Four Pink Walls is positioned as a warm up to her debut full length, and there's enough substance here to match and maintain expectations.

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.

Unrefined and uninhibited, Fungus II is a visceral journey through layers of chaos that refuse to be subdued. Wasted Shirt's first record makes it clear that the two have teamed up to indulge their impulses and then blow them up.

A carefully orchestrated and patiently rendered collection of songs that recasts Cottrill's music in the visage of artists like King and James Taylor.

This is a fine soundtrack to a road movie that's yet to be filmed.

With Dissolvi, Steve Hauschildt rediscovers his adventurous self while taking delight in the human element.

Fantasy is Lightning Dust's most consistent and cohesive effort to date, and is dreamy enough to live up to its otherworldly title.

Overall, the Pixies' seventh album is palatable — the songs are generally likeable — but it lacks excitement.

Despite sounding more like Radiohead's wistful indie-pop nephews than the genuine article, alt-J are a group offering moderate experimentalism that'll serve as an effective gateway for younger fans.

Surrounded by ambient hiss and faint female backing vocals, The Benoît Pioulard Listening Matter shows Pioulard expressing emotion through simple but intensely personal songwriting.

Taken on its own, in an era where most artists make albums a third of its length, the EP feels like a daunting endurance test. But the deeper you dig into Perverts and Ethel Cain's world, the more rewarding the experience.

Sure, it would've been nice for Jenkins to offer even more such insightful commentary on this LP, rather than devoting the bulk of his lyrics to braggadocio. But this creative, star-studded album nevertheless showcases Jenkins' potential to fill the late Scott-Heron's shoes as a rap poet laureate.

With Ghosts of Then and Now, Illum Sphere strives to balance the ethereal with the earworm and, for the most part, succeeds.

Although Kinsella still writes dense math rockers ("On with the Show") alongside uncomplicated acoustic ditties ("Headphoned"), The Avalanche seems to meld together into slosh of uniform sound, leaving the listener with an album that is emotionally thrilling even when it is tactilely urbane.

At times, the simplicity of the melodies (the synths at times sound like readymade ones you'd find on a Yamaha keyboard) and decidedly uncomplicated drum machine beats may leave the listener wanting more, but they play into the notion of these characters being pathetic, exhausted and disappointed so well that there really isn't a need for much more.

It's an excellent record--one that sounds both classic and unmistakably contemporary--but, for the most part, it still sounds like the meeting of two disparate halves.

There is nothing unexpected on Hotspot, but to trace the contours of the expected with Pet Shop Boys is never without reward, and they're certainly in fine form. Fans will find much to enjoy here, but Hotspot is best viewed as a victory lap.

The Hyperdub resident dabbles in funk, grime, experimental, R&B and soul, a mélange of styles that effortlessly coexist.

Yes, Native Invader is an effectual statement by an artist who has built her career on making them, but at times it feels a little restrained in its tone compared to some of her most memorable work.

Her experiments with cross-stitching sometimes unravel, but even the loose ends make for powerful listens.

Though it feels relatively safe stylistically, Archives is a very much a welcome closer to Stewart's Vapor City vision.

The narrative isn't particularly groundbreaking; it tells the story of escaping a bad relationship, falling in love with someone else and then torpedoing it with his libido. Ne-Yo's MJ-indebted falsetto does deliver some highlights on the album.

Overall, Holtkamp's constant push into uncharted territory on Motion – Connected Works is highly respectable and a new step forward for him, but its length and fatiguing, aggressive timbre hold it back from being his most pleasurable release to date.

As a whole, it feels less like a sketchbook come to life and more like a laboratory of hermetic fusion jazz and avant-garde rock, which isn't to say it's devoid of charm.

While Keith Flint and vocal partner Maxim aren't as prominent as they sometimes are on this outing, the bludgeoning beats and aggressive synths remain, with perhaps even a bit of classic rock swagger thrown in early on.

Lift Your Spirit is rather formulaic from that standpoint--not as spicy or daring as past efforts--but it's folksy, soulful, and groovy enough to catch your attention.

Like past releases, [4Eva N A Day] breathes a warm, nostalgic haze steeped in Southern soul and the country rap of UGK and Outkast.

Traces of previous collaborators and tourmates such as Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Troye Sivan and S. Carey can be found in these songs, along with the bright folk-pop energy of Maggie Rogers, yet Gordi stands out from her peers on the strength of her direct, melancholic voice and honest lyricism.