In contrast to comrade Rocky's music, Trap Lord succeeds largely despite its production, fuelled by Ferg's oddball enthusiasm and sincerity.

The most notable thing about the record is how excited everyone sounds. It crackles with energy, buoyed by the feeling that the trio are finally unshackled by their past. It's punchy, and the hooks generally last long past the record's short runtime.

The album finds Knxwledge stretching in unpredictable new directions, while also maintaining the soulful throwback sound that garnered him so many fans in the first place.

Like the other entries in the series, Empire also offers up plenty of B-sides and demo takes for the completists, but laying everything out bare for us still doesn't exactly explain the West coast phenomenon known as Unwound.

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.

Code Orange usher in a new era with Underneath that will alienate sections of their audience, and bring their us-against-you might to places no Pittsburgh band have gone before. They've become masters of numbingly heavy and world-expanding metalcore, but operate within rock music more than they probably ever intended to.

Personality comes off as expert techno done in a peculiarly conservative manner, an unadorned but sturdy tugboat floating amongst dubstep's rising tsunami.

As an album, YU feels like a body of work sewn together with interludes, hooks and a growing maturity. Lowe has made a statement by developing inward musings into grooves that reach toward new audiences, the heart at the centre of her work audibly beating.

The upbeat Euro-tone with a dark edge that characterizes Tenderness is tidily executed, evocative and catchy to boot.

In Ferneaux is everything most Blanck Mass albums are not: patient, subtle and disarmingly low-key. It was made in confinement, but it takes Power to surprising new places.

As a follow-up to 6 Feet Beneath the Moon, ANPTD lacks the charm that made his 2013 record amiable. This new work finds Marshall revealing himself through the sound of his combined musical sensibilities and artistry.

It's an odd album, but a good one, which will make you smile at its slightly off-kilter weirdness while soothing your weary bones.

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.

Head Up High satisfyingly winds itself from one song to another, yet lacks a bit of overall "oomph"; it also sounds as if it could have been made ten years ago.

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.

Heavily arranged around Hans-Joachim's piano playing, much of the music on Echtzeit is surprisingly melodic, as Qluster keeps a thawing pace throughout the album.

It's mostly a cheery, upbeat listen — although Murdoch still sounds best in melancholy mode, something he proves with on the synth-anchored "We We Were Very Young." ... B&S only miss when they leave their comfort zone.

The record's weakest moments often come when Amstutz flexes her pipes. .... Still, the record has enough shimmer and verve to keep it afloat. Amstutz has made a chart-friendly pop record that never loses sight of what made its central character so compelling in the first place.

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

The connection between Hatfield and Caws makes Get There a great pop album that will appeal to more than just fans of both participants.

There are, unfortunately, a few songs that just don't connect, and when the album ends you're left feeling a bit unsatisfied, which is rare for this band. But it's still a great, short, raw blast of a melodic punk album.

Plenty of tracks here end abruptly, which likely works well for their use in the film itself, and maybe less so in an independent listen. But even removed from visual and narrative components of Hereditary, Stetson's compositions still manage to conjure a deeply unsettling, unrelentingly tense mood.

The Desaturating Seven finds Primus oddly compelling, as ever.

Sensual and honest, Viva Hinds feels close to the chest, with throbbing pianos, soaring synthesizers, and drum machines accompanying profound reflections on staying true to oneself in love.

It's rare for a posthumous release to not only live up up to the artist's previous work, but properly capture their aura and spirit in the way that Forever manages to.

In spite of the abundance of retro rock references, Adams' gut-spilling lyricism and vulnerable vocal performances (a waver here, a crack and a tremble there) still give Prisoner enough heart to steer it clear of sounding like a washed-up cliché.

The profound sadness imbued in Mr. M, something that hasn't necessarily been as apparent on previous Lambchop albums, lends a consistency that produces a satisfying meditative effect.

Like eggnog, it's excellent in December but probably a little nauseating come January.