If the results aren't epochal, they're nevertheless illuminating, revealing how these two American icons shared the same musical vocabulary.

It's a clear and focused return to the peaks the band found in the mid-2000s, and as enjoyable a listen as the best of their work.

All the added instrumental layering and effects -- wriggling synthesizers, buzzing basslines, ricocheting percussion, apparition-like vocal processing, and suchlike -- are nuanced, not once getting in the way of a musician who can put forth an affecting message with just her voice and violin.

On a Clear Day feels like Lindstrøm going back to basics, while also starting a new chapter of his career.

Daylight works best when Potter is steering the ship. Even with the considerable and seasoned talents of Valentine, Nocturnals alum Benny Yurco, and keyboardists Larry Goldings and Benmont Tench behind her, Potter commands the room.

Despite the occasional lyrical misstep, Jesus Is King is a wonder of production, housing some of West's most focused and inspired work since 2013's Yeezus.

This record is both a note-perfect summing up and a great introduction to the Young Guv universe.

Sweating the Plague is best taken as a whole rather than in smaller portions; it works as a clever but swaggering dose of rock & roll, and it plays to this band's strengths while showing how much they've expanded their sonic palette in over three decades...or in a single year, for that matter.

MacKay and Kleijn have performed and recorded with a large number of musicians in their careers, but STIR reveals they push one another to especially imaginative and expressive work, and this collaboration hardly appears to have made use of all their inspiration just yet.

The album is one of Gucci's best post-prison efforts, matching Everybody Looking and Mr. Davis in style, catchy production, and big trap fun. Unlike its predecessors Evil Genius and Delusions of Grandeur, Woptober 2 is energized, addictive, and packed with quotable lines that find Gucci hungry, defiant as ever, and revitalized by his younger, up-and-coming guests.

more thought-through and sounds more honed [than her 2018 mixtape Last Day Of Summer].

These are the elements of White Noise/White Lines that make this feel like the arrival of a major singer/songwriter.

Whether or not they needed two full-length albums to fill up the dancefloor this time around is up for debate, but while Foals may be peddling a familiar product, there's no denying its efficacy.

Given Three Chords and the Truth's 70-minute run time, there's a lot to digest, but it's worth it. Morrison is in excellent voice throughout; his energy is kinetic and his songwriting -- even when he's complaining -- is fresh, humorous, soulful, and insightful. A natural companion to Keep Me Singing, this is Morrison at his best.

Alcest don't pursue darkness or dwell in it; they understand it as a part of the unbearable light that holds everything in its embrace. The end of the journey on Spiritual Instinct, while deeply satisfying, signals yet another beginning.

No matter the name, it's impressive that O'Hagan continues to examine this one small corner of the musical universe, still finding new ways to combine sounds in ways that please the ear and stimulate the mind.

They work best as intimate revelations about his own experience and never achieve the level of universal pop standard that his forebears made their stock and trade. Nonetheless, there are a few memorable moments here in the cheeky, synth pop-influenced "Never Had the Balls" and the orchestral R&B groover "It Gets Better." Both songs make good on O'Connor's developing talent, and prove he has the ability to translate his quirky, wordy aesthetic into the occasional hooky anthem.

The Livelong Day is a challenging album made up of long, droning songs with numerous verses and arcane sounds. It will not be for everyone, but to the discerning listener, its dark majesty is well worth the engagement.

FIBS takes listeners for a ride, so to speak, along the meticulously plotted rhythms of its very physical, narrative-free presentation, one that, in Meredith's hands, is both stimulating and engaging.

With its surprising warmth and immediacy, Bigger Than Life is some of Black Marble's most affecting music.

For anyone who thought MCIII was heading in a direction that sounded promising, Seeker arrives at the destination in a tumbling, exciting cloud of dust, sound and craft.

None of these parts seem to fit on paper, but on record it's a gas hearing a group of gangsters and pranksters giddy on their own good times.

Often, his good cheer comes across as corny, a situation accentuated by the big, bright surfaces -- it's the work of pros who are working at home, seeking only to please themselves. As the spirits are sunny and the songs tuneful, it's hard not to find What's My Name ingratiating, even though much of the album is so good-intentioned, it's silly.

A sense of nearly parental patience and understanding flows throughout, reflecting some of the maturation and new feelings Teebs was living through while making Anicca. It's another excellent slice of the producer's developing language, one that manages to be mellow without fading into the background.

Pirog's imagination is just as strong as his technique; whether he's tossing out a flurry of notes at light speed or inviting the spirit in using a more languid structure, the music feels great throughout. Anthropocosmic Nest is a must for anyone with a taste for music that's smart, challenging, and exciting, and it's a step up from their impressive first effort.

The forward evolution of Life Metal has been balanced and extended into a mercurial spirit through formless, receptive interaction on Pyroclasts.

Aside from a few monochromatic shades, there's not a lot of variance here and each track arrives at its four- or five-minute terminus at roughly the same languorous pace. For a project based on amorous and sensual pleasures, Cigarettes After Sex feels a little too one-dimensional.

That Jules is so hard to pin down is a big part of its appeal; wondering where he'll go next is almost as exciting as the music he's already made. One thing is for sure: This album is an introduction to a first-rate musical mind.