Content Nausea reasserts Parkay Quarts as talented musicians able to deliver successive releases that are far more accomplished than many other big label garage-rock albums.

On Faithfull's latest album, Give My Love to London, the collaborations work best when they contrast with Faithfull's signature weathered chanteuse persona, giving a new background for her unmistakable voice.

The strongest moments on IX, like on any of the band's albums, are those that manage to create a vast rock sound by building elements up to impressive climaxes before bringing them crashing down.

It's dreamy eccentricity; a little crazy and courageous, and a strong statement.

Complètement Fou is filled to the brim with catchy electro-pop tracks about shaking your hips, going crazy and road trips.

It's an album that has a nice enough groove throughout, and again, the quality of the production really cannot be overstated.

Although "My Last Nerve" also falls victim to mid-tempo meandering, the remainder of the album serves as some of the best thrash from thrash's best band, who sound like they play their music with a shit-eating grin and a machete hidden behind their backs.

The band have once again found their sweet spot.

On Black Metal, Blunt's style is still very difficult to classify, yet a hint more inviting and amicable than his last.

Alone for the First Time is a pretty solid sophomore album, but it falls shy of Guilt Trips' coming-of-age charm.

This serves as the project's logical finale, and his most daring statement on homelessness.

Fans of his hip-hop and R&B work will certainly be challenged by the sparse and experimental nature of Xen, which makes it one of the most satisfying listens of the year..

Michael may very well contain the best material Bundick has released throughout his already stellar career.

Clark is anomalous but deeply rewarding. It's the type of release you could easily live inside for weeks and still find interesting nooks every single day.

The best moments on La Isla Bonita evoke the inventiveness of Deerhoof's classic albums and their ability to explore seemingly limitless possibilities within their own (admittedly unique) framework.

When he calls the 92-piece orchestra in, the results are mixed.

Only the lengthy closer "Made of Air," while in line with Harris' more drone-based experimental output, seems somewhat unnecessary here.... Otherwise, Grouper's latest is yet another exceptional offering that captures a truly unique voice in a uniquely natural setting.

Dope Body deliver hard-hitting rock, employing skill and effects while keeping things more accessible for their audience (heavy alt-rock lovers) than they did on 2012's Natural History.

Though this is his most contemplative release to date, Flatland still seems fidgety, with each track seemingly owing little to the ones before it.

Once you get through "The End" (which is actually near the beginning)--with a barrage of cymbals care of Brian Blade--Flesh And Machine is a relatively subdued affair.

Sometimes the album's constant zigzagging can create a bit of a discombobulated effect, but Medicine have never been the sort to adhere to any rules but their own.

Restorations have left everything on the table with LP3, and the enormity of their vision as a rock band has largely been realized.

It's the layering and attention to detail on these tracks that further reaffirms that Black Milk is now firmly in his own lane.

Under Pressure finds Logic breaking out as an all-star emcee, raising the bar higher than anyone could've predicted.

Yet because the beats are so fierce and the flows so varied, there is no slogging through this 39-minute hurricane. It's been a minute, but RTJ have reminded us that, yes, rap music can be fun and opinionated simultaneously.

The songs, although well assembled, lack the edge that the band is known for, which could be hazardous.

Once More With Feeling… acts as both a great introduction for new fans, highlighting their DIY aesthetic and their ability to subvert their own song structures, and as a nice addition to Ought's already great discography for existing fans.

This is a perfect match of old school talent and righteous inspiration.

The Calgary-born singer and songwriter showcases an even wider palette on her debut full-length, Sound Of A Woman.

The production is top notch, Tip is rapping tighter than ever, and clearly knows who and what to work with, but the rare glimmers of originality and risk only further exposes the safeness of this Pharrell-tweaked new T.I. album.

Soused is a powerful and arresting album that will appeal to fans of Scott Walker's later work.

Purists will always pine for Sonic Youth and their glory days, but with a band and album this good, who cares about the past?

Though it does eventually get bogged down under its own excess, considering the weight Slipknot had to shoulder to even get this album out, it's a considerable accomplishment and a lovely eulogy to their fallen comrade.

As a rock and roll journeyman, Lanegan's interesting direction on Phantom Radio is commendable even if it is not entirely magnetic.

Tough Love is a tour de force album, one that nails heartache with sophistication and class.

With minimalist lyrics, easy-going beats and subdued horns, Ford's songwriting and voice shine through, tempting to you to press the repeat button.

Single Mothers sound consistent throughout this set of ten beer-soaked songs, but after just 20 minutes, that consistency is far too homogenous and one-note to be interesting.

On their debut, Museum of Love have created a tight debut that seems more interested in its primal appeal than it does its cognitive.

All of this freedom has culminated in a stellar debut full-length for Arts & Crafts.

Seven albums in, Stars may not have very much left in the way of surprises, but the subtle pleasures of these songs offer considerable rewards to those of us who have stuck with them.

Macy Gray is back, easily delivering on expectations.

A record that prefers to build up intensity before letting it ebb away, doling out flashes of propulsive rhythm in snatches and grasps rather than in the four-on-the-floor anthemic grooves favoured by so many bands these days, Sleeping Operator feels out of time, apart, distinct.

Bestial Burden is immensely captivating and exquisitely structured, another unique offering from an unparalleled artist.

No one ever accused the Melvins of being boring--despite calling the record Hold It In, it's overflowing with ideas and creativity.

As it stands, it's a very good record that builds on and expands the musical ideas presented on his debut.

This new record still finds them wavering. By not taking a side, they fall flat in the middle.

Unflesh is a bold and assertive statement for what pop music can do in 2014.

Unraveling is cut from a richer, darker cloth than their earlier works, making it a bold departure and a tense new direction well worth exploring.

We Come From The Same Place is a lyrical wonderland that keeps listeners exploring more with each listen. Indie-pop or not, it's infectious on many levels.

The reason why Ex Hex Rips is so triumphant is that it easily attains its simple goal of presenting a total blast for the listener to savour. Or to take the title's bait, Ex Hex Rips rips.

The understated maturity of the 24-year-old Hozier on his debut album is a beacon for young writers learning to craft significant compositions.

Although Aquarius may not rock the boat with innovation, its more than confident in its stride, delivering an entertaining effort from the sultry singer.

Monolithic, heavy, raw and aggressive, A World Lit Only by Fire is 100 percent Godflesh, shattering any doubts that the duo, led by mastermind Justin K. Broadrick, could maintain their classic sound.

If you ask me, this is the most punk thing Iceage could've done at this point--and arguably the best thing they've done, period.

Wonder Where We Land is a tremendous step forward both for SBTRKT and for the possibilities of cross-genre exploration.

Cosmic Logic contains probably some of the most accessible material they've released to date, material that'll hopefully attract a whole new slew of fans.

The tracks begin to bleed together way before the halfway point of the album and there's not a single surprise to be had throughout.

It feels like a coherent album as opposed to a loose collection of songs. There are stumbles, but given the band's history, they feel minor.

For an ambitious release that obviously reaches for such lofty heights, Taiga is peculiarly light on hooks and personality, forcing Danilova to fill many of those gaps in with glittering aural cosmetics.

Excitingly new yet classically evocative, You're Dead! is contemplative but never boring, an example of genre cross-pollination that transcends novelty and, occasionally, time and space as well.

In 2014 this just seems like the kind of better-than-average album that befalls way too many British musicians past their prime.

The result is one of the most eminently playable and rewarding electronic albums of 2014, and one that respectfully casts a glance backwards while sounding both indelibly contemporary and unmistakably Caribou.

At 13 tracks and close to 70 minutes in length, Abaporu just contains too many (albeit many terrific) ideas and stylistic flourishes to properly cohere as a singular work.

There's endless potential in this collaboration, if only they'd take a more confident leap into the unknown.

As an original whole, Art Official Age is Prince's most complete, most consistent and most contemporary album in a minute.

At only nine tracks, the album delivers big time in such a short trip and definitely leaves the listener wondering what gems this super duo left on the cutting-room floor.

In the end, Tomorrow's Modern Boxes is undeniably enjoyable, acting like a 2014 version of The Eraser and adding some new Thom Yorke material to your music collection never hurts.

She's tough and confrontational, and on her 11th studio album, Down Where The Spirit Meets the Bone, that toughness initially comes across as even more deeply entrenched. It takes a little while to discover the tenderness that goes along with it.

Innerworld should be their breakthrough album at the very least, and may very well be the album of the winter, a season that fits it well.

Mended With Gold, is a satisfyingly anthemic work wrapped around a highly emotional core that is distinctively--and eternally--theirs.

The History of Apple Pie have no illusions that they're reinventing the wheel, but Feel Something should silence critics who dismissed the group as another example of record collection rock.

Where their last record, Black Masses, sped, this record swings.

Lysandre, while far from being reviled, received only a moderately positive response, one that was tainted with apprehension and frustration at its lack of ambition. A New Testament is even less ambitious, yet still enjoyable.

Doubtless, the boy from Troy, NY has given his audience a lot to chew on with Madman; some of it folk, some of it rock, all of it good.

Once again, Lee Gamble has managed to produce an effort right in PAN's wheelhouse, pairing idiosyncratic experimentalism with dance floor styling, and it totally works.

Music can be therapeutic, and Hildebrand's music is a perfect example of this.

One gets the sense that as an artist, PND has yet to even scratch the surface of his potential. Two serves as evidence of such; perhaps the third and successive instalments will see continued artistic progression. Or not.

Although much of the material has a familiar lustre to it, Something Shines nonetheless finds Laetitia Sadier at her most contented and focused.

While these "in-between areas" are not always sonically pleasant, you can't accuse them of being dull; they make Tyranny the compelling album that it is.

There is craftsmanship here, but its genius lies in letting the raw quality of his sound speak first rather than arranging it into something new.

While King Tuff has skilfully honed his '70s shtick here, Black Moon's appeal reaches deeper, transcending the novelty with well-written tunes that are fun even for those impartial to the decade.

Encyclopedia finds the Drums throwing everything at the wall, seeing what sticks, and then releasing the results as an album.

Perfume Genius has begun to spread his wings, delivering a breakout release that relies on much more than his manic/mopey persona.

It's surprising, deeply moving and occasionally stunning.

The trio are playing together better than ever, even capturing some of the power of economy that their earliest music commanded with grit and grace and thunder and lightning.

For an indie record, the sound of We Loved Her Dearly works nicely, but Lowell's ambitions--and her songwriting chops--are at another level, and better production would make them more emphatic.

This is another worthy addition to a wonderful discography from a genuine roots music hero.

The compositions here are solid, but it's sonically where Vessel holds his own. In that regard, Punish, Honey is close to perfection.

Granted, many of these songs were written while members of the band were between the ages of 16 and 18, but it might have been a better idea to hold off on the release of Be Slowly to hone their songwriting skills and define their sound a little more.

With this EP, Krug demonstrates that less is more, but that it also doesn't hurt to go big, even if "big" in this case is an expertly timed digital synth here and there.

Another Language is another good record that takes some risks, some more successful than others.

If U2 was ever cool or exciting, that spark has been absent for a good 20 years, and with Songs of Innocence, they've never sounded so ordinary or cloying.

In A Dream is brand new, but has the feel of a timeless dance record, the kind of record that is pulled from the crate on the most special (and danceable) of occasions.

Even if, at 72 minutes, it overstays its welcome a bit, there's no denying the vital talent on display at every turn.

The only real disappointment here is that it arrives just as summer ends, because few albums have been better suited for beach life as this one.

Commonwealth offers a little something for everyone, no matter what you're looking for.

Souled Out is an intriguing record from an intriguing artist who has tapped into the zeitgeist and delivered something that is both reflective and forward-looking.

Ritual in Repeat is an elegantly constructed and crafted piece of pop music art borne from rigorous, exacting songwriting.