El Guincho's debut album Alegranza is as bright as the feathers of the parrot, as sparkly as the fireworks, and as warm as the palm trees that adorn the cover.

Murs and Slug put more thought and sincerity into their side projects than some MCs put into their main albums, and when you add that to the top-notch production and killer flow, Felt 3 is a no-brainer for lovers of hip-hop.

Dissed is the kind of record that feels like it came out of nowhere to blow minds, and even though you can trace it clearly when you check out his previous work with the band Ovens or early solo recordings, it trumpets Molina's arrival with 12 short blasts of perfection.

He's one of the rare artists who can lay claim to four (or five) albums that are all distinct from one another, all him, all high quality.

Bleeder is one of the best outsider metal albums of the year.

The movie and score are fun and entertaining, but at the same time, the ugly bits of hate speech are jarring and take away from the sheer pleasure of it all. Listen (and watch) at your own discretion.

Physical provides ample proof that he can take the skills he's honed with that group [Factory Floor] in entertainingly different directions.

Khruangbin's music can still work as an ebullient, sun-baked soundtrack to daily activities, social gatherings, or cross-country road trips, but their songs have gotten more expressive and soul-searching, and Mordechai rewards closer listening more than any of their previous recordings.

Released almost exactly two years after that EP [Texas Sun], Texas Moon is spacier and a little moodier, and Bridges' writing this time gets as personal and spiritual as it does in his solo work.

By the time the title track brings the album to a close with mournful synths and drums that sound like they could punch holes in the sky, Exister finds Vasquez reclaiming all of himself with painful eloquence.

Vulnerable but full of punk-rock spirit and lessons hard-won, No Need to Be Lonely is also consistently hooky, with singalong choruses that often double as calls to action.

The Ship is a memorial to and meditation on history and human foibles. Just as importantly, it places an exclamation point on Eno's career as curiosity, experimentation, chance, and form gel; his relentless sense of adventure remains undiminished by time.

Despite only taking a couple of years to put out a second album, Lenses Alien also feels like an altogether more grown-up record.

There isn't a hint of fussiness and the songs and the performances are so understated, they only seem richer with repeated spins.

While observing the spaces between, Marshall's songs, reflective, consumptive, instructive and compelling, simultaneously create and destroy spaces between worlds he observes, so he might remake the world he lives in with restaint, grace, a broken heart, and brutal honesty.

This album is the prescription for anyone who thinks rock has imploded or has nothing new to offer.

e. This all-or-nothing approach makes Deep Trip an exhilarating listen that's just as capable of amping listeners up with its vital punk energy as it is freaking them out with its surging undercurrent of mind-altering sludge, making for yet another feather in the cap of Sacred Bones and their ever-growing lineup of head trip-inducing bands.

Beyond isn't merely a worthy album from a reunited band, it's simply a great record by any standard.

If they remain a little constrained by their formalism--they're so determined to be part of a tradition they can often be swallowed by it--it's nevertheless hard not to admire their ambition.

This set is drenched in mystery; each track unfolds and transitions seamlessly as it builds and expands, enveloping the listener.

Shlon is the album where Souleyman reveals his comfort with his new band, who have, after all, traveled tens of thousands of miles together. He also returns to the incendiary approach of his early albums, worrying not so much about hip textures and beats as delivering these songs as soulfully and energetically as possible.

If the Hold Steady sound a lot more polished and accomplished in 2023 than on 2004's Almost Killed Me, they're gained far more than they've lost in the course of their evolution, and The Price of Progress finds them writing and performing at the top of their game.

Vertigo is more expansive than Open--even with its humid, uneasy sense of musical claustrophobia. It's no less engaging for its dissonance and tension. This is possible because The Necks understand how to instinctively balance sonic seduction with limitless exploration.

Travels with Myself and Another distinguishes Future of the Left from Mclusky without completely severing ties, and proves they're a band that can keep post-hardcore exciting with righteous anger and merciless wit.

Mod Prog Sic finds Black Dice pushing themselves even further into a place of singularity, making music that's gross, funny, captivating, scary, and beguiling at once, and finding new details in the extremes they've been exploring for decades.

Krüller is one of the most accessible-sounding Author & Punisher releases, but it's still vast and uncompromising.

An album that is more cinematic than the intervening releases in more ways than one.

It's Dulli's band, and what he's delivered here honestly satisfies.