The Murlocs have shown their skill at evolving naturally with little effort, and Calm Ya Farm sees the band putting it all together, upping the honky-tonk and honing their unique-yet-timeless sound more than ever.

HELLMODE more than likely delivers. The album is quintessential Rosenstock. Honestly though, so was No Dream, so was Post-, so was Worry, and so was We Cool? He's apparently incapable of making a bad record — even your least favourite Rosenstock album is, at the very least, good.

Love in Constant Spectacle features all of Weaver's strengths and none of her (very few) weaknesses. There's a kind of magical play here that conceals the emotional weight the album continuously heaves skyward, any evidence of the effort smoothed out in the subtitles.

Clocking in at only 35 minutes — though it feels longer, richer — Up on Gravity Hill is a quick glimpse into a more earnest METZ. This doesn't sound like a band experimenting with something new, but rather a group of musicians secure enough in their craft to humbly evolve with increasingly uncertain times.

If only he'd overcome his demons, finished these fine songs and enjoyed the accolades they surely would have garnered. Justin Townes Earle fans were robbed of that deserved future, but at least we can make do with this collection of songs that bookends an exceptional career that should have gone on so much longer.

Turnstile remain the ambassadors we need, and their latest album is proof of their lasting legacy.

With Autobiography, Jlin shows she might be incapable of creating anything less than brilliant.

Fantasize Your Ghost encapsulates the thrilling and sometimes terrifying joy of moving forward and finding the confidence within yourself to be exactly who you are — an album with enough depth and passion to fill a room, something you can listen to on a loop and never get bored.

Petals for Armor is a musically strong, emotionally vulnerable album that finds her standing confidently as an artist in her own right.

The results surge with the crackling, raw power of their notorious live performances.

She reveals a heretofore-unheard level of ambition as she expands her pop palette and worldview. In trying to put a wall between herself and her audience, she's opened a new, far more revealing side to her music and herself.

Seed of a Seed gives fans the stunning folk vocals and intricate guitar work they've come to expect from Haley Heynderickx while gently defying conventions set in I Need to Start a Garden. It's an album best enjoyed outdoors with a seasonably appropriate drink and box of tissues nearby.

While the artistry is evident in his picks, Moodymann's execution here could've use a more deft hand.

Neō Wax Bloom is a fantastical cartoon that's crash-landed in reality, and it begs your attention.

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.

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.

Spiritualized have delivered yet another great project with Everything Is Beautiful, an incredible mix of genres bringing forth truly impressive instrumentals with compelling lyrics.

Alex G is one of the most distinctive characters working in indie rock today, and despite some of its shortcomings, the songs on Headlights still prove that. But rather than being a victory lap, Alex G's first major label record feels self-destructive. Maybe he's not quite ready for the burden of prosperity.

She experiments with more melodic sounds, but has kept her roots too, such as her heavy flows and funky productions that are perfect for the club.

What should continue to draw longtime Lambchop fan in to FLOTUS is the fact that Wagner's songwriting, lyrics and arrangements remain as strong, insightful and clever as ever, making nary an eye blink at Wagner's odd journey into new musical dimensions.

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

Origin of the Alimonies is an opera, complete with three acts, an overture and an interlude. Sonically, it picks up on past Liturgy motifs: minimalism, black metal, classical music and electronic beats. The scope and scale, however, is incredibly vast.

Angels & Devils dwarfs its acclaimed predecessor, as it does almost everything else released in the electronic music genre this year.

Harder, better, faster and stronger than their excellent debut, 2009's Post Nothing.

On By the Fire opener "Hashish," Moore and his trio wholesale borrow the intro, main riff and melody from Sonic Youth's 1998 single "Sunday," while the most poppy and compact track on the LP, "Cantaloupe", freely cops the guitar rhythm of SY's 1992 classic "Sugar Kane." But once Moore becomes tired of repurposing old riffs, noise breakdowns, and tunings, he reverts to simply repeating intros and harmonies across the album's nine tracks and 80 minutes, melding together elements from the sluggish "Calligraphy" and the guileless "Dreamers Work."

This project, as conceived by the artist, wraps itself in an Afro-futurist stance, an approach to neo-soul that feels right at home played next to the sounds of FKA twigs or Solange. But Sudan Archives still has room to grow while she defines her sound.

As musically fun and riff-heavy as it is lyrically direct and meaningful, Need to Feel Your Love is exactly the debut album fans wanted from Sheer Mag--not to mention one of the best of 2017 so far.

Harmonicraft is filled with catchy hooks and pop melodies, as well as progressive, atmospheric rhythms.

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.

Lingua Ignota comes off much more sombre and reflective, and Sinner Get Ready is nothing short of a strikingly effective album, sounding more like an incantation than a mere collection of songs.

The songs just sounded great, and were played with such precision, at these shows.

A pretty perfect soundtrack to the never-ending battle against conformity, complacency and chords. .... There's a ferocity and alienness to the complexity. While Angine de Poitrine are certainly not alone in their explorations of microtonality, experimentation and funk, the music is nevertheless demanding in a way that other popular contemporary sounds are not.

Baker is careful not to glorify life's darkest moments, and certainly doesn't on Turn Out the Lights. Rather, her candid portrayal of pain is a rare and beautiful gift.

His gruff vocals hold pain and weariness as he reflects on his struggles and challenges. Yet, however difficult it might be to ingest his candour, there is also a maturity about Miller in which to take solace. There's a sense of growth and lessons learned. These are the marks of a life well-lived, however short.

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.

Every song on The End of Radio has by now made it on to a Shellac release, but it's a testament to the singular artistry of this band that these two Peel sessions provoke pleasant feelings of awe and surprise at things that sound both familiar, yet fascinatingly alien.

If Clark maintains the marquee star promise she shows throughout Your Life Is a Record, swaths of the next generation's songwriters will long for her to cover their tunes, and daydream about following in her footsteps.

Ethereal strings, guitar and softly humming bass arise in delicate arrangements around them.

It's Brown's pen game and ear for production that carry the album's comedic spirit, anchored by technical and stylistic changes.

Stage Four was a momentous release that found ways to musically express its heart-wrenching story. Lament feels more like Touché Amoré's essential form.

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.

Chronology is a socially, politically and industrially aware effort, the work of an intelligent, savvy and ambitious artist who makes for an ideal genre representative to take reggae to its next global level.

Titans of Creation boasts complex guitar and bass work, mechanically precise drumming, powerhouse vocals and crisp, clear production that still manages to leave the razor-sharp edge intact, with songs that will be exciting to hear live.

If there's anything to be said about THE UNRAVELING, it's that PUP have remained true to themselves.

Cruel Country also contains some of the band's most awe-inspiring music, especially in the album's middle.

The album perfectly captures the abrasive and raw sound that Sleater-Kinney have only strengthened throughout the years.

Styles finally sounds at home in his role as a pop megastar. Settling in nicely on Harry's House, he manages to hit a sweet spot in between One Direction breakout star and modern-day rocker.

While its 'realness' likely won't win Roc too many new fans, it's sure to satisfy those down with the brand, and fans of that underground aesthetic he's become known for.

Every piece on New Bodies is painstakingly detailed and full of emotion--but experimenting with tempo and mood as much as they do with every other facet of their music would give the album even more weight. Regardless, it's one of 2018's best offerings so far and an exceptional entry in its sonic field.

These are not new themes, but Segarra's songs are a complex thicket of emotions, made traversable by her ability to craft a maxim, a hook and a bridge to a chorus.

Staples approaches the latest chapters of his story on Prima Donna in bleak fashion, his pen and delivery both as sharp as ever.

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.

Old is a post-fame album done right.

The album's arrangements are the least complex they've been since Superchunk's early days, making these 11 tracks less immediately sticky than previous efforts. A bit more teeth would have made this one for the ages.

On Like the River Loves the Sea, Joan Shelley proves she may be the only active musician who can surround herself with collaborators and sound exactly like herself.

Though Gambino takes himself a bit too seriously at times, 3.15.20's pleasant moments make up for his missteps.

"Lyrics," "Crime Riddim" and "Man" show him at his most convincing, taking aim at MC battle culture, police profiling and post-fame loyalty respectively, delivered with force no matter how vulnerable the subject matter or how jokey the punch lines might be ("My mum don't know your mum / Stop telling man you're my cousin.").

It is as brilliant. What Faith in Strangers does do is confirm Stott's position as one of the most stirring and explorative producers going.

[The EP] reveal a steadier, more confident Van Etten, which--surprisingly enough--is just as thrilling as the unpredictable, anxious turns that garnered her so much praise on her last LP.

Electrically Possessed contains some of their most daring, buoyant and surprisingly solid set of songs, framing Stereolab as a band who managed to stay adventurous and weird right to the end.

Tempest is a mixed bag of ideas at best, many of which would be better served by someone like Tom Waits.

Simply put, Playing Favorites is their best work yet.

Hovvdy's balanced expressions between residual nostalgia and murmuring secrecy are worn in beautifully on Heavy Lifter.

Where All Mirrors pushed at the sky, Whole New Mess explores the vastness of the mind and peculiarities of the heart. It may take repeat listens to hear these roughly hewn songs as more than demos for their gilded twins, but once you've waded deep enough into the record's shifting, disintegrating twilight, it becomes something wholly new.

If Habits & Contradictions was a reinstatement of gangsta rap, then Control System is a giant leap forward in conscious rap.

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.

This is one of the most rewarding and beautiful albums of the year.

Amygdala manages to feel like a singular labour of love, a 78-minute piece that never feels laborious that is the accomplishment.

Harlan & Alondra feels like an older album in the same way that Buddy gives the impression of rappers from the past, but when you add in modern day energy, the album becomes very special.

Strange Ranger's music rambles along in sync with our inner thoughts — joyful and cheery, but at times full of doubt and overthinking. There are no definitive conclusions on Remembering the Rockets, but instead an analysis of friendships, relationships and everything in between, letting it all spill out in an extensive afterthought.

The result of those sessions, While I'm Livin', is perhaps the finest full-length in Tucker's storied five-decade career.

There was a sense that this record would be Speedy Ortiz's great leap forward. Instead, we get some tentative baby steps in the right direction, as the band settle for just really good instead of truly great.

Open Your Heart's greatest triumph is its ability to hearken back without feeling retro.

The band's evolution on The Violent Sleep… keeps them one step ahead of all those who have been trying to catch up, making Meshuggah as powerful and proficient on the cusp of three decades of existence as they always have been.

All in all, the brilliance of West End Girl lies in its lack of pretension, and the fact that its room feels mostly cleared of committee.

Kadavar attempt to create something that is both memorable and cool here, but despite all its hooks and melodies, Berlin ultimately falls short.

Love's Last Chance is lazy summer listening. It reveals a mindful DJ/keyboardist/producer and now vocalist who has progressed from someone who, in his words, "made beats every day," to someone who's on to something good.

Nonagon Infinity is a definite mind-melt (see how many times you can loop it without losing it), and impressively keeps up with its initial premise.

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

It's a worthy continuation of the unfulfilled upswing they were on when they called it quits feels like an undeserved bonus. More is unlikely to win Pulp many new fans, but that would be presumptuous to really want (and undignified to aim for) when you can otherwise hit the mark so authentically.

Drama is softened by sincerity on the record, as NAO finds balance in the wake of chaos.

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.

These musicians understand that heaviness is most effective when balanced by some light, making their debut both inventively punishing and soaring.

White Men Are Black Men Too is a perfect storm of influences and talent that make for an unforgettable album.

Visions of Us on the Land combines made-for-TV sci-fi soundscapes, Americana, pop, rock and indie-folk with thundering percussion, psychedelic synth, gospel choir and distorted guitar in a sonic palette that charms and mystifies.

Not one second on the album goes to waste. It's an efficient half-hour endeavour where every song, (save for the rousing intro), sounds like the grand finale of an epic live production.

With Black Encyclopedia of the Air, Moor Mother uses her genre-agnostic style to tackle to world's most popular genre and make it undoubtedly her own.

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

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.

By the end of the album, Rodrigo has established her voice and showed listeners that she's not afraid to be vulnerable. SOUR is a strong debut that vividly illustrates the beautiful chaos of being inside a teenage girl's brain.

As the Love Continues is one of them. Already an enduring album, it will surely solidify Mogwai's venerated status as shamans of our collective consciousness.

The album's winning touches come from Bruner's soulful vocal melodies. They're a calming element tying each of the record's varied creative efforts together beautifully.

Burial's tracks have always sounded sentimental, but it was usually contrasted with caustic backdrops that gave them some bite; on these two tracks ["Hiders" and "Come Down to Us"], it's the missing element.

On LP, Container shows his ability to create a complete barnburner of an album in the least flashy and showy manner possible.

Wrangled lacks ambition.

Even if It's Almost Dry isn't the flawless masterpiece that many had hoped Push would deliver this time around, it's still a great album with many standout moments.

The songs on Scheherazade are original, though richly informed by traditional Americana. Most of them sound like they could be from any time in the last 80 years.

Iceage make unpleasant music, but their bland sentimentality is the most disagreeable thing on Beyondless.