Its tendency to slip into trance-like arrangements can make b'lieve feel a bit too sleepy at times, but moments pop up just in time to pull you back.

Simply put, there are few artists with the precision and poetic fortitude of Carla Bozulich, and on Boy, she commands attention like no one else.

The record is strikingly patient and meditative, even to the point of being hypnotic.

Midnight Manor is a chooglin' good time. The album holds true to that classic Nude Party sound; there's a direct sense of growth in its tone, without losing that flavor of personality that makes the Nude Party the characters that they are.

Starter Home is a mostly quiet album despite its many players.

Adorned with earthy imagery across almost every track — and highlighted by the groovy "One Bird Calling" and the livestock sampling "A Barn Conversation" — The Vivian Line is a love letter to his rural homestead and the loved ones with whom he shares it.

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.

On Cenizas, Nicolas Jaar unveils a static but emotional masterpiece, an album that doesn't challenge the listener as much as it invites them into his alien, meditative, astonishing world.

While the band's attempts to recapture their old glory have typically felt like attempts to give fans what they've wanted from them--and the idea that of a bunch of old white men tying their authenticity to their black cultural forbears feels something like an ugly metaphor for this mess of a year--this is the Stones making music for themselves.

At the Party is lusher and more delicate than its grungy predecessor, Mother of My Children, but no less powerful. Paul's latest is a warm and appreciative ode to the joys of passing the time with people you love.

There's an effortless authenticity in her voice. ... Naggar's rickety orchestration, imagistic lyrics and posture of kindness ensure that it never feels like effort, so much as a joyful, sad, funny, wise conversation with close, thoughtful friend.

Equal parts pensive and dreamy, minimal yet expansive, Phonetics On and On is the unapologetic sound of confident experimenting, the product of three musicians years ahead of their respective ages. Horsegirl rule, and so does this record. Put it on and on (and on and on and on).

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

It is great to see Caroline Polachek giving a go at being an independent pop artist, and this album makes it feasible that she one day becomes a household name in the genre.

It's the samples in particular, though, that give Reset a sort of whimsical timelessness. ... Like much of Panda Bear and Sonic Boom's best work, Reset is disorienting — an album of songs that feels cyclical and never-ending.

As always, the band are at the height of their powers when at their most emotively rousing. ... But when recalling their previous efforts, there's an unshakeable feeling that they've done it before, but better — though you can't fault them for doing what so many post-rockers have done over the past 20 years.

Nirvana are actually a better comparison, not so much for the sonic similarities (though they are certainly there if you want to make them), but for METZ's ability to channel primal screams and squelching guitars into hook-laden earworms.

Testament just don't make missteps (the album could be a couple songs shorter, but that's my biggest complaint), continuing to craft thrash that's mature, heavy and aggressive in all the best ways.

With Into The Lair of the Sun God, the Chicago, IL metallers have once again produced a record that's as engaging as it is refreshing.

The music is troubling and absorbing, a fascinating progression of textures and tones, telling the lugubrious narrative through remarkably tactile sound.

No matter how harrowing King's cries become, how punitive the increasingly industrial percussion grows, or how profound the agony of the textured sound becomes, it's these little moments of silvery beauty that make No One Deserves Happiness transcendent and unbearable. Settle in and endure.

Marked by stronger grooves, darker lyrics and catchier hooks, Touch pushes July Talk's musical vision forward without sacrificing their core elements. It's an album that should cause anyone who'd previously dismissed the band reason to reconsider their stance, while exceeding existing fans' expectations.

This is an intriguing album that doesn't allow the listener the placid, breezy experience that some instrumental albums permit.

The Iceberg ultimately delivers a rich yet digestible musical main course worth more than one helping. If you've been sleeping on Odd, it's time to wake up.

If Pretty Girls Like Trap Music doesn't make the rapper an immediate king of the South, it undoubtedly puts him in line for the title.

A charming and disarming album.

Aside from the compelling lyricism, Everything's For Sale also stands out because of its immersive melodies.

An album that is layered and diverse in its sound palette and execution, with something for appreciators of the many different flavours electronic music has to offer.