal skills so prominently to the forefront, he does so with so much confidence (not to mention aplomb in his arrangements) that he commands the listener's attention through gentle seduction.

While there are a couple other relatively lively passages on the album, the overall effect is decidedly thoughtful and stoned; Living Theatre leaves listeners with the drifting, droning "Distant Episode" and the spare, interlude-like guitar instrumental "Angelino High."

From the puckish refrains of the lovely "Sunday Venus" to the intricate "Arm of Golden Flame," the two characters intertwine amid fascinating compositions that are intellectually challenging but ultimately rewarding.

Whatever the Weather clearly feels more "outdoors" than the music James makes under her own name, but it's just as introspective and personal, and the project's second album is another powerfully expressive work.

You might not find heartache as enchanting as this anywhere else.

On Wake Up!, the funkiest, most flexible band on the planet backs one of the most skilled and accomplished singer/keyboardists in modern R&B.

Toledo isn't the first artist to discover getting what you want isn't the same thing as getting what you were hoping for, and the cooler, more precise, and less cozy surfaces of Making a Door Less Open suit these songs well, the inorganic tone meshing with the alienation that permeates the album. Despite all that, the simple yet effective melodies that buoyed Car Seat Headrest's earlier work are still recognizable, and the sincere, foggy tone of Toledo's voice adds a humanity that makes his uncertainty cut even deeper.

Twenty-five years after their debut, they still retain that power, while finding ways to surprise within their firmly defined style.

"Misstep" is certainly a word too harsh for The Big Doe Rehab, which is more "uneventful" than "wrong."

She sounds every bit the wounded princess, unwilling to let anyone help her pick up the pieces as she delivers these lovely, sad songs from behind a shroud of her own making.

Live from the Ryman doesn't change what you already know about Jason Isbell as a writer or a performer, but as a document of his many strengths, it's powerful and thoroughly entertaining, and is one more reminder that he's as smart and gifted as any songwriter at work today--and he can work the crowd like nobody's business.

Object 47 highlights Wire's pop credentials, but the band hasn't lost its edge.

While it remains almost impossible to dissociate Kelis and early collaborators the Neptunes, it's more difficult imagining a better creative alliance--at this point in her career, at least--than the one that shines here.

One of the most joyously deafening albums of 2015.

Other songs are colored with words and phrases of despair and resignation, like "doubt," "losing my grip," and "let's just break up." If the productions weren't so richly detailed and deceptively varied, Escapements might be a stifling experience.

Compared to SP's conceptual third and fourth LPs, which arrived together in 2017, The Don of Diamond Dreams is unified by its funkier and humanized sonics more than its lyrics.

Though Michael can get overbearing at times, the production is generally stellar, and it's easily the rapper's most honest and emotional work.

The overall effect of the album's variability is less vibey but more emotionally resonant than the debut -- perhaps an even tradeoff given that they both have the quality of feeling like records the band had to make.

Beck never lingers upon either his melancholy or his celestial flights of fantasy: they exist simultaneously, resulting in a tremulous and pretty soundtrack for moments of fleeting introspection.

Yet another artful and modern amalgamation of machine soul and left-field pop, Redemption is similar to the earlier parts of the trilogy in that it gives the listener a sense of being swept up, though there's little in the way of fantasy or escape here.

As Darnielle's first release on his new label, Merge, opening a new chapter in his career, Undercard may not be a total knockout, but it's an eminently worthy diversion from (or preface to) the main event.

Bless Off is a single-minded beast of an album that seeks only to inspire the listener to hit the streets and take some risks, making a case for the idea that a life that isn't lived dangerously is a life that's barely lived at all.

On LP.8, Owens draws from different, seemingly contradictory mystical energies, creating music that challenges and shocks as much as it soothes.

It's weird and willfully, proudly human, a big pop album about real emotions and one of P!nk's wildest rides.

Nobody else sounds like Xiu Xiu, and they've made themselves even more singular on this album.

Boss Hog don't kick as hard as they once did, but what they've lost in muscle they've certainly made up for in terms of atmosphere and creativity in the studio, and Brood X is worth a spin for anyone who digs their grimy glory -- especially since it's hard to guess when we might hear from them again.

Just as Fever captured a snapshot of a young artist breaking through to worldwide fame in real time, Suga finds Megan Thee Stallion experiencing the growing pains of success. The songs reflect this in their lyrical content, overall shift in tonality, and even in the small steps they take towards more commercial sounds.

A feeling of acceptance underpins Everything Will Be Alright in the End: there's a sense that Weezer made another record of massive, hooky rock not only because that's what the fans want but because they know it's what they do best.

The mellow is never harshed, and the promise of sunny weekend stoner music from the '80s is maintained the whole way through.

When you put together the sympathetic production, the strength of the songs, and the power of the performances, it adds up to another great record by a band whose members are in complete command of their thoughtful, tender, and sneakily hooky sound.

Whether or not they needed two full-length albums to fill up the dancefloor this time around is up for debate, but while Foals may be peddling a familiar product, there's no denying its efficacy.

Their sometimes winding songs seeming more taut than ever.

Why You Runnin’ may only be an EP--one can only hope Lissie has enough slow-smoked melody in her arsenal to sustain an entire album--but it's one of 2009’s finest folk releases regardless.

A highly addictive, lightly experimental mix of blue-eyed soul and psych-inflected indie-electronic pop.

Produced by Rancid member and Hellcat Records owner Tim Armstrong, Jimmy Cliff's Sacred Fire EP is a wonderful jumble of time and place that ends much too soon.

Third time’s the charm for horrorcore rapper Hopsin, as the angry and often awful character balances his aggressive, violent vocal style with more pop and approachable music during the rewarding Knock Madness.

How much Howe Gelb one needs is a question only fans can answer for themselves, but if you're up for a major journey through Gelb's universe, Little Sand Box delivers the deluxe guided tour with the sage himself as your guide, and there isn't a single false or insincere moment to be found in these eight albums.

Motion represents something different, with its first three tracks being composed and realized from the ground up in the recording studio, seeing Holtkamp move away from some of the live looping and sample-based composition of previous work.

You don't have to love baseball to love the Baseball Project (though it clearly helps)--on 3rd, this band has made an album that listeners who love a good story with some tough guitars can like, even if they're foolish enough to prefer football.

Wild Crush is the point where Archie Bronson Outfit move from being a good band to becoming a truly great band.

Impressions is a wonderfully fun and deep listen that stuns right away with its channeling of ABBA, but also sticks around thanks to the craft and invention that went into its creation.

Even if it doesn't have as much of the jagged need that sparked their best work, El Pintor is Interpol's most consistent album since Antics; fans who love the band for its pure sound will probably enjoy it more than those looking for stop-you-in-your-tracks moments.

Quite possibly We Were Promised Jetpacks' most vivid album to date, Unravelling finds the band making music that's harder to place than ever--and that much more interesting for it.

Howard expects you to meet him on his own terms and provides just enough aural enticement to give him not just one listen but a second, which is when I Forget Where We Were really begins to sink in its hooks.

Ixora (the name comes from a type of flowering plant common in Florida) finds Copeland embracing a more mature subject matter than they did on their early albums (as befits men in their mid-thirties), but with the same moody and thoughtful musical approach that marked their best-known work.

Apache could have easily slid into uninvolving sentimentality, but each song works some combination of the heart, mind, and hips.

Usually the album is quietly roiling, sometimes drifting toward the meditative (as on the otherwise profane "Tired as F***"), yet always circling back to fierce, searching spiritual rock.

Like a yodeling Lana Del Rey, the affected vocal presentation is bound to annoy some, but for others her delivery, along with the album's brooding tone and poetic essence, will make fast fans.

Cuidado Madame is a constantly surprising album from a veteran who is all too familiar with making intriguing contradictions.

Antisocialites manages the rare feat of a band topping their brilliant debut with a sophomore effort that's even more brilliant. Alvvays make it looks easy, and by the time the album is done spinning, it's hard not to start thinking about how great their next record could be.

Resolve is easily Ackroyd's most confident and mature statement. She remains devoted to lyric melody, but her re-combinations of sounds and textures inside these compositions are almost compulsively listenable, even as they move toward the undefined--and untamed--musical border she seeks.

Mutual Horse is an album of superb craft and no small degree of inspiration, a major work that refreshingly has its ego in check, sounding warm and intimate. It's further evidence that Holly Miranda has quietly matured into a major artist and an estimable talent.

Winslow-King's accompanists on Blue Mesa deliver strong work that complements the songs beautifully, especially guitarist Roberto Luti, keyboard man Mike Lynch, and drummer Chris Davis. Blue Mesa may find Luke Winslow-King going through some changes, but the result is some of his very best music to date.

The Public Image Is Rotten presents a thorough and uncompromised portrait of Lydon's work with PiL, and anyone interested in the many contexts he's created for his unique vision will find plenty to take in.

Even though the album is still arranged and produced with great care and Quever's vocals and melancholy melodies are as affecting and cozy as ever, there's a bit of extra energy and spirit in these songs that give the album a huge boost and help make this the best Papercuts album yet.

Some artists stumble when they move on from a strongly minimal aesthetic, but Sneaks sounds justifiably confident on Highway Hypnosis, and this suggests any number of new directions where her talent could travel.

Maybe the group loses some of the kinetic kick that made Feel Your Feelings Fool! such a gas, but How Do You Love? proves that Night and the Regrettes have figured out how to turn ebullient punk-pop into a sustainable source of energy.

Strictly speaking, there aren't many unheard tracks here. Everything from the Spying Through a Keyhole, Clareville Grove Demos, and The "Mercury" Demos sets are here, along with a brand-new mix of the Space Oddity album by Tony Visconti, one that restores "Conversation Piece" as part of its sequence. Setting aside the new mix of Space Oddity, that leaves 11 tracks out of 75 that are making their debut here, including several that have never been bootlegged and a couple that weren't even known to exist.

The album's diverse arrangements but consistent, sighing mood give Floatr a low-key cinematic quality on top of its meditative one. Though it may not be Happyness' most playlist-friendly set, it still lingers.

As strange as the album's combination of whimsy and wistfulness might seem, it makes for one of Fevre's most varied, oddly introspective works, ending his career on a good note.