Kin is unexpectedly abrasive compared to other KMRU albums, but feels just as natural and inviting.

While it may be enough for most people to look for a best-of compilation, there are many delights to be found on this set.

While WIXIW might be a shade less ambitious than some of their previous albums, it's still fascinating to hear Liars wield beauty and delicacy just as formidably as they've used force and noise in the past.

Fulfills all the promise of the debut and more.

Yawn, too, has its moments of beauty and craft, but the payoffs are so subtle and slow to arrive that its title becomes the regrettably inevitable reaction.

The songs on Microtonic simply aren't as memorable as the highlights of their debut. It sounds impressive, but it exists in a sort of netherworld between expansive sonic exploration and fully engaging songwriting.

What's best is that Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny doesn't sound like it was brought into the 21st-century kicking and screaming. It does all that and more, but there's so much mad joy at the helm -- this is a band that would close their shows with a faithful cover of the Alan Parsons Project ballad "Time" while masked and covered in blood -- that the material feels bracing, vital, and rooted in the present.

The album's overriding ethos is expressed more clearly on tracks like "I Reach for You in My Sleep" and closer "The Rest of Our Lives," whose warm, layered harmonies, nimble fingerpicking, and gentle background shimmer evoke and encourage sweet dreams.

It's clear that the gore-obsessed band shows no signs of slowing down.

Some of the most interesting tracks on 1000 Gecs and the Tree of Clues come from less predictable pairings.

Cavalcade is intentionally oversaturated and designed to knock listeners off balance, and at its best, the album's overpowering rush of sounds and ideas communicates the excitement and a sense of unlimited possibilities.

With Tremor, Avery establishes a singular form of distortion-doused electronic rock which dwells in a nocturnal landscape, letting deep-seated emotions rise to the surface.

Derivative as it may be, it's done so well that it's awfully hard to bash.

For the casual listener, his music may be a bit heady and hard to follow, but for fans willing to be challenged, Roberts has delivered yet another excellent release.

As cunning as it is, Anniemal is also deeply affecting.

A uniquely powerful and moving set of songs.

When Koze finally gets around to mixing in some house tracks, they're midtempo and bittersweet rather than high-energy floor fillers, and uniformly excellent, particularly Frank & Tony's sublime "Bring the Sun. One wonders how astonishing the mix would be if it had consisted entirely of tracks like this, but the variety is refreshing, and Koze's adventurous spirit is always admirable.

The tracks are still tense and heavy, but they don't quite overwhelm you with dread the way other DS releases do. Instead, these tracks focus on dancefloor grooves while still throwing in plenty of eerie voices and other strange sounds.

Well-conceived, vibrant, and executed with attitude and aplomb, About the Light is a career standout for Mason.

Fohr's lyrics draw from personal experiences as well as scientific phenomena, and she elevates them with her dynamic, sometimes earth-shaking arrangements.

With New History Warfare, Vol. 3, Stetson explores scorched landscapes and heavenly scenes alike with his stylized playing.

A complex yet intriguing soundscape.

There are no wasted notes anywhere on July Flame, neither in Martine's production nor Veirs' tightly written (but still expressionistically poetic) compositions.

Patience (After Sebald) succeeds as beautifully evocative music to accompany the documentary, as another distinctive entry in Kirby's Caretaker discography and as an inspired blending of different works that makes its own statement.

While Learning's haunting storytelling remains singular, Hadreas is as brave an artist as ever, and Put Your Back N 2 It is a heartening follow-up in so many ways.

Completely dispensing with the conventions of dance music and embracing techniques more in tune with natural human rhythms, Emptyset have created one of their most unique works yet.

The warmth it conveys is immense, and along with the happiness it provides, the album also shows that the Clientele continue to be one of the best pop bands around in the 2000s.

With the help of Danger Mouse's platinum ear and intricate vocal productions, Green is revealed as a top-notch post-millennial soul singer.