Listeners who expect a batch of immediately compelling music from any Herren material will be sorely disappointed here; Apropa't pulls way back from his upfront Prefuse work and delivers a record of music so sparsely textured it barely raises off the surface.

He's no Elliott Smith yet, but if he expands his songwriting and subject matter, he could be a future heir to the indie-wuss throne.

Amnesiac plays like a streamlined version of Kid A, complete with blatant electronica moves and production that sacrifices songs for atmosphere.

Louden Up Now is easily the best record to come out of the [new wave dance punk revival] movement; its ten tracks are filled with fervor, hooks, passion and power.

While Restless is not the crowning achievement many predicted, it is X to the Z's most-consistent effort to date.

The other way to look at the erratic Pablo is as an "instant" LP, one that was mastered at the last minute and debuted via streaming. On that count, it's a fascinating, magazine-like experience with plenty of reasons to give it a free play, and with "Feedback" adding "name one genius that ain't crazy" to the mix, Pablo excuses itself from the usual criticisms, although it could have been tighter.

Wide Open is a more polished affair than its predecessor, but Weaves haven't lost their gift for pairing knotty sonic architecture with gale force charisma.

At the age of 63, Billy Bragg is not a young man anymore, and The Million Things That Never Happened reflects that but in a way that reveals new themes and thinking in his lyrics; it's a brave, smart, and effective set of songs.

It would have been more interesting if 30 Something dug a little deeper into Orbital's catalog, but as it is, it's a good balance of nostalgia and futurism, and a treat for longtime fans.

With Paradise State of Mind, Foster the People have made an end-of-summer album full of cathartic grooves.

Hornsby may be taking stock on Indigo Park, but he does so in a profound creative present loaded with possibility.

Lunatico is a brave and exotic experiment.

Secret Machines now sound uncannily like a fusion of U2 and INXS.

He's an artist with ideas and while they sometimes pile up and crash on Cupid Deluxe, it's always a spectacular crash, and that's something worth investigating.

Everyone makes sample-based music these days, but very few people use found sounds and prefab musical snippets as creatively and thoughtfully as Blockhead does.

Return of the Century is their most impressive record and shows that they were able to turn personal and professional turmoil into a work with great artistic merit.

Listen to this album three or four times in quick succession and you'll hear something different each time; it's difficult to imagine growing tired of it.

On the whole, her songcraft isn't so much catchy as haunting, and shines on the slower, sparer tracks.

"Broken Boy Soldiers" lacked tunes like these, tunes with considerable weight, and these songs turn Consolers of the Lonely into a lop-sided, bottom-loaded album that's better and richer than their debut.

In some ways, this feels like the album Susanna's career has been building toward; her music has always united the heart and mind, and she does so with striking creativity on Triangle.

The songs have more bite than those on "Other People's Lives," as do the performances, which makes Working Man's Café more immediate than its predecessor, yet it benefits from repeated plays as well, as those subsequent spins reveal that these 12 songs are as finally honed as those on "Other People's Lives."

Even if it's not always as coherent as Poliça and s t a r g a z e's own albums, Music for the Long Emergency's experiments balance ambition and emotion in admirable ways.

Leave Your Sleep is easily her most ambitious work, yet because of that welcoming voice, it provides familiarity enough to gather listeners inside this world of sound.

Bitchin' Bajas sound completely removed from the side-project stigma on these four lengthy tracks, presenting languid, textural explorations with too much focus and intensity to appear incidental or secondary.

Cistern doesn't play out like a sequel [to Composed], but fans of that album may well find themselves still drawn to the musician's particular spark.

Legends Never Die is as strong a collection of Juice WRLD songs as any, with already-searing songs made more intense by the shadow of their departed creator looming over the album.

The near perfect balance of cinematic classical and rock music here may put some off some headbangers, but it will no doubt appeal to anyone with an open mind, and more importantly, an open heart.

Front Parlor Ballads is built from modest stuff, but the finished product is as strong as anything Thompson has recorded in the past ten years.