Such an ambitious, border-crossing project can't help seeming overwhelming and messy, but the participants' glee and love of expression comes through loud and clear, and the whole experience is a rewarding one.

It's in the album's unlikely combination of weighty sentiments and cheerful (if especially diverse) sounds that Belle and Sebastian grow, offering up an honest assessment of what getting older feels like when you're one of the world's best indie pop bands.

Lady For Sale bubbles over with these kinds of inspired genre-mashing moments made all of the more potent by Kirke's swaggering, palpable sense of fun.

Written on a toy Casiotone, with fleshed-out productions later recorded in London with her co-producer and partner, James Howard, the album reflects those struggles more in lyrics than in its graceful, subtly underworldly, and frequently Baroque sound.

This is fun, thoughtful, expressive music from a man whose inspiration has yet to run dry.

It might scare off some of the fans drawn to the pop side of Toro, but for those who appreciate the subtle twists and turns of his early work -- and especially those who wish he had expanded on What For? -- this is Bear and band at their most exciting, most inventive. and most fun.

Bon Voyage was a kind of disjointed, disconnected masterpiece, Emotional Eternal is the flipside of the coin. Unified by acceptance and warmth, sung with wide-eyed, deep-down happiness, and played with a rich softness, it's a thing of beauty and that's forever.

As uneven as the album can be, it's never a simple rehash of Bloc Party's glory days. Adam Greenspan and Nick Launay's tight production gives Alpha Games a leaner attack than Silent Alarm, and while the moments of beauty that balance the band's outbursts are in shorter supply, they're all the sweeter when they appear.

Despite the fractured path to its creation, Two Ribbons is Hollingworth and Walton's most cohesive album yet. They've grown just far enough apart to be themselves, and they've come together to make something equally beautiful and meaningful.

Stately and almost elegant, Zeit is a haunted, pensive work that faces life's inevitabilities with an appropriate rage, heart, and sense of humor that only Rammstein can deliver.

The different sounds and scenes add up to a rich, complex album, one where Lambert finds the perfect blend of the writerly The Weight of These Wings and the breeziness of Wildcard.

Nelson's guitar and voice have intertwined and complemented each other throughout his career yet it's still a marvel to hear him find sustenance and surprises within his music, and that's what makes A Beautiful Time so rewarding: it's no small achievement that Willie Nelson is still deepening his artistry at the age of 89.

Older, wiser, and more ambitious than on her collegiate debut, Tomberlin finds a musical artistry on i don't know who needs to hear this… that rises to the level of her lyrical perceptiveness.

On LP.8, Owens draws from different, seemingly contradictory mystical energies, creating music that challenges and shocks as much as it soothes.

Less sonically aggressive than their previous album, Profound Mysteries still has something of an edge to it and its overall tone of ghostly enchantment makes for a strangely captivating listen.

Like his other albums, the music is all very beautiful, if somewhat ephemeral. It's hard to pick out a memorable melody among these ten poignant missives, which tend to run together in a bittersweet blur.

At times on their first album they seemed a little like a novelty band with their note-perfect retro approach, but here they sound like a serious group, the kind that breaks hearts and changes lives.

In addition to often sleepy and forgettable production, Leray's flow leaves much to be desired and even guests like Nicki Minaj ("Blick Blick"), Fivio Foreign ("Mountains"), and H.E.R. ("Overthinking") can't save the day.

Though it's not much longer than some of the group's EPs, Black Pearl's sustained mood of brooding mystery sets it apart, and its darkly lustrous songs uphold 50 Foot Wave's reputation as a vital part of Hersh's music.

His usage of stringed instruments, whether plucked or bowed, particularly gives the music a sense of intimacy as well as its distinctive character, to the point of establishing a signature sound. Much of the album is instrumental, with a few guest vocalists providing additional perspectives.

The overall effect is mercurial and uneven, but also fun and hooky as well as potentially cathartic -- especially for anyone who is over it.

Mahal and Cooder stay close to the originals, but whether faithfully evoking the sound and spirit of their mentors or using them as lift-off points for expansion, this glorious album honors their subjects with joy and swagger as well as devotion.

Making a joyous noise helps ease the pain of troubled times and that's precisely what happens here: the good and the bad intermingle like the past and the present, resulting in a lively, heartfelt record.

Everything Was Beautiful is delirious and exciting, a perfect distilment of the best parts of the band's various phases that feels reinvigorated and new.

While it isn't quite as consistent as Keepsake, its finest moments are some of Hatchie's most exciting work.

Giving such acute insight into Fontaines' headspace that it borders on uncomfortable. This is what they have always been best at though, bringing the listener into their world and showing them the darkest corners alongside the rays of light.

It all adds up to an album that slowly works its way into the subconsious, sounding deeper and richer with each successive play.

It's the first truly disappointing album that the band have released and the first where they sound like they are running out of gas instead of hitting on all cylinders.