This is an impressive job by a child-prodigy instrumentalist who has accomplished the very difficult task of continuing to challenge himself in productive ways as an adult.

Between the airless coldness of lunar ambience and the waving freak flag of their most high-power jams, White Hills' voice becomes more defined and more deliberate on this set of songs.

The rapper is an excellent tour guide through this warped landscape of thrills and chills, and even if Rocky remains the A$AP Mob's most obvious and outgoing choice, there's an argument to be made that the more interesting one is Ferg, a Trap Lord if there ever was one.

A spacious, yet measured and surprisingly inspirational, midtempo dirge.

Ultimately, whether it's Tubb's honky tonk twang, or the twang of Mayer's own heart, the sound of Paradise Valley rings true.

While Versions may be too tasteful-seeming for die-hard fans of early Zola Jesus, the album's undeniable beauty reveals another accomplished facet to Danilova's music.

A full, concentrated album of ballads may seem startling even for die-hard fans, not just because the new full-on singer/songwriter mode is such a departure, but also because of how beautifully weary and evocative his songs tend to be when he allows a glimpse at his unplugged intimate side.

This stretch of songs is the liveliest collection Travis has cut since the '90s, and it's heartening to hear them reconnect with some of the wilder aspects that informed their earliest records.

I Hate Music is just as fresh and powerful as Majesty Shredding, with the same hook-driven songs, fiery performances, and stunning vocals from Mac McCaughan.

Hero Brother is a carefully conceived yet relaxed presentation of a fairly startling series of works that reveal the versatility and considerable creative depth of a composer/soloist who has been hiding in plain sight all along.

Pure Bathing Culture borrows only the best elements from the Twins, then adds more than enough of their own style and vision to make Moon Tides a dreamy triumph that is both a great debut album and a tantalizing promise for the future.

As it stands, this is a strangely seductive record, filled with remarkable musical peaks, and proof positive that an ambitious sophomore departure can be wholly satisfying.

Warp & Weft displays Veirs' sophisticated songcraft (though "America" falls short for its obviousness) is adorned by diverse textures, expert musicianship, and a generous use of space; it's almost almost perfectly balanced.

It's not only her biggest and most ambitious production to date, but also the album that best showcases her gift for communicating complex emotional entanglements so simply and clearly they become almost weightless.

Loud City Song is Holter's most polished work to date, and another example of how she upholds and redefines what it means to be an avant-garde singer/songwriter.

Perpetual Surrender's highlights might have had more impact if they were collected on an EP, but DIANA have a unique enough perspective--and enough potential--to make the album worth a listen for anyone who loves synth pop in any of its incarnations.

Sometimes some things need to perish for others to flourish, and these songs show that Standell-Preston, Smith, and Tufts evolved into a group that can not just survive, but thrive in the face of hard times.

Crocodiles have never been content to stick to one sound and ride it into the ground; they always seem to be searching for the perfect way to transmit their brand of noise and pop. They just might have found it here.

Doris is unsettled, messy, and takes a bit to sort, but there are codes to crack and rich rewards to reap, so enter with an open mind and prepare to leave exhausted.

The clashes in sound become the very skeletons for the songs, and the songwriting is more fearless and honest than ever before, marking a distinct maturity for No Age and resulting in their best work to date.

Adiós I'm a Ghost falls somewhere between the band's critically lauded sophomore release Tidelands, which was full of thoughtful atmospherics, and the looser, rowdier debut album Don't Be a Stranger.

This is essentially a greatest hits that offers no real surprise in either songs or arrangements (the exception being "It's Only Rock N Roll," which now sounds more Chuck Berry than ever), but that doesn't mean Hyde Park Live isn't satisfying.

A compact, lyrically diverse debut, Rebellious Soul makes it plain that K. Michelle should be supported enough to reverse her albums-to-mixtapes ratio.

Dig Thy Savage Soul is everything a Barrence Whitfield & the Savages fan could hope for and more; it may even reel in followers of the Dirtbombs, Andre Williams, and the Detroit Cobras.

There’s a real familiarity at play here, especially with all of the classic rock underpinnings, that makes it awfully difficult to refrain from just listing the artists that so obviously made an impact on the group, but their Bad Company-by-way-of Big Star (see what I mean?) aesthetic is so easy and engaging.

Everything here, from the sound to the songs, is about improving the brand of "Luke Bryan: Party Bro" and if he never seems to inhabit that role, he's nevertheless able to sell it.

Dog Party may be music biz vets already, but this is their true coming-of-age moment and anyone interested in punky pop (or poppy punk if you prefer to look at it that way) should seek out Lost Control right away and stay tuned to see what the Giles sisters do in the future.

The only real misstep on the extremely likable Absolute Zero is the forgettable "Red and Blue," a perfectly good song that's ruined by an oppressive (and dated) amount of Auto-Tune, a gimmick that should never be wasted on people who can actually sing.