Overall, Blank Face LP has enough meat to warrant several satisfying helpings.

While the days of heavily sampled music seemed dead and gone forever, the Avalanches have somehow managed to pull off an album that's as much a mastery of red tape as it is of musical prowess.

While IV is extraordinary for delivering fresh music that elaborates on their past work, it feels particularly exceptional because of its forward momentum.

Although somewhat less accessible than Hairless Toys, Take Her Up to Monto sees Murphy coming in to her own as a solo artist.

A neon sugar rush that occasionally fizzles out with filler tracks, Nothing's Real ultimately leaves a lasting impression.

The prevalent mood of Life In The Dark is rainy day music, obliquely referencing dark times in America through often-satirical character songs.

Aphex Twin has made a good move here by giving a similar feel throughout the EP, but instead of having a few so-so tracks alienated by a standout one, the entire release ends up being fine but unremarkable, especially when pitted against the behemoths of his back catalogue.

Donna is eclectic, moving, emotive and true to Cassy's roots. Her vocals, which dominate the album, recall the same soulful edge of singer-songwriter Sade. The real triumph here, though, is the sense of creative freedom that pervades the album.

Jay II is a mysterious, endlessly enjoyable collection of songs that reveal more and more with subsequent listens.

On Treasure House, Cat's Eyes continue to forge a unique path, as Badwan and Zeffira blend the old with the new, pop with classical and melancholy with drive.

The dark, synth-heavy Post Plague cements Odonis Odonis's reputation as skilled composers, and keeps listeners guessing what they may have up their sleeve next.

GØGGS is great, but if this band plans on growing and not just putting out another "let's bring back '80s punk, shall we?" record (not that there's anything wrong with that), they'll have to get a little weirder and wilder on their next release.

With their debut full-length, WEVAL have proven that they're willing to approach their music with their ears wide open and their possibilities endless.

Pythagorean Dream is a qualified success because it shows Chatham moving forward with his craft, if only by simply reaching back.

"Big Bank" and "Today" are two of a handful of songs plagued by lazy flows and bars, the former rife with braggadocio duds like "I be on that Little Caesar's shit, hot and ready." Still, Black's raw pen game and unabashed authenticity show promise; he just needs to heed his own words.

With its rich sonic landscape and Georgas' confident lyrics, For Evelyn is a great record, but perhaps more importantly, it also shows that Georgas is getting better and better with each release.

It's all weird and ramshackle, but it fits the music so well. With each improvised yelp, clap and audience holler, Butler has created a record that captures his sound, in spite--or, perhaps, because--of his unwillingness to stick to one.

Conscious is merely competent--never truly exciting.

On Hot Hot Heat, the quartet jettison stylistic pretensions altogether in order to write their best batch of songs in a decade. There's a sense of nostalgia that permeates these ten tracks.

For those of us who've been following his twisting career for decades, for a lifetime, it's hard to complain too vociferously when Neil Young makes yet another daft musical statement. It's just what he does. Sometimes it works; often it doesn't.

Summer 08 may not have been designed to build on the success of Love Letters and The English Riviera, but it still very well may; it's every bit as resourceful, offbeat and pleasing as anything Mount has done to date.

The Bride is not only a journey for Natasha and the characters she has created--as with all great albums, listeners, too, will be met with a sea of contemplation.

His fifth studio album, second in a scheduled trilogy of albums and first in seven years. Yet here we are, with tracks evoking previous efforts while remaining fresh to the ear.

California plays out less like an album and more like a collection of songs; uneven and disjointed, it's hard to take in as one larger whole.

Bazan doesn't disappoint on this mini full-length and though he doesn't wow at first either, Blanco is meditative, and moves more slowly than other entries in the artist's discography. It requires, and deserves, an attentive and patient ear.

Freetown Sound finds Hynes at the peak of his powers, mixing his best songwriting and production yet to powerful, purposeful effect.

Mark of the Blade is a bit hit-and-miss. Musically, the new touches work well and flow with the rest of the album, but the clean vocals in particular feel forced and sorely out of place.

There's an overwhelming lightness to Concrete Vision, even when the lyrics veer into darker territory on tracks like the rippled ballad "True Love" or the title track. The comforting timbre of Kramer's voice keeps the vibe mellow and even-keeled, a lifeline throughout the record's changing synth textures.

Otherworldly and full of enchantment, Deerhoof's 13th studio album, The Magic, finds the wholly original and ever-engaging band at their most cohesive and versatile.

DJ Shadow's solid fifth LP shows that he still has the chops to cut a good record when he's not doing a complete gear change (The Outsider) and then turning down the wrong road at full speed (The Less You Know, the Better).

Like every Chili Peppers album, the 13-track The Getaway suffers from bloat.

No Grace is a short and concise album that's quick on its points: do your best, don't give up and have some fun.

Plaid remain enjoyable, if a little stuck in a rut.

On You Will Never Be One of Us, Nails are simply on another level and, though others will have a tough time reaching it, they should all still aspire to it.

Magma demonstrates a healthy admission and channelling of Gojira's explosive tendencies into a record that is truly an intriguing change of pace when considering the band's more eruptive past efforts.

Fans of the band will enjoy the mature and practiced sound of this very good album, but the unconvinced might remain so, as the band don't exactly reinvent the wheel on The Glowing Man.

What this songwriting team has to offer isn't just pretty, though it can be that--it's also pretty profound, passionate and substantial.

As a debut, it perfectly captures the band's personality and sound: captivating, incomparable and deliciously unique.

The depth and creativity the producer has employed make this album stand out as an example of ambient music at its most compelling.

The musicians' playing retains the band's typically muscular vigour, but has taken on extra nuance.

Bringing in a slew of analog instruments, mostly to give each track its own disposition, Lissvik pulls together swinging piano, shuffling guitar, drums and loads of modular synth lines, and though he does a great job of keeping the album instrumentally diverse, he falls into the same textural and spatial avenues throughout much of the album.

What this album does extremely well, though, is convey the emotional reality of the protagonist using these moody electronics and tempo changes.

Cutler has riddled these tracks with a rainbow of synth ripples, making Levitate stand out immediately as a Lone record, despite heavily harkening back to a bygone era.

Tooth demonstrates Raime as multi-dimensional musicians, even if you have to travel through a black hole to get to those dimensions.

Diarrhea Planet's self-indulgence and cheesy grandiosity might be less appealing if it wasn't so tongue-in-cheek--that's a huge advantage of being a band that doesn't take itself all that seriously. It also makes Turn to Gold a boisterous and joyful affair. But reaching these new levels of gaudiness, they risk being written off as a gimmick

Some variation in production style and sonic approach might lend the proceedings a bit more variety, but that's a relatively minor quibble to level at this confident album; these guys do what they do well, and know it.

Nothing on Breakin' Point really hits as hard as their earlier work. Peter Bjorn and John are having fun on this album, but occasionally get a little lost in the dance moves.

Eyes on the Lines is unmistakably a guitarist's album, yet luckily for most, Gunn's song writing is also remarkably accessible. The listener may not find themselves with catchy vocal hooks stuck in their head after a first listen, but they'll definitely be humming riffs and guitar lines for several hours afterward.

Over seven tracks, Moonface and Siinai expertly pair Krug's iconic warble with instrumental propulsion that showcases a more positive and collaborative side to the team's sound.

The result is a sonically coherent, and impressive, album that dances on the borders of multiple subgenres without ever really taking a full dive into any one.

The depth of these cuts will depend on your familiarity with electro-funk and its history, but there should be enough here to satisfy even the most literate of fans, and for newcomers to Dâm's sound, it's a fine primer.

There will no doubt be some making the age-old "less is more" argument that comes with any double LP, but that shouldn't overshadow the fact that DIIV have returned with a powerful, immersive sophomore album.

With The Dreaming Room, Mvula has mined her personal conflicts to yield beautiful, boundary-pushing artistry. It's fearless, meditative, soulful and buoyant all at once.

At its best, it sounds like a long-lost Pink Floyd album actually meant to be synced to The Wizard of Oz (the album's title track and "Mr. Wright"); at its worst, it evokes old Tame Impala (the first movement of "Cricket And The Genie" and "Boomerang Baby"). Basically, it's a win-win situation either way.

Modern Country is a conceptually ambitious, heartfelt undertaking. Some might notice the lack the unbridled colour that characterized Impossible Truth, but ultimately, it isn't enough to hinder the listener's experience.

The record does play a bit like a return trip through familiar terrain, but for the most part, Love You to Death finds Tegan and Sara offering another solid soundtrack for summer romances and road-trips alike.

Ology's idiosyncrasies and emotional exhibitionism make for a genuinely honest, captivating listen.

The Kills' fifth studio album might not bring anything particularly new and groundbreaking to their discography, but it certainly won't disappoint fans.

A detailed effort worth unfolding that reveals more each time.

A commendable summation of the casually cool take on house and downtempo hip-hop that has defined the work of these two producers to date.

Here, the Hotelier showcase their growth, emphasizing how they have changed and developed as humans and as musicians.

Not everything here was worth saving--the eight-minute jam "Country Brazilian Jam" could have been pared down--but overall, The Other Side of the River is a worthy companion to a classic, unsung album that stands on its own.

Mark Kozelek Sings Favorites comes off as if it was created to serve Kozelek more than to stimulate the listener, making the no-frills, stripped-down set easy to fall for to but tough to return to.

Rae feels light here, no longer weighed down by her past and suddenly able to address pain with emotional wisdom. The Heart Speaks in Whispers is a summer record that reveals the warmth in silver linings.

Everything's Beautiful, indeed.

Whether she'll ever return to Dum Dum Girls remains to be seen, but as Kristin Kontrol, she's offering an exciting artistic refresh that Dum Dum fans should get on board with.

In dialing back the chaos a bit, the band have made room to let the smaller details of their dense and intricate music shine. It may have taken six years to deliver, but Congrats was worthy of the wait.

If All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us was an Olympic gymnastic performance, it would have nailed the double backflip but stumbled just a bit on the landing, leaving onlookers blown away by the trick and barely remembering that last wobble.

While The Home Inside My Head is by no means the band's magnum opus or a step forward for pop punk as a whole, it's definitely a worthwhile listen for fans of the band and genre.

She's surprised everyone yet again by turning her sultry voice and razor sharp intuition in a whole new direction, building Kidsticks off beats and keyboard loops she created in a Californian backyard with Fuck Buttons' Andrew Hung.

There are definitely kinks: certain moments on this EP are disjointed and muddled, as the band throw loose riffs out into the ether and hope they'll stick, but the hooks and verve that made the band successful in the first place are still potent.

The Dream Is Over has no pretext or pretence; the band did what they did best in 2013, and then did it a bit better here.

Lenker's writing in general is vivid, and bursts with the kind of verve its subject matter demands.

Mosey is highly approachable and magnetic without being mawkish, but it also speaks clearly to Romano's various frustrations with his generation. These 12 tunes are as poetic as they are powerful, and house a hefty amount of meaning.

GLADYB doesn't really deviate from the path that was laid down by previous albums Lucky Shiner and Half of Where You Live, but--perhaps even more impressively--it stays decidedly on it, rounding out a beautiful trilogy of semi-danceable, definitely nod-able records. It may even be his best.

While their first record was a blur of contorted thrash tracks rarely surpassing the one-minute mark, there's a newly streamlined focus to A New Wave of Violence that's substantially more brutalizing.

Perfectly written, recorded and performed, Along The Shadow is less an emo revival than a full-on reconstitution.

Earrings Off! is an album that demands multiple listens and gets better with each one.

Kamikaze hits like an electric storm, shaking into its listeners the disconnection that's resulted from our over-connected world.

If you can get past the haughty lyrics on "Fickle Sun (ii)," for instance, then its minimalist piano notes will surely impress. And yet, even that song's musicianship sounds downright conventional compared to preceding tracks "Fickle Sun (i)" and opening track "The Ship," a 21-minute composition that begins with solemn synth moans like a distant vessel's horn.

Shauf brings the same mentality to pop music as the songwriting greats of the '60s and '70s did, with gorgeous instrumentation, subtle arrangements and an all-round organic feel. Paired with his very human and humanizing lyrics, The Party is relatable and honest, simply marvellous.

If you're a longtime fan of the source material, you're bound to find some stuff here to amuse and intrigue you, but you'll still likely see this as a collection of throwaways, of generally inferior covers of your favourite songs. But if you don't know the Dead from a ham sandwich, you may well hear tunes on this collection that turn you toward exploring that chaotic, marvellous, maddening, singular American band.

Despite clocking in at a whopping 70 minutes, Car Seat Headrest pack enough hooks in to avoid lagging, thanks to Toledo's practice with his lengthy yet phenomenal earlier albums Twin Fantasy and How to Leave Town.

On Strangers, Nadler seems to have her perfected her craft, adding even more confidence to keep her winning streak alive and well.

Overall, The Triad is a satisfying reminder that Pantha Du Prince is still the best at what he does.

Hurt & the Merciless is another strong outing for one of the most unique rock bands around, full of the groove, soul and big shiny instrumentation that defines the Heavy.

There's a ton of wild, riotous energy to Nattesferd, but it's a little more cleanly delineated rather than roped together and blurred around the edges. It's a shake-up rather than a clear evolution, but it's a productive one.

Coloring Book is a spirited musical sermon, and Chance's fellow MCs will covet its perfect union of gospel and rap.

Sometimes the melodrama is enough to cringe at; sometimes the sultriness is enough to make you blush. ... Overall though, Misadventures is an impeccably polished take on that sort of emotive sing-scream stuff that fans will love.

For those who ran out of goodwill for the band's music and antics post-Money Store, Death Grips 2.0 is worth looking into.

Nothing's going to change the fact that Hatebreed are the biggest hardcore band in the world, but this album doesn't do enough to win back those who got them there. Instead, it focuses too much on appealing to those who keep them there.

If one were to quibble, Taste is maybe a couple of tracks too long, and could possibly use a bit more of the sincerity and heartfelt emotion on display on Islands' underrated 2012 gem A Sleep & A Forgetting. Regardless, this is another solid record from a prolific talent.

rawing from many of the best aspects of previous Islands records, SIRHAS is an excellent distillation of all that Islands does best, and a return to form after 2013's somewhat forgettable Ski Mask.

Rather than sticking with what worked before, Modern Baseball's two songwriters have pushed the band forward here, keeping their music in line with their rapidly maturing outlook.

The handful of breaks from his patented gutter raps aren't enough to compensate for the monotony in his dozen interchangeable guns-and-butter records.

The musicianship of the guest artists is impressive, and Jameszoo's interpretations of their work are startlingly creative. The whole package is likely to be one of the year's best, and certainly one of its most original.

A well-rounded and buoyant album, Down in Heaven is Twin Peaks' most mature work to date and a satisfying listen, even if it lacks some of the urgency that made their past work so thrilling.

Tired of Tomorrow is both warm and cold, complex and straight to the point.