Though Loose Future lacks a bit of the grand-scale drama of Honest Life and Old Flowers, it's full of well-crafted songs performed with the skill and passion they deserve, and it's another worthy album from a songwriter who only gets better as she matures.

Despite being from different albums, the songs all work together remarkably well, giving the album the kind of natural flow that one expects from an album, never giving away the fact that the songs are all from different EPs.

More Faithful is a masterpiece for headphones, and more enjoyable with every listen at high, open air volumes, easily offering the best songwriting and aural presentation the band has mustered yet.

More than just a worthy successor to Upstepping, Shelley's on Zenn-La reconfigures both modern classical and electronic dance music, producing a wholly original work which knows no boundaries.

There is no better place to spend 45 minutes than in Lay It Down's dreamy, sensual, gritty, and tender sound world.

There's no pushing of the envelope because there doesn't need to be. Aerial is rooted in Kate Bush's oeuvre, with grace, flair, elegance, and an obsessive, stubborn attention to detail.

All of Touch reflects the curiosity that has driven Tortoise since the beginning -- and still drives them all these years later.

It's exactly what a second album should be, and it's rare that any band delivers as well as Evans the Death do here.

It's a lovely and deeply creative record that came so late in his career that it appeared to have already been relegated to history.

Downcast and spectral even by the standards of Lanegan's less-than-sunny body of work, Straight Songs of Sorrow is psychodrama as much as it is entertainment. That also makes it one of the most nakedly compelling albums Lanegan has given us, and anyone who has been interested in his music or his life will find it darkly mesmerizing.

Where Revealer occasionally spilled into showy musical prowess, Ace finds balance and takes Cunningham's art to the next level.

The Analord series... proved that James was still capable of brilliance -- not just scattered brilliance, but consistently excellent and occasionally stupendous work.

Together, the ten pieces combine to create a surprisingly cohesive whole.

After is a minor triumph that makes it clear Lady Lamb is going to be around for a while, and may give you new hope for those kids making arty noise in their basement down the block.

Clarke's songs are founded in seductive pop melodies with a rootsy undertow, and he, his studio band, and his production team have crafted an album that comes from the heart and emotionally connects with rare skill, in both music and lyrics. Having a down day? Cut Worms may be just what you need.

More dynamic and sonically defined than Divide and Dissolve's earlier albums, Systemic is easily their most successful work thus far.

It’s an album worthy of its co-signs from the Boygenius camp but one that stands solidly on the merits of its own uncompromising creation.

Its pop-R&B foundation is a little slicker, still tricked out with the occasional trap-styled production techniques -- probing bass, rattling percussion -- twisted just enough to not sound overdone.

Lovegaze demonstrates Hunter's range from soundscape weaver to art-pop maverick, and her music is never less than bewildering.

Presents more of the same disconcerting, cacophonous, yet strangely melodic and catchy music that always seems to find frontman John Congleton on the verge of going absolutely insane.

Elegant from the first minute to its 70th, Ojalá is an essential album for fans of Raymonde-affiliated projects like Snowbird and This Mortal Coil, and is among his and the year-in-indie's most exquisite works.

Onion is mature and contemplative compared to Shannon & the Clams' earlier efforts, but it's music that comes from a place of celebration and love, and these songs will make you dance and sing along--and that's what this band has always done best.

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.

Martsch has evolved into a survivor; while others may have flashed early and burned out, he's kept plugging away and with When the Wind Forgets Your Name he and Built to Spill have delivered a late career stunner that easily equals their best work.

Whether autobiographical or a thought exercise, Honey is evocative and often relatable, if in turn inevitably alienating and mercurial.

Both introspective and commanding, Halo on the Inside charts a path between the club and the cosmos.

While something is almost always askew, on average, the album feels a little broader and brighter than Painted Shut. Thankfully, it does so without sacrificing lyrical impact or smoothing out Hop Along's distinctive, compelling sound.

Coxon's ambitions on Love Travels at Illegal Speeds may not be grand -- he has simply made a punky pop album (which is different than punk-pop) -- but his execution is exceptional, which makes this a very appealing album.