Another winner from Cartwright and the Memphis lineup of Reigning Sound as A Little More Time with Reigning Sound continues the outfit’s success story of delivering modern-day tweaks on retro rock and roll.

While it would be difficult to ascribe the term ‘organic’ to the original album, the original bears more melodic qualities and the ebbs and flows are musician-driven versus effects-driven. It’s a preference – dancefloor or couch and headphones. It’s not every group that can deliver both experiences and that makes GGP special.

Mdou Moctar’s Africa Victime is a less out and out rocking affair than past offerings, yet it is a more nuanced and dynamic full length than anything they have delivered before.

Throughout it’s impossible not to feel some goosebumps and chills in his poignant, raw delivery. ... Finley and Auerbach vary tempos and sound and with Finley’s changing vocal treatments, the album does a nice job of blending classic blues, R&B, and soul in an inviting mix. This project will likely receive much consideration for awards and year-end lists.

Jurado easily toes the line between seclusion and introduction, crafting an album where even the most immediate tracks sound restrained and well worn. He took charge of the production for this album himself, and the product serves as one of the more accurate presentations of his sound. As new and refreshing as it is, it captures Jurado’s enigmatic process better than most of his albums.

With a few exceptions, Daddy’s Home doesn’t have the show-stopping, what-just-happened hooks of other St. Vincent releases. Yet it is the most eclectic St. Vincent album, juxtaposing calm soul-searching acoustic ballads with funky dance grooves, frenetic claustrophobia with sprawling psychedelia, fuzzed-out guitar with clean finger-picking. It is a new style for St. Vincent but because of its attitude, humor, and off-kilter compositions, it still feels very St. Vincent.

Weller takes a moment for introspection, his implicit vulnerability rendering him a more sympathetic figure than his occasionally impersonal craftsmanship allows on Fat Pop (Volume 1).

Ultimately, his multi-faceted approach proves intriguing.

This casual record isn’t meant to change the world, it is just a deep dive into the tunes the duo love; less a major release than a passion project but by adding Deaton and Brown to these sessions The Black Keys blues workouts on Delta Kream go down smooth.

This well-conceived, important album unsurprisingly features a wealth of inspired playing both from the band and the guests. It will likely stand as a landmark recording for Shabaka Hutchings, who continues to blaze trails as one of today’s leading music artists.

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.

Devoted fans who found pleasure in recent records like Keep Me Singing should discover this one will hit home as well, whereas more objective music lovers may probably miss the natural spontaneity and unusual good cheer that arose from The Belfast Cowboy’s 2018 collaborations with jazz keyboardist/bandleader Joey DeFrancesco, You’re Driving Me Crazy and (to an only slightly lesser extent) The Prophet Speaks.

With its complex sonic textures, use of repetition, and few standout hooks, The Million Masks of God is Manchester Orchestra’s least accessible work, but it’s an achievement in its own way. It doesn’t have many stand-out singles but is best appreciated by repeated listens in its entirety as the narrator, as a stand-in for the band, confronts his spiritual and emotional pain without a clear resolution.

Second Line is another strong turn from Richard, a successive trip through the different styles that have made up her evolution over the years. ... Her problem is in her execution of Second Line, an album that feels more scattershot the revolutionary. It doesn’t necessarily feel like regression but for an artist who has consistently topped herself, it falls short.

The contrasting arrangement styles create a wonderful variety in the orchestral textures, putting a new sheen on pieces usually performed in the griot tradition.

He’s much happier sitting in a groove and sustaining it while listening to the singer and the band.

Although she admits to being purposely eclectic, it sounds as if there is too much experimentation at play. There are some great songs here, but a more organic, less produced kind of musical accompaniment would arguably strengthen the material.

There are also multiple versions, in markedly different running times, of numbers like “Magic Bus” and “Call Me Lightning,” which may be redundant except for completists and the inordinately curious. How much interest a listener has for that content may well correlate with an appreciation for the overall concept at work. ... But the Who’s leaps of artistry, viewed from the broad vantage point of this Super Deluxe Edition, with proverbial twenty-twenty acumen, appear nothing less than spectacular, no matter how tongue-in-cheek the interpretation of the Sell Out title.

While the current lockdown has certainly affected the band, the mix of melancholy/yearning leading towards wonder/delight has always been at the heart of Dinosaur Jr.’s sound. Now those styles inform Sweep It Into Space with a vivid sense of the isolating present while gazing at hope on the horizon.

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.

The result is a great triumph, a living testament to the strength of these songs and the nature of the ongoing relationship between musicians and the art they create. Each track is straightforward in its delivery, but each nonetheless filtered through the guise of the musician covering it. ... epic remains Van Etten’s best album, but epic ten does its best at eliciting the awestruck reverence that countless musicians feel towards it.

While this work may not be as riveting and stunning as its predecessor, due mostly to the familiarity of many of the tunes, that dynamic cuts both ways because there are few interpreters as adept as Giddens for traditional fare. Also, the remarkable musical chemistry between the duo just continues to grow.

At this point in his career, Promenade Blues is a success, even as a disjointed and confused album. The standouts rank among his best, and the filler, for the most part, are easily ignorable (with the notable exception of the frustratingly silly and out of place “B. Santa Ana, 1986”.) Waterhouse has made a genuine artistic shift and focused his attention to detail on his weakest material.

No songs go on too very long here. As a result, the inclusion of improvisational warhorses such as “Cowgirl In The Sand” and “Down By The River” is all the more surprising. But both those culls from 1969’s Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere benefit from the solitary nature of their stark renditions, as does, to an even greater degree, “Helpless,” Neil’s contribution to Deja Vu.

This album shows Rose’s ability both as a singer and a songwriter. She not only has a way with words, but also a way of delivering them for maximum impact on the listener. Another thing about this album is that it could fit the bill whether you want to dance or just sit and drink by yourself.

Green To Gold is one of the best Antlers albums to date and an album unrivaled in its essential need to exist in both in Silberman’s life and in ours.

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.

This might be some of the most calming music you have ever heard. It is billed as “a private listening experience.” Put this on before you go to sleep, and it should certainly relieve any tensions or anxieties. Peace.