"Tough Towns," which salutes cities like Pittsburgh and Cleveland, similarly lapses into ambient space for an extended time period, and closing track "Fame II: The Wreckoning" is nearly still for five minutes before its splashing, hopeful finale. Other than these more reflective moments, the album is generally pretty exhilarating, particularly on vicious avant-rap tracks like "At Your Service."

Songs for Our Mothers indicates Fat White Family still want to annoy you, but they're only going to put real effort into it for so long.

Ultimately, with Promise Everything, Basement return from the brink of oblivion and deliver an album that more than lives up to its title.

Never has TTB sounded so organic, relaxed, and free. Let Me Get By is the album this group has been striving for since their formation. You need this.

The overall result is a spirited collaboration that digs through the past for inspiration, but seems to prefer to keep memories a bit hazy.

Dominated by unrelenting synthesized bellowing battling slashing guitar figures and femur-snapping drumming, Pop. 1280 summon a hellish wall of sonic abuse that manages to also be curiously compelling, a neo-industrial attack that starts in high gear and never stops pouring fire and brimstone on the listener.

If Perfect is a tighter and better-focused album than one would have expected from Half Japanese in the '80s or '90s, miraculously it still sound like them, wild but fully engaged, and you'd be hard-pressed to name a band that not only sounds fresh but is still finding new creative paths close to 40 years after it began.

The overwhelming stillness of Promise demands attention but ultimately rewards it: it's an album that comforts the unease that arrives in moments of solitude, whether they arrive in the dead of night or in the chill of the morning.

Cayamo Sessions at Sea works best as a commercial for the ocean-going festival, but it also offers glimpses of some very talented artists crossing paths and sounding like fans, as well as musicians, as they make their way through some songs they clearly love.

Much like Deftones, NIN, and Tool successfully coexist alongside their respective sibling projects, Puciato, Eustis, and Alexander have created a refreshing entity to foster an alternative outlet for their emotions and creativity with satisfying results.

As an entry in Wilson's catalog, 4½ comes off as a fully considered EP, although leaving off "Year of the Plague" would have made it stronger. His obsessive attention to detail is everywhere in the production, but more than that, most of this provides fans with another fantastic showcase for his amazing band, excellent writing, and fine arranging.

When the band attempts to branch out, the results are mixed.

Vulnerability is often an asset to singers, particularly in matters concerning love, but Puth's problem is that he feels stage-managed; you can sense him hitting his marks.

Suede can still dwell on big issues of love and mortality, but now that the past is in perspective, it all means a little bit more and what lies ahead is a little more precious, and that wide view makes Night Thoughts all the more moving.

On record, they do retain some of that magnetism, but much of their songwriting seems to simply serve their musical style without making that much of an impact. There are exceptions, of course, especially with album closer "Egypt Berry," which is easily this album's strongest track.

As demanding as it is, the story and music are worth the effort. Dream Theater have invested in the "album" concept (and in listeners' attention spans) even as the music biz doubles down on the notion that long-players are merely envelopes to hold singles.

A Tuesday afternoon pool party of a record, Songs in the Key of Animals sounds like a great time was had by all, but that you kind of had to be there to appreciate it.

On Pond Scum, these songs seem to escape fully formed from Oldham's soul, even the no-frills cover of Prince's "The Cross," and if one has to take an educated guess about which Bonnie "Prince" Billy we get on this album, it's certain that what he has to say is well worth hearing.

The crowning achievement is that all of the musical and lyrical poetry works together to make a haunting, howling album that, despite outward signs, is above all tuneful and engaging.

Catchy and upbeat, these are the poppiest offerings on an album that otherwise is content with patience, comfort, and peace.

Williams remains the data-age Gil Scott-Heron plus a collaborator who elevates, as Reznor, and now Warfield, have both upped their game in the presence of such a radiant creative force.

Given that Furler didn't originally plan to make these songs her own, it's impressive that This Is Acting works as well as it does--only the wannabe banger "Move Your Body" and "Sweet Design"'s flashy, hard-hitting R&B are truly unconvincing. For the most part, however, This Is Acting's meta-pop is another example of how cleverly Sia brings her her experiments into the mainstream.

As an album, Gumption meanders quite a bit, occasionally to the point of feeling detached, but its glimmers of gold make for an ultimately compelling listen.

Armed with sounds of vintage gear recorded at a hospitable Austin, Texas instrument shop, Anand created Para in a number of locations, yet the album sounds like it was made in deep, zoned-out concentration. Its track sequencing is fluid as well, even when the array of approaches verges on excessive.

Wabi Sabi definitely feels like an album that could only have been conceived in an arid desert rather than a bustling city, and the remoteness of the couple's surroundings has certainly made them pay more attention to details and take notice of small, unique things such as the scorpions that adorn the album's cover.

Nugent may not distinguish himself from his influences on Night Vision, but, like fellow guitar slinger Ryley Walker, he couldn't care less. He's only interested in playing the music he likes and growing from what he learns in doing so. In the process, we get a killer rock & roll album.

On their debut, Coasts produce a competent collection of catchy arena-ready tunes that could eventually carry them there.

Though a couple cuts aren't as quick to stick to memory as the sweet and sour soul displayed throughout the stunning 2011 album, this less novel but engrossing sequel is another worthy addition to the Younge discography.