Bookended by a pair of moody cuts replete with intoned prayers spoken in the background, Abandoned plays to the severity of the Catholic faith, and if Defeater's thematic tendencies have begun to wear a bit thin, they still manage to pack a pretty big punch on a musical level.

If Stuff Like That There isn't as revelatory as Fakebook, it's a splendid, beguiling album that's perfectly suited for late nights and rainy afternoons, and a welcome reminder of one of the many, many things Yo La Tengo do so well.

Highest Point is the kind of album that's easy to love as background music, as a soundtrack for a lazy summer day, or anytime good, catchy tunes with no rough edges are required.

Ultimately, What Went Down should please fans of Holy Fire, and they may not be the only ones drawn to its gloomy and persistent energy.

Nearly 20 years on, Destroyer is still as surprising and inspired as ever.

It's a grower that demands and rewards close listening--especially under headphones, where it unfolds like a spell cast just for the listener.

An album that embodies all the complex contradictions and unfettered optimism of modern country-pop in 2015.

Through its short running time Krol doesn't do anything that hasn't been done before, but that's really OK. He's got energy to spare, some really good songs, and a snide, slightly wounded voice of his own. Add in how well the quick-and-dirty production style suits the songs and Turkey ends up being a fine introduction to Krol and his sound.

At his best, he's as poignant, heartbreaking, funny, sad, and creative as Stephin Merritt, and Nephew in the Wild is a gentle reminder of this.

If Kip's songs aren't as hook-heavy or as sticky as his idols, it is nevertheless admirable that he's completely revamped his sound so he doesn't feel like anybody else in contemporary country.

It doesn't cover the Isleys' brief '60s stints with Wand, United Artists, and Tamla, but it is remarkably generous with dozens of bonus tracks--mono versions, single edits, instrumentals, and so forth--and LP-replica sleeves for each album.

They probably could have sold themselves as a revival band or pretended to re-form in their poppier guise; that they have made an ugly, snarlingly dark album like Hidden Fields instead is truly impressive.

Myrkur's music melds all of her adopted stylistic elements, lets their seams show, and emerges with an innovative, alchemical creation of her own. M expands on black metal's boundaries yet holds its dark, foreboding spirit close.

Confounding as ever, James nonetheless presents some of his most physical and ultimately electrifying tracks here.

In the right circumstances, the Bohicas seem perfectly capable of putting it all together, but overall, this debut could use a little more spark and a little less label-purchased leather jacket.

Those who still believe that rock & roll can and should make you move ought to put Under the Savage Sky on their playlists pronto; it's the raw real thing.

Meliora jumps so quickly from classic hard rock to prog to glam metal it can be dizzying (and perhaps even dazzling) for listeners. What holds it all together is solid writing that sticks close to stock pop/rock methodology.

An album that deliberately side-steps many of Thomas' signature moves while still sounding unmistakably like him.

Sparks still sounds like she's finding a voice of her own.

Consider this a Meth-led posse LP aimed at returning fans, and a very good one at that.

Neither Presley nor Le Bon should give up their main gigs for DRINKS, but if they got together now and then to record an album with as much good-natured charm and tricky bits as this, that'd be just fine.

She hasn't yet released one that's consistently exciting and satisfying from beginning to end, though there's more than enough here to make this worth a listen and to suggest that Deradoorian could have more interesting things up her sleeve for her next solo effort.

Rateliff's world-weary, deeply expressive tenor and lyrics place him on a different level than any of the current crew of revivalists.

His music seems a slight bit more danceable and accessible than before, but not to the point of pandering to a hedonistic club audience.

There's just not much here to keep the group's detractors from bringing out their pitchforks, and over time, staying the course may leave fewer and fewer townsfolk to protect them.

While High Country doesn't always work, it's constantly working toward moving the band forward, which means that were probably only a few albums away from a hair metal makeover.

It makes for a great second album, one that holds tight to all the things that made the first one so satisfying, while adding some new wrinkles that only serve to improve things. Try as you might, you're not likely to find too many albums in 2015 that rock as hard or bleed as much as High.

It's the songs rather than the production that will keep repeat listeners coming back, even if they don't notice at first, or 20th, or 50th, and the marriage of the two works so well that folks are likely not to care why.

An even more consistent album than Kiss, E-MO-TION further defines Jepsen as an equally stylish and earnest pop artist.

All Around Us stands as a puckish, blustery, peculiar creation recommended for a good pair of headphones.

London producer Slime creates sumptuous, swaying music that flows so freely that few rappers could ride it.

With durable songs, classic melodies, an idiosyncratic manner, wit, and a transportive quality to the arrangements, it'd be greedy to ask much more of a singing songsmith.

Both Potter and Valentine delight in celebrating and inverting the clichés of overblown '80s AOR and that's what makes Midnight such a fun trip.

There are a couple moments where the album gets overly somber, and the saxophone solo on "Kelly" should have been left on the cutting-room floor, but for the most part Sky City is a promising, quietly satisfying debut.

Dave Cloud was a unique talent whose work was not for all tastes, but there's a mad joy and untethered emotional freedom in Today Is the Day That They Take Me Away that would be the envy of nearly any artist, and on that score, this album puts much of Nashville's better-known product to shame.

These are recordings that have never seen release on vinyl and, collected together, they do amount to a vibrant, exciting snapshot of Pavement at their wildest. For that specific audience, this is certainly worthwhile.

It's an invigorating, infectious set that reaffirms Turner's faith in music's power to motivate and heal.

The highlights, unsurprisingly, occur when Allen is allowed to exert more of his power, heard in the darting/jabbing third and twisting sixth tracks. Those two tracks are worth the wait.

The band's detractors will probably complain that the template remains firmly in place, and the band is aimlessly trekking through well-trodden terrain, but by returning to their roots, Bullet for My Valentine seem to have reignited the spark that made their early work so vital.

Although nothing achieves the same height as "Try Me," the EP is promising at the least.

Imaginary Man presents Baxter and his material in a manner that's vividly passionate and a little swampy while avoiding cliches as he offers these sketches on life and love in the American South; it's a big step forward for Baxter, and will hopefully help him gain the audience he deserves.

The Spirit Moves sounds like a sure-footed step in the right direction.

Everybody's Coming Down is ultimately engaging if meandering, and at its heart--whatever the style--is memorable, energized songwriting.

Winning results on From Far Enough Away Everything Sounds Like the Ocean.

Slick guest artists Tyga and Kid Ink help the listener bridge the gap between the album's maverick moments and the sweet songs aimed at teens, and with smooth-voiced Royce showing equal grace with love and lust, Double Vision becomes the great and infectious model for a 2015 pan-global pop album.

Jessie Jones is clearly not for everybody, but if you love classic pop and rock created by a gifted eccentric with a vision (and the talent to make it real), this debut is well worth your time and attention.

Like Alexander's debut, this is one of one of Ghostly's highest-quality releases of the 2010s. There's no excess.

Compton crackles with life and spirit.

While it's admirable that he's trying new things and broadening his scope, Morning World still feels like an experiment or a transitional stage.

Armed with several strong songs, Georgia is an impressive, inventive debut.

One of the most joyously deafening albums of 2015.

Ashes & Dust is a worthy and welcome addition to Haynes' catalog.

On Thank You for Stickin' with Twig, Slim Twig takes full advantage of his limited recording resources (the liner notes state that the album is mostly home-recorded) in order to create his most original-sounding work to date.

It's both quiet and grand, sad and sweet, and undeniably human.

Overall, Marks to Prove It feels a bit anxious, but that's not necessarily to its detriment, and four LPs in, the Maccabees are still making smart and sophisticated Brit guitar rock.

Acknowledging that Night Beds' strict chamber-folk fans are bound to be disappointed if not horrified, taken on its own Ivywild is sonically rich, adventurous, envelopingly wistful, and undeniably stunning.

Weirdo Shrine shows La Luz are more than living up to the promise of their early work, and that they're still one of the most interesting and entertaining acts on the Pacific Northwest scene in 2015.

Death Magic presents a 2010s version of HEALTH that fits in with the likes of the Soft Moon and Blanck Mass while delivering their most accessible music to date.

Nine albums in and the band is finally flirting with accessibility, but in true Fear Factory fashion, they're doing it on their own terms and at a very deliberate pace.

More than ever, Abyss proves that she knows when to unleash her full fury and when to rein it in, and the results are stunning.

Kill the Lights winds up feeling happy and generous, an inclusive record that plays to teenage desires as effectively as memories of an adolescence left behind.

Lush synths, subtle electronics, and pulsing polyrhythms fuel these songs of discovery, transforming them from mere introspection into outright inspiration.

River is not only the work of a master guitarist, but also that of a sophisticated composer. Bachman's confidence in interpreting his own musical ideas on the fretboard is now equal to his skill in playing the lineage music that inspires him.

A little fine-tuning here and a couple tweaks there and the follow-up might really be something special. Until then, Nap Eyes are solidly promising and that's a good start.

This beguiling little album is another feather in DeMarco's baseball cap, and will live on in his growing catalog, but you might want to head over to Queens for that cup of coffee before it's too late.

While Meridian continues on logically from Dream Sleep, and even Barn Owl's V, it is at another level, one more inherently focused and more overtly compositional. This is Caminiti's most holistic project to date.

Listening to the beautiful, restful and balanced sounds of Green Lanes, one hopes that they do indeed continue to work together for years and years.

Gwenno is firmly in charge of her sound and presentation from the beginning, and Y Dydd Olaf is wonderfully assured throughout.

What sets Romano apart is the natural, ineffable blue mood of his sad songs, which hit the heart dead-on without ever sounding forced, as well as his impressive studio techniques, all of which are on display on Romano's fourth solo album, 2015's If I've Only One Time Askin'.

Living Legend is a non-stop gangsta party connected to the street, offering a more approachable alternative to Ross' grandiose LPs.

Buddy Guy serves up a straight-ahead platter with Born to Play Guitar, his 28th studio album.

Perhaps it's the geographical aura of Cornwall's windswept shores or the musical and emotional support of his bandmates, but the overwhelming tone on Tender Gold & Gentle Blue is of woolen, seaside warmth.

Some of the most accessible and personal music of Hammond, Jr.'s career with or without the Strokes.

This work leaves the debut, impressive as it was, in the dust.

Clementine will no doubt be polarizing for many listeners. There is no question, however, of his raw talent, poeticism, and knack for beguiling melodies, and in this oversaturated market, the true mavericks will always rise above the din.

More than any other Jill Scott album--each one is either nearly or well over an hour in length--its impact would likely deepen with some trimming and resequencing. Nonetheless, there's enough high-quality content to sustain Scott's status as one of the most unique and powerful voices in R&B.

The cheekily-named Greatest Hits, Vol.1 is both a refreshing blast from the past and an ardent kick in the teeth.

While one can always sense the pain and joy in the mere sound of Stone's voice, some of the songs' lines provoke head scratching rather than knowing nods. Through deep, repeated listening, the album increasingly resembles ragtag emoting. Heard passively, it's all pleasant summertime listening.

Sometimes suggesting a cross between Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade and Bruce Springsteen's The River, The Most Lamentable Tragedy is as big, smart, and heartfelt as either of those albums, and a striking example of what Titus Andronicus can achieve.

Kelly and the Cairo Gang may have started out plying a quirky, inward-looking brand of folk; now they are the brightest, shimmery-est, most impressive folk-rock revivalists around and Goes Missing is as good as guitar pop gets in 2015.

The relaxed, hypnotic nature of the piece [Post Encounter Effect] is a little surprising coming after the ecstatic first side, but it's calming and welcome nonetheless.

The majority of Ego Death is tighter. Bennett has refined her songwriting without reducing the candid approach that colors her past compositions. Additionally, the tangents are fewer and more substantive.

Fingers, Bank Pads & Shoe Prints is another thrilling, occasionally confounding collection that demonstrates why RP Boo is one of Chicago's most unique, innovative producers.

These songs find the group's leader on more comfortable ground, and the tone of Star Wars is that of some good friends tossing ideas against the wall and discovering that a surprising number of them stick.

The EP leads with a pair of sludgy pysch jams, decelerates for the slightly abrasive "drumless space" of "Coma," and closes with the side-long "Radial," which begins and ends with shifting drones that flank seven minutes of searing menace that recall early, "the Can"-era Can.

While the songs are sturdy enough to withstand such gentle rocking, this is a vibe record, the sound of an old pro playing not because it's necessary but because it's fun.

Early Public Enemy was formatively innovative, but on this latter-day record PE explore and deepen that signature not unlike master jazzmen -- or the Stones, for that matter--and that's not only worthy of an album, it's groundbreaking in terms of hip-hop.

As a stage experiment, Watkins Family Hour has thrived for 13 years, and now with a fine record to document their efforts, they've hit on a format that could offer boundless possibilities for years to come.

Bittersweet is a strong, satisfying album from one of the best and most distinctive singer/songwriters of her day, and this confirms she can move in any number of different directions and still offer her listeners something remarkable.

Bahdeni Nami's greatest appeal will be to newer fans who may prefer more contemporary production to the gritty lo-fi dabke aesthetic. That said, despite various flourishes, these producers try hard to remain true to Souleyman's spirit and, with only one exception, succeed in spades.

Ultimately, Music for Drifters ebbs and flows with the documentary, moving from idyllic seaside splendor to foreboding mid-ocean swells and back again.

It's not unfair to say Strange Wilds are a bit derivative, but they also do right by their influences, and they unleash a cranked-up onslaught that's tight and ferocious, with a judicious use of dynamics and an effective application of the traditional cheap Fender guitar run through the right effects boxes.

It's kaleidoscopic but crisp.

An already impressive album that's quite an improvement over his previous effort and on par with the best chilly, spacy avant pop around in 2015.

The notions of conflict, turmoil, and regret are certainly well-worn staples of the genre, but with Sturm und Drang Lamb of God have accrued a significant amount of experience in all three, and have distilled those concepts into pure unfiltered adrenaline.

A streamlined ten-song effort that, at the outset, feels like a very meat-and-potatoes, suburban pop-punk affair. But simple suburban pop-punk is Spraynard's bailiwick and their unpretentiousness is part of their charm.

It is their most holistic, inventive recording to date and ups the ante for anyone trying to follow them.

The CD edition is especially nice--a fold-out cardboard package with sharp, true-to-the-era artwork for each disc. It tops the double-vinyl edition, a truncated and smart selection made by the Roots' Captain Kirk Douglas, released months earlier for Record Store Day.