This Is Happening doesn’t quite reach the monumental heights of Sound of Silver, but it serves as a almost-there companion and further proof that LCD Soundsystem is one of the most exciting and interesting bands around in the 2000s.

Where previous outings like This Night and Streethawk: A Seduction mined the '70s for inspiration, 2011's Kaputt utilizes '80s sophisti-pop, New Romantic, Northern soul, and straight-up adult contemporary to deliver a flawed but fascinating record.

Donuts just might be the one release that best reflects his personality.

It's art with a beat, noise with hooks, and more proof that No Age are one of the great slept-on bands of their generation.

If that album [7] expanded the idea of what Beach House could sound like, then Once Twice Melody fills in that idea with colors both familiar and new.

Look for Your Mind! is a relatively more romping set of Lemon Twigs songs, but the performances remain airtight and the song construction is as intricate and involved as any of their previous work, keeping them one of the most intelligent and infallible bands making power pop in the 2020s.

Kim Shattuck loved rock & roll and was too grateful to her muse to take it for granted, and No Holiday is a joyous if bittersweet testament to her spirit and her gift.

While its stylistic hallmarks are undeniably part of the band's musical signature, here they pay homage to the past while simultaneously reflecting the tense uncertainty of the present and future, directly and consistently, making No the band's strongest, most visionary outing since Pink.

A meeting of the minds that will satisfy and excite fans of either or both artists, Colours of Air is a testament to Morgan and English's artistry that grows richer with each listen.

In Waves sounds like the music Jamie xx needed to make at this point in his career -- its love letter to the communal healing power of dance music is often more purposeful, and more satisfying, than his instant-classic debut.

Humanhood finds Lindeman in the middle of the mysterious, sacred process of returning to herself, and while the album may not offer many answers, its rare honesty, eloquence, and compassion make it another triumph for the Weather Station.

Altogether, The Hex is a complicated record of a period fraught with loss and psychic struggle for Swift, and its beautiful, twisted lyricism and memorably stylized sound rise to the occasion.

It's an act they've being pulling off for a long time and it still doesn't sound at all tired. It helps that Murphy wrote a fine bunch of songs, from the rambunctious ("tonite") to the poignant ("oh baby") to tracks that rage like Gang of Four at their best ("emotional haircut").

Ultimately, A Celebration of Endings fits with Biffy Clyro's long-standing knack for combining stadium-sized rock uplift with an undercurrent of wry post-punk thrills.

Ultimately, No! is one of the group's most creative albums in years, and undoubtedly one of 2002's best children's releases, because it says yes to fun and individuality.

If you've been looking for someone to merge the huge sound of melodic hardcore with a strong dose of narrative depth, search no further.

Sounding both effortless and intricately composed at once, PRhyme is an instant classic, and one that sounds better and better as repeated listenings reveal more of the details hiding behind the album's deceptively straightforward approach.

The record captures Dwyer and the group at their peak powers, and while maybe it's not as good as seeing the band on-stage, where Dwyer's gleefully wild antics take it right to the edge of being a spectacle, it's pretty spectacular.

Here and throughout Before the Applause, Re-TROS sound fully in command of their sound, and fans of Liars, Battles, Factory Floor, and Public Image Ltd will almost certainly get--and love--where they're coming from.

As inward-looking as her particular brand of overcast indie rock can be, she possesses a relatability and a knack for crafting delicious earworms that render even the most painful admission or rumination a small joy to ingest, evoking the wry vulnerability of Phoebe Bridgers and the hooky pop acumen of Lucy Dacus.

Moving slowly but deliberately, the Delines dwell upon the lingering, lasting melancholy of bad decisions and bad timing, creating an album ideal for the twilight moments when revisiting an old heartbreak proves to be irresistible.

Lands somewhere between the widescreen dynamics of their Mercury Prize-short-listed debut, the workmanlike grandiosity of Seldom Seen Kid, and the aching melancholy of The Take Off and Landing of Everything.

The result is that Sadness Sets me Free is both uplifting and comforting at once. It's also just different enough from most of his other work that it feels fresh and exciting, providing more evidence that Rhys is one of the most interesting and satisfying singer/songwriters of any era.

Baldwin's words are woven into eight of the 17 tracks, whether sung by the pained if undaunted Justin Hicks on the rippling funk of "On the Mountain," or recited by Jamaican poet and activist Staceyann Chin on "Baldwin Manifesto I" and "Baldwin Manifesto II." The pieces that don't quote Baldwin are often equally charged, freighted with anguish.

Given that Sleigh Bells' sound is so big--and undeniably exciting-- songwriting falls lower on the band's list of priorities than taking all the dramatic moments from everyone's favorite songs and turning them into songs in their own right. That doesn't stop Treats from having a boldness, immediacy, and sense of fun that's missing from too much other music.

Blue Hearts is a cry of purifying anger in a dark time, and its heat produces a truly necessary light; it's one of the very best solo albums Mould has given us to date.

Whether or not Bop English will outshine the continued efforts of his main vehicle, White Denim, remains to be seen, but as far as debuts go, Constant Bop is first-rate.

While Silver Lake sounds like a Vic Chesnutt album through and through, it's also a better than average introduction to the man's work.