This debut EP is a deeper, meatier experience than expected, going as far as to be a conceptual release focused on relationships.

One hears the core of a great band on I Hear You, but if Arbor Labor Union want to make a great record, they're going to have to find a way to make these songs go somewhere rather than letting them wander in a circle, though they at least sound like they're having a good time staying in place.

Without clear-cut standouts, Operator is really a full-album listening experience. This may hinder casual fans--there's no "Bounce" or "Heartbreaker" here--but diehards and lovers of more challenging electronic music will appreciate the chaotic journey of Operator.

This sprawling, cumbersome, and often psychedelic effort feels like a glorious clearing house for the diverse and deep rapper, offering giant, cinematic, and challenging efforts.

Such accents as early-'70s analog synths and a couple of pastoral acoustic numbers may give Anyway You Love, We Know How You Feel a throwback feel but the Chris Robinson Brotherhood aren't living in the past, they're pushing jam band tradition forward by keeping their expansion focused on funk.

Despite the haunting narrative tied to the album, Viola Beach remains the sound of youth, hope, and possibility.

This weird and often wonderful ride broadens the scope, painting Desiigner as a much darker rapper with his hallucinatory music just skirting on the surface of a bad trip.

Ultimately, one of the things understood is that for an album of cover songs, the result still feels entirely personal and held dear when hearing the father and daughter pay tribute to their inspirations together.

Though their debut remains the high-water mark of production, catchiness, and vitality, Washed Away is a fine set to buffer Rooney's catalog.

Over There That Way doesn't seem like the obvious path Heliotropes could have taken after A Constant Sea, which is to its advantage, demonstrating Numsuwankijkul isn't just a one trick pony.

This is obviously not meant to attract new fans, but one to re-engage longstanding ones. It's a mixed bag, but its experimentation works more often than not, while the new songs suggest Heart's creativity is undiminished.

A record that tries hard to please but never does because the labor is always too evident.

Argentinian punk rockers Los Enanitos Verdes close the album with a squalling "Traveling Band" that snarls, churns, and nearly goes off the rails. A couple of other selections are less inspiring, but the vast majority of Quiero Creedence makes for a truly fine and original tribute record.

Pylon Live isn't perfect, but as a reminder of what made Pylon special and how well they worked on-stage, it does what it needs to do beautifully, and this is a splendid archival document of a group whose importance becomes increasingly evident with the passage of time.

Tthe way she's moved forward on this date, wedding her musical identities, makes for a striking if uneven listen and bodes well for future recordings.

Descendents are playing punk rock for the same reasons they always did--they want to, and they need to--and the fact they can mature while sounding thoroughly like themselves makes Hypercaffium Spazzinate a welcome late-era addition to their catalog.

File this massive effort next to Damian's Welcome to Jamrock, Stephen's own diverse 2007 release Mind Control, and maybe even Dad's 1976 "Roots, Rock, Reggae" breakthrough, Rastaman Vibration.

Afraid of Heights is their most overtly political statement yet, a highlight in the Billy Talent catalog and perhaps their best to date.

As ephemeral and powerful as a crush, Nothing's Real marks Shura as the kind of smart pop star the 2010s need.

Consider this an exciting double-LP throwback that drops "Even if I die, living legend" during the opening cut and then just gets bigger and bolder from there.

The piano ballad "I Still Make Her Cry" stands as the lone truly intimate moment of the record which, despite its enthusiastic choruses, harbors reflective, self-doubting lyrics.

Considering the emotional arc of this mix, it seems likely that the listener will have fallen asleep crying by that point. There's some fine music on it, but it's not recommended if you're expecting pleasant dreams.

This Is Gap Dream has enough going for it that it's well worth a listen, but while Gabe Fulvimar can make a good album all by himself, one wonders if he could make a better one with a few other people helping him tighten his focus.

The King of Whys is still more intimate than any of Kinsella's prior bands, like American Football or Owls, or even Joan of Arc. The album is otherwise not likely to stand out among Owen's catalog, but it's still an affecting and worthwhile effort from an artist who's as reliably tuneful as candid.

Apache could have easily slid into uninvolving sentimentality, but each song works some combination of the heart, mind, and hips.

Spain have been producing subtly remarkable albums since they debuted in 1995, and Carolina shows they've grown remarkably as artists since then.

Rhyton sound like they could easily play for hours on end and not get tired, and possibly not even come close to reaching their peak, but they rein in their impulses in order to keep things focused and explore more ideas in the album format, and it works pretty well.

The whole work hits like a long-forgotten memory. Fans of Picture You, or of wistful atmosphere in general, will want to dig deep into Ambulance, and, to its credit, will find the room to do so.