Take Me Apart is a subtle, sexy LP from a woman who knows what she wants, and clearly aims to write anthems for fans feeling the same way.

The thing with As You Please is that while it feels uneventful, it also seems like Citizen might be just on the edge of a breakthrough.

Willowbank is a mature album of exquisite beauty that confirms Yumi Zouma as masters of musical storytelling.

The Weather Station is Lindeman's loosest, most confident album yet, but it may also prove to be her most deeply psychological; she doesn't hold back.

Emotionally tactile and blossoming with feeling, The Kid is a stunning record that demands attention, absorption and meditation, two LPs rich with wisdom.

B3, fiddle, accordion and, on a couple of cuts, saxophones result in a full sound, but the focus throughout is correctly placed on Rose's pure and retro-sounding vocals and well-constructed. ... Consistently strong.

While the record doesn't necessarily break new ground, it succeeds in solidifying Unsane's rule as the kings of noise rock.

Neō Wax Bloom is a fantastical cartoon that's crash-landed in reality, and it begs your attention.

Ash doesn't feel as world-shifting or momentous as their debut, but operates on a more intimate level.

Underneath its few flaws, an electrifying energy shines through, even if its not as potent as it might have seemed in those halcyon 2000s days.

With Always Foreign, TWIABP's chaos is more calculated and controlled, even as their fiery resolve burns from the inside out.

This is a record bursting with indecision and excess, but that excess is revealing; we're shown more of Shania's emotion than ever here. It's enough to make Now one of the best pop albums of the year.

Washington delivers an LP's worth of ideas, vision and passion into only six tracks and 33 minutes of music.

The Desaturating Seven finds Primus oddly compelling, as ever.

Ben Frost again proves himself to be adept at juggling noise and melody, rhythm and drone, distortion and clarity on The Centre Cannot Hold, a record that sculpts comfort from chaos and tunnels through darkness back to light.

The band's punk'n'roll won't make converts out of unbelievers, but for those already initiated, V proves the Bronx an undoubtedly vital institution.

At times the music meanders a little, especially as the album comes to a close with the title track, but hats off to the band for pushing themselves on Visions of a Life.

Nokia wears many hats throughout the album--but each personality feels authentic. There's never a sense that she's masquerading. Despite Nokia's artistry, though, Deluxe has a few marked flaws. Her cadence and punchlines are amateurish at times, and there's something flat about the production and overall mix. ... Overall though, Deluxe is a solid effort that proves this Harlemite has the range. Fans will surely delight.

The album's low point comes over top of the solo acoustic guitar performance of "Change," in which Laraaji croons, "Change, by any other name is still change." ... These profundities continue for more than seven minutes--a rarely accomplished exercise in irony, given the song's title.

There isn't much here for serious followers of modern electronic music. It will bore you mostly, which--not to be dismissive here--appears to be the point entirely.

For the most part of Concrete and Gold, it's the same anthemic, meat 'n' potatoes arena rock we've come to expect; a little more punk or metal aggression here, a little more acoustic balladry there, but the mould is the same.

At its best, Relatives in Descent makes guitar music feel radical again, capturing both timely and timeless anxieties.

Perhacs' stellar melodies are bolstered by excellent musicianship throughout, like Cline's watercolour-like guitar work at the end of "Winds of the Sky," and Leddie Garcia's tumbling percussion on "The Dancer."

Striking a balance between sinister and comforting, it's a compelling sign that Cold Specks remains an artist to watch.

All in all, Half-Light makes it apparent just how much of what was captivating about Vampire Weekend came from Batmanglij, solidifying the newly independent musician as a collaborator artists from multiple genres should--and do--want to work with.

Despite its flaws, Wonderful Wonderful is a welcome course correction, a relatively personal record from a too-often facile group.

Vital, vibrant, and necessary, Luciferian Towers is a stunning addition to Godspeed's storied catalogue.

While the band challenge themselves, occasionally blindsiding fans too ("Caterpillar" is a demo that only features Edkins), there's also a reassuring aspect to the calm confidence of METZ here, though they find themselves in a lost world.