It's to their credit that Plaid aren't preoccupied with being cutting-edge on Reachy Prints. Instead, they bring the playful, brainy spirit of their best work over the years into the 21st century with lively results.

Ben Kweller treads the same path as Kweller's other work, but fortunately, it still sounds genuine, not formulaic.

Few songwriters can capture the bleak comedy of loneliness, bitterness, and the sheer helplessness that accompanies aging than Merritt, and he does so here with great aplomb.

The album delivers the type of lush, cheerful disco Lindstrøm has always been known for, but there's a much darker undercurrent present here, and it feels like one of his most emotionally complex works yet.

A welcome return, Across the Meridian reaffirms that music is a little weirder and a lot more wonderful with Pram back in it--it's as if they spent the past decade globe-trotting a world of their own and returned with these brilliant vignettes as souvenirs for their listeners.

Yeah, sometimes Quasi get a little too carried away with themselves and the album seems a bit directionless, but that's only when they move away from the grit and into the prettier, synth-based tunes.

Drokk: Music Inspired by Mega-City One is a completely satisfying project on its own, but it's also so good that it practically cries out for a film to be made to fit its cues.

Many bands start to lose their way around the time of their third album, but on Two Thousand and Ten Injuries Love Is All sound better than ever and well-positioned to keep making smart, hooky, passionate records for a long time to come.

[An] odd, somewhat bewildering, and perhaps hopefully transitional effort.

The commercial strides are obvious. The creative advancements are less apparent, obstructed by some unappealing measures, but they're in there.

Everything is suited for Babyface, often to the point where the songs don't sound tremendously different from what he has written during the last several years.

On its face, this album is intended for adventurous listeners who enjoy exploring the classical avant-garde, though deeper investigation may attract others interested in sound sculptures, noise studies, and electronica, who can appreciate the atmospheric colors and shimmering sonorities of these modern masterworks.

The band takes risks, incorporating styles like rockabilly and classic rock into its punk fusion in a way that's dizzying but never disconcerting.

So many competing sounds and ideas become a bit of a creative mess, and the dark mood of the slower songs "Call Me Up," "One Day," "Owl," and "Warrior" can feel oppressive at times. Luckily the final track, "Give It to the People" is a good-natured, "Crazy"-esque single that is upbeat enough to make the wade through the muck worth the effort.

The plethora of unlikely choices adds a depth and tension to the songs, recalling a variety of unique reference points while creating the album's own remarkably strange, remarkably honest statement.

It was written, performed, cut, and mixed with great care, and as such delivers Arthur's creative vision with abundant emotional power.

With just the right balance of brooding and brightness, Dream Cave is one of those albums that seems tailor-made for rainy day reflection, with Cloud Control giving listeners just the push they need to go into their own heads and look around for a bit.

Ibibo Sound Machine is an auspicious debut. The producers molded their rhythms around that beautiful voice with taste, creativity, and integrity, and the band plays the hell out of it all.

Significantly more experimental than Colleran's previous work, Luneworks also feels much more personal, and it continues to establish MMOTHS as a unique voice in the indie electronic scene.

Songs like these and "Keep It Simple" make the most of Lo's big voice and personality on an album that, despite its provocative title, often feels more straightforward than Queen of the Clouds did.

Little Steven may share the same sense of grandeur in his sonics, but he keeps his focus earthbound, and that provides a nice tension to Soulfire: it's big music about everyday things.

Spooky Action is rollicking exercise in high-impact lo-fi rock that should more than satisfy anyone who has dug any of Loewenstein's projects in the past.

While the B-52's belatedly embraced electronics on 2008's Funplex, Change finds Wilson doing the same, but from a decidedly different vantage point, and it fits her beautifully; it's a successful musical reinvention that presents her talent in a whole new light.

A little bit of a diversion from past Four Tet releases, Sixteen Oceans feels like Hebden is taking a moment to stop and reflect on his family, his environment, music culture, and everything else that made him who he is.

If there's no happy ending for the heroine, the album still satisfies with its artful balance of meditation and catharsis.

Even though this shouldn't be confused for a proper DOOM album, two of the three tracks without him are clearly low points. ... Despite these missteps, Super What? is another worthwhile issue of the Czarface saga, and a fond farewell to DOOM.

This carefully constructed introspection does fulfill Rowntree's intention of Radio Songs mimicking the shape-shifting nature of late-night listening, acting as an aural journey to an astral plane.

Stampede is the work of a singer who is a star and obviously excited by the possibilities it offers him as a performer, but the best moments suggest he should offer a little more space for Orville Peck the Artist, who deserves his share of the spotlight.