The understated maturity of the 24-year-old Hozier on his debut album is a beacon for young writers learning to craft significant compositions.

Although Aquarius may not rock the boat with innovation, its more than confident in its stride, delivering an entertaining effort from the sultry singer.

Monolithic, heavy, raw and aggressive, A World Lit Only by Fire is 100 percent Godflesh, shattering any doubts that the duo, led by mastermind Justin K. Broadrick, could maintain their classic sound.

If you ask me, this is the most punk thing Iceage could've done at this point--and arguably the best thing they've done, period.

Wonder Where We Land is a tremendous step forward both for SBTRKT and for the possibilities of cross-genre exploration.

Cosmic Logic contains probably some of the most accessible material they've released to date, material that'll hopefully attract a whole new slew of fans.

The tracks begin to bleed together way before the halfway point of the album and there's not a single surprise to be had throughout.

It feels like a coherent album as opposed to a loose collection of songs. There are stumbles, but given the band's history, they feel minor.

For an ambitious release that obviously reaches for such lofty heights, Taiga is peculiarly light on hooks and personality, forcing Danilova to fill many of those gaps in with glittering aural cosmetics.

Excitingly new yet classically evocative, You're Dead! is contemplative but never boring, an example of genre cross-pollination that transcends novelty and, occasionally, time and space as well.

In 2014 this just seems like the kind of better-than-average album that befalls way too many British musicians past their prime.

The result is one of the most eminently playable and rewarding electronic albums of 2014, and one that respectfully casts a glance backwards while sounding both indelibly contemporary and unmistakably Caribou.

At 13 tracks and close to 70 minutes in length, Abaporu just contains too many (albeit many terrific) ideas and stylistic flourishes to properly cohere as a singular work.

There's endless potential in this collaboration, if only they'd take a more confident leap into the unknown.

As an original whole, Art Official Age is Prince's most complete, most consistent and most contemporary album in a minute.

At only nine tracks, the album delivers big time in such a short trip and definitely leaves the listener wondering what gems this super duo left on the cutting-room floor.

In the end, Tomorrow's Modern Boxes is undeniably enjoyable, acting like a 2014 version of The Eraser and adding some new Thom Yorke material to your music collection never hurts.

She's tough and confrontational, and on her 11th studio album, Down Where The Spirit Meets the Bone, that toughness initially comes across as even more deeply entrenched. It takes a little while to discover the tenderness that goes along with it.

Innerworld should be their breakthrough album at the very least, and may very well be the album of the winter, a season that fits it well.

Mended With Gold, is a satisfyingly anthemic work wrapped around a highly emotional core that is distinctively--and eternally--theirs.

The History of Apple Pie have no illusions that they're reinventing the wheel, but Feel Something should silence critics who dismissed the group as another example of record collection rock.

Where their last record, Black Masses, sped, this record swings.

Lysandre, while far from being reviled, received only a moderately positive response, one that was tainted with apprehension and frustration at its lack of ambition. A New Testament is even less ambitious, yet still enjoyable.

Doubtless, the boy from Troy, NY has given his audience a lot to chew on with Madman; some of it folk, some of it rock, all of it good.

Once again, Lee Gamble has managed to produce an effort right in PAN's wheelhouse, pairing idiosyncratic experimentalism with dance floor styling, and it totally works.

Music can be therapeutic, and Hildebrand's music is a perfect example of this.

One gets the sense that as an artist, PND has yet to even scratch the surface of his potential. Two serves as evidence of such; perhaps the third and successive instalments will see continued artistic progression. Or not.

Although much of the material has a familiar lustre to it, Something Shines nonetheless finds Laetitia Sadier at her most contented and focused.