The Argument never seems like work, as Hart is thoroughly engaged, delivering songs that work on their own terms but purposefully add up to an intriguing, tantalizing enigma.

With their ever-expanding arsenal of masterfully crafted musical traditions, they prove once more to refuse to be anything less than what they are: one of the most explorative and inexhaustibly creative bands on the planet.

Slow Focus delivers some of their most masterful and seemingly effortless music yet.

Only a handful of the tracks here have a lot of staying power, and the rest, while always colorful and even enjoyable, are fast to fade.

Thanks to the strong songs, Selena's reliably strong vocals, and the variety of sounds, it adds up to be another fine entry in her catalog and just another example of why Selena Gomez is one of the best pop stars making music in 2013.

With this album, the Octopus Project sound as jubilant and ecstatic as peers like Deerhoof or Dirty Projectors and channel the same optimism and weird charm as the Flaming Lips, while pushing their own unique sound into warmer, more accessible places than expected.

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

Between these two sets, fans get a chance to explore the many facets of High on Fire's sound, and no matter which side of the coin you might fall on, the Spitting Fire Live series has something for you.

Throughout it all, his rich, lived-in baritone, which can go from a funereal dirge to a supernatural caterwaul in a matter of seconds, delivers the goods like the world's most demented herald, but even at his most fevered, he remains such an engaging figure, that it's nearly impossible to look away from the scene of the crime, even as the blood begins pooling around the listeners' feet.

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.

If this collection of alternate mixes and variations sounds like something you need to hear, it is; if it sounds like a mere curiosity, that is also true. Know yourself well enough to know which camp you belong.

Lickety Split is not only a joyous, unhindered return to form, but the group's finest studio offering to date.

While Walk Through Exits Only might not be in the wheelhouse of a lot of Pantera fans, it's nice to see the frontman expanding his horizons with a little metal mayhem.

Bareilles is such a naturally melodic songwriter that she doesn't run much of a risk of seeming insular on The Blessed Unrest and, fortunately, the feel of the album follows the contours of her melodies, so its melancholy is warm and inviting.

Even if Lenses' individual tracks remain as foggy as dry ice on the dancefloor, as a whole the album brings Soft Metals' music into focus, revealing them as a tighter, more versatile group in the process.

The album's 19 tracks weave an icy, cinematic narrative as Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge pick choice cuts from their record collections.

While it may be a bit of a pre-2013 tour advert/cash grab, like all Folds-related products, it's certainly not without its charms.

The album is an adequate addition to one of the most impressive artist discographies within any genre, not great enough to overshadow the heavily scrutinized corporate alliance that assisted with its ascent.

Wherever this door does go, it is a place that calls for boat shoes, a relaxed attitude, and a returning fan's patience.

"Phoebe" is a modified bluegrass stomp and "Sunshine" comes streaming in on breezy harmonies, while "Rock All Night" and "Watch Your Step" are anchored in roots rock, but Amelita is, at its heart, an adult pop album and it's a gorgeous one at that: it glides by easily but it digs deep.

An excellent, unexpected, and infectious triumph.

With practically no dependence on laptop recording tricks, Stills sounds completely lost in another era, and all the darker and truer for it.

Even if his take on the blues is far from straightforward, this might be the most accessible set of songs associated with Lynch to date. In its own hypnotic way, The Big Dream honors the blues' lust for life and its lonely heart.

On Big Sur, Frisell delivers an inspired musical portrayal of the land, sky, sea, and wildlife of the region with majesty, humor, and true sophistication.

Some Congo Natty regulars, including vocalists Nanci Correia and Phoebe "Iron Dread" Hibbert, give the album a proper family feel, and with all these things in place, it's just natural to explain the album's worth with an old-school exclamation like "massive."

Ultimately, while the toothy smiles might be wiped off the faces of Robertson and the rest of the Barenaked Ladies' faces, Grinning Streak reveals that their hearts remains firmly on their sleeves.

While these certainly aren't pop songs designed to grab you in the immediate sense, they are gorgeous and poetic recordings that stick with you long after the songs have ended.

The warmth of the album comes through in the songwriting, its lyrical content, and the soft-edged production, capturing an insular sense of self-exploration as well as something more universally reaching.