There’s plenty going on and most is worth hearing even if Milia’s artiness occasionally gets in his way.

Adams does his job just well enough on this album that we’re willing to join him on that downward spiral and maybe, as listeners, locate the catharsis that eludes the lonely “I” living the songs.

The retro countrypolitan and rawer, roots elements that informed Lane’s previous Dan Auerbach-produced All or Nothin’ have been sanded down slightly on this follow-up.

It’s a swaggering, easy-to-digest introduction to an artist whose combination of committed vocals, sharp song construction and offbeat, often dark-edged concepts is as creative and snarky as the inspired tongue-in-cheek title of this impressive debut.

There isn’t much new here, and if you’ve heard earlier Lewis releases, you’ve pretty much heard this one already. But there aren’t many acts out there throwing down with this kind of high-energy trashy intensity.

While others in the Americana field get stuck in a groove, that will never be a problem with the Sadies and Northern Passages is a worthy entry in the notable catalog of a now-veteran act who refuse to be pigeonholed.

Bobby Fuller Died For Your Sins is yet another example of not just his love of rock and roll, but an ability to create it with the spirit and intensity of the best of those that influenced him.

It’s unfortunate that a platter which runs less than 25 minutes includes filler, but there is little else to call the closing 1:40 studio instrumental jam “How ‘Bout a Hand for the Band.” It’s clearly fun for the musicians involved but not interesting enough to pad an already too-brief release.

Stitch Of The World contains a few songs that detail how those cracks were made and a few more that show them in the process of healing. The unifying factor is Tift Merritt, and that’s enough to make this one a keeper.

The lyrics are maybe a bit more intricate this time around, but they still rely on open-hearted platitudes about life lived hard and love without restraint, the eternal human struggle between the righteous path and inclinations to darkness, and, of course, well-timed “whoa-oh” shouts than can sometimes say it all.

While Stinson isn’t a great singer or songwriter, he exudes a scrappy persona that, like Keith Richards’, encompasses a heartfelt rock and roll strut.

As much as Ty Segall is an album of potential singles material, it’s one of the most cohesive sets of music that Segall has released to date.

Dylan goes through an eight-song set of staggering quality (“Desolation Row,” “Just Like A Woman,” Visions Of Johanna,” and so on) with his interpretive skills at their peak and his hold over his audiences nothing short of mesmeric. Maybe only Dylan completists will shell out for a series of discs with repetitive set lists. Those completists will be getting a bargain.

Silver Tears is an achievement that would make any singer-songwriter proud.

For the most part, Run the Jewels 3 is not intent on breaking new ground but rather on cementing the fruitful dynamic between El-P and Killer Mike. It’s another victory lap from a pair of rappers who are mastering the form, one glorious album at a time.

With his latest, Jonny Fritz cements his standing as a first-rate satirist whose off-kilter sensibility expands and challenges the very boundaries of what constitutes fair game in pop songwriting.

The mix of upbeat folk-rockers with moodier fare makes this such an impressive and convincing album.

Support by sparse but not stark backing, make these ballads glow and shine with a low key luster.

While we give Young a pass for getting new music out, and worthwhile moments are scattered throughout these 10 tunes (that don’t break 40 minutes), just as often you’ll lunge for the track-skip button in exasperation of hearing a major talent and unquestioned cultural icon who has spread himself too thin.

Perhaps more Dr. John participation would have been a logical and welcomed addition to the show (Rolling Stones pianist Chuck Leavell and ex-Papa Grows Funk man John Gros effectively cover most of his piano parts) but this remains a terrific few hours of music that honors not only one of New Orleans’ most influential musicians, but the city that formed and defined his vision.

An extra disc of 19 newly remixed demos is more than window dressing. Stripped from the production flourishes, these early raw versions of every OOT track show the songs taking shape with hummed sections where words hadn’t been written, different lyrics and sometimes no lyrics at all. Not just for fans, these bring us closer to the creation of the tunes, generating a terrific alternative version of one of R.E.M.’s finest collections.

This analog affair sounds cinematic even without the visuals.

Despite, or maybe because of, the disparate approaches, the consistently entrancing Eternally Even is a stimulating and often spellbinding listening.

Like any live recording, this can never replicate the electricity in the intimate venue with Otis and his band firing on all cylinders but, all things considered, it’s as close as we’re likely to ever get.

Even if the sound is perhaps slightly slicker than fans might expect, Redemption & Ruin is a wonderfully successful foray that solidifies and expands the band’s already impressive credentials around a concept that’s a natural extension from their existing catalog of originals.

There are no weak tracks, proving that this collaboration with Buck & McCaughey provided the energy and creativity to help Escovedo’s 12th studio release be one of his finest, which is no small feat in his already exceptionally productive, creative and influential career.

[Frontman Kurt Wagner] doesn’t write these songs so much as he unwrites them, and the effect is vividly disorienting, sometimes--as on “NIV” and “Directions To The Can”--even perversely beautiful.

In other words, if you’re looking for a good time disc to get your party started, you could do worse than slapping this on, turning up the volume and letting Snider and his pals kick start the fun.