With its comparatively morose yet still lively sound, Animator is just as instrumentally adventurous and aurally beautiful as the Luyas' enchanting debut.

Many of the tracks, all recorded since 2007, echo the questionable cacophonic splurges of 2008's Skeletal Lamping through to this year's lacklustre Paralytic Stalks. But there are some respites.

Long Slow Dance is a record designed to earn them new fans, but also lose some old ones by ditching the scratchy, unpolished production of their previous work.

There is still strength, a tenacious hopefulness that coils around every song, even as Stay Awake revels in its delicacy.

This is clearly their best work to date.

The band compel with each of their unique flourishes, which work together to enhance the listening experience, making Beyul a thought-provoking, yet easily digestible album.

This is a violent force of targeted creativity.

There are a few shining spots, some merely okay ones and an overall sense that K'Naan is savvy enough to play things on the safer side for now.

Oddly accessible and intriguing in its damaged form, Lonely is much bolder than the MOR, left-field beat music one might initially believe it would be.

The Haunted Man is defined by a more refined sensibility, drawing back the playful clatter of her first two albums in favour of sparser arrangements and a slightly elegiac tone.

It looks like there may be some wind left in this crew's sails after all.

Mayer's instincts, developed behind the decks, come subtly bleeding through on Mantasy, but his sophmore album also shows an artist that's comfortable with revealing lurking melodies and smearing the lines between genres as a producer.

Clark can do it all and it's entirely likely that Blak And Blu will be recognized in the future as a moment when American music suddenly got a great deal more interesting.

By giving their songs more directness, Local Business succeeds in what the band set out to do: present Titus Andronicus as a charged, dynamic live band.

A heavily introspective tour de force, Lamar has created a stubbornly parochial soundtrack to his life in Compton, CA.

Bossalinis & Fooliyones is a taut, humble and profoundly aware medley of late afternoon joy--the best time to listen to it.

Black Moth Super Rainbow's fifth release may not be their most resourceful work to date, but it's undoubtedly their most sublime.

Free Dimensional is infectiously positive, building off of similar foundations as his previous tracks while boasting a fuller, more dynamic sound.

Pound for pound this is another very solid album from an awesome band.

Vast and breathtaking, RIITIIR is simply stellar.

If Brasstronaut's fans are willing to go along for the ride, Mean Sun will reward the patient.

With The Parallax II: Future Sequence, Between the Buried and Me have managed to craft metal that's not just for metal heads, but will excite them just the same.

There Were Seven may not be much of an evolution, but it still feels like revolution.

While fans of the show will certainly get extra layers of inference out of Dethalbum III, the most amazing thing about it is, all on its own, it stands as a hilarious and skilful example of the genre.

While it is unlikely that many listeners will find this song [Just Waves] worth revisiting, the rest of the EP is strong, and recommended especially to those already familiar with the group.

Numbers proves that MellowHype are capable of making a good album without employing the over-the-top antics or shock themes they initially used to capture attention.

These songs feel ripped from sets you'll most likely never see, as the technical skill of Villalobos conspicuously reminds the listener of the less boring record it could have been.

Mac DeMarco may assume a trashy façade, but beneath that lies a genuinely talented songwriter who writes what he knows and keeps us entertained while he does it.