By the end of the album, the pastiche of various unlikely influences sounds more like Twig's own weird voice than a calculated amalgam, and the struggle between darkness and beauty in these songs becomes more of a focus than the many obscure musical reference points they contain.

Don't call it a comeback, call it a collective, or a compilation from solo artists who sound enthused to be back with an especially inspired RZA as ringleader.

The London Sessions just happens to have her best round of songs, productions, and performances since The Breakthrough.

It may be no different than what came before, but Rock or Bust is by many measures stronger than most latter-day AC/DC albums, serving as a testament to why their good-humored raunch and industrial-strength riffs made them a rock & roll institution.

Nico & Vinz are lite bubblegum worldbeat pop, and will try on any fashion just as long as it might bring them a hit.

It's tough stuff but it's also enthusiastic, infectious fun, a record of three-minute songs that blazes by in just over a half-hour.

Ultimately, with Creation, the Pierces have delivered a lovingly crafted album that showcases their creative growth.

At its best, Chubbed Up plays like a withering exit interview from pop culture; taken with Austerity Dogs and Divide and Exit, it shows Sleaford Mods' music is becoming more vital with each release.

The band's overall distaste for sound quality will probably put some listeners off, as much of the record sounds like it was recorded in real time on an old Tascam four-track in somebody's basement, but King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard possess enough pop acumen and oddball charm to lure even the most unsuspecting psych-rock fan downstairs for a taste.

Dark, beautiful, and deft, Natural Selection should only be played at night, but it should be played on most nights, and maybe on some rainy, especially hazy afternoons.

The digital kick drum sounds wander across the stereo field as Ambarchi deftly mixes in sounds ranging from his own haunted guitar harmonics to synth gurgling from Jim O'Rourke and even long stretches of heavily lingering string arrangements from the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.

Like the best of any collections of covers, Other People's Songs offers a completely unexpected perspective and at the same time makes us want to revisit the original versions and investigate the differences.

More versatile and more deliberate, this new set of tunes sees Rhyton finding their collective voice more than ever before.

The alternates of songs that were on the albums are interesting but not revelatory, but hearing these early versions of songs that appeared on later albums is pretty fascinating.

Different Every Time goes much further than previous comps in communicating the vast range of Wyatt's musical persona and is a brilliant introduction for newcomers.

Each of these albums is full of Cooder's superb, goose pimple-inducing guitar work and rich musical thinking, but given how impressive his film work has been, Soundtracks is a fine collection but ultimately something of a disappointment.

His castoffs and extras equal other people's gold, and $ingle$ 2 is worth its weight in trash.

A smart and resourceful exercise in pop that works on several levels, Springtime Carnivore is an impressive calling card from an artist who clearly has interesting things up her sleeve.

Simple Minds have finally come to terms with all the fragments of their musical identity, focused them in a complementary manner, and delivered a whole with an unapologetic pop savvy and flair. It is easily their most consistent offering since Once Upon a Time.

Palme doesn't mince words; its pleasures are meticulously crafted and perfectly executed, and they succeed or fail based only on which way the listener falls in regards to Arnalds idiosyncratic voice, much like Joanna Newsom's.

Songs like "Transparent Powers" and "Selfish Thoughts" find this variety of musical muses floating by beneath Amos' emotive, Will Oldham-esque howl.

Darkness has been a frequent companion on She Keeps Bees' earlier releases, but most of Eight Houses seems to take it a step further, verging between sad and threatening, yet ultimately powerful.

On Soft, Bodan is assisted by several producers, and while the backdrops range from light drum'n'bass to the kind of stark and lurching beats heard more commonly on labels like Tri Angle and Modern Love, the album isn't quite as scattered as the singles.

Nothing Important's best moments clearly belie its title.

The end result is something unexpected: a compilation that makes us hear an artist we know well in a whole new way.

These are brightly produced songs perfectly suited to Midler's vocal style, stage bravado, and cheeky sense of humor.

It can be heard both as a portrait of Allen's career as Afrobeat's bannerman rhythmnatist or--perhaps more accurately--the soundtrack to his own musical innovation and evolution through it. Either way it's a stone killer.

By owning her mistakes, she turns them into strengths--and delivers a winning first album in the process.