There are few bands who play classic disco-funk with as much genuine love for the genre and care in the productions as Kay and Jamiroquai. Ultimately, it's that sense of love and good vibes that drives much of Automaton.

Despite its flashy sounds, it's one of the group's most insular sets of songs. Nevertheless, Kirk and company express how the past can poison the present and days yet to come in ways that are uniquely theirs.

All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ is the sound of a young rapper finding a voice and higher purpose, an exciting and powerfully insightful statement.

Death Peak reaffirms that Clark's music isn't constrained by clearly defined concepts; if anything, he's liberated by them, and this is some of his finest, widest-ranging music yet.

As always, Ghersi pushes his boundaries on Arca, and the vulnerability he displays makes it some of his most exciting and moving music yet.

An impressive debut from a very promising songwriter, hopefully with more to come.

At 17 songs, it's inevitable that not every track will appeal to every listener.

IV is strong stuff, but if you wonder if Part Chimp have lost their touch after half-a-decade out of the game, this music provides a conclusive answer: not even a tiny bit.

She may emphasize her ties to the past but she's intent on expanding the tradition, turning country music into a bolder, more inclusive place, and that desire is what makes Wrangled such a compelling album.

This certainly is not one of the worst albums ever recorded; indeed, it has its moments of merit that hit the proper spots and deliver the intended dose of dopamine. However, as a cohesive statement worthy of an album's length of the listener's attention, Memories is lacking.

Novum is far better than anyone had any right to expect: It's energetic, hungry, and swaggering. That said, it retains the trademark class and musical sophistication that makes Procol Harum iconic.

Mandela Effect is certainly more varied than Callus (which, like all Gonjasufi releases, is a heady mix of styles itself), and while it isn't exactly lighter or more listener-friendly, it often seems to get its messages across in more intriguing ways.

Waiting a Lifetime is the end result of a lot of hard work, experimentation, and craft, yet it still sounds alive and full of emotion.

Guppy may be just the ticket for those looking for a reprieve from the ubiquitous gloss of electro-pop, and they can have it without sacrificing catchiness or sunny vibrations.

Thanks to the sincerity and strong melodies that have been Maximo Park's mainstays since the beginning, Risk to Exist combines good intentions with good music.

Even if Goddard is occasionally too reverent on Electric Lines, his love of electronic music--and the way it brings people together--is undeniable and infectious.

Later cuts like "Love in the Time of Surveillance" and the nervy, angsty closer reveal some decidedly complex layers of sonic architecture. Toss in the requisite instrumental, the all-atmosphere "Make No Sound in the Digital Forest," and you've got a pretty solid Incubus record in your hands, albeit one that won't win over any of the group's detractors.

For as good as the songs are, what's initially so absorbing about Americana is this limber musicality. What makes it last are the songs, which are wry, moving, and truthful, which wasn't always the case in his book.

With The French Press, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever have made the jump from small indie to big indie with style and grace, and if they can bring the same level of skill to a full-length album, they'll be all but unstoppable.

Most of the record's 11 songs are graced by provocative sounds lurking at the margins of the mix--something that sounds like a music box on "Halfway There," a saloon piano on "Rest of Me," all the compressed guitars as percussion--that help elevate this set of strong, sophisticated pop into something special.

The amiable quality of his lyrics and his enduring melodicism are in full effect on The Last Rider, which is notable in the Sexsmith canon for being the first record to employ his long-tenured touring band, a whip-smart quartet of tone-savvy sidemen who for many years have faithfully adapted the minute details of his many releases for the stage.

A splendid work from a wildly underrated artist, Tara Jane O'Neil is an ideal album for the end of the day, or anytime you need to immerse yourself in something that's clear and beautiful.

Whether the duo plan to work this way in the future or not, 2016 Atomized documents a year when they successfully rebooted their sound and opened up their future to all kinds of possibilities.

If you're in the market for an album that will summon the dark atmospheres, Death Song certainly delivers the goods, and it demonstrates that the Black Angels slowly but surely improve each time they go into the studio.

Hitchcock has settled into a sort of seasoned eccentricity, and this economical, late career gem proves that he's still got plenty of Madcap Laughs left in the hopper.

Ultimately, while the album may not hit with the rockabilly wallop that marked the best of her previous work, Life. Love. Flesh. Blood is nonetheless a sophisticated and gorgeously rendered album.

It contains some of Lamar's best writing and performances, revealing his evolving complexity and versatility as a soul-baring lyricist and dynamic rapper.

Fully maintaining the trademark Gas sound while adding new dimensions, Narkopop couldn't be a more welcome return.