Ciao! is at once a tremendously enjoyable piece of dancefloor fluff and an impressively unified statement from a master synthesist of electronic pop pleasures.

It flows. Because it's not as insanely cut as your typical IDM, it works as subtle, non-distracting background music, but it's still detailed enough to make for some enthralling headphone candy as well.

Happily, the partnership succeeds more often than not.

Mirror Gazer is a promising debut, especially when Onuinu keeps at least one foot on pop's terra firma.

OMD's Kraftwerk fixation at this late date is a retro-within-retro move that puzzles, so prepare to be jarred a bit before declaring this a welcome addition to the catalog.

However they adapt, it's always on their own terms, and #N/A is some of their most radical music yet.

2 has come off as just a bit too haphazard and like editing practice to be fully immersive; but its bittersweetness and unusual, playful spontaneity are, like Shauf, not with their charms.

Whether she looks into darkness or light, Eliza Gilkyson's vision is impressive, and she's given us another remarkable glimpse at her gifts as a vocalist and songwriter on The Nocturne Diaries.

Throughout, the album never loses its quietly hypnotic, reflective character or its soft-footed, ornate chamber-folk palette, transporting us to a distinct and remote destination that's nonetheless intimately relatable.

The First Family: Live at the Winchester Cathedral 1967 offers a fascinating and exciting glimpse of them in their embryonic stage.

Many of her fans will no doubt be delighted with this artful yet accessible return, and hopefully, those who embraced the younger, wackier, campy aspect of lang's persona will allow for the fact that there isn't anything close to that here.

Plastic Anniversary is both relevant to its time and another well-conceived, thought-provoking chapter in their long-running career.

Lerner's easy and reliable delivery is the glue that keeps everything together, and while there's little doubt that Ad Infinitum was conceived and created during a time of artistic upheaval, it retains all of the warmth and humanity that's made his prior outings shine.

Compared to the earlier Floating Points material designed to connect to the head more than the hips, this naturally comes across as underdeveloped, but it's engrossing nonetheless.

Nelson and co. have omnivorous tastes and a sense of humor, a combination that results in slow-grooving R&B numbers, sun-kissed pop, rangy rockers, and a persistent good vibe. In troubled times, the band have managed to deliver an album filled with optimism, and that's a remarkable feat.

Shiny New Model definitely lives up to the title. The EP takes the best parts of the band's debut (their energy and snarky lyrics), adds dynamic tension and focus, and ends up being just a little better and just a little more exciting.

A far jollier ride than its angsty predecessor, 2023's Other One, Metal Forth leans hard into the group's kawaii metal aesthetic, delivering ten potent sugar rushes that evoke Babymetal's dizzying, confectionery debut.

In "Mustangs," which asks, "Are you a mustang or a kitty?" Your desire to answer that question may or may not depend on how deeply you spark to the album. Yet, the lyric is playful, Pop Art-provocative, and speaks to the joy, sweat, and poetic inspiration coursing through all of Can We Please Have Fun.

Though some of the production is a bit too reminiscent of 1990s indie rock, the songs are strong enough and the attitude addictive enough to position Figurines as more than an also-ran.

The feel is late night, on the edge of quiet, and full of pathos.

Truth in advertising, Another Round varies little from Jaheim’s earlier efforts, but for the returning listener, that’s the selling point.

While Dusk to Dawn initially seems like the soundtrack to an endless vacation, it ends up unexpectedly vulnerable and revealing, allowing for introspection and spiritual reflection after the all-night party experience.

Whether compared to the progressions of Kirby's cross-continental inspirations (Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, Andrew Hill, Yoshio Suzuki) or those of his nearest contemporaries (such as Garrett and Bremer/McCoy), My Garden is its own gratifying thing.

When the production magic keeps up with her boundless spirit, the songs reach a unique hotspot of fun and infectiousness that makes all of Doja Cat's disparate impulses gel into an exhilarating whole.

Producer Brian Fox has given the recordings an unobtrusive clarity and warmth that flatters the material, and overall Let There Be Music pushes Bonny Doon and their music forward without forcing them out of their comfort zone. Imagine what might happen if they started drinking coffee.

The story behind Tennis and Cape Dory are nice; the music is better.

The album is still a whole lot of fun, filled with the childlike sense of wonder common to much of Paradinas' best work. The late '90s were clearly a magical era for him, and Challenge Me Foolish is just as essential as any of his other releases of material from that period.

It marks a return to the sound and feel of Under the Pink and is her best album since then.