Ambient music centred on glass sounds is nothing new, of course, but the duo's ability to take such a well-worn concept and turn it into a piece so meticulous and touching is a testament to their uniquely fruitful partnership.

When a guy comes all the way from Jakarta, that's unique, and you want something unique from him. Amen falls way short of that.

Wait for Love shows that Pianos Become the Teeth have a firm grip on a sound and identity that's beautiful, poignant and wholly their own, and it shows that they can keep maturing without having to constantly recreate themselves.

The simple production, with Lalonde's untamed vocals clear as a bell and Hamelin's homecoming, lets the joy that played a part in the process of making the short and sweet Uncle, Duke and the Chief shine evidently through.

Everything Is Recorded by Richard Russell is a moving, beautiful album that offers community as a cure for loneliness. Even if at times he's somewhat overshadowed by his collaborators, Russell manages to have his voice shine through.

The age-old saying goes if something isn't broken, don't fix it, but the re-release of Twin Fantasy shows that, seven years later, Car Seat Headrest are capable of re-contextualizing their work in ways that cement the faith that we have in them as revolutionary musicians.

Loma is also the product of atypical conditions, written and recorded as the marriage of two of its members was dissolving. The trio seem to have leaned in to that situation: Loma captures the intimacy of such heightened circumstance with layered, compelling nuance.

Groovy and scintillating, but with depth and meaning to spare, In a Poem Unlimited is U.S. Girls--and pop music--at its very best.

Thirty years deep into their career, Superchunk throw yet another left turn into a career full of them, offering up a protest record about the people for the people. What a time to be alive, indeed.

The singer elicited production help from Noah Georgeson ( Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart), a smart decision, given the subtle yet always effective sonic touches here. The result is a stunning work that will draw you back to repeated, if oft intense, listening.

Dead Start Program as another dependable collection of quality techno that will satisfy his fan base, even if it fails to bring in new ears.

Due to the first half's measly runtime (half of its high octane songs clock in at under three minutes) and heavy as hell ending, listening to Clone of the Universe kind of feels like visiting a tapas bar with a few friends, only to drunkenly venture off at the end of the night to slam down a whole duck, solo (and no, that's not a euphemism): it's a journey most would avoid making, but a compelling one for those willing to roll the dice and ride.

Ought are moving forward on Room Inside the World, adding new elements to their sound while largely retaining the tension that makes the band so compelling.

It was always going to be tough for Dashboard Confessional to repeat what they were, but while maybe Crooked Shadows doesn't hit the heights that A Mark, A Mission, A Brand, A Scar did in 2003, it's still a welcome return.

Fans of Mastodon's swamp prog and Tool's art-school alternative will find plenty to like.

Its first half features some of the group's sweetest pop confections since those massive singles, while its second delves into the muggy Barrett-isms of their more recent work.

Not everything lands with the same emphasis as the album's opening moments, but there are enough quality moments across ten tracks--how "Lois Lane" frames the horrors of the "over 30 singles night" at its chorus, the disco drive of "Glimpse of Love," the mid-song sax run of "Feel the Love Go"--to suggest this transformation in sound has yet to reach its peak.

Sleepwalkers has some very good songs, but often comes off as cheesy and predictable--if a melody sounds familiar, it's probably because Fallon has sung one just like it before.

Atmospheric grooves is the order of the day with Khruangbin's latest; by way of psychedelic rock, Con Todo El Mundo's got the groove and grips it tight.

There's nothing truly radical about the collection, but it is gratifying riff-based rock, and in an industry littered with sycophants, Starcrawler's brand of exuberant noise is refreshing. The future may be bright for these young guns.

Never too bitter or too sweet, these songs are bursting at the seams with casual urgency, an intoxicating counterpoint to the songs' melancholy.

The leisurely pace of "In Your Dreams" is too soporific, while "Yeah You Know" lacks the punctuation that needs to accompany Burch when she resigns to "go out west a while." Despite this dilution at times, Bruch still burns bright on Quit the Curse.

Most of the risks he takes on Criminal pay off, and the record is among his most confident statements as an artist.

Immaculately produced and performed, it's hard to imagine Man of the Woods not being a hit, its tracks a steady stream for playlist fodder. But sound and feel are no substitute for soul.

Poppy Ackroyd chooses to move at a efficiently percussive pace throughout (best highlighted by the fertile and aptly-named "Time"), giving the album a post-modern atmosphere rarely explored on many classical-inspired albums, making Resolve an album hard to pin down and hard to categorize, but easy to adore.

When Olsen sings, the record takes on an ephemeral sad-in-a-good way vibe, Merritt's and Gustafson's voices also blend with McEntire's terrifically, making Lionheart enjoyable on the level of a record of country duets as well.

It is intimate and alienating; friendly and mysterious; and, most importantly, a whole lot of eerie fun for any listener interested in experimental music.

Having more songs available to stream results in more royalties, though it doesn't equate to a flawless full-length.

Each song is theatrically arranged with Craft belting like a Broadway star and the large band supporting his every word. The ebbs and flows become slightly predictable near the end of the album, but Craft does a terrific job of performing the songs, emoting and propelling his tales with vigour.

A near-perfect record. ... Blood flows with humanity, an exploration of diverse cultures, sounds and sensibilities. Rhye reveals that it is in tune with itself and inhabits a world that feels distant and inclusive at once.

Exquisite. ... Rifles & Rosary Beads offers not only a document of atrocity and neglect, but a chance for redemption and healing.

Field Music have created a truly immersive record with Open Here, one that is welcoming, conversational and oh-so-necessary for a world experiencing daily fear and paranoia.

Save somewhat of a flat end, Down Below is a great metal album that blends multiple genres into a perfectly idiosyncratic sound that should bring Tribulation much success and attention.

Folks hoping for a repeat of Rabit's 2015 pseudo-grime offering Communion will certainly be disappointed here; open-minded listeners with a penchant for the darker side of experimental dance music will find their thirst for evil slaked.

Freedom's Goblin cuts open Segall's brain and lets it all ooze out. Serve yourself up a spoonful of all that melodic goo, and enjoy.

What was once something to blast on your bedroom speakers is now crying out for a live performance with a nine-piece band, which, if nothing else, shows a maturity in sound.

It's an impressive compilation of provocatively disparate ideas, but taken in in its intended order, there's a mesmerizing continuity to it all.

It's a mature and refined album woven deeply enough into pop's historical fabric to please connoisseurs, but with enough lightness and fun for casual appeal as well.

The Age of Absurdity is tacky, unoriginal, occasionally annoying and altogether not good. Most of the blame falls squarely on vocalist Neil Starr, whose lyrics stumble through sleaze rock clichés that were already dated in 1988.

There are some truly enjoyable moments on Calexico's latest--but they're vastly overshadowed by at turns annoying or just boring tracks, bogged down in an overly long record.

Mother finds Xylouris White quietly questioning musical structure and expectations. They remain trailblazing outliers with a supernatural power to express themselves as one and, with a warmth and welcoming generosity of spirit, invite listeners to step up and out of their comfort zones.

The lyrics are murky--there are none of the plainspoken tales of domesticity that Lennox used to specialize in--but the burbling soundscapes and soaring pop melodies are gorgeous.

This is the work of ravenous, restless musicians who refuse to be pigeonholed.

Snares Like a Haircut might be their most accessible and uplifting record yet; released in a time of social decay, it's a statement that rings loud and clear.

Too often the band fall prey to the conventions of the music from which they're borrowing.

Unlike her Polaris Prize-winning 2015 record Power in the Blood, there are no love songs; Medicine Songs is unflinching in its focus.

I Like Fun remains a strong, if not exactly noteworthy album, simply because TMBG are a strong band that can pull off anything at this point, and although newcomers looking for examples of their late-career excellence should probably start with recent gems like Glean or Nanobots, longtime fans will find much to like here, crunchy guitars and all.

Recorded in France and produced by Frames guitarist David Odlum, this is expertly crafted and lushly arranged folk-rock, with some pretty fabulous horns.

Maine's ability to draw out peculiar emotions and thoughtfully pairing them with euphoric sounds in a deliberate way makes The House a natural and more than satisfying sequel to Pool.

Unfortunately, The Official Body remains confined to rudimentary rock arrangements and rigid structures. It doesn't reconcile these contradictions until its final three tracks, which makes for restless, if brief, listening in its middle entries.

Cogent and catchy all at once, I can feel you creep into my private life shows that, even amid doubt and distress, Tune-Yards can find a new way forward.

Despite this influx of collaborative talent, things sound largely the same on this album, but with a project as reliable as the Go! Team, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Lyrically and sonically, Ruins helps First Aid Kit gives listeners a mature, realized and often heartbreaking version of this young band's oeuvre.

Overall, No Cross No Crown is for diehard fans; those who want to hear something new will be disappointed.

This album melds its many ideas into some larger parts, with just nine songs clocking in at roughly 40 minutes. But true to form, POST- is still all sorts of bonkers in mostly the right ways.

Despite occasionally overlong runtimes, Rainbow Mirror is an album that encourages introspection and submerging oneself in their unconscious. It's a monument that both inspires and terrifies.

Full Closure and No Details feels more like a journey to the closure Cohen seeks through her songwriting than an answer itself — and what an important and journey it is.

Through fragmentation, each track finds cohesion, making deconstruction — the silences, gaps, twisted repetitions, abrupt cuts, looped production, harried noise--the story itself.

At 34, the New Orleans multi-instrumentalist is too young to have his work described in terms of a career peak, but these albums are so nearly flawless that it's difficult to imagine how he can get any better.

Similar to how Drake and Future on What a Time to Be Alive, the two collaborators have trouble finding common ground here. They're equally impressive in their own right but they rarely connect, and when they try on each other's styles, it's awkward.

While previous instalments Muscle Up and School Daze were comprised of early, experimental college compositions, Afternooners is more focused and assured.

Tracks like the rambling "Old Things," the hoedown-lite "Bluebird" and perhaps the most precious song about outlaw life, "Private Property," shoot for middle-of-the-road appreciation, sucking out any grit from the recording.

His latest LP, the 13-song Pressure, is a quality collection of songs that core fans will undoubtedly embrace.

Like the 6 God's "playlist," this mixtape has no higher purpose than to let its creators run wild, showcasing their prodigious talents with frequent moments of pop brilliance.

We can say that the real Slim Shady does show up and prove himself on a handful of Revival's songs, but many of the more 'noteworthy' moments are buried under a mountain of contradictions and cringe-worthy attempts at shock value.

As anarchic as it may seem on first listen, No_One Every Really Dies smoothes out a little more with each play. It's a strong comeback for the daring trio.

Outside of nostalgia, though, much of the work still feels necessary.

All Together Now is a surprisingly and satisfyingly listenable collection of compositions that weren't necessarily recorded for this type of public consumption.

Despite the EP's virtues, that's a lot of excess fluff for a collection with just five tracks.

Material Control is an invigorating yet familiar release from the band and by far their angriest and densest music to date.

Many avant-garde instrumental albums exist to strictly craft a mood, and Tom Rogerson and Brian Eno somehow seem to merge these moods, sounds and themes together effortlessly and radiantly on Finding Shore.

Radio Silence is a jazzy, soulful call to action, a think-piece and a middle-finger to the trolls who claim he fell off; you can still find his name "in the middle of equality."

Even though Post Self isn't exactly what was expected, it's a masterful release from two musicians who seem to be incapable of creating anything short of exquisite.

Though he enthusiastically pushes the boundaries of his sound and image on his most eclectic album yet, Miguel also takes care to make each of its tracks insatiably catchy and breezily fun.

Weighing of the Heart plays out as the soundtrack to a forgotten '90s B movie; novel, but not great.

There is self-deprecation and honesty to In an Open Field that combines with musical prowess to form a thoroughly enjoyable, thoughtful record. Few writers possess the melodic ability and communicative skill that Nicholas Krgovich does. He remains one of the finest pop songwriters along the coast.

While musically, the tracks can sometimes bleed into each other, sounding perhaps too similar, this album is meant to be consumed in order as a whole. Birdie sets a solid foundation for Slaughter Beach, Dog's future.

With the cohesive and captivating Morning After, dvsn have used soothing vocals and layered beats to paint a sonic portrait of modern R&B.

Experience neither recaptures past glories nor forges a new way forward, and while it's better than its predecessor, it nevertheless captures the sound of a legacy rock band stuck in neutral.

The more transparent mix dovetails nicely with the album's themes.

Utopia feels like both a journey and a collection of statements that define and affirm who Björk is.

At first listen, the album is scattered and slightly exhausting; it takes several attempts to make sense of everything you're hearing, and some listeners may run out of the patience required to dissect it all. Those with a longer attention span, though, will find SYRE a very promising debut that offers new delight with every play.

Soul of a Woman is a more than worthy farewell by one of the hardest working and talented women show business has ever known.

Although many songs lack the fire and passion that defined his earlier work, with the exception of the race-relation lyrical content of "What's My Name?" and the growling "Snake Behind Glass," Four Lost Souls is simply unlike anything else in Jon Langford's sprawling discography.

This is the kind of odd, idiosyncratic record that makes collaboration so compelling; whether or not it appeals to you, there's absolutely no way you've heard a metal release quite like it this year.

It's a delicate, cautious demonstration, but Mechanics of Dominion is a bold, gripping and brilliantly nuanced addition to Esmerine's gorgeous catalogue, swelling with hope and brimming with energy.

The pacing of Rest and the length of its songs make it a grower of an album that, over time, ensconces listeners in the sonic layers and personal lyricism of Gainsbourg.

If All I Was Was Black is another late-career winner from Staples, an album that perfectly captures her gentle, loving and elegant way of making a political statement without sacrificing the passion she's built her career upon.

Nihilistic chugging riffs permeate the album from beginning to end, thundering away and drilling a particular tempo into your head. But this repetition isn't served by the sort of groove that previously was a keystone to Electric Wizard's sound.

1989 fans will breathe a sigh of relief when "I Did Something Bad" kicks in, though, which starts off a string of shiny pop songs that not only feel like a more natural progression from the last album, but improve upon each listen in that sneaky way Swift songs tend to do. ... The moments on Reputation that Swift stans appreciate the most are likely the ones casual listeners will be quickest to dismiss.

Arpo forges lush soundscapes by drawing on ASMR techniques, layering textures over the arpeggiated hooks that drive the record. A saxophone player himself, Call Super subtly peppers hazy woodwind tones throughout, elevating the record's otherwise eclectic collage of electronic soundscapes.

Interiors can proudly call itself a rightful successor to the post-hardcore classics status of their first two albums.

Here, she moves through songs about love and life that, whether because of the cavernous, sometimes tinny production or her timeless songwriting style (and often, both), feel channelled from some ghostly past where musical arrangement was simpler but emotions weren't.

The trio's intent is crystal clear here: make hypnotic murder rap that evokes a screwface and head-nod. If horror movies aren't your thing, though, Without Warning might not be the rap project for you.

On his third LP, James Holden establishes a sound wholly his own, allowing The Animal Spirits' gorgeous, absorbing and wonderfully unkempt mix of psych, jazz, folk and electronic to infiltrate the listener's psyche.

This compilation shows the lasting impact Funkadelic has had on popular culture and on subsequent generations of innovators, striking a balance between reverence for the originals and creativity from the re-visitors.

Lone's take on DJ-Kicks nails it right out of the gate, but starts to lose its eclectic melange as it pushes forward, swapping out the nuanced front half of the album with bland cut-outs that vary too little.

Belief System should clearly have been released as two separate albums; one that's a candidate for album of the year and one that's completely forgettable.