Destroyer is Black Mountain's tightest, gnarliest, and least sprawling outing to date.

There's no reason why its quietly enchanting qualities can't go on to provide her with the breakthrough outside Scandinavia that she deserves.

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.

The sentimental doo wop vocals filtered through a slightly muddy garage rock lens butt up against the cartoonishly crass punk rock rants and the mild tripouts for yet another album of pure fun and explosive rock & roll antics, with a delivery that by now belongs solely to these wild-eyed champions of inspiration and profanity.

Shine a Light is an album of big ideas and lofty intentions, but the truth is this probably would have been better if Bragg and Henry had found a nice concert hall where they could have recorded it in front of an audience that wasn't running to catch a train.

Frightening and utterly exhilarating. The rest of the album isn't as overtly violent, but it's no less captivating, and it confirms the Assassins' mastery of building apocalyptic sound worlds.

While not quite as immediate or diverse as their full-length debut, Annual slots in nicely among their rapidly expanding body of work.

Featuring a distinctly intimate, shadowy, surf-infused sound, Everything may be dimly lit and occasionally grief-stricken, but it avoids being persistently maudlin.

Even if The Will to Live ultimately proves the old adage that you can't will a masterpiece into existence, what's here is the work of a great band with a fine songwriter giving their all in the studio and playing at the top of their game, and that makes it a great listen, if not quite an example of Ultimate Rock.

Musically however, Shangri-La keeps things fairly light and upbeat, with plenty of memorable, chanted vocal hooks and a satisfying mixture of live and sequenced instrumentation.

We Walk This Road is a consistently surprising tour de force that moves easily through rock, blues, R&B, gospel, and more, sometimes bringing them all together at the same time.

Almost all of the guest MCs have an excellent chemistry with Keith, so the album is appropriately titled, and even with a large supporting cast, it still sounds unmistakably like a Kool Keith album.

Ultimately, My True Story is a smooth, mostly laid-back, and soulful recording by Neville.

SMILE! :D was clearly created with the intention of dealing with sharply conflicting emotions, but it still ends up being more uneven than expected, and it's just not as successful as Nurture.

They're still mockingbirds, but what once felt derivative is now inching closer to vital.

The cascades of noise and occasional glowing chamber sounds almost serve as a wordless balancing element to lyrics that can feel fatalistic, even if they're just accurate assessments of where the world is at present.

This fine debut is also filled with productions from Statik Selektah, DJ Premier, and others whose names hold weight.

Fields is intriguing in a low-key way that grows with repeated listening and will make Gonzalez fans into Junip fans.

Probably because neither of the artists concentrate on their usual instruments of choice, there is a childlike innocence that runs throughout the wash.

While the set is a bit of a chore at 19 tracks (24 on the deluxe version), it's still not as bloated as Culture II. Yet, it could use some trimming if only to clear the clutter that distracts from the solid highlights.

This sparkling, streamlined display adds up to great headphone candy, but ultimately it's a record made for booming club speakers.

Their drive to push forward is refreshing, and the slight updates to the band's intricate signature sound results in an exciting comeback album and a statement that stands on its own regardless of its place in time.

This may be Prinz and Horn's most minimalist music yet, but it's also some of their most rewarding.

Bringing emotional weight and measured playfulness to every song while maintaining a fascinating, cosmic soundscape, it's an album that lingers.

Thanks to the high level of Tatum's songs and the sound he and Vernhes create, it's just the kind of album that could connect with lovers of slick, catchy pop with real humans behind the controls.

There really isn't anyone else who combines ear-bleeding noise, desolation, and ravenous beauty like the Body, and I Have Fought Against It is one of their most emotionally heavy albums yet.

The album reinforces the unstoppable brilliance of Merritt's writing. At any length, instrumentation or investigating whatever ridiculous subject matter, he somehow manages to be effortlessly charming, funny, odd and above all catchy.

Last Day of Summer is surely weirder than their actual album material, but it's compelling to watch a band rooted in garage rock go so far out of its comfort zone, try some uncharted styles (jazz, prog, tropicalia, and psych-folk), and still come up with some winners.