In other spots, there’s a creeping air of spookiness tempered by an almost cartoonish playfulness that sounds like either a masked killer or a wily coyote is sneaking up behind you. Praise be to those albums that can aurally evoke emotion and vivid imagery. [No. 130, p.59]

Whether in the flesh or behind-the-scenes, each work is all Wainwright. [No. 131, p.61]

A comfortable but nonetheless adventurous next step for this secretly brilliant band. [No. 131, p.61]

These songs are raw and muscular. [No. 131, p.61]

The arrangements turn more delicate and acoustic as the songs grow more hopeful. [No. 131, p.61]

The first two discs develop in a predictable but always rewarding and intelligently curated way.... The rest of the collection, by design or happy accident, chronicles the plummet and crash from visionary transcendence to the kind of dark Romanticism that the Bad Seeds were mining at about the same time in Australia. [No. 131, p.58]

The touch is lighter, with more interest in groove and atmosphere than climax. [No. 131, p.59]

Blind Spot sounds like the band hasn't missed a step since 1998. [No. 131, p.59]

The music's trickiness never seems gratuitous, though, because the changes in direction correspond to a lyrical stance that articulates the struggle to figure out what's constant in a world of change. [No. 131, p.59]

Detour is a great showcase for Lauper's vocal range and prowess, but the freak factor is dishearteningly low. [No. 131, p.59]

The Jayhawks have always sounded nostalgic, but Paging Mr. Proust proves there's still vitality in the tried and true. [No. 131, p.57]

Should I Remain Here At Sea? and Taste stand as proof that "Mastermind, Islands" should be Thorburn's lead credit. [No. 131, p.57]

Guitarists Gunn, Jim Elkington and Paul Sukeena channel their prodigious technique to fleeting textures and ingratiating hooks, and the arrangements update the template of 1970-vintage Velvet Underground and Grateful Dead with a half-century of judiciously applied production acumen. [No. 131, p.57]

It's an established formula: Regression to the mean is inevitable. That said, there are plenty of familiar pleasures for those who investigate. [No. 131, p.56]

Don't expect anything more earth-shattering than pleasantly folky indie-pop with a mild rootsy lilt. If that's your bag, though, don't lose out on this one. [No. 131, p.55]

A great, if subtle, step forward. [No. 131, p.55]

He dips into that well [roots/Americana] again on The Westerner, with producers Howe Gelb and Dave Way opening up the sound with layers of guitar effects that create a dark, spacey atmosphere. [No. 131, p.55]

Most disappointing about PersonA is that it oscillates between gutsy and lazy. [No. 131, p.51]

The Dandys haven’t sounded this simultaneously energized and devil-may-care since the Duran Duran-polished synthpop of 2003’s Welcome To The Monkey House. [No. 131, p.52]

From blunted bedroom nights with a drum machine to two decades down the line releasing one of the finest true hip-hop offerings since Moment Of Truth. Always listen to the Weathermen. [No. 131, p.53]

Including essential ’70s albums like Zuckerzeit, Sowiesoso and two classic Eno collaborations, this killer collection shows Cluster refining its minimalist, electro-acoustic, programmed, studio-pop improvisations in urban and rural environs. [No. 131, p.53]

On their fifth album, the ’Hangers burrow deep into the world of post-garage pop that feels not too far afield from Georgia indie-rock kin Pylon covering Suzi Quatro. [No. 131, p.55]

An epic, potentially epoch-making release. [No. 131, p.53]

While the current incarnation knows its strengths and weaknesses; Nocturnal Koreans is the latest in a late-career winning streak the band has been on since 2008’s Object 47. [No. 131, p.61]

The Ship is delightful in every fashion. [No. 131, p.55]

This sounds like grim stuff, but Gordon and Co. come off less dour than agitated, and even on its slower tracks, Beauty Already Beautiful has a lot of current running through it. [No. 131, p.61]

Marissa Nadler’s sixth studio record finds the Boston-based singer creating beautiful, sweeping songs that feel as ethereal as the last dream before dawn. [No. 131, p.59]

His penchant for quirky arrangements remains in place, as does his gift for shrewd lyrics and dark, ironic humor. [No. 130, p.55]

Hold/Still tries so hard to be ominous that it almost always forgets to be interesting. [No. 130, p.61]

Pollard's songcraft remains intact regardless of presentation. [No. 130, p.61]

Musically, long-time fans will appreciate that very little variation has been mad on their theme. [No. 130, p.61]

Pere Ubu was changing rapidly, but this is shrewd stuff on which the band built its legend. [No. 130, p.61]

Unforgettable choruses and custom Yorn finger-strum pattern are abundant. [No. 130, p.60]

This is a record packed to the rafters. [No. 130, p.58]

Moderat's pop ambitions are clear. And mostly fulfilled. [No. 130, p.59]

The reanimated sludgefest is no mere quaint time capsule; music this brutally elemental is as eternal as the stars and as fresh as the debuts of Black Sabbath and the Beastie Boys. [No. 130, p.59]

Ultimately, it's a delightful indulgence--you're never quite convinced that Turner's about to quit his day job--but a hugely enjoyable one, and Arctic Monkeys fans, in particular, will devour this. [No. 130, p.59]

With Hitch, the Joy Formidable has expanded its sonic palette and subsequently zeroed in on its ultimate sound. [No. 130, p.57]

Love Streams is a more amiably cluttered affair: bolder, stranger and, at times, considerably more bewildering, but with an ultimately playful, exploratory guiding spirit. [No. 130, p.57]

While Gibson is often humane, she's not always gentle. [No. 130, p.57]

The Wilderness maintains the group's signature sound but imbues its widescreen soundscapes with a newfound patience. [No. 130, p.57]

Post Pop Depression comes across like a third Pop partnership with Bowie, only more brutal and more elegiacally touched by the shadows of the smiles in Pop's memory. [No. 130, p.56]

There's enough here to keep diehard Coral heads satisfied, but a little more of the band's mercurial waywardness would've been welcome. [No. 130, p.55]

The group's 17th album sounds as fresh and over the top as anything it's ever done. [No. 130, p.55]

While his gloriously grizzled voice remains probably the most majestic instrument in the entire 21st-century retro-soul arsenal, and the Daptone mob mete out many more-than-serviceable grooves for him to rap atop, Changes offers no real shake-ups. [No. 130, p.55]

The Hope Six Demolition Project is yet another remarkable PJ Harvey effort. [No. 130, p.54]

On One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache, Full Of Hell pushes The Body to tempos that the doom-metal twosome rarely attempts. [No. 130, p.53]

No One Deserves Happiness is even better [than One Day You Will Ache Like I Ache]. [No. 130, p.53]

Gensho makes obvious how much each act enhances the other. [No. 130, p.53]

A potent set of tunes. [No. 130, p.53]

Both sound retrospective but bound together, that introspection sounds loving and lovely. [No. 130, p.53]

Weezer, the 10th album by Weezer, is about as good (or bad, your call) as Weezer, several measures worse than Weezer, and a once-you-hear-it, you'll-never-unhear-it skid mark on the shorts of Weezer. [No. 130, p.51]

The country-tarnished/garage/indie/glam-rock edge of this collection of 10 tracks has not one disappointment. [No. 129, p.60]

This sophomore set--which largely sidelines the folkier aspects of their 2013 debut in favor of a sharper, fuller, occasionally aggressive big-pop approach--offers plenty of grand, gut-busting hooks. [No. 129, p.57]

Quilt doesn’t merely revisit retro glories on Plaza; it infuses them with contemporary indie-rock energy and melodic dissonance to create an edgy and engaging hybrid. [No. 129, p.59]

No, the London band is never going to be called innovative, but the gusto with which it approaches those naked influences of Dinosaur Jr, Pavement and Sonic Youth--and the craftsmanship with which it does so--cracks through our cynical shells. [No. 129, p.61]

Kudos to producer Tony Visconti and the tight jazz team around them for making Blackstar dynamic. If Bowie indeed knew time was tight and death’s release was imminent, this treatise to magic and loss is a gorgeous way to say goodbye. [No. 129, p.52]

Heaven Adores You accomplishes its purpose: It reminds us of the evolution of a favorite artist and gives us the gift of new music, even if what it does best is send us back to the original albums to say yes to them all over again. [No. 129, p.51]

It does function gorgeously as a lush, entrancing mood piece, one that might pleasantly percolate along in the background, but could just as easily hold you rapt in the detailed folds of its layered, continuously evolving subarctic suites. [No. 129, p.61]

Forever Sounds’ strength is in its emphasis on the sound of the band, echoing its increasingly confi dent, assured live show. [No. 129, p.57]

Their ideal is to make a good album every year, and this, their third offering, meets that goal. This is teen pop with crystalline harmonies and heart-tugging lyrics, but they have a maturity that belies their years. [No. 129, p.57]

She didn’t play nice and didn’t take kindly to notions of acting “ladylike,” and Full Circle is her victory lap. [No. 129, p.57]

It proves quickly to be a break for the better, though, forging its unique identity on account of Tatum’s ability to turn a tune in many more ways than one. [No. 129, p.61]

Mould’s in a dark place right now: bile in his gut, pain in his heart, doom on his mind. It’s the end of days, people. He makes it sound so fun. [No. 129, p.56]

His velvet voice has aged, but with elegiac tunes like “Dog On A Chain,” “Someone Else” and “Friday’s Love,” you can still hear the gifted genius who charmed a true legion of harmonic pop savants. [No. 129, p.59]

Like a good deal of Hendrix’s posthumous material, whether you dig this or not depends largely upon your expectations. [No. 129, p.54]

It’s one of his best, a stunner that knocks you out without raising its voice. [No. 129, p.55]

Wise Ol' Man is about 70 percent filler, with two new songs, three remixes and alternative takes from the last album, and the two new songs done again as mostly instrumental versions, But the new songs are great, especially the title track. [No. 128, p.55]

The album kicks off with an accomplished, but by-the-numbers nod to T. Rex/'70s glam, then proceeds to genre-jump through the filter of neo-alt-country/Americana in a well-done, but regrettably innocuous fashion. [No. 128, p.53]

It's not until the third or fourth [listen] that you hear how smart it is. How organic. How rich in nutrients. How thoroughly these conservatory grads are digesting their jazz/pop/soul influences and squeezing them into something unforgettable. [No. 128, p.58]

The blend of old and new Ra Ra Riot feels more organic and less forced. [No. 128, p.61]

Each of the tracks--icy, foggy. eerily paced, speedy or unusually slow--move with sinister intention.... Still, the set meanders to include lesser, black-lit essayers of the form such as Dr. Phibes & The House Of Wax Equations. [No. 128, p.58]

The trio's execution is impressive, but the music is so tightly wound that it engenders a yearning for escape. [No. 128, p.61]

The shiny-happy '60s dream-pop has been augmented by riffier synths and a reverb-ed out pulse that scratches at the surface of the '80s with the entire package boasting stunning vocal performances by all involved. [No. 128, p.61]

Though there’s nothing too saccharine on Emotional Mugger (even the line “I want your candy” on “Breakfast Eggs” is more of a threat than a statement of desire), the melodies are some of the strongest Segall has ever turned out. [No. 128, p.56]

There's a lingering, forced feel and more than a few questionable stylistic decisions. [No. 128, p.55]

The lyrics are often buried in the mix. [No. 128, p.61]

So Pitted is constantly poking and prodding at its audience with a wicked glee and demented smile. [No. 128, p.61]

Thankfully Santigold has focused on quality, not quantity, as her third LP makes evident from the very start. [No. 128, p.61]

Williams’ themes here aren’t new for her—love lost and found, mortality, the struggle to get right with God. But thanks to Frisell especially, the settings for Williams’ cracked, world-weary voice and vivid songwriting are indeed new. [No. 128, p.60]

Though it won't be every listener's groove, fans of baroque pop's lush overreach will find a lot to enjoy. [No. 128, p.59]

What holds it all together—besides the thematic unity--are Pollock’s vocals, which are clear, unaffected and emotive throughout. [No. 128, p.59]

The pottery kiln warmth of the rhythm section lays a solid foundation for Lobsinger's sensual voice. [No. 128, p.59]

Perfect finds a singular band doing its thing in the way that only it can. [No. 128, p.57]

Their liveliest, most varied offering since their debut. [No. 128, p.57]

Love it or hate it, in her hands or someone else's, Ono's music does what fine art has always done: It dares you to feel. [No. 128, p.54]

On its own terms, Void Beats Invocation Trex is a Cavern worth exploring. [No. 128, p.53]

With the help of producer Jim James, Basia Bulat brings a rich, melodramatic sheen to her confessional tales of woe. [No. 128, p.53]

An album that’s rewarding--and pleasantly intelligent--from start to finish. [No. 128, p.53]

The result is Animal Collective at its tightest, most coherent and poppiest, even as the band draws on '60s psych/pop, rudimentary techno and three-chord punk to build on its ever-evolving sound. [No. 128, p.53]

With each layer adding something to the stew when time on their own endeavors allowed, Nevermen is a successful and forward-thinking act of sonic maximalism. [No. 128, p.52]

The new/old Psychedelic Swamp LP of today fuses the best of both worlds. [No. 128, p.51]

An album chock-full of some of the most melodic and memorable work the band ever produced.... This reissue definitively covers the final chapter of Reed's time with the band that not only established his street cred, but launched him headfirst into his solo career. [No. 126, p.56]

The most impressive thing about the band's second record is how relentless it is. [No. 126, p.59]

The stark, live rendering at Oran Mor reveals the quiet beauty and strength these songs possessed all along. [No. 126, p.61]

Stones-y rockers a la "Heartstopper" and "Trouble" have more chug and balls than Richards' band has displayed in a while. [No. 126, p.59]

Tape Loops comes off more like a utilitarian exercise in minimalism than a proper solo album from one of the most celebrated producers of the past 20 years. [No. 126, p.58]

An airbrushed return to the imagination hinterlands of an expressive impressionist. [No. 126, p.57]