The series is still going strong with Punk Goes Pop, Vol. 6.

This set is a major go; it extends the qualitative trajectory of The Blackening and Unto the Locust.

The majority of the workmanlike Between the Stars, deftly juggles the muscular and the melodic without breaking a sweat in the process.

Texturally, there's not much of a surprise but The Dream Walker does have its own distinct momentum.

Sounding both effortless and intricately composed at once, PRhyme is an instant classic, and one that sounds better and better as repeated listenings reveal more of the details hiding behind the album's deceptively straightforward approach.

It succeeds as an introduction to Charli XCX the Pop Star while retaining her whip-smart songwriting and attitude.

At its best Tētēma is just as intelligent and compelling as Patton's collaborations with John Zorn; hopefully Patton and Pateras will have more dangerous visions for us all in the future (if there is one).

All these flights of fancy fly freely since the album lacks an anchor. 2014 Forest Hills Drive comes off as a great, experimental, and advancing mixtape, but it's insider to a fault, as slight as that fault might be.

Berkeley to Bakersfield is one of Cracker's most ambitious and satisfying sets in quite some time, as good as anything they've given us since Kerosene Hat in 1993.

Here, it's possible to hear the band gel--Alex Chilton and Jody Stephens found a balance with Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow, something that's obvious by the group's subsequent history, but on this spirited show you can hear the gears fall into place and that's worth the price of admission, perhaps more than once.

By the time the tense album closer "Rice and Fish" arrives, Tarwater have deftly transformed what could have been a claustrophobic mire of sounds into a deceptively simple-sounding pastiche of sounds dark and unexpected.

They give these tracks the same emotional push they give to those on their "real" songs, and that means their fans should lap it up like hot chocolate on a freezing cold night.

Black Beauty is one of the strongest and most consistent albums of his hard rock period, and if it isn't quite a lost classic, it's the missing link between Vindicator and Love's Reel to Real; it's nearly as good as the former and genuinely superior to the latter.

Standards finds Cole at a place of razor-sharp renewal. He uses the past unapologetically yet vitally, and delivers a record fans will find both irresistibly familiar and firmly of this moment in his career.

Sylvie Simmons is smart enough to know the best thing music can do is touch the heart, and that's just what Sylvie does--whatever her résumé may say, one listen to these songs proves Simmons has the smarts and the instincts of a true musician, and her debut is a true gem.

Live in Dublin reveals Leonard Cohen is actually growing and improving as a performer as his 80th birthday looms on the horizon, and this unexpected and welcome new chapter in his career continues to reap surprising and delightful rewards.

There's evidence that she has studied the classics, like the point in "Broken Hearted Girl" where she quotes Teena Marie, and the quietly dazzling, Janet Jackson-like way in which she conveys longing throughout "Request." At the same time, she leaves a mark of her own with this, one of 2014's superb debuts.

Fans of either band--and experimental music in general--who appreciate Savages and Bo Ningen's restless spirits will likely enjoy Words to the Blind for what it is: equal parts duet and battle, and a hell of a ride.

Fryars has made an album that is cinematic, endlessly listenable and out of this world good.

Inspiration flows out of the man throughout the album, and this end-to-end concept is executed with little note-spinning or boring lyrics that just serve the story, and while Twelve Reasons took a big giallo risk and nailed it, this more expected, '70s-favored success still surprises with its vigorous sense of purpose.

Given that Nelson had built a remarkable career out of mostly doing just what he feels like, this album, charming as it is, isn't as revealing as it might have been coming from other major country artists, though for Willie's die-hard fans, it's a must and it is a sweet reminder of how much Bobbie Nelson has brought to Willie's music over the years.

Classics is meant to be pure entertainment and even though most of these songs have been sung before by a variety of other artists, in the hands of She & Him, it comes off less like a novelty and instead sits very comfortably in their growing catalog of fine releases.

Still, being 16 tracks long and Ross' second album of the year means mixtape gimmicks like "Heavyweight" ("I step into the ring/Ding! Ding!") get to graduate to an official track list and muddle up the flow. They only keep the often surprising Hood Billionaire off the top shelf of Ross releases, so bring some patience as this mixed bag is certainly worth sorting.

Standouts are plentiful, with Lorde herself contributing both the propulsive centerpiece "Yellow Flicker Beat" and a cover of Bright Eyes' "Ladder Song." "Yellow Flicker Beat" also gets the remix treatment from Kanye West, his more minimal reworking of the song credited as "Flicker."

Decades after their freewheeling beginnings, Just Us still shows a picture of a band as playful as it is fearless, willing to pick up any object, idea, or unlikely concept and transform it effortlessly into something strange and captivating.

The wonderfully weird "Vegas" from Bad Meets Evil (Eminem and Royce Da 5'9) makes one wish the Shady label boss would find more time for the project, but he's already quite stretched behind the scenes, producing or co-producing eight of the cuts on disc one, including Skylar Grey's "Twisted," which isn't hip-hop, but glittery and goth giganto-pop. Great, grand, risky, and clever moments like this make Shady XV the worthy celebratory object that it is, but don't expect a deep roster or a cohesive game plan, because the label has always been more about close friends and family.

He seems like a featured artist on his own album, which would be standard issue for other producers turned artist, but not Guetta.

While not quite holding the warmth or approachability of other "unearthed" recordings of its ilk, this compilation is essential listening for anyone who's ever been fascinated with Nick Drake's impenetrable, gorgeous sadness.