Seldom have banjos, violins, organ, and bandoneon (an old accordion that helps define the band's unique sound), let alone guitar, piano and, stand-up bass, seemed quite as intimidating and brooding as in the hands of this band.

The Grails have once more pushed their own sonic terrain, where all that is familiar to them is woven into a gorgeously textured fabric with all that could be envisioned by them at this point in time, with the listener as the true beneficiary.

If the album has a flaw, it's the excessive length — 14 tracks in 45 minutes should have been shaved down to ten in 30. But overall, this is a solid effort from a band with a lot to offer fans of aggressive rock who aren't too worried about categories.

Similarly, the loping "Occupational Hazard" and the militaristically epic "Dionysus" have a kinetic flow that is, as with all of Furnaces, both literate and cinematic.

Little Seeds has enough going for it that one hopes Shovels & Rope will start coming up with ideas that match their skill set, but this is not the album that delivers that breakthrough.

This fondness for old-fashioned songwriting gives Feel Your Feelings Fool! a sturdy understructure upon which the Regrettes thread feminism, sneering angst, and ecstasy. All these intertwined emotions give the album an emotional punch that complements its musical rush.

The result is an impressive step forward, an album that finds Natalie Prass straddling the border between the future and the past, just as she promised.

The album is a treat to the ears. It's unmistakably in the tradition of soul and funk older than the artist himself, but could not have been made any earlier than the late 2010s.

Simply incredible, timeless, and placeless music.

At just 28 minutes, Alphabetland fires on all cylinders throughout and bows out before it can wear out its welcome; it's a nearly miraculous example of a band returning to the studio after a long layoff and delivering at full strength.

Rose is arguably still at her best on the more intimate balladry, such as on album highlights "Dusty Frames," with its rippled, watery effects, and the brittlely resilient title track. Nothing here, though, is a misfire, as Rose deftly navigates these new approaches.

Sheff has proven himself again and again to be a gifted wordsmith, and Stage Names features some of his finest parlor room romanticisms and slacker-poet observations to date.

Sunshine Rock is the fourth installment in one of the most satisfying chapters of Bob Mould's career--no small statement considering his legacy--and the tender ferocity of these songs is something no one else could do quite this well.

Vast yet intimate, in some ways Sauna is the most like the Microphones album that gave Mount Eerie its name in the first place.

She's full of fire, uncommonly dexterous both vocally and in emotion -- scathing, instructing, loving, and funny as all get out. All 360 degrees of the Jill Scott experience are presented here.

His songs are delicate but strong, faint yet persistent, and have a deep, almost inexplicable emotional pull.

While it might take listeners a few spins to find the right head space for the album, once they get there, it's an easy place to get lost in.

In some ways Silence Yourself doesn't provide the full Savages experience, but it offers more than enough to make it a powerful debut that suggests they'll become an even more distinctive force to be reckoned with over time.

No matter how many years go by between their albums, the adventures they embark on are irresistible.

She's created a visionary American music that extends its traditions as it embraces others, free of borderlines. City of Refuge shines from West to East, from South to North--and beyond.

On Virgin, she is transcendentally witchy, harmonizing with herself both literally and spiritually, a pop star in the throes of creative rebirth.

Leave It All Behind is a concise and complete set of songs that brings out the best of both producer Nicolay and Phonte.

Fans of Far will be able to appreciate At Night We Live as a further evolution of Water & Solutions, but new listeners will have a hard time finding a fresh experience.

This is an impressive job by a child-prodigy instrumentalist who has accomplished the very difficult task of continuing to challenge himself in productive ways as an adult.

SURVIVAL HORROR is one of the band's best distillations of their extremes, providing just enough brutality without sacrificing their evolving vision of how melodic and experimental a metal band can be.

The Magic Position loses a little focus near the end, but flashes of inspired lunacy like the jarring arrival of a spectral Marianne Faithfull on the spooky "Magpie" help to make this unpredictable collection of Victorian-peaked electro/folk-pop so hard to dislike.

After Drop some might have expected Thee Oh Sees to continue to explore their softer side, Mutilator Defeated at Last confounds those expectations. Blows them up, really, in a giant fireball of guitars, noise, and psychedelic power.

This powerful debut was a long time in the making, but Past Life Martyred Saints will win Andersen new fans as well as thrill longtime ones.