Combining the uncontaminated brawn of 2004's The Woods with the hip indie sensibilities of their early LPs, Sleater-Kinney have finally relieved their all-encompassing crowd-pleaser with the sonically pleasing Path of Wellness.

The album-closing title track gets synthier, but also heavier, hitting listeners with a wave of doom. It's the best of what the two can do, both together and apart. If Mrs. Piss's first release is any indication, we can't wait to see what's next.

Reward is a lucid rush of avant-pop. Dreamy and sonic echoes, layered with Le Bon's sotto voce lyrics, make this her most compelling album.

Good To Be Home lives up to its title and is easily his best and most consistent release since Below The Heavens.

Wherever Thundercat plans to go from here, this EP builds the robust case that one probably should follow.

This is a solid album more than capable of holding fans over until a second release.

American Dream does exactly what a new LCD Soundsystem album should do: it brings back the rush that listening to the band always has, and adds a compelling new dimension to the band's sound--a mature, realist darkness that they'd only hinted at previously--that suggests Murphy might have been temporarily out of motivation, but he was never out of ideas.

Condon is at the heart of each song, so while a hopeful tone is central to both the music and lyrics, No No No is a portrait of a man putting on a brave face while piecing his life back together, and it's all the more engaging for it.

With their latest release, Depeche Mode prove they have both the musical depth and strength of conviction to outlast us all.

Royal Thunder borrow elements from many different sounds, but they've found a way to emphasize the parts that make them unique. In an industry full of cookie-cutter sentiment, it's refreshing to find a band with the courage to wear their heart on their sleeve as boldly as they do on Wick.

Levy's writing is both insular — her lyrics are dense and singular, her references specific and sometimes unknowable — and insulating, sketching her surroundings so vividly, so minutely, that a city can feel as familiar and often-unpredictable as the inside of your own head.

Eucalyptus finds Portner going back-to-basics, taking listeners on a psychedelic but steady trip over 15 tracks with atmospheric and shifting samples ("Lunch Out of Order" Pt. 1 and 2), Sung Tongs-style guitar work ("Jackson 5," "PJ" and opener "Season High") and spaced-out instrumentation (the twisted "Boat Race" and lo-fi drone of "Dr aw one").

While the days of heavily sampled music seemed dead and gone forever, the Avalanches have somehow managed to pull off an album that's as much a mastery of red tape as it is of musical prowess.

The takeaway from Takeoff is that good art is deliberate, enjoyable and actually takes effort. It's good to see he's capable of all these, can't wait to see what he gives us next.

No Blues is precisely the grimly euphoric lift-up it purports to be, validating Los Campesinos! on their own terms as connoisseurs of perversely thrilling, desperately mundane misery.

With a total of 17 songs and a runtime of over an hour, Salutations is Oberst's most ambitious album since his 2002 Bright Eyes masterpiece Lifted, and the best instalment in his solo discography.

Weiss long ago found his own voice, and on Standards he finally captures it on tape for the world to see and hear.

Although somewhat less accessible than Hairless Toys, Take Her Up to Monto sees Murphy coming in to her own as a solo artist.

Written, performed, and produced solely by the artist, Barnes' debut is a percussive gem saturated with guttural synths. It's a distinct piece of electro-pop that deserves close listening.

On his terrific sophomore record, Wall paints a portrait of a mythic Canadiana, a western region of lonesome plains and grizzled frontiersmen, of rodeos and gunfighters, of hardscrabble existences and unlucky bounces.

Through For Their Love, Tabish and Other Lives as a whole re-engage with the outside world and analyze their sense of self worth. The inevitable vulnerability is morphed into a sense of strength and confidence, which adds another purposeful layer to the band's repertoire.

Down to the Lowest Terms: The Soul Sessions is a triumphant return from a funk dominator.

A compelling album that will more than reward your attention.

The 45 songs, presented chronologically, exhibit a somewhat expected musical maturing--from the raw piano attack of 1984's "From Her to Eternity" through to 2013's contemplative mantra "Push the Sky Away." ... It's the DVD, which jumps around in time, and includes both professionally shot official concert footage and fuzzy bootleg gems, that's the prize here.

Over the course of a full album, the duo's strict adherence to their limited sonic template starts to get just a little tiring, but the Milk Carton Kids' mastery of their chosen form is never in doubt.

Across its 10 songs, Don't Forget Me is as concise as it is exciting. Not a note is wasted, not a second under-utilized. What truly sets it apart is how comfortable Rogers seems embodying her full potential.

Oh No's beats run gritty, grainy and hard from start to finish, with tough rhythms and an expansive array of aggressive sonics darting in and out of each cut, adding much expressive flair to the beatsmith's heartbeat-raising, all-business attacks.

Do yourself a favour and cop this release. Rap is good nowadays, so indulge.