The lively setting and empathetic harmonies help turn Bluegrass into an enjoyable detour: nobody is stretching themselves, they're merely laying back and having a good time, and that's hard not to enjoy.

Most bands don't sound as fresh, confident, and willing to take chances three decades into their career as the Old 97's do on American Primitive; they've quietly but firmly matured into one of America's best roots rock acts.

The band deserve all kinds of praise for pulling off the somewhat rare feat of being both musically adventurous and emotionally gripping on Only You Left; it feels like the destination to which all their previous excursions were leading and is a fine example of indie rock at its all-around best.

With New German Cinema, Weiss expresses her angst and existential dread in terms more vivid than she did even with the brooding pop of Fear of Men, crafting a debut that bears all the heavy, understated power of the Fassbinder films and personal experiences that inspired it.

Though combining contrasting elements in her music is usually one of her greatest strengths, hearing Arca concentrate on kick iiii's hyperreal sensuality and vulnerability makes it a crucial part of the Kick anthology.

Those who power through this album, though, will be richly rewarded by ASDIG's diaphanous, highly intelligent take on noise pop.

Marble Son is still dominated by elegant, wistful songs that sound like they were conceived on a mountaintop and set adrift to float in a cloudless sky, dipping down just long enough for listeners to get an earful of the airy delights they offer.

2011 is a year for strong albums in general, and You Are All I See deserves to be ranked among the best.

On The Voyager, Lewis' characters live for today without ever thinking that the world might pass them by, and having her music flow so smooth and easy, she illustrates how easy it is to get sucked into that alluring stasis.

With its ghostly music box pianos, electronic watercolors, staccato strings, and elliptical melodies, the album feels simultaneously elusive and introspective.

Balloonerism isn’t Miller’s best, most consistent, or even most experimental work, but it offers a previously unseen chapter in his evolution as an artist and shows clear pathways to what followed.

Repave is anything but showy. It's a pretty type of album that washes over you, made up of slow burners that melt like hot wax.

[The songs] manage to be unified in a way that Young wanted Greendale to be but didn't quite pull off, yet they also stand on their own and are, overall, more memorable than those on Prairie Wind.

Given all the things Byrne and Clark pack into Love This Giant, it's a remarkably catchy and concise set of songs featuring some of the most vibrant work that either one of them has produced.

Carrier ends up being a remarkably balanced meditation on joy and loss, as well as one of the more nuanced albums in Dodos' body of work.

Those who enjoyed the wooziness of Talabot's 2012 studio album ƒIN should find much to enjoy here.

A song like "Maelstrom" lets loose with a thundering bass drum and more-distant syncopated snare. For the most part, though, tracks levitate above ground along webs of acoustic guitar, piano, layered vocals, and atmospheric shimmer to the point where it's sometimes difficult to distinguish one song from another.

Dave (of De La Soul) co-wrote "Mirror," as well as one of the other darker highlights, "Killing Me," a slowly swaying kiss-off in which Nagano seethes, "I'll take my rocket ship and get the hell outta this/Nothin' that I'm gon' miss." That song, along with the satisfying closer "Let Go," was co-produced by Robin Hannibal (Quadron, Rhye). Subtract those contributions and this would still be the group's most accomplished work.

An equally strange and sexy debut, Zaba's most audacious moments suggest Glass Animals will be an even more compelling act next time around.

Dedicated fans will want to note that two of the tracks--"Swimming Pool" and "Social Halo"--were taken from her 2015 EP S, though the ten additional tracks more than make up for any duplication.

The Art of Pretending to Swim is a strong example of how one man with an unlimited number of tracks to fill can create a compelling and revealing collection of songs. If this doesn't always sound like what one would expect from Villagers, its emotional impact shows that it's clearly O'Brien's work.

No Gods No Masters is a highlight in their discography and one of their best works to date, a potent and outspoken dose of genre-blending artistry that confidently returns Garbage to their position as a band perpetually ahead of the curve.

While HAIM, Amber Mark, Syd (of the Internet), Robin Pecknold (of Fleet Foxes) and Empress Of all contribute their talents to these songs, this is very much David Longstreth's music, and it's heartfelt, passionate, and beguiling in the tradition of Dirty Projectors' best work.

It is a serious contender for any representative year-end list.

Sonically, Manhattan is one of Lewis' clearest, best-recorded and arranged albums to date, with masses of swirling, atmospheric sounds augmenting the more detailed tracks (the sounds of crowded New York City streets and subways seep into some of the songs).

The rest of the surprisingly accessible Smash the System follows suit, weaving in some solid singer/songwriter-y bits ("Bomber Jacket"), some Sleaford Mods-style post-punk ("Power of the Witch"), and even a dollop of neo-pagan Wicker Man-worship ("Cosmic Man"), all with a wink and a nod, of course.

Lighthouse is lovely, but the lack of attention to detail blunts some of the writing and playing craft on offer.

Monument Builders is a powerful reminder that ambient music is a fine conduit for emotionally and politically charged messages, and it's one of Morgan's finest works yet.