Bogguss has been quick to say that this is not a tribute album, but of course it is, both to the power and rough-edged beauty of Haggard's songwriting, and to Bogguss' creative and spiritual affinity to singing those songs. It's a match made in Honky Tonk Heaven, actually, although don't expect to hear any of these tracks on contemporary country radio.

The songs sound sad but each carries hope somehow, although a little jump and joy here and there might have given this set a little more spark. Life is lived in the sunshine, too.

It's a fine outing from a versatile band that knows what they do best, and man, they can rock.

While no one is going to accuse I Killed the Prom Queen of thinking too far outside the box, Beloved is an incredibly solid album from the Australian band, and is a fine return to the scene after a seven-year exile.

It's an album that holds plenty of rewards for those willing to take the time to explore its odd twists and turns with an open mind.

Glow is all inspired aces and a can't-miss release for funkateers or nu-disco fans.

The album is full of straightforward and jangly guitar pop, full of hooks and production turns that would feel at home on mixtapes of early-'90s underground alternative acts, the likes of which Pritchard himself belonged to and came up with.

Fans hoping that Evans will return to country music will be disappointed, but Slow Me Down is something that is rare in 2014: an unapologetic, big-scale adult pop album, constructed with grace and care.

Melancholy has always been Wareham's default musical disposition, here he delivers his sadness with a coy, charming half-smile.

The Take Off and Landing of Everything is better still [than 2011's Build a Rocket Boys!], demonstrating that the band knows how to seize the spoils of success.

Confessional and insular, Love Letters is the work of a band willing to take pop success on their own terms and reveal a different--but just as appealing--side of their artistry in the process.

While the album's brightness may take some getting used to, listeners who love her music for how well she expresses feelings that are universal yet hard to articulate will appreciate how vividly The Classic captures joy and what it takes to get it.

It remains as easy on the ears as a worn pair of slippers on the feet.

The Drop Beneath is another strong step toward Eternal Summers being a band like Bettie or Velocity Girl, the kind that other bands will look to for inspiration 20 years later.

Sure, no one is going to mistake this for an Einsturzende Neubaten or Jesus Lizard album (and most definitely not a Silver Jews disc), but the links to those acts can still be felt in the music here, making this self-titled debut an impressive collaboration between a trio of rather impressive collaborators.

Forget about shoegaze or metal or noise rock or any other genre; this is stark, dramatic music that comes from pain and has been crafted into high art that will move and inspire listeners lucky enough to hear it.

Twin Forks seems like a worthy vehicle for Carrabba's songs, but too much of this album panders to worn-out themes and clichés.

Much like our ever expanding universe, Yellow Ostrich's Cosmos is an infinitely listenable album that holds up to repeated scrutiny.

A beautiful and often brave-sounding album, Joyland shows how much can be gained by letting go.

It is searing, raw and lusty, tender, open and vulnerable.

Eagulls' density and intensity sometimes border on exhausting, but the album is an undeniably bracing beginning.

Working Out is an apt title, as Arthur Beatrice sound a little bit like they're in the late stages of development, where momentum is sometimes mistaken for maturation, but there's little doubt that they have the tools and the talent to carve out their own niche if given the room to grow a bit further out of the very populated one they currently reside in.

Ten tight songs and out, and the album feels like a mystery itself, but artists who nail that stoic sense of wonder, like Isaak and Orbison, don't come around often. Waterhouse is certainly of their ilk.

We Are Scientists make writing infectious, utterly listenable pop songs, over and over again, seem easy.

Looking at Major Lazer's previous releases, the whole Rasta zombie-hunter concept is applied the least to this one, but it's not missed, either. Apocalypse Soon is too fast and mean to be bogged down by any comic book extras, and besides, the music is weird enough and wild enough on its own.

The streamlining does much for the album, giving the songs enough space to let their varied and often contrasting influences meld nicely with the band's unique visions.

While War Psalms is certainly a long way from Morning Glory's humble beginnings as a bedroom recording project, the album shows a maturity that marks it as the beginning of an exciting new era for the band.

Her uncommon, even singular approach to singing, recording, and writing, remains fully in evidence here.

The album is a bit more raw than previous, so expect more fan favorites than hit singles. Otherwise, this is business as usual, and business is absolutely gangbusters.

The album consists entirely of songs begging for a singer that could give them their own personality, to which Michele and company respond by making every song louder than the last.

With third full-length Atlas, Real Estate grow even further into the sound they've been spinning for themselves, mellowing more while they become more nuanced in both playing and production.

The album is a well-written love letter to yesterday's rock & roll. Though this means the album's sound isn't nearly as revelatory as the sonic assaults of their earlier work, the Men continue to prove that, above all, they're a band that know what they're doing, even if they don't know what they're doing next.

It's fun, frivolous, and low on excess.

Ten albums and 18 years on from their first show, the Drive-By Truckers are still capable of mixing things up and showing off new sides of their skill set, and that's certainly the case with English Oceans, which shows them making wise use of all their talents--not just Mike Cooley.

As with any meeting of pop and noise, Axxa/Abraxas can feel somewhat at odds with itself at times.

Without mellowing too deeply or becoming so serious that the songs aren't fun to listen to anymore, +/- turn in a fantastically studio-crafted album that communicates greater depth and more sophistication than any of their other work.

Damaged Bug is a celebration of the strange and often unstable world of analog electronics, and while there's considerably less "crash and bang" to the project than Dwyer's work with Coachwhips and Thee Oh Sees, it has a scuzziness that fans of the prolific noisemaker's other work will appreciate.

As a whole, Like It Never Happened benefits from its lower-budget production. It is, if anything, more imaginative than her previous albums.

As has always been the case, Transatlantic excel at making a four-piece sound like a marauding horde.

Doubled Exposure, recorded by Jason Meagher at Black Dirt Studios in upstate New York, has a rich, full, warm, and still live-sounding and edgy wash of grit all over it, and it is Speer's most accessible album yet, if accessible means one can't help being kind of fascinated by it.

Atkins has come a long way since her debut and without the distractions of a major label or a major break-up, she seems to be in the driver's seat and completely in control of her destiny, delivering her most artistic and confident album to date.

It's a sturdy, often absorbing record from a singer who is determined to be in it for the long haul.

Bluebird reveals Landes' healing process in emotionally raw, delicately crafted songs.

New Bums finds two decidedly specific songwriters' styles and voices mesh into something new and different. The combination results in a strange, haunted look into imagined desert scenes, cheap motels, and tales of depraved living, floating by on tunes so unassuming they disappear before the darkness ever truly sets in.

Exquisite stuff and not so far off the trip-hop universe that it sounds alien, but those wishing for revivalist music or a nostalgia trip back to the days of chillout rooms could be thrown by the album's forward-thinking and genre-expanding moments.

If greater success follows them, treading that line between creativity and audience demand will become harder to do, but for now, Milagres have succeeded in making a unique and ultimately appealing record.

Much like the trio's studio work, the set has a unique touch that seems happenstance and carefully plotted all at once.

The album does tend to be more engaging than stifling, as well as a little more graceful, than previous releases from patten.

The wonders never cease on this adventurous and street-tough effort, but they never sort themselves well, either, and with accessible highlights like "Blind Threats," "Break the Bank," and "Man of the Year" all bundled toward the end, this LP requires a surprising amount of patience.

As her most satisfying, artful, and accessible album yet, St. Vincent earns its title.

From front to back, Blank Project is riveting uneasy listening.

The way they join the organic and the electronic, the cerebral and the emotional on Close to the Glass makes it the most thoroughly rewarding and enjoyable album of the Notwist's career to date.

The album is one full of highlights, with a sad beauty surrounding it that makes these songs immediately deeper, more connective, and more exciting than anything Death Vessel has brought us before.

Present Tense isn't as flawless as Smother; it's slightly top-loaded, and occasionally the spare instrumentation borders on monotonous. Still, it's a compelling album that shows Wild Beasts can build on their breakthrough in satisfying and challenging ways.

Blue Film is an often unforgettable introduction.

With a sound that tends to drift between the discordant jangle of the Pixies and the powerful sonic gut-punch of the Melvins, the trio weave together a dense tapestry of moody noise rock that seems to constantly shift and change directions.

You Should Be So Lucky is distinguished by that casual professionalism, and the album is so comfortable, so easy to enjoy that it can take a few listens to realize how deeply Tench's original songs sink in--it's not just that ballads like "Today I Took Your Picture Down" start to resonate, but the pop hooks on "Veronica Said" and the title track seem stronger and cannier -- and how soulful this whole affair is.

While Cynic's songwriting here is far from simple, their ability to create cohesion between the many elements at work in their music is a boon to the listener, providing the opportunity to enjoy the depth and complexity of the music without needing to spend an excessive amount of time trying to make heads or tails of it.

While fans will appreciate a self-aware look behind the curtain, there's enough raw energy and emotion here to hook in plenty of newcomers.

Easy access it's not, but track by track, this is excellence and an appetite-whetting experience worth any progressive hip-hop fan's attention.

Slough Feg have always been the heavy metal equivalent of Guided By Voices (minus the supernatural prolificity), and Digital Resistance does little to tarnish that reputation, as it plays as fast and loose with the genre as it does venerate it.

Despite the album's daunting length, Harte rewards listeners with some of his most affecting and expressive music yet.

It's too easy to call Blame Confusion a solid first album; nevertheless, it's still a consistently entertaining and impressive debut.

Given the dominance of slow material, the album is a bit stifling; Glover loosens up a little for only "In the Middle," co-written by Fantasia Barrino with a touch of "Ting-a-Ling," yet even that has some heartache.

His half-hour Wave 1 EP supplies more of the robust, wide-eyed synth pop/funk for which he has been known, albeit with a few slight tweaks.

With Past Life, Lost in the Trees have risen to the occasion and crafted a record that's no less haunted, but decidedly more open to interpretation.

Rushing by with a distinct sense of economy in less than 40 minutes and heavy on counterpoint between Pollard's robust fantasy rock and Sprout's careful sentimentality, Motivational Jumpsuit is easily the most satisfying full-length of GbV's reunited, overproductive 2010s phase.

Mary's revelatory, palpable desire and seemingly newfound strength permeate all of The Brink, leaving you with an impression of the Jezabels as a band that's (in spirit) one part singer/songwriter, one part stadium rock god, and, ultimately, all woman.

It's anyone's guess where Loveless will go from here, but she's already made an album that's genuinely dazzling, and Somewhere Else sounds like a real contender for best album of 2014.

The album seamlessly strolls from soaring numbers like "Lights Out" into a more stripped-down second half before ending with the gorgeous and inspired "Windows."

Even though the album's well-intentioned concepts don't always work, Rostron remains an artist with bold ideas.

Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles is a welcome return by an artist who has remained stubbornly true to herself and only records when she has something new to say.

Voices is filled with catchy, emotion-packed songs that will sound great booming out of radio speakers, soundtracking late nights spent alone and wondering, and anytime some really powerful modern pop is needed.

Word has it that Roberts wrote these songs, not solely in his Montreal basement studio, but primarily in a sun-soaked house on a hill in Andalusia, Spain. True or not, it's certainly a warm, brightly hopeful album.

Throughout it all Segarra struts her stuff without the slightest bit of arrogance (most of the arrangements are spare, but never willfully so), offering up a confident, yet ultimately amiable set of millennial-informed, urban crafted, Woody Guthrie-inspired, contemporary hobo-folk anthems that play fast and loose with genre tropes without losing the essence that makes them universal.

Kin (<-->) proves that the Unity Band is the next evolution of what Metheny -- and Lyle Mays--began with PMG. Musically, this unit's musicality derives as much from feel and freedom as it does sophisticated form and function.

North American Poetry is at its best, however, when Wauters strips away the slight clutter and lets his most introspective thoughts, questions, and feelings flow.

Hard Working Americans picked 11 cover tunes which deal with the hard truths of life among the working class, some recent compositions, and other, older songs that have remained relevant with the passage of time.

Constructed with flawlessness in mind, Galore succeeds in its ability to sound intensely produced and polished but never sterile.

The abiding impression left from this album is one of comfort, not despair, which makes Morning Phase distinctly different than its companion Sea Change.

It's hard to argue against the use of the 2009 remasters, as this is the best the Beatles have ever sounded. And not only does this sound good, it looks good, so it's a handsome way to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Beatlemania, although anybody who owns the 2009 boxes in addition to the 2004 and 2006 sets may find it hard to justify another purchase.

The Lights from the Chemical Plant is an inspired, mercurial record, by an artist who cares deeply for tradition, but refuses to be bound by it.

Exciting and moving, the songs on True Love Kills the Fairy Tale would work just as well stripped-down and spare as they do in the intricately produced electro-pop forms presented here.

To say that the album sounds like Hatori and Honda picked up right where they left off downplays its specialness, but there's no denying it sounds like Cibo Matto had never stopped playing together.

Neither a denial nor a rehash of Persson's past, Animal Heart is a welcome reflection of her changing life and art.

Working in long phases of slow development, Death After Life manages to pull energy from the darker corners of several splintered fields of techno to craft a strange and menacing hybrid that reaches dizzying places of both ugliness and resolution on almost every track.

It's their catchiest offering to date, with enough depth and immediate appeal to rival their influences.

††† is a solid effort that stands on its own merit rather than simply cruising on the cultural cache of its members.

Vast, clamorous, and curiously beautiful, Cheatahs recalls a time and place that isn't necessarily 2014, but does so with such skill and élan you'd be a fool not to meander through time and space with these sounds.

His hardcore following will no doubt celebrate it abundantly. Given its willful indulgence, however, others may find it a tipping point in the other direction.

The different textures and timbres at work on Emmaar reveal Tinariwen's evolution; one derived from the need to grow musically, as well as respond to adversity with creativity.

Sun Structures is an impressive debut that would be legendary now if it had been released in 1967; in 2014 it's merely the best psych pop around.

It is a seamless blend of Finn's longstanding popcraft and latter-day adventure, and it satisfies on both counts.

With the same soft rock moods of America, the Eagles, Crosby, Stills & Nash, or American Beauty-era Grateful Dead, the decreased volume leaves the songs every bit as moody and ominous as their more electric studio versions, but far clearer.

The musical realm that exists inside of Claypool's head is a bizarre one, but the songs on Four Foot Shack have a weird knack for worming their way into your head, turning your waking world into a surreal, country-fried cartoon version of itself that's oddly endearing.

Nothin' But Blood finds the hard-living and hard-playing one-man band Biram sounding as intense as ever.

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).

Plugged In holds up well--20 years later, its isolationist roots rock doesn't feel dated as much as it feels out of time--and having a five or six strong cuts added to it does enhance its value, yet it's hard not to wish that ...Again was a full-on new album instead of this half-measure.