As busy as things get on Modern Pressure, the less kinetic moments are afforded ample time to shine, with some of the LP's strongest bit arriving via breezy, sunset-ready, two-lane highway-worthy jams like "Roya" and "Impossible Green."

Still making no play for the mainstream with Feynman, the project, like the moniker, seems to balance the art and science of music, with some typically (of Temple) compelling results.

It's a bit of a shame that the record is so half-baked, but somewhat predictable as their creativity has been slowly waning with each new album.

Automata I is excellent on its own; its writing, production, and performances are all top flight. Additionally, it whets the appetite of anticipation for part two.

His harmonic components (his solos, chord voicings, and overall soundscapes) are all improvised and worked out in the studio. Ultimately, what could sound like average contemporary jazz fluff, in Kiefer's hands sounds instead like the liquid dreams of jazz-funk aliens.

Hood's DJ-Kicks isn't quite as wild or personality-driven as his Fabric 39 mix from a decade earlier, but it's undeniably focused, and it clearly reaches its intended goal.

Whatever the artistic intent, Icarus Falls remains a monstrosity--a bountiful gift or a daunting challenge, depending on the listener--that deserves some attention if there's time and patience to spare.

The relatively empty arrangements take a few listens to latch on, but their openness showcases Lennox's gifts for honest, fearless songwriting. Try as he may to embrace external influences, Panda Bear remains inescapably himself.

1634 Lexington Avenue is the album Smith through his wandering and woodshedding has been promising for decades now. It is retro to be sure, but free of artifice or false appropriation. He is personally invested in these songs and it shows. Essential.

Kicks feels like a lesser statement from Jones compared to the more ambitious original material of 2009's Balm in Gilead and 2015's The Other Side of Desire, but as a performer, she's still a unique talent, and the best moments here are a true delight.

The production, sequencing, and performances on Chaos and a Dancing Star reveal Almond at his most sophisticated and ambitious, at the very top of his game; these songs are beautifully written and arranged, and they arrive as deep emanations from the singer's personal well of passion, pleasure, heartbreak, sin, and loss.

Nothing is lost in the process and tracks like "Bora Lá" with singer Rogê and Leporace, "Samba in Heaven" with Joans, and "This Is It (É Isso)" with Pascoal and Leporace, retain all the funky, soulful rhythms and hooky melodies that made Mendes' seminal albums so captivating.

While some may find the two earlier volumes more satisfying due to more dramatic presentations, the "Perfect Vision" trilogy needed Peradam's gentler, decidedly more exploratory texts of a dangerous spiritual quest and discovery to come full-circle. Framed by field-recorded eloquence, Smith's voice delivers on that potential.

The entire record is a victorious display of self-celebration, but the impact of T.I.'s years in the rap game are felt most directly on tracks where he's matching wit and lyrical dexterity with rappers from the generation that directly followed him.

It's nothing unexpected but it's all effective, from the sturdy song constructions to performances that know when to lean into the muscle and when to let things swing.

A debut album that maintains a warm, analog feel and the nuanced vocal performances of a seasoned performer.

The sense of low-key but heightened melodrama can be alluring thanks to the open-ended arrangements, yet much of Manticore unfolds at a crawl, so it feels much less visceral than previous Shovels & Rope albums even if it has a greater emotional range.

Timewave Zero might be a far cry from Blood Incantation's best-known work, but it truly rewards the open-minded listener, and is simply a fantastic ambient album in its own right.

It's easy to wish all four members had been able to work together again, but having the band back in any form and operating at such a high level is a dream come true for all Boo fanatics and should be a nice discovery for younger fans looking for some classic OG dream pop.

A lush, sophisticated, and otherworldly project from its earliest days, Nightlands ultimately takes on its most panoramic rendering yet on a track list interspersed with brief, wordless ("Blue Wave," "Song for Brad") or lyrically concise atmospheric pieces, such as the cricket-assisted "Greenway."

The Invisible Light: Spells is the sound of a man mounting a soapbox with a desire to make us turn away from our worst impulses, and the heartfelt focus of his message and the imagination of the music that frames it make it far too compelling to ignore.

Although Sparke thrives in quieter surroundings, her voice is capable of commanding this more confrontational material, if made slightly less distinctive in the process.

Enigmatic Society is neither as powerful nor as weighty as the debut, and certainly doesn't seem intended to match it in those regards. It's altogether a calmer, more romantic work.

Working with around a dozen producers and co-writers, among them Life Support's Leroy Clampitt and One Love, its more intimate character was at least partly inspired by Lana Del Rey.

Girl Friends isn't a great Dion album, but it's certainly a good one, and worth a spin for anyone who digs the Pride of the Bronx. He's still got it, and you can hear it on Girl Friends.

With Dream into It, Idol underscores his legacy as one of the original pop-punk prophets, a kid with spiky, peroxide-blonde hair who saw the future of punk and lived to tell the tale.

If there's a knock on when i paint my masterpiece's 200-to-16 approach, it's that the album's recording style is its most cohesive trait, with the track list sometimes seeming like a Bob Dylan exercise, followed by a Frankie Cosmos op, a quasi-tango study ("dogs playing in the backyard"), etc. -- even if that playful, adventurous spirit is also part of its charm.

The best thing that can be said about The Lemonheads is that it sounds like the album Dando and company should have released in 1995.