Little Big Town cherish the gentler moments, and this ease with sensitivity turns The Breaker into something of a quiet triumph: it's intended as a balm, and it succeeds.

Shine on Rainy Day is personal and soulful, with little of contemporary country's gloss and a stripped-down, earthy poeticism that some have likened to Kris Kristofferson's early albums

World Eater's focused chaos is some of his finest work yet.

All in all, Preservation is a fine record that finds this young artist really hitting her stride.

It makes for a diverse album within the tight framework that Lytle operates in, and even if it could have been a solo album just as easily, it works as a Grandaddy album too. If not quite as compelling overall as their best work like Sophtware Slump, it's a worthy successor to the very good Just Like the Fambly Cat and a welcome return for the "band."

Where the slightly showier Pushin' Against a Stone covered a wider variety of styles, The Order of Time tends to flow more smoothly and gives the feeling that you've stumbled on a 45-minute section of ongoing music that has no beginning and no end.

Having entered the limelight early, the 27-year-old singer/songwriter has now settled into a comfortable groove to on this finely honed career highlight.

Arguably his most coherent album to date, while off-kilter touches add a layer of artfulness, the songs themselves are engaging, even riveting by nature, and made more so by Blakeslee's performances.

50 Song Memoir is a rare example of Stephin Merritt offering a look into his offstage life, but just as importantly it's a reminder of why he's a truly great songwriter, and this ranks with his finest work.

Keeping up with Children of Alice's quicksilver changes and hypnotic passages requires listeners' full attention, but it's well worth it--these ever-transforming soundworlds honor the magic that Broadcast tapped into with Keenan while suggesting an equally fascinating way forward.

Moh Lhean sounds a little more mature, but only relatively speaking. The project remains a creative burst of sounds, grooves, and stylized observation that's uniquely refreshing to those open to its quirky complexity.

Oddisee's all-round strengths as producer, mixer, and lyricist make for a more cohesive record, allowing for his personality and message to shine that much brighter.

Merry and his crew deliver a layered set that ranges from the mellow dream-like "Rentes Écloses" to the unexpected fuzzed-out banger "Bête Morcelée."

Released just a week after his self-titled fifth effort, Future's HNDRXX provided an introspective and confessional complement to the more extroverted Future.

One of their strongest albums in a while, Hot Thoughts is more proof that Spoon only get better at introducing new ideas into their music, while sounding unmistakably like themselves, as the years pass.

Certainly, this album feels richer than previous Hurray for the Riff Raff records, which all benefitted from the stripped-down aesthetic that often signifies authenticity in Americana, but this broadening of Segarra's scope hardly constitutes pandering.

Mostly though, the record is pure, creepy uneasy listening, a well-thought-out and executed deconstruction of their sound.

The result is rich and resonant, a testament to the power of communal music over solo soul-baring.

Along with producer Cole M.G.N. (Beck, Julia Holter), Real Estate seems to both fine-tune and expand an already identifiable sound on In Mind, with engaging and often beautiful results.

Piano Song is an excellent and accessible introduction that surrenders nothing in terms of creativity. For fans, this authoritative statement is a revelatory chapter from one of the most fascinating musicians since 1980s.

Everybody Works displays huge breadth, which is often disguised by a relaxed pace and its effortless segues between styles.

Up and Coming clocks in at under 50 minutes. Its compositional and improvisational economy is countered by the quartet's disciplined ability to colorfully and authoritatively illustrate an abundance of creative ideas without even hinting at compromise.

The revamping of style and substance on Yours Conditionally is also something special, helping it to become the best record they've made so far.

Grinding Wheel never feels like anything less than vital. Overkill, or to be more specific, founding vocalist Bobby "Blitz" Ellsworth and bassist D.D. Verni, have been at this racket for nearly four decades now, and the fact they're continuing to dial up the intensity instead of resting on their considerable laurels is impressive, to say the least.

With We All Want the Same Things, Finn has crafted some of the strongest and most moving music of his career, and if his tales aren't often upbeat, they have the ring of truth and will stay in your memory long after the album is over.

What could have easily become a motley collection of showboating duets is in fact a remarkably cohesive record featuring a number of fine instrumental augmentations to Brown's thoughtful songs.

Perhaps the individual songs seem ephemeral when isolated on their own, but that's because Room 29 is constructed as a tone poem, a collection of songs, poetry, and incidental music that's designed to be a hyper-reality--an intersection of the glamorous past of Hollywood and our arch modern sensibility, and it succeeds gloriously at that.

The easy joy of the music on Freedom Is Free is as eloquent as any of the lyrics, and this is ambitious multi-cultural funk with a firm sense of heart, soul, and groove.