Short for "good night," GN is hardly bedside reading material, full of tales of life trials, some personal, some harrowing, some both. Its musical warmth and unassuming tone, though, may be just the thing for those seeking a melodious, soft-focus diversion.

Ruinism is a bold reinvention of Lapalux's sound, and is undoubtedly his best work to date.

Recorded live in the studio with Jay Ruston (Steel Panther, Anthrax, the Donnas), the sprawling 15-track set, which clocks in at just over an hour, can feel a little unruly, but there's more than enough meat here to make a proper sandwich.

Minimal, yet brimming over with emotions both bright and dulled by pain and loss, the 15-track set is a marvel of restraint and refinement, with Rachel and Becky Unthank's otherworldly voices accompanied only by piano and violin.

On the surface, Tiller still gives off that wallflower baller vibe; the brashness of the debut largely remains. The lack of connection made on the one stylistic shake-up--the lightly jutting "Run Me Dry," a cousin of Rihanna's "Work" and Drake's "One Dance"--suggests that Tiller will likely be better off continuing to refine the sound for which he's known.

At best, I Can Spin a Rainbow feels like the work of two talented artists savoring a long weekend of boundless creativity together, but from an outsider's perspective, the results are a bit too impenetrable to contextualize without having been in the room to witness its genesis.

"Abysmal Thoughts"' breezy music and direct words are an arresting mix, and as Pierce stakes his claim as a 21st century master of melodrama, he delivers the purest version of his music yet.

If Richard Dawson is Fairport Unconventional, Peasant is his Liege & Lief, a strange but fascinating journey through the frameworks of British folk music as seen by one truly unique set of eyes.

Throughout its shifting emotions and sounds, The Age of Anxiety is a consistently thoughtful, playful reflection of hyper-stimulating times.

Fifth State generally feels easygoing yet energetic, and informed of the state of the world while trying to achieve inner peace and enjoy life to the fullest.

Dust is very disorienting and not always easy to grasp hold of, but it never comes close to sounding like anything else, and its best moments are highly compelling.

The beats are fully outfitted, and several are suitably immense, but they blur into one another as they serve as a spirited if mostly unremarkable summertime backdrop.

Covering more than a decade's worth of songs, the collection underscores that while Beach House's music sounds fragile, it's also surprisingly resilient.

This music is eternal, and their obvious reverence for it is shown in how easily they just let it come through. No matter where it was recorded or who plays on it, the feel is the same: Open, willing, and wooly.

The ex-(International) Noise Conspiracy and Refused frontman, who is joined by Sara Almgren (also a Noise Conspiracy expatriate), Kristina Karlsson (Tiger Forest Cat), Anders Stenberg (Lykke Li, Deportees), and Andre Sandstrom (DS-13), delivers a consistently engaging seven-track set that's light on humor and heavy on apocalyptic grandeur.

Heavily nostalgic and yet fully energized, Neva Left continues Snoop Dogg's easy whim-to-whim glide.

How the West was Won is not only a great album, it's also the inspiring, and inspired, story of how Perrett won his own life back.

In a Mood is an unassuming treat of an album, and Okely proves himself to be one of the top modern practitioners of this very old, very tired-in-the-wrong-hands sound. In his hands, it feels fresh and vital, as the album is as good as anything that came out in the first wave of soft rock.

As a collection, there is plenty of range in tone and emotion as Flogging Molly both decry and celebrate the wild mess that, depending on one's outlook, does indeed make life good.

It's not clear if the album is truly meant to be a new direction for Washed Out or a sort of clearing out of the past to make way for something new; either way it sounds pleasing and easy, like the work of someone not trying to make the masses happy, but instead making music that comes naturally to him.

A one-of-a-kind revelatory document. This music was not only professionally recorded, but preserved with archival standards, making for an excellent fidelity reproduction.

If Together at Last is a minor work in Tweedy's catalog, it's a simple but genuine pleasure that may convert a few doubters who haven't been won over by Wilco's eclecticism.

Are Euphoria is folky and futuristic, innocent and artful, and experimental and approachable.

The complex but tuneful standout, "Restless Summer," offers Color Film's best shot at a pop single, but for all of its craft and musicianship, much of Living Arrangements feels like an enjoyable, if somewhat rote, tribute to the very specific sound of another era.

Maybe it's not a major record but its mellowness is charming, and the two bluesmen play off each other like the longtime friends they are, which is an endearing thing to hear.

From the wounded psychedelic swirl of "Hunter's Gun" to the hazy tribute "Turning 21," her ruminations are at once personal and relatable, getting to the gut of the matter with her own brand of poeticism.

If the Banditos' first album was promising, Visionland proves they have the talent and strength to do this more than once, and there's as much sheer talent on display here as in any band in the roots rock underground today.

Big Fish Theory cements Staples' status as one of the most talented and forward-thinking voices in rap in the late 2010s.