Truly a bold step forward for the band, the album takes Grooms to their next plateau the same way Daydream Nation proved Sonic Youth's breakthrough almost 30 years earlier.

This album is a high-water mark for an already impressive artist, and essential listening for anyone versed in abstract pop.

An emotionally raw yet aesthetically fine album. She may have reached into the depths for these songs, but she's delivered us the gift of a burning light.

Album closer "Snow White (& the 7 Dwarves Fans)" brings all of Fantasy Empire's best elements together, with manipulated vocal loops, dynamic riffing, and unhinged near-free drumming exploding in a metered, hypnotic assault that never loses power for any of its more than 11-minute running time.

To Pimp a Butterfly is as dark, intense, complicated, and violent as Picasso's Guernica, and should hold the same importance for its genre and the same beauty for its intended audience.

There are no frills here but there is a distinct, compelling voice evident in Barnett's songs and music alike.

Bouquets from a Cloudy Sky vividly illustrates what a wild ride those 50 years were.

The Smithsonian Folkways Collection is a five-disc box set that represents the first attempt to offer a career-spanning overview of the career of a giant of American music, including 108 tracks, 16 of which see their first release on this collection.

All that is certain is What For? is the best one so far, with Bundick really coming into his own as a songwriter, vocalist, and producer.

Second Hand Heart is prime Dwight Yoakam: traditional yet modern, flashy yet modest, a record that feels fresh but also like a forgotten classic.

Summoning Suns is no less ambitious than Blackshaw's more deliberately experimental records. Though it is the first time he has brought his vocal skills so prominently to the forefront, he does so with so much confidence (not to mention aplomb in his arrangements) that he commands the listener's attention through gentle seduction.

Russell's view of history may be romantic but it is also gritty as hell, and enduring. This is his masterpiece.

It's easy to sound hyperbolic when describing the impact of Quinlan's voice, but she really does prove herself to be among the most captivating rock singers of her generation on Painted Shut. That her vocals are very nearly equaled by the music and the subject matter makes this album a notable one.

Within the context of a playlist, any one of a dozen songs here could bridge '50s bop to '60s MPB, or '70s art rock to '80s boogie, or '90s neo-soul to 2000s dubstep. Equally remarkable is that none of it seems devised. It's like these musicians simply radiate the stuff.

Hairless Toys [is] a welcome return and Murphy's most satisfying album yet.

All Your Favorite Bands has a warm, organic texture that's at once raw and immediate, sophisticated and polished.

More Faithful is a masterpiece for headphones, and more enjoyable with every listen at high, open air volumes, easily offering the best songwriting and aural presentation the band has mustered yet.

What makes the record so terrific--and it is one of Stamey's best albums--is how it crackles with a vitality that makes the strong song and studio craft feel vibrant and alive, not a stale exercise in pining for the way things used to be.

Fleeting likenesses notwithstanding, Bilal is a one-off, and his hip-hop soul summit with Younge, tucked inside the art of Angelbert Metoyer, is one for the ages.

A diverse set of songs but the key to Monroe's appeal is that she seems neither showy nor calculating when she expands beyond her classic country roots. She rolls easy, luxuriating in that exquisite sound, her soft touch making the heartbreak and the humor seem equally alluring.

It is their most holistic, inventive recording to date and ups the ante for anyone trying to follow them.

Nearly 20 years on, Destroyer is still as surprising and inspired as ever.

The ten-percent of the album that isn't a sparkling slow jam or midtempo cut is a swift and uplifting jam that approximates a super session with Dâm-Funk, the-Dream, and 1984 Prince. It leads off--both a sly fake-out and a hell of a way to open one of 2015's most pleasurable debuts.

It doesn't cover the Isleys' brief '60s stints with Wand, United Artists, and Tamla, but it is remarkably generous with dozens of bonus tracks--mono versions, single edits, instrumentals, and so forth--and LP-replica sleeves for each album.

An album that embodies all the complex contradictions and unfettered optimism of modern country-pop in 2015.

Howard makes beautiful pop that rocks and that combination of momentum and craft turns John Howard & the Night Mail into one of his very best albums.

These aren't quite the track listings from 2008 but they're close enough and, more importantly, they offer a bunch of songs that were not on Five Guys.... That's good bang for the buck and a good enough reason for the die-hard fans to pony up for this music one more time.

Easily the band's finest work yet, Illegals' little quirks and huge emotions have what it takes to sweep listeners off their feet.