The album does tend to be more engaging than stifling, as well as a little more graceful, than previous releases from patten.

The wonders never cease on this adventurous and street-tough effort, but they never sort themselves well, either, and with accessible highlights like "Blind Threats," "Break the Bank," and "Man of the Year" all bundled toward the end, this LP requires a surprising amount of patience.

As her most satisfying, artful, and accessible album yet, St. Vincent earns its title.

From front to back, Blank Project is riveting uneasy listening.

The way they join the organic and the electronic, the cerebral and the emotional on Close to the Glass makes it the most thoroughly rewarding and enjoyable album of the Notwist's career to date.

The album is one full of highlights, with a sad beauty surrounding it that makes these songs immediately deeper, more connective, and more exciting than anything Death Vessel has brought us before.

Present Tense isn't as flawless as Smother; it's slightly top-loaded, and occasionally the spare instrumentation borders on monotonous. Still, it's a compelling album that shows Wild Beasts can build on their breakthrough in satisfying and challenging ways.

Blue Film is an often unforgettable introduction.

With a sound that tends to drift between the discordant jangle of the Pixies and the powerful sonic gut-punch of the Melvins, the trio weave together a dense tapestry of moody noise rock that seems to constantly shift and change directions.

You Should Be So Lucky is distinguished by that casual professionalism, and the album is so comfortable, so easy to enjoy that it can take a few listens to realize how deeply Tench's original songs sink in--it's not just that ballads like "Today I Took Your Picture Down" start to resonate, but the pop hooks on "Veronica Said" and the title track seem stronger and cannier -- and how soulful this whole affair is.

While Cynic's songwriting here is far from simple, their ability to create cohesion between the many elements at work in their music is a boon to the listener, providing the opportunity to enjoy the depth and complexity of the music without needing to spend an excessive amount of time trying to make heads or tails of it.

While fans will appreciate a self-aware look behind the curtain, there's enough raw energy and emotion here to hook in plenty of newcomers.

Easy access it's not, but track by track, this is excellence and an appetite-whetting experience worth any progressive hip-hop fan's attention.

Slough Feg have always been the heavy metal equivalent of Guided By Voices (minus the supernatural prolificity), and Digital Resistance does little to tarnish that reputation, as it plays as fast and loose with the genre as it does venerate it.

Despite the album's daunting length, Harte rewards listeners with some of his most affecting and expressive music yet.

It's too easy to call Blame Confusion a solid first album; nevertheless, it's still a consistently entertaining and impressive debut.

Given the dominance of slow material, the album is a bit stifling; Glover loosens up a little for only "In the Middle," co-written by Fantasia Barrino with a touch of "Ting-a-Ling," yet even that has some heartache.

His half-hour Wave 1 EP supplies more of the robust, wide-eyed synth pop/funk for which he has been known, albeit with a few slight tweaks.

With Past Life, Lost in the Trees have risen to the occasion and crafted a record that's no less haunted, but decidedly more open to interpretation.

Rushing by with a distinct sense of economy in less than 40 minutes and heavy on counterpoint between Pollard's robust fantasy rock and Sprout's careful sentimentality, Motivational Jumpsuit is easily the most satisfying full-length of GbV's reunited, overproductive 2010s phase.

Mary's revelatory, palpable desire and seemingly newfound strength permeate all of The Brink, leaving you with an impression of the Jezabels as a band that's (in spirit) one part singer/songwriter, one part stadium rock god, and, ultimately, all woman.

It's anyone's guess where Loveless will go from here, but she's already made an album that's genuinely dazzling, and Somewhere Else sounds like a real contender for best album of 2014.

The album seamlessly strolls from soaring numbers like "Lights Out" into a more stripped-down second half before ending with the gorgeous and inspired "Windows."

Even though the album's well-intentioned concepts don't always work, Rostron remains an artist with bold ideas.

Tales from the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles is a welcome return by an artist who has remained stubbornly true to herself and only records when she has something new to say.

Voices is filled with catchy, emotion-packed songs that will sound great booming out of radio speakers, soundtracking late nights spent alone and wondering, and anytime some really powerful modern pop is needed.

Word has it that Roberts wrote these songs, not solely in his Montreal basement studio, but primarily in a sun-soaked house on a hill in Andalusia, Spain. True or not, it's certainly a warm, brightly hopeful album.

Throughout it all Segarra struts her stuff without the slightest bit of arrogance (most of the arrangements are spare, but never willfully so), offering up a confident, yet ultimately amiable set of millennial-informed, urban crafted, Woody Guthrie-inspired, contemporary hobo-folk anthems that play fast and loose with genre tropes without losing the essence that makes them universal.