The constant vitriol is made scarier by his choice to rap in a stuporous, incantatory monotone. The music here--forbidding snares, honking staccato keyboards--is same-y but effective.

She reveals a heretofore-unheard level of ambition as she expands her pop palette and worldview. In trying to put a wall between herself and her audience, she's opened a new, far more revealing side to her music and herself.

Though the fanfare surrounding the band may have dwindled slightly, the heartfelt emotion they deliver has not.

As musically fun and riff-heavy as it is lyrically direct and meaningful, Need to Feel Your Love is exactly the debut album fans wanted from Sheer Mag--not to mention one of the best of 2017 so far.

If you dig deep enough, it's an album filled with surprises from a band that continue to impress.

These musicians understand that heaviness is most effective when balanced by some light, making their debut both inventively punishing and soaring.

Unsurprisingly, the results are some of Crutchfield's biggest rock'n'roll anthems yet.

Chronology is a socially, politically and industrially aware effort, the work of an intelligent, savvy and ambitious artist who makes for an ideal genre representative to take reggae to its next global level.

"Black Health," "Sober-delic," "Edgar the Elephant" and "Cardboa Negro" are the most compelling tracks, showcasing a midtempo churn where McDonald's rock'n'roll pedigree really shines. ... Despite the presence of these successes, Death still sounds like a band treading water.

While this album isn't likely to draw in a lot of new listeners, it's a well-crafted record that provides a fresh soundtrack of ultra heavy, doom-based brutality.

One lyrical misstep in "By My Demon Eye" (the use of the ethnic slur "gypsy") disrupts Stables' otherwise charming lyrics, but otherwise, Moonshine Freeze is a uniquely woven tapestry of captivating beauty.

Ultimately, Something to Tell You rests uncomfortably between the retro California pop sound HAIM pulled off so perfectly on album number one and experimentation that reaches a little too far into a cartoonish computerized concept of the future.

With the exception of the title cut, which is among the band's best-ever songs, Hug of Thunder isn't a life-changing album. That said, it's a case of a classic group sticking to their guns and highlighting what made us love them in the first place.

4:44 is a refreshing, full-circle moment for hip-hop lovers--and a true pleasure to hear.

If all of this sounds like it's a nostalgia kick for aging ravers, then that's because it is, but it's also just as relevant for this current generation of rug cutters. We now live in an era of constant throwbacks anyway, so Garave Vol.1 fits as snugly into 2017 as any other.

Here, unknowable sounds hover, skitter and undulate against a backdrop of refined, futuristic grooves.

A more challenging and elusive listen than the felted atmospherics of Chance of Rain or In Situ, this is Halo at her most artful and poetic.

GN isn't a huge step towards indie stardom, but it should get them in the same conversation as like-minded peers like Pinegrove and Big Thief.

Fans of textured, cinematic soundscapes and left-field hip-hop will find Ruinism the most satisfying, but Howard's style is distinct enough that adventurous electronic music fans in general should at least check it out; it's as polished and well-realized as any of his output thus far.

How the West Was Won is a very welcome return.

While INVSN probably won't shock anyone sonically or lyrically, there is still definitely a spark of creativity and honest expression here.

If Snoop could just cut his track lists in half and focus on well-crafted party songs, the Doggfather might just find himself back on top.

Overall, Wintres Woma is a great showcase for this extraordinary folk hero that suggests even better things might be to come.

Wall falls on the folky side of the Americana divide, generally, and fans of Townes Van Zandt (whom he covers here) will be well served for sure. But there're some nods to Jerry Jeff Walker, David Allen Coe and others in the shambling troubadour tradition scattered throughout the record, a rare, confident, and remarkable debut from a talented newcomer.

They're disorienting, at times disturbing and very abstract, which basically makes it the perfect visual representation of the album. The record feels like it's falling apart at times, but there's beauty in its disarray--like its accompanying videos, it's hard to look away.

Although the compilation only runs at a short 66 minutes, it's the pure quality of music involved, paired with the gorgeously laid-out extensive 44-page booklet included (filled with photos and obsessively researched liner notes), that makes Pop Makossa a must-have for fans of African music and disco purists.

The diversity he curates quickly turns messy, though, as a surplus of talent doesn't guarantee musical versatility.

It's an album that sometimes benefits from its wealth of ideas but often finds itself trying to find its way back to a central one.