Even though it remains an abstract surprise album, Ain't No Damn Way! flows coherently, making for an impressively seamless addition to Kaytra's ever-expanding discography. Most importantly, the record's meaningful callbacks solidify that he has yet to lose sight of his creative North star.

Roísín Machine is among Murphy's best works, a showcase for one of dance music's most endlessly fascinating figures

These are decidedly intimate songs approached from remarkably wide angles, woodsy tapestries penetrated with modernist psychedelic touches (whirly tubes, piano strings struck with metal spoons), artfully woven into grand, sprawling arrangements that will reward repeated private listening perhaps even more than Portishead has.

The story goes that Alabama red clay sticks around, its residue leaving a stubborn, permanent presence. The Red Clay Strays are here to stay, their story written in a cloud of red dust that's far from ready to settle.

Annabel Dream Reader feels like the soundtrack to a Tarantino film.

Whether Sport is really for digital punks or leather-clad clubbers remains to be seen, but regardless of audience, this is one of the most interesting records to come out this year.

This is another solid effort from the man born Curtis Cross.

There's a lot of stuff there, and sure, not everything seems crucial. But when the ecosystem works as well as it does on Pas pire pop, it's worth taking the time to get lost in its dense flora of sounds.

Although Regards / Ukłony dla Bogusław Schaeffer won't stand as their most approachable LP, nor will it be remembered as their most audacious (it's most likely in between the two), Matmos have cemented their rightful place within the annals of some of the most resourceful and inventive multimedia artists of their generation.

Miss Universe is an intriguing and smoothly constructed record. Groove and melancholy exist simultaneously in Yanya's work, providing listeners with no single answer to the questions she poses.

In creating a warm, intimate sound emphasizing piano and organ over acoustic guitar for the first time, Hayden sounds content even when talking about mortality.

Don't Let the Ink Dry is a promising debut that showcases true talent.

The album is an impressive continuation of Tom G. Warrior's often-mighty lineage, addressing each and every one of his strengths while offering something new for those unaware of the history embedded in every note.

Andrews grasps her songs tightly. Her lyrics are considered and heartfelt, her vocal performances are clean and pure and the songs are produced and arranged with nuance and precision.

But You Caint Use My Phone is a fantastic collection of songs, and while Badu has dubbed the release a mixtape, it's as strong, cohesive and consistent as any proper soul LP put out in recent memory.

Em's new songs give a facelift to old themes — but thanks to his still-astounding wordplay and creative beat choices (Rick Rubin's work on "So Far..." and "Love Game" is a hoot), you can still get lost in the wrinkles.

Without ever being outshone nor outright stealing the show, Ghostface does some of his best rapping in recent years and proves he's still got it.

It's a record built less on borrowed nostalgia and genre fetishism and more on earnest, risk-taking creativity and mixing genres in weird sonic chemistry experiments.

Music For My Friends is arguably Skyzoo's finest project to date.

There are certainly lulls among the 18 tracks, moments of randomness, and even an occasional lack of direction. But if Cline is indeed trying to conjure a feeling of romance through instrumental jazz, he's done just that on this record.

It's clear that Dawn's songwriting is one of her many strengths, as Meet Me at the River is only too proud to showcase.

Guitarists Trevor Peres and Ken Andrews' tones are more menacing than ever, and Donald Tardy's intense, skull-shaking drums are perfectly captured. While vocalist John Tardy's screams have obviously aged since Obituary's early days, they still sound powerful enough to get the job done, and the entire band plays with a locked-in ferocity that never sounds robotic or artificial.

Nobody can seriously claim that Welcome Home tops any of Pantera. But it's a step up from Hellyeah's past material, showcasing all of the members' unending passion for heavy metal and all that comes with it.

Self-produced and written almost entirely while isolated in a lake house outside of Mexico City, Me is Rodriguez' most fully-formed artistic statement yet, an intensely personal, self-assured outing that cements her as a powerhouse producer, sonically harkening back to her Colorminutes days and establishing her as an expert songwriter.

The tracks run long (nothing below four-and-a-half minutes), and the highlights come for those with patience (the album peaks, like Heritage did, in the latter half); Pale Communion is a grower.

While "Casino Niagara" revels in the steam-blurred sensuality of R&B, Love Hallucination stands as Lanza's most sexually assertive record for its inclusion of "Marathon," a bratty pop confection.

The record is their most musically ambitious to date, while still maintaining the unrelenting, thrash-influenced Southern heavy metal they do best.

On The Desired Effect, Flowers aims to be loose and have some fun, but he also sounds more focused than ever. Flowers has spoken of a desire to write an album full of singles, and these songs almost reach that goal.