It’s “out there” but most of it is remarkably accessible, especially the raucous “Summon the Fire.” It’s transcendent music that relies on electronics, notably heavy use of reverb and tape delay, but Hutchings is a fiery sax player who blows aggressively while safeguarding the melody.

The songwriting is impressively strong, with no weak or filler tracks. While Randolph is the focal point, the Family Band, which, in addition to his sister, includes cousins Danyel Morgan on bass and Marcus Randolph on drums, is amazingly versatile in how they can move between styles so fluidly. Brighter Days comes from sacred steel, and remains rooted in it, but isn’t locked into it.

Cleaner and lighter than past efforts, The Murlocs Calm Ya Farm is their best full album yet as the good time sounds flow like free wine at a late-night afterparty.

Component System With The Auto Reverse has OME at his best, whether he is diving into his personal life or simply crafting clever rap verses, the seasoned artist hits it out of the park every chance he gets.

Yes, Segall is playing with the same dynamics he’s built his career on, but he’s never sounded this welcoming, or at least not in a long time.

Reset is a quick, fun album for fans of the slightly avant-garde. While there isn’t too much excitement throughout the album, the overall tone of the Rest is what will keep you coming back. It’s relaxed and just off-kilter enough to keep each song sounding fresh without trying too hard.

Importantly, Crowell seems to be enjoying himself. He’s teamed up with the guitarist and producer Tyler Bryant to deliver a rocking, somewhat casual, not overthought musical accompaniment. .... Crowell never minces words. He has the distinctive gift of forming rhyming couplets that are witty, evocative, and occasionally provocative.

As with all great musicians, Wagner embodies each track on TRIP the way he would any other album, and in the end provides another strong entry in Lambchop’s ever-growing discography.

There’s little sense of genuine band unity on Defiance Part 1. But ultimately that’s no serious liability because as the focal point of the project, Ian Hunter evinces a stubborn independence that overrides this album’s slight blemishes.

Despite coming in at 16 tracks – normally a bloated affair for an album – the band’s tendency to careen from one song to the next at breakneck speed, keeping most tracks to about two-and-a-half minutes allows Rancid to hold the listener’s attention until the very last distorted chord rings out.

Making Room for the Light redefines Powell’s writing and vocal range to fit a more soulful landscape. Her melodies deliver butterflies in the listener’s stomach via masterful tone control, but when combined with Parry’s ability to make the simplistic feel stadium-sized, all of these cherished lyrics become emphasized.

Two Saviors works as a proper introduction to a musician who has been toiling away behind the scenes of a truly great band, but also as a completely independent opening statement from a talented artist in his own right. It’s likely that Meek’s solo material will never be evaluated separately from his work with Big Thief, but on Two Saviors Meek, at the very least, proves that it should.

These themes of love and loyalty encircle Ramona Park Broke My Heart in a way that is not particularly new to Staples’ discography but that is perhaps done in his most creative and intense way yet, both lyrically and thematically. ... As always, Vince Staples’ rapping ability is strong and his style unique.

Is doesn’t have the same eclectic range as something like Z or The Waterfall, but it’s a solid album with ten captivating songs and no missteps. From the danceable groove rock of “Everyday Magic” to the propulsive banger “Lemme Know,” everything works.

“Belonging” lives up to its name with a series of sleek parallel lines of playing that ultimately intersect. There’s a minimum of friction and a maximum of concordance on that track, which might well be an accurate means to summarize the whole of the Branford Marsalis Quartet’s Belonging.

Wand loves to play with a variety of influences, touching on everything from psych rock to art pop to noise to indie to jam with equal confidence as Vertigo touches these different subgenres but manages to keep an interesting, cohesive tone for the full, dizzying ride.

Honey is rave music for a party of one as Snaith balances his nimble pop tendencies with sprawling soundscapes. In an attempt to balance his two worlds, Snaith landed on an infectious middle ground.

It’s not really necessary to be familiar with the source works to come away impressed by the ingenuity on display here: that surplus of inspiration lends itself to enough solo piano from Mehldau to anchor the narrative and remind us why he is so worth listening to in the first place.

Seek Shelter finds its success, not in the unabashed vibrancy of the performances, as was the case on the previous Iceage albums, but in the band’s need to experiment farther more than they ever have before.

While the music is great and her vocals impressive, her knack for writing unforgettable lyrics is still the most charming thing about her music.

Girl is an enchantingly lighthearted delusion of crushes and happy hours, composed with an escapist party of a live show in mind (influenced by their own tour with feel-good NYC synth-pop artist Porches). Girl Ray provides a summer fling of an album and makes it feel like an urgent necessity as we seemingly tick off our waning moments in these late-near-apocalyptic times.

Forever Howlong is more of the daring prog-rock Black Country has become known for, and while their growth is subtle, it is far from a non-factor. Across these eleven songs, the band spins fascinating, folksy tales and whimsically delivers them, giving the album’s dark subject matter a soft edge.

With all its content, music, and otherwise, permeated with purposeful attention to detail and focused depth, Legacy Recordings’ Volume 7 matches the previous releases in this archive series, such as Volume 2 Live in Europe 1969.

However much Julian stretches himself, however, he never abandons the warmth and fluidity that distinguishes his playing.

Working with producer and percussionist Matt Pence, regular collaborator and multi-instrumentalist John Calvin Abney, and incorporating the angelic vocal harmonies of Bonnie Whitmore, Moreland has unearthed a sweet spot for himself, sonically. LP5 is textured, soft and gentle, and then rugged and dirty exactly where it needs to be

When one carefully listens, the history of Black American music unfolds over just ten tracks. These two trust their instincts and their artistry is well-rounded and rather boundless.

The Beths utilize elements of their first LP on their sophomore effort—lyrical depth, catchy hooks, and sonic gems are scattered throughout the ten tracks on Jump Rope Gazers.

Only two small missteps on an album full of excellent new approaches from the evolving quartet. Parquet Courts can also still drop in their post-punk sound, but for tracks like “Black Widow Spider” and “Homo Sapien” the grinding guitar riffs are augmented by inventive dance-laden beats, kicking it all up a level.

On Yol, Altın Gün merges Turkish folk singing with modern sounds, eighties neon new wave with slinky modern funk, European tradition with a sense of a wide-open future.

The whole album can easily transport one to those outer realms of the mind. It’s a major step forward for Younger the composer and fits in well with the iconic label’s knack for tapping generational voices.

There are songs where she’s smoothed out the edges somewhat. That, with the raw instrumentation framing it, makes this one of her stronger vocal outings.

Be assured that Martin’s songs will grow on you. You may even take away a little more insight each time through.

Though Love Songs For Losers has many of the familiar markings of the band, the album finds the trio at their most experimental, diverse in subjects and sound – all while still sounding very much like a Lone Bellow album.

Glasgow Eyes takes the band’s experimental noise pop further. The expected elements are all there, from the brooding lyrics to the droning guitars to the intricate melodies. Still, incorporating electronic elements adds extra flavor for those who’ve already played Honey’s Dead a thousand times and don’t need another one.

The group flashes its technical wizardry, an ear for the weird/experimental and crushingly powerful headbanging ways, cataloging their past while looking towards their future.

The album is a cohesive collection of tracks, personal experiences, and the broader human condition. While some may find it a bit nostalgic, the album’s raw and real approach, combined with its lighthearted moments, makes it a compelling listen.

Is 4 Lovers has plenty of style and substance. Though the album goes in some new directions, the formula of previous Death from Above 1979 releases is still there and it still works. Is 4 Lovers is heavy and unpolished but full of charm and memorable hooks to go with the rumbling bass and bruising rhythms.

Cudi’s ninth outing features the crooning of his first few releases while harkening back even further to his mixtape days with razor-sharp flows. INSANO is effortlessly fun and enticing while still showing Cudi’s artistic progression.

The Murlocs continue their steeped-in acid look back at the 60’s Nuggets-inspired offerings on the convincing Rapscallion.

Don’t be frightened by the spiritual nature of this album. You don’t have to be a regular churchgoer to appreciate the moving, soulful tunes. In fact, you can enjoy this album even if you’ve never been to a church for anything other than a wedding.

It’s much more textural [than 2015's Undertow], drawing a lot from new wave and shoegaze, with drummer Rory Loveless (Eoin’s brother) always luring the song back to those rock roots. The combination works and keeps the album from sounding like an 80’s tribute record.

Tigers Blood album is yet another big step forward in her evolution from critic’s darling to one of the most dependably great indie artists performing today.

While Closure/Continuation doesn’t contain the triumphs of past efforts, it is a rewarding listen from start to finish and adds another medal around prog-rock ambassador Steven Wilson. This dexterous trio appears delighted to deliver for their core audience to whom what they hope is a new beginning.

This is a fun and impressive album showing you don’t have to be a young American to make a killer blues rock album.

Though it lacks some of the standout avant-garde moments of the band’s earlier work, it also eschews the messy missteps that had popped up from time to time. Seeing Other People is also the most focused and controlled Foxygen album and its intricate melodies and infinite hooks will be remembered long after the band is no more, whether France and Rado realize it or not.

He has a catalog of consistently strong albums and Pine Needle Fire is the latest to join this esteemed list.

On When You Found Me, singer songwriter Ben Nichols and the band stated they were going for a Classic Rock sound, circa the 1980s; the type of music that would have soundtracked their childhoods. Based on the 10 tracks that make up the record, they clearly succeeded. ... Regardless of these tweaks, this is still unmistakably a Lucero record.

Ochoa’s music will inevitably have you smiling and perhaps reaching back to the Buena Vista Social Club recording and its various offshoots.

Wagner is not constrained by locale, genre, or topic, and at 64 he continues to forge forward with Lambchop, delivering his music with restrained tempo and majestic tonality on The Bible.

Continuing to nurture mature pop music equal parts brains and soul on Good Luck With Whatever, Dawes solidifies an even more finite approach to writing and recording. This seventh studio effort of theirs not only represents a logical progression for the quartet, but it also augurs well for its continued evolution.

The combination of strong, ear-catching musicianship, confessional in-the-moment lyrics, and engaging vocals makes Blondshell’s debut an invigorating success.

Beach House succeeds on Once Twice Melody as they always do, by pushing their sound as far as it can seemingly go, while still sounding like themselves. The difference is, now, they are taking the biggest risks of their career.

It’s interesting that while the previous album had an intergalactic feeling, this seems a bit more acoustically grounded, a deceptively simple yet complex sound that grows in appeal with continued listens.

Sam Evian created a potent LP with Plunge and keeps the album exciting by piecing together his lofty ideas and loosely tying them together via their unpredictable tendencies. By allowing even his loftiest visions to settle into his honed song craft he created a brand of pop music he can proudly call his own.

Even at its mildest moments, Duffy asserts themself with an energetic catharsis.

God Save The Gun is a daring yet rewarding sophomore effort from a band seeking solace in the hectic pace of creative success, coming to terms with its pitfalls, and crafting a honed 14-song collection of brutally self-analyzing, immersive rock.

This six song collection from Daptone Records is a vibrant display of what Antibalas does best; fusing the spirit and soul of Fela Kuti with modern funky sounds.

‘Flicted, the latest studio offering from the ivory tickling minstrel, continues his dexterous ways with a formidable collection of material that challenges the listener, without being too overbearing, and is bolstered by a fresh batch of inspiring collaborations with some of today’s most prominent musicians, including Ezra Koenig (Vampire Weekend) and Danielle Haim (Haim).

Accompany is Nau’s best solo effort to date. The artist traverses twangy arrangements with his heart on his sleeve for a calming set of tracks. The unassuming nature of these songs emphasizes Nau’s songwriting prowess as he pens some of the best songs of his career.

This album is not easy to digest and that is a good thing. It is a cinematic experience that requires multiple listens to truly understand the nuances of ILION.

King Gizzard made sure every guest felt welcome without sacrificing their true range. While Phantom Island is a consistent and stadium-sized effort, each song feels like its own little universe of musical solace to get lost in.

While the rest of the Power Up is still the same medicine, it remains a grade of B or better. No ballads and no “rock” titled songs on these 12 shakers. Call it now –Power Up is the strongest AC/DC lp since 1990’s The Razors Edge: Well done boys.

Though the album sounds remarkably fresh, it also has that vintage sheen of albums from yesteryear – a dozen songs, each only three-four minutes long, comprising a digestible, head bobbing, enjoyable 40 minutes.

Bejar’s return to his Destroyer moniker is a welcomed continuation of his colorful discography while introducing a new side of the artist’s balladry, one that is a welcomed shift in the pantheon of Bejar’s sonic explorations.

Under the Spell of Joy allows Death Valley Girls the freedom to explore and the structure to tighten up as they communally dance and shake along the void.

All in all, Quever does a great job of marrying all of his influences together to create his own sound that is both timeless and new. Fans of Papercuts will undoubtedly enjoy Past Life Regressions and those new to Papercuts have much to look forward to by giving it a listen.

Alice, long regarded as one of the pillars of spiritual jazz, is at her most deeply spiritual in this setting, one that has only minute traces, if any, associated with jazz.

As on the previous record, these tracks are pieced together and arranged by bandleader Stu Mackenzie from group jams before being augmented with overdubs and vocals, and on Denim the band sound even less encumbered with the idea of traditional songcraft – though they manage to craft a great pair of songs here.

Bear could’ve gone in a million different directions, and rather than land on a singular sound to explore as he has in the past, he employs a plethora of styles that collide into one mesmerizing tracklist that grows on you with every listen.

Ricochet is an irresistible album full of simple but effective song-craft decisions that add up to a next-level moment for the artist.

Possession finds the psych-rock hero piecing together a comprehensive portrait of his artistic range, which, this time around, manifests in Sixties pop-influenced melodies that swirl around blazing guitar solos, acoustic solace, and bouncy nostalgia.

Never shy with their political activism, Plastic Eternity is a battle cry for those who share the band’s beliefs. For those who don’t, it’s still a fun alternative album that channels political fury into a fiery collection of aggressive rock.

Shires displays her reverence for Nelson in her fiddle playing and with some of the most impassioned vocals in her career while showcasing Nelson’s pianism, giving her a fond, tender farewell, Texas style.

Only a confident and fearless songwriter could take on this kind of subject matter and make it resonate.

Some of It Was True feels like a noteworthy stepping stone to the next era of The Menzingers with moments of moving songwriting and masterful musicianship that build on the ironclad legacy of one of Philadelphia’s greatest artistic offerings.

Ultimately, it’s a fun record and one that begs the question of just how big this band could have been in the succeeding decades if they had not imploded on takeoff.

Overall, it’s a great listen in the car or for a gathering of friends, but the lyrics and diversity of sound surpass previous efforts, offering a rewarding, focused listen.

Each of the three volumes stands alone as great compact albums of indie pop, but they work better together, with each volume featuring a slightly different take on the material.

There are moments when some editing may have tightened things up and Segall’s lyrics are opaque even at the best of times, but for an album built out of experimentation, it is surprising how well First Taste links together; and most of the credit for that success can be given to those killer drums. ... Segall continues to blaze his own sonic path.

My Morning Jacket, for the most part, succeeds as the album fuses My Morning Jacket’s more polished moments with their fuzzy jam band origins into a successful brew.

Mortal Primetime is the band’s softest album and has less dynamic intrigue than Headfull of Sugar. It’s focused more on storytelling and pop hooks than on in-your-face rock. It’s an album more about the stories than the licks, though there are still enough distorted guitars and driving rhythms for the rock fans.

While not peddling anything particularly new, Matsson’s legion of devoted fans will nonetheless find what they want and more in I Love You. It’s A Fever Dream. The skeptics will likely stay that way, but then you get the sense that’s the least of Matsson’s concerns.

Ambient yet dense, Space Heavy is an album that requires multiple listens to fully grasp, with each listen revealing a new layer of abstract rock that makes the album such a bold and enticing sonic step for Archy Marshall.

With a dream pop aesthetic and a mood that shifts from depressed to confident, the third album is Medford’s most varied and confident, making up for toning down the noise by dialing up the melody and soul.

It’s easy to envision any one of these tracks performed live as almost all have singalong type choruses and hip-shaking grooves, certainly the case for “Baby, I’m Coming Home,” which has enough fiery guitars sounding off that it suggests Gibbons has strapped on his axe too. The closer, “Didn’t I Love You,” brings blues riffs, guitar distortion, and a rawness, emblematic of the garage-rock that first stamped this enduring band.

This album is a bold statement that is sure to grow even more enticing as time passes. Each listen unearths another quaint element that completely changes the song’s atmosphere. A Shaw Deal is a challenging listen that yields otherworldly treasures, with Shaw’s guitar acting as the diamond in the rough yet soothing electronics of Weitz’s mystifying mind.

On Up On Gravity Hill, METZ” sound evolves as the trio explores new sonic pastures while keeping their core intact.

They sound even more urgent now and, of course, Lanois’s production values have further enhanced the band’s captivating sound.

Wild Loneliness is a whole lot different than What A Time To Be Alive musically, but spiritually it is a very worthy successor and up there with the best Superchunk has ever done.

The album is consistent on the surface but a deeper listen unveils blissful tunes that come alive via unpredictable sonic twists that get better with every listen.

Ely gets into ballad mode on Ernest Tubbs’ “I Don’t Blame You,” demonstrating a superior command of dynamics, phrasing, and expression that have long defined his storied career. Hancock gets into rollicking mode on Mickey Newbury’s “Mobile Blue” as the twangy guitars fire full throttle while Ely takes Hancock’s “Ramblin’ Man” down a couple of notches with his pals joining on the choruses.

At 12 tracks long, and finishing just under 37 minutes, Sunshine Rock is relentless. It’s heavy without being dark. It’s catchy without being light. And while the bones of the album are Mould and his electric guitar, he has very carefully added different touches, like strings and keyboards, that enhance the tracks without being distracting. Sunshine Rock is an album worth hearing.

Basia Bulat’s music can transport you to another place. It’s exactly the kind of comfort we need right now.

The marriage of the band’s reflective songwriting and the soaring experimentation of the arrangement proves to be a winning formula, as exemplified on touching moments like the wistful, chugging “Words,” or the warped album opener, “Incomprehensible.”

The music is simple with wonderful harmonies, but the breadth of what’s covered is so intriguingly complex, that while difficult to digest at first, exerts a yearning tug that keeps pulling one back for more listens.

The album mixes Creole vocals with English, the latter in Caetano Veloso’s Brazilian song of exile “You Don’t Know Me,” one of several examples of beauty to offset the anger and angst.

Endless Arcade serves its purpose – providing longtime fans of the band with new material that both furthers their critical clout and gives the band more room to grow. Their newest album may not rank among their classic work, but when taken out of context, it’s a warm and revealing work, something that most other bands would consider their best.

Magic, Alive! feels like our first proper introduction to Dixon’s wide-ranging artistry and acrobatic vocals. The tracklist is chaotic yet never feels disconnected.