As with the album's first two cuts, it incorporates several movements, yet it's hip-hop much more than techno and never fades into the background like a fusty Mo' Wax scrap.

Bones is inventive, unsettling, imposing, and utterly arresting.

The news (good or bad) is that Tweedy helped Thompson make just the sort of album that's made him one of our greatest legacy artists, and it's an example of why Thompson is still worth hearing 43 years into a career that shows no signs of stopping.

It carefully builds--creatively and emotionally--on everything Baird had accomplished so far and ascends to another level entirely.

Feels Like gets high marks for craft but barely merits a passing grade for fresh thinking.

Politically charged punk rock can be an exhausting and overtly self-righteous affair in the wrong hands, but Oberst and company temper their outrage with unadulterated melodic might, resulting in that rare protest album that rewards both the condemners and the condemned.

It's all a pleasing time warp without turbulence, one with songs built more to evoke the past than to last in one's memory.

Holistic in breadth and deep in vision, it provides a way into this music for many, and challenges the cultural conversation about jazz without compromising or pandering.

As it moves from reflective to engaging and back again, In Colour covers the entire spectrum of Jamie xx's music, delivering flashes of brilliance along the way.

This set is welcoming, open, and warm: it invites fans of all of his musical pursuits along for the ride.

You're Going to Make It is convincing proof that Mates of State are far from that less-than-thrilling fate [of playing the oldies circuit].

Ahe stumbles when she gets lighter, particularly on "Family Is Family," where it seems like she can't wait to be rid of those leeches--but it's hardly enough to prevent the album from being a rich, enchanting collection of stories, confessions, and the occasional joke.

Tamia does not to attempt to hit those high notes that Williams and few others have been able to reach, but she gets the feeling across. It's a fine finish to her best album yet.

If the title suggests a concept that isn't quite there, the music speaks for itself, and what it says is eloquent and deeply pleasing.

Year of the Hare is best recommended to fans who already have a grasp of Fucked Up's more esoteric moments--beginners should try 2011's David Comes to Life or 2014's Glass Boys--but this is still smart, lively, and thoroughly individual music from one of the most free-thinking bands to emerge from the punk rock underground.

At first, Wild Nights' shifts from song to song could give unsuspecting listeners whiplash, but even if it isn't as cohesive as Girls Like Us was, its moments of brilliance show how much they've grown.

She keeps up her end of the bargain, writing a batch of heartfelt songs and delivering them with her always lovely style.

Weaver and crew focus on the grand gestures, escalating the emotions and tension, spending as much time on the surge as the hook, and even if this tactic means the slower songs on the back half of the record drift, it also means that when the music is meant to be sweeping it often is.

Grand Romantic is a fittingly grandiose, occasionally silly, passionately effusive, and ultimately very catchy album.

A record as relaxed as the average James Taylor album but one that's also riskier and richer, the right album for him to make at this date.

Even if Dopamine shows the scars of labor, that in itself is impressive, and it also emphasizes how, nearly 20 years into his career, Stephan Jenkins prefers to indulge in his idiosyncrasies and not polish them for reasons related to pop.

One reason that High on Fire don't get accused of resting on their laurels is that they always come out hungry, anxious to refine their sound and remove anything that is not absolutely essential to their purposes. Luminiferous accomplishes that as well.

A relatively disjointed assembly of tracks seemingly drawn from working folders labeled like "athletic anthems," "theatrical intros and interludes," "almost pop," "space ballads," and "misc."

These songs capture an outstanding band hitting its stride, and growing more comfortable with the craft of record-making along with singing and playing great, passionate music.

Despite its unevenness, at its best Déjà-Vu is an entertaining return from a dance music legend looking to translate his style into something that isn't overly familiar.

It is ultimately successful in how it deals with negativity and frustration, and shows KEN mode displaying grace and maturity with their newly expanded sound.

Adam Lambert demonstrates he's in perfect control of his style and sound and knows how to combine both into a sterling modern pop record.

This is a distinctive, ambitious record that takes advantage of her natural talents in surprising ways.