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.

A few judicious cuts here and there and it would have been a very strong extended play instead of an uneven album that doesn't quite reach the level the duo attained on Hair. It's still worth checking out for fans either artist though, especially if their eccentric natures are their main attraction.

Evidently remaining under no pressure to assimilate with commercial R&B or even commit to traditional song structures, the musicians whip up another mixture of loose dance grooves and languid ballads. The effect is only a shade less stimulating than that of their previous LP.

Semblance isn't Forma's most consistent album, but their approach to rhythm is more innovative here than it was on their past releases, and their continued progression remains exciting to witness.

While a bit mercurial in nature, by its overall impression, How Many Times Have You Driven By is a grooving, otherworldly standout that establishes Vu as one to watch.

Thanks to its wandering nature, Cloud Corner is the kind of album that benefits from repeat listens, unspooling, shifting, and then settling a little more with each meditative revolution.

It's heartfelt and gutsy, performed without flash but with steely spirit, feelings that elevate Blow Your Mind above many of the other records in Johnson's solo discography.

A powerful tool for repairing a broken heart and indicative of an even brighter future, Lost & Found is satisfying and promising at once.

It is a music of sense and memory perceptions, a sonic projection equal to but different from the sources that inspired it. When all are assembled, they constitute a deep, mysterious, and occasionally disruptive journey into shade, texture, nuance, and seductive persuasion.

Deeper cuts like "Voices at the Window," "Floating on Water," and the ethereal closer "You Ought to Know" deal in more abstract vistas, delivering different hues culled from the same retro spectrum, resulting in something that has more in common with the spacy, neo-psych-rock emissions of the Flaming Lips than it does crusty ethno-doom metal.

At their best, Chromeo are a big, dumb party, the embodiment of guilty pleasure much like the cheesiest moments of the '80s hits they emulate. But a few choice songs, special guests, and Chromeo's studied arsenal of '80s signifiers can't keep Head Over Heels from growing tiresome, absent the hooks required to keep the party going.

Like Rae Sremmurd and Migos, these big-bass trap anthems owe much to their club-friendly vibe, but offer little in terms of substance or lasting impact.

One might reasonably expect that a more mature edition of Belly would seem less fiery than what they delivered back in the day, and the craft of this album is all one could hope for, but there's a bit too much drift and not enough clear focus for Dove to qualify as a true return to form.

Tim Wheeler--who produced the record on his own--is as much a craftsman as a songwriter, hammering out melodies and riffs, and his resulting tunes aren't fashionable, but they are sturdy.

While Middle Kids showed plenty of promise on their 2017 debut EP, Lost Friends is where they show they can make a proper album and actually improve on their bag of musical tricks, and it's a strong and engaging work.

Their Prime is an impressive debut from a group that has already gone a long way toward moving past their influences, and Jo Passed is clearly a band to watch.

One of the best aspects of The Return is how balanced the songs feel, weaving in bits of modern electronic dance and hip-hop flourishes as on the stuttering, breakbeat-infused "Catch the Loop," and the equally kinetic "Broken Theme." While The Return implies, and often delivers on, Williams' clear desire to recapture the plasmic spirit of vintage '70s jazz-funk, the album is less of a return to past traditions and more of a rebirth.

That Tanukichan have come up with an album that sounds original and true while bringing deep emotions along for the ride is truly something worth commending.

Blueprint confirms that album's excellence was no fluke, and as she approaches 60 years of age, Alice Bag is one of the most exciting and compelling new artists currently making music. Let's hope she has another album this good in her to make this a hat trick.

Another exhilarating triumph from one of the most original underground electronic artists.

K.O. is their most successful collaboration so far, and a flat-out thriller above all else.

Automata II can be listened to on its own, but it holds much greater power when taken together with its predecessor. It is easily the more musically adventurous of the two recordings, making it an indispensable part of Between the Buried and Me's provocative catalog.

Expressing grief, angst, and uncertainty just as loudly with a croon as a scream is no easy task, but Death Lust archives it masterfully.

Scorpion doesn't even come close to being one of his best; instead, it's a one-trick record stretched out into 25 endless tracks by an artist who's so deep into the self-obsessed, self-pitying rut he created for himself that he can't see daylight anymore.

All That Reckoning is a smart, compelling set of songs from a group that hasn't run out of things to say or the ability to say them with eloquence.

While HAIM, Amber Mark, Syd (of the Internet), Robin Pecknold (of Fleet Foxes) and Empress Of all contribute their talents to these songs, this is very much David Longstreth's music, and it's heartfelt, passionate, and beguiling in the tradition of Dirty Projectors' best work.

Ordinary Corrupt Human Love isn't going to change detractors' minds about Deafheaven. Instead, with its searing depictions of emotional and spiritual struggle in a relentlessly ambitious musical presentation, it should attract a new legion of listeners as well as deliver assurance and solace to those who found their earlier records so compelling.

Ultimately, the album's message is one of fearlessness and self-empowerment, and it's the most inspiring work Lotic has crafted.