Fear in a Handful of Dust might just be the best sonic definition for imperfect beauty we've got right now. Luckily, with the recent formation of Tobin's new label, Nomark, it looks like we'll be waiting far less than eight years for the next body of work.

The craftsmanship of the album is impeccable, synonymous with the Cologne sound Kompakt has become so well known for.

Here From Where We Are is an album born of the desire to make genuine music, and the end result is a moving, blissful album that shows just how far Pariah has come in the past six years.

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.

Manically happy, infectiously danceable and too clever by half, if 1991 does one thing, it proves that Banks's breakout hit, "212," was no fluke.

Shades spotlights a band with diverse influences and the ability to cogently and cohesively re-contextualize them. Additionally, the album features one infectious melody after another, Raisa Khan emerging as one of the more intriguing voices of her generation.

The cohesion the album does offer is its seamless passage to club land, its capacity to get the listener up and moving, and its ability to surprise.

Not just for Dave Matthews Band fans, Ryley Walker's The Lillywhite Sessions is a reminder that taste is subjective, timing is everything, and you don't always choose the ones you love.

Macy Gray is back, easily delivering on expectations.

For a band as hardboiled as Arab Strap, As Days Get Dark is nonetheless a love letter to the brave, ambitious nature the band has built their audience upon. The swings are bigger, the misses are broader, the hits are even more rewarding — for Arab Strap, there's no other reasonable way to approach it.

Along with his own cuts, Dear works dialled-in dance floor weapons from Randomer, Matrixxman, Simian Mobile Disco and Thatmanmonkzn into this heady, satisfying mix.

With its fresh simplicity, Glory is a blazing return to form for Perfume Genius, who, on his seventh album, has come full circle as a pop star that has never been afraid to emerge as something brand new, familiar, or even as No Shape at all.

While the earlier LP was harrowing in its soul-searching melancholia, Morning Phase is warm and soothing, its tone coming across as beautifully bittersweet rather than overtly depressing.

In honest and raw fashion, Earl Sweatshirt unmasks both sides of success.

A solid listen front to back, Freedom is the album fans have been waiting for.

This record will surprise their fans.

With ken, he has once again delivered an excellent record that offers both sonic surprises and familiar idiosyncrasies.

If there was ever any acquiescence to the particularities of one or another mode of creation on the part of Davachi, The Head as Form'd in the Crier's Choir is a sign that that is now over, and that she's freed herself to fully embrace the impulses that have made her work so rewarding all along.

Reconstructed is a comprehensive and well-curated collection that showcases the diversity and talent of this exceptional California turntablist and producer.

There's a mature artistry wide awake beneath the concept. A thorough attention to detail and an obvious reverence for its anachronistic references pay off, conjuring an atmosphere that's as eerie as it is familiar.

Indeed, Melnyk's quick fingers imbue his music with depth that, if explored, reveals harmonies within harmonies.

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.

On ENTERTAINMENT, DEATH, every fragmented idea is thoughtfully ripped apart and stitched back together with the gusto of a delirious genius. The band reframes reality and mixes the euphoric highs with the sinking lows in strangely surreal collages that are freakishly beautiful, leaving you feeling kinda stoned and a little bit sinful.

On Conference of Trees, Pantha du Prince creates new vistas of sound by expanding his musical palette progressively, holistically and audaciously.

With Big Star now put to rest following the passing of Alex Chilton, Stamey is the rightful person to fill his shoes. Lovesick Blues offers more than enough proof that he's fully prepared to do just that.

Cursive have delivered a highly stylized album with a vivid conceptual storyline that keeps old fans listening while giving new listeners a chance to experience the progression the band have experienced over the last decade.

At eight tracks, some might criticize it on grounds of length, but these are robust, well-crafted songs that, even after multiple spins, reveal fresh details between the more obvious hooks.

It's a bleak listen, but there's something comforting about hearing three musicians playing punishing music as a complete unit, knowing there are few that could do it like them.