Their lush synth textures are a few tints darker and their songwriting is a whole lot tighter.

Overall, like the California sunshine, it's an irrefutable tonic.

At times Weird Drift's afternoon daze softens into formlessness.

Food might sound pretty, but it's weaker than the sum of its parts.

It's appealing stuff, but dig deeper and you'll find there's not much beneath the pristine surface.

Dreams isn't flawless--the alt-folk ballad "United," for one, meanders a bit too much--but WhoMadeWho's best tracks are incredible.

Given the ubiquity of some of this material, It's Album Time is a little tricky to assess on its own merit. But with tracks like "Delorean Dynamite," "Johnny And Mary," and "Old Joy," there are certainly plenty of grandiose stretches to keep us satisfied.

Whether they're taking inspiration from '70s kosmische or more contemporary sounds, Vermont's debut album is continually intriguing and texturally rich.

Their first record done entirely as a duo, and their most mature piece of music yet.

For fans of Ø, or anyone keen on abstract, contemplative electronic music, this is a fine release with more than a few fantastic moments.

Brandt Brauer Frick's contribution to the series, while not a classic, is still a little treasure trove.

While there’s a yearning for youth about the album, it also has calibre that’s to be celebrated. Matthews’ voice, his mastery of mood and storytelling shines through, lifting this to a satisfyingly high point of achievement.

Glow dumbs down Niemerski's music into mass market-ready chunks.

With Signals, Wen has nearly perfected the claustrophobic grime sound he started sketching in 2012.

Love Letters is more mature, doleful and disconnected from club trends.

Even at its biggest, it sounds disappointingly thin.

There's an excellent 12-inch (or two) hidden in Addison Groove Presents James Grieve.

Despite his mainstream flirtations, Cashmere Cat is more about delaying pleasure than instant gratification.

Lyrically, this may be the work of a 49 year-old woman, with its ruminations on family, married life and paying the bills, but, in terms of its energy and sheer lust for life, it could not sound fresher.

ESTOILE NAIANT is perfectly pleasant while it’s playing, but you might not remember it so well afterwards.

Like most of his records, his self-titled LP shows a talent that stretches well beyond house music, weaving together funk, soul, hip-hop, jazz and R&B into a rich and unpredictable bricolage.

Death After Life is so seamless and consistent that it might grow tedious for less patient listeners.

It has hooks galore, but embedded in brilliantly strange music.

It always felt like the UK dance community was collectively cheering for Katy B's success, and Little Red shows how much she deserves it.

Melding the jerkiness of dancehall with deconstructed house, it's raw to the point of bloodiness.

They make some mistakes, sure--the vocal spots from JODY and Yen Tech are fumbles--but they're more adept than ever at stewing their idiosyncratic set of sounds into one deliciously strange brew.

Pop Ambient 2014 is the fluffiest, most cushioned set of zone-outs in the series' recent history.

Ghettoville doesn't sound like the work of a producer who's no longer able to make wondrous music; there's enough craft and intention here to suggest that, for whatever reason, he just didn't this time.