You will be hard-pressed to find a fresher-sounding dance LP this year.

The Gamble takes some extraordinary risks, but the rewards are glorious.

Luneworks is not a lulling listen; rather, the album seems to turn restlessly with sonic insomnia, the songs tracing the arc of some sleepless passage like a night plagued by intense longing.

Kelsey Lu's Blood, pumping with movement and what moves us, we tiny wholes, maybe isn't a continent so much as it is a bordered body, graceful in its clunky fullness, jostling with every pothole, the cello its longing pores come to life.

With a more dynamic and drastically enhanced sound, this is how Dopesmoker was meant to be heard.

They've burst out of the confines of "rock" to make something that's legitimately transcendent. angel in realtime is a profoundly beautiful, meaningful album from a band that has decided that every record might as well be a new magnum opus.

On their debut, Jungle show that you don't have to reinvent the wheel as long as it's travelling down brand new, unexplored avenues.

For more than 20 years, Snaith has displayed a rare versatility and ability to keep things fresh. Suddenly is no different.

A fascinating album where creative impulses and naiveté are filtered through a strong sense of aesthetics with newfound confidence. It's the sound of a unique artist finding her footing and stepping in the zone.

Their fourth and decidedly most accessible release to date.

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.

Challenging the perception of shared space and visibility, Tamko has released the perfect record for women of colour who, unbeknownst to some, have been secretly shredding harder then white men for years, and are finally ready to be heard.

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.

Live from the Underground is the best Southern rap record since Big Boi's Sir Lucious Left Foot dropped two summers ago.

Swimmin' Time is every bit as good as its predecessor. Indeed, it offers several songs that leave much of what they've previously recorded in the dust.

Here's one of the best records you'll hear in 2014.

Though it might seem strange that Oldham recorded the first major tribute to Haggard, the careful and well-thought-out working through of the master's themes makes deliberate sense.

A gorgeous double album. ... Full of love and appreciation for life, which makes more sense to him now than it maybe ever did, Callahan inimitably presents us with philosophical jokes and thoughtful observations on a record that is an adventurous stocktaking of his own life, set to tastefully arranged folk and an open spirit that welcomes us in.

They balance killer musicianship and verbal panache with a bar-band mindset. Album of the year? Possibly, but that's just business as usual for Maryland's finest.

Emotionally tactile and blossoming with feeling, The Kid is a stunning record that demands attention, absorption and meditation, two LPs rich with wisdom.

SZA is the full package in terms of artistry: killer singing and songwriting abilities with a distinct perspective on life, love and destiny. CTRL is craft in action, a uniquely excellent album from a uniquely excellent artist.

This is just vintage Crowell, which is to say that Tarpaper Sky is an essential record by one of the best.

Fucked Up's latest pushes the boundaries of their sound far beyond what you would expect. Dose Your Dreams is by far the most over-the-top album the band have ever created and shows they aren't satisfied with pumping out subpar material or rehashing what they've done.

Both a departure from the expected modern/postmodern/future-possible sound he is usually credited with, but also an arrival at its very beginnings.

It's a love letter, and yet, it's astonishing just how hard-hitting it is.

Ivy Tripp is not a record about being in love or and it's not a record about getting your heart broken; it's about the foggy, messy tangle of the feelings in between. And they've never sounded so good.

Green to Gold is, at times, quite literal in its depictions of Silberman's personal experiences and other times intensely figurative, staring into the void of existentialism ("Am I incidental?" he asks on "Volunteer") with the kind of quiet assurance only the Antlers can evoke.

At no point does any of the growth feel forced. Daughter could have been forgiven for producing another album like their debut, but they took a brave step in embracing innovation. The beautiful Not to Disappear is their reward, and ours.

Capacity is both a logical successor to Masterpiece as well as a great leap forward for Big Thief. The chemistry that Lenker and her band have established on album number two is extraordinarily strong, but no matter how good they get, her songwriting seems as though it will forever be raw to the core.

Whipple's previous PAN release, the Scythians EP, hinted at the greatness to come from this Janus club night co-founder, yet was a little too short to really demonstrate his true power. It took a full-length release to truly suss out the immensity of M.E.S.H.

Heterosexuality captivates and transports the listener, making an ethereal landscape out of dissonance and nihilism. It never repeats itself, it does not stutter, and it absolutely never apologizes.

The combination of rich layered instrumentation, carefully orchestrated strings and Stuart Staples' evocative vocals give feelings of loss and loneliness a cinematic grandeur, yet their consistently strong recordings never lapse into sentimental excess. That is a balancing act few can manage, and the group pull it off yet again here.

While the Go-Betweens may not be as well known to music fans as the Cure, R.E.M. or the Smiths, this lovingly curated box makes a convincing case that they are more than deserving of being on any list of the greatest rock bands of the 1980s or any other decade.

Balvin proves to be taking risks the whole way through. With JOSE, J Balvin offers stiff competition to Kanye and Drake's recent 20-plus song efforts with a far more consistent effort.

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.

On Illusory Walls, The World is a Beautiful Place give a lot and only ask for some of your time, patience and attention in return. At every interval, they make it worth your while.

New Long Leg may not always be positive, but it's more interesting than that, more needling and necessary. It's everything at once, a record that absorbs and spits back the unending noise of the world and asks that you take a second look, every common thing somehow made brand new.

Despite that fact that this music is now two decades old, it doesn't sound at all dated.

Do not be deterred by Scogin's past endeavours; this is not a metal album--not even close. This is lyrical, groovy, poignant, unimpeded and, above all else, creative

Wherever he goes, it's a journey solely for himself. That we're invited occasionally to check on his progress in all its disarming, emotional breadth is simply a blessing.

It's not a perfect album — at times it seems only a taste of the power that Porridge Radio will eventually wield — but it's an important album, a statement of purpose from a group with everything before them.

It takes immense skill to know what to keep while being one step ahead of the modern musical landscape, and Hellfire accomplishes both.

With strings, thoughtful arrangements, backup vocals, and rich production plus David Berman's inimitable wordplay and phrasing, Purple Mountains is a true masterpiece.

Luminous is a tremendously dense record, but one that manages to find ample breathing space for each of its studio takes.

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.

Though radically different in execution, The Powers That B is a compelling look at the band's ability to work with sounds both minimal and monumental, while containing some of their most riveting lyrical and musical work in recent memory.

There certainly is a great deal more to Guthrie's immense body of work than what is represented on Woody At 100, but apart from some newly discovered recordings that completists will want, this is an ideal package for the uninitiated, and one to be treasured for years to come.

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

Despite this galling blunder ["California," an infuriating interruption to an otherwise cohesive project], Gambino knocks Awaken out of the park.

Originally envisioned as the first in a series of efforts to help inspire artists (hence the title), this is the perfect album to sleep, cry or meditate to, an album for life on this planet from an artist usually obscured by the whirring of machines. Imagine that.

The fearless formula, the genre-blending, the artistic craft on display marks Reyez's latest as one of the better albums in an already interesting 2020. Before Love Came to Kills shines a light on homegrown talent done great.

That Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe in You's vast ecosystem can support this multitude of sounds and voices is astonishing. Even more so is the way its greens seem to become greener — its skies more full of stars, its waters clearer — the more time you spend with it. It's a universe all its own, clarified a bit more with every listen.

Sweeping and intimate all at once, Aviary never settles for comforting platitudes or dour resignation. It's honest, it's hopeful, and it's surely among Holter's finest achievements.

Julia Jacklin is a unique talent. Know her. With PRE PLEASURE, Jacklin once again makes herself impossible to dismiss. She not only lives up to the hype, she deserves more of it.

In just under a half-hour, the band tear apart any notion that punk music can no longer be inventive or groundbreaking; Dead Cross brings life back into the genre.

It makes for an album that impresses without overstaying its welcome, but it's more than just the sum of its parts. Hidden History has a vibe, like something old and undiscovered. It's the riffs, the all-analogue recording process, everything. You breathe the atmosphere of this record when you listen to it. That's why you'll return to it again and again.

From the brash, banging tracks all the way to the idyllic soft touches, Beautiful Rewind is captivating and completely refreshing to hear.

Flamagra plays like a staggered daydream, where you occasionally return to consciousness, only to slip back into slumber soon after.

While this album is masterful in a number of ways, it's Thao's confessional element that ties everything together.

That Age of Transparency feels less like the collection of singles Anxiety was and more like the cohesive, momentous artistic statement his best work always suggested he's capable of.

[Kwes delivers] poignant wanderings from within his inner-monologue, while voicing a soul-expanding sound that makes James Blake's noir&B cool seem like nothing more than ostentatious art school assignments.

It's time to wake the hell up. Cost of Living Adjustment hits like piping hot, full-bodied espresso right to the heart, and it's the band's best work yet.

The current king of rap manages, yet again, to offer a searing insight into his life, past and present. The songs on Alfredo are fun even when the themes aren't.

On Oh No, Jessy Lanza reveals a range of new emotions, influences and styles, further establishing a distinctive sound that blurs the lines even more between pop and club music.

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

It moves Krell closer to the mainstream without sacrificing the emotional complexity of his music, proving that Krell is a musical force not to be underestimated.

With URGH, Mandy, Indiana have crafted the first great album of 2026, one that rewards with each exhausting listen. In a time of crisis and uncertainty, URGH is not merely cathartic: it's exorcistic.

Obsidian is a gorgeous suite of electronic pop songs that will draw you in and stay with you for days on end, and somehow it sounds like Baths more than Cerulean ever did.

Exploring so many sub-genres of hardcore while simultaneously telling many different stories, Diaspora Problems vaults Soul Glo into the conversation as one of the most important heavy bands in 2022.

Planet Her has no skips, not even the previously released singles. It showcases many sides to Doja but remains cohesive — if you don't consume it in its entirety, you'll definitely miss out on truly understanding her world.

Copper Gone is definitely a high point in Sage Francis's already significant career.

On Why Do the Heathen Rage?, Daniel has managed to bring the intellectual and the primal together for one big dance party.

He remains unchallenged when it comes to his ability to create organic sound that is at once full-bodied, warm, and filled with textures from around the world. Bonobo's growth, too, across the past two decades has seen a natural and consistent progression; each record building beautifully on the last. Fragments is no exception.

Jungle Rules is full of summer vibes, and makes a perfect addition to not only Frenchie's catalogue but any summer playlist--which is to say it was worth the wait.

Lenker's work continues to reimagine love and loss, and albums like songs are her way of turning those complex emotions into something timeless.

On Sept. 5, dvsn establish themselves as the cutting edge of post-millennial soul music, electrifying, absorbing and, at their best, downright mind-blowing.

It's always drifting, skilfully, from challenging noise to fragmented affection in the most beguiling way possible.

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.

Realistically, Alternate/Endings is not for everyone, but anyone who's intrigued by the dark and unconventional side of things--or thinks that jungle needs a new platform--will devour this album.

Lyrically, Brown is still one of the best we have. .... Charismatic guests like Bruiser Wolf, Overall and MIKE manage to make their respective marks without taking up too much space — This is Brown's story.

One of the best records of their 30-year career. Neither prog nor doom, Katatonia sound like no one else.

This is, it's apparent, an album of ideas and feelings that were dying to come out, and Lisa-Kaindé and Naomi have expressed them with beauty and technical expertise beyond their 20 years.

On Cowards, Squid reveal themselves as possibly the most forward-thinking and artistic band of the new post-punk explosion. It's not an easy ride, but few of the best things are.

Having rediscovered his split-lipped humour, and working with simple, yet propulsive arrangements, this is a league leader back in game shape. ... It's a master class in country songwriting, a series of lessons about how to work the expected tropes into what feel like as-yet-undiscovered shapes.

This release has the same charge as the early entries of Ali Hassan Kuban or Konono No. 1, both who set the bar for raw energy. The colonial demarcations of Africa have a lot to answer for, but this fusing of Songhai, Fulani, Hausa and Tuareg peoples has created gifts worth having. This is amazing music.

Jericho Sirens is truly spirited rock'n'roll that hits you directly, but it's also enigmatic and increasingly rewarding the deeper you dive. The arrangements are mighty and confident, while the cast of characters and scenarios are compelling and provocative, anchored by Froberg's impassioned screaming and cool articulation. Comebacks are complicated, for bands and fans too, but this is one for the ages.

As listeners lose more of themselves, their fleshy armour useless in the face of absolute desolation, Contact rewards them with the knowledge of what wicked horrors they can endure. It's the bad head-trip we need to truly understand ourselves.

Each track is a confined attempt at gaiety, a succinct story in service of this greater mission of uninhibited emotion — which is ultimately, hopefully joy.

John Lee Hooker couldn't have asked for a better centenary.

It's always amazing how the two rappers behind Armand Hammer can complement each other so seamlessly while also seeming to tread on two separate planes of existence — We Buy Diabetic Test Strips is alive with this unique balancing act.

Everyday Robots is a graceful and beguiling album from an artist that continues to explore, mature and surprise us with each release. Not bad for a debut album.

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.

Hardly Electronic is a mature and polished album from a band confident enough to let their influences guide their sound without overshadowing it. Longtime fans will obviously snap this up, but anyone with an interest in classically-minded pop arrangements and great songs will find much to like on this unexpected gem from the Essex Green.

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

The Moritz Von Oswald Trio deliver their most impressive and spatially alluring album to date with Fetch.

Artists that push themselves with every release are rare, and rarer still are the artists where each new frontier is a successful one. Objekt is one of those, and Cocoon Crush demands to be listened to intently and completely. The arrangements themselves are never predictable, twisting and turning with opportunistic glee, marrying the fluidity of his role as a sonic architect.

It is big, bold and absolutely electrifying.

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