The Complete Budokan 1978 essentially reveals Dylan sets the record straight about his music at the time, while opening a gauzy curtain on the artist at life's crossroads. This missing link is a monumental addition to Dylan's discography.

"Nothing on Me" adds more variety yet by coming into view as if Cleo and company have found a sweet spot segueing out of a cover of D'Angelo's "Spanish Joint." "Love Will Lead You There," just voice and guitar, closes out the album on a serene note of togetherness.

Anches en Maat isn't one of Grails' more intense records, but it does a fine job of capturing the certain type of melancholy cinematic vibe that they've been exploring for much of their career.

It's not entirely the same rowdy, lascivious joyriding that made up some of his celebrated early work, but the album's fearless expression of a full emotional spectrum makes it remarkable and at times shatteringly beautiful.

This glorious, vulnerable set offers pure collaborative inspiration at once strident and vulnerable, minimal, and aesthetically expansive.

This mix of warmth and wariness permeates Hadsel and, despite its idiosyncratic inspirations and unorthodox instrumentation, may well make it a timely and timeless destination for those who relate to its juxtaposition of comfort and alienation.

It's another page in Vile's ongoing catalog of daydreams and stoned musings, in its best moments reaching the same levels of quality as his fully considered albums.

Moving way beyond their debut, Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete. is the sound of artistic maturation and sonic expansion, a logical culmination of what they were trying to do in the first place.

A stately and soulful set of songs rooted in the bittersweetness of nostalgia and adulthood.

Burton's falsetto feels like part of the tapestry masterminded by Quesada, never quite pulling attention to either his words or melodies. While this ultimately means that Chronicles of a Diamond doesn't leave enough hooks behind to linger in the memory, the pulsating, colorful vibrations it creates as its spins are certainly an enjoyable way to get lost in the ether for a half hour or so.

Morrison has never been a rockabilly cat, he's a blues shouter and he plays precisely to those strengths here, leading his band through lively and loving readings of rock & roll oldies, never apologizing for the unabashed nostalgia of the entire enterprise.

Like Justin Timberlake and Harry Styles before him, it's quite clear that Jung Kook has been christened as his boy band's main breakout, and Golden makes a great case for that push.

Even considering its modest ambitions, it's probably not a surprise that Songs of Silence showcases instincts and inventiveness well beyond that of your typical synth-instrumentals diversion.

By the time Rockstar reaches "Free Bird," the party has been rolling on for two hours and is starting to feel a little tired -- it doesn't help that Parton is duetting with the ghost of Ronnie Van Zant, either -- but that doesn't erase the good spirits created by the rest of the record.

Choosing to transpose strings to guitar and voice helps Hatfield achieve a sense of intimacy while retaining a sense of romantic grandeur, a combination that gives Juliana Hatfield Sings ELO a distinctly warm and comforting feeling without succumbing to the pitfalls of nostalgia.

New Blue Sun is probably not the André 3000 solo debut most OutKast fans had expected or hoped for, but it does continue the integrity and spirit of his creative journey, in a way that's fittingly bizarre and beautiful.

It's hard to believe it took so long for Iron & Wine to document their live incarnation, but it is easy to believe that now that they finally have, it's as sophisticated, burnished, and emotionally true as this.

If you've somehow managed to avoid hearing Billy Bragg's work, The Roaring 40 1983-2023 is an ideal starting point, and if you're already a fan, this is a top-shelf mixtape of the songs that made him a legend. Either way, it's great music with heart, soul, and a conscience.

If Innerstanding favors aural texture to melodic immediacy, there's intrigue in how its electronic pulse intermingles with shimmering mantras, resulting in a record that reveals its mysteries over time.

Les Jardins Mystiques, Vol.1 is certainly a monolithic package, but it's more than that: it's a statement that reveals the vastness of Atwood-Ferguson's inspiration, creative breadth, and musical vision without compromise. Unique? Sure. But also profound.

Superchunk have always strengthened their reputation with music that ranks with the most powerful and important ever made, able to move, inspire, and impress no matter the sound or subject. This collection reinforces that notion, and proves that in their second act, the band remain at the very top of their game.

Metric have always been the kind of band to take big emotions and make them sound stadium-sized. On these two albums, they take stadium-sized emotions and make them painfully real and bleedingly human.

Production-wise, the beats are as on point as ever, typically favoring funky boom-bap with touches of psych-rock guitar, and occasionally drifting close to trip-hop melancholy ("Living Curfew," "Bermuda"). As ever, though, the main attraction is Aesop's compelling wordplay, and his ability to keep the listener's attention while veering into different lyrical and conceptual directions.

Though Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert doesn't -- and couldn't -- have the same revelatory feel of Dylan's original concert, Marshall's wise, loving performances strengthen her reputation as one of her generation's most gifted interpreters.

Even as PinkPantheress explores her deepest, darkest emotions, her songs are vibrant, hook-filled, and wildly inventive, making Heaven Knows just as worthy of repeated listens as To Hell with It, and confirming her status as a pop visionary.

Once again working with co-producer Dave Cobb, Stapleton also has his wife Morgane behind the boards in addition to singing harmony and playing keyboards, a tight, familial group of collaborators that gives Higher a relaxed, familiar feel that keeps things buoyant even in its darkest moments.

Cohesion and comprehension are left on the cutting room floor of I<3UQTINVU, but these untamed reimaginings of the songs extend the album's fun and curiosity.

The lyrics are wryly humorous, the music gritty and steamy. There isn't a dull moment here. Get it.

Goodnight Summerland is a lovely, occasionally profound album with little if anything apart from the intro that could be fairly called filler, and that would be splitting hairs.

It's definitely music for dourer days, although there's also an alluring elegance in play that can make it feel more mysterious than dispiriting. Like a lot of compellingly constructed minimalist music, Acts of Light benefits from repeat listens.

At times, Return to Archive rivals Ultimate Care II when it comes to the more challenging, cerebral side of Matmos' music, but its fascinating reflections on how we build on and reframe the past make for a hip, thoughtful celebration of Smithsonian Folkways' forward-thinking legacy.

Its deconstructions and creative alterations of underground club music forms, combined with crystalline ambient compositions -- all pieced together like a Rammellzee panoply -- cause more sensations of wonderment, comfort, and unease.

And Then You Pray for Me is a 75-minute feast, uneven and sometimes overly familiar if still satisfying.

Zig ends up being her most focused and mature work to date, one that finds her spreading her wings and expanding her arsenal yet again.

Woven throughout the record is Anderson's rugged, keening voice (its own special instrument) and sense of adventure. Perhaps it's not King Creosote's most cohesive effort, but it's an appropriately ambitious celebration of his first 25 years.

The whole album has that kind of off-kilter appeal and even when the singers break things down lyrically to the elemental level of survival in a world seemingly on the brink of collapse, this is music meant to transport the listener. Consider it a job well done and enough of an artistic success that one hopes the trio makes this one time gathering of like-minded souls a more regular occurrence.

A darker, deconstructed companion to Tracey Denim, The Twits reflects bar italia's growth into an increasingly singular, expressive band.

Hard Light is far from Delaware's rollercoaster ride, but its update of that album's spirit should please the fans Drop Nineteens made in the decades since their debut.

The charm of Danse Macabre lies in how Duran Duran seem unencumbered by expectations: they're lying back and having a good time, resulting in a record that captures their silly and serious sides in equal measure.

There's a marked feeling of newfound ease that flows through The Comeback Kid. The always unstable elements that make up Stern's sound are still potent and volatile, but gone is any dread or confusion that may have pushed her music forward in the past, replaced by a sense of triumph and euphoric self-acceptance.

Fleshed out by these extra tracks, 1989 [Taylor's Version] confirms the lasting strength that Swift's songwriting was achieving in this one of many blooms, and serves as a lovely reminder of when she officially stepped into her place in the pop culture continuum.

The Great Escape shows that Chris Stamey still has a faultless touch as a songwriter, vocalist, producer, and arranger, and it gently but confidently sees him adding new colors to his palette and using them well.

"Blurring" is an inventive trip-hop diversion, with booming illbient bass, slowly crushing breaks, and a downright lovely vocal hook. It ends up leaving a much bigger impression than most of the other tracks on the album, even if it isn't exactly the type of earworm one might expect from the artist's description of his intentions for the project.

Something to Give Each Other succeeds because Sivan has been freed: to be who he wants to be and express that through his most engaging and addictive album to date.

Its seven tracks are rhythmically labyrinthine, unhurried in tempo, with clamping drums and cosmic synthesizers that burble, prance, and sometimes create a sense of menace.

Ultimately, it's the singles that keep Angel Face interesting, an ironic twist, given that the period he fetishizes most certainly favored singles over LPs. So, in a sense, he has hit his mark squarely.

Selvutsletter is some of the duo's most expressive and widest-ranging work -- and given how committed Volden and Hval are to experimentation, that's saying something.

Joni Mitchell's powers as a songwriter and creative spirit are unparalleled at every step of her journey, but her output in the '70s was on a higher plane, even for her. Archives, Vol. 3 reflects this with behind-the-scenes material just as storied and worthy as the music that Mitchell was making during one of her finest hours.

All That Was East Is West of Me Now confirms that as an artist, he's not wasting the days he has left on the trivial, and the craft and the emotional power of this music is strong enough that we can all hope he might have another 10 or 20 years of music this good left in him.

Tirzah's music may be volatile, but it's also remarkably consistent; trip9love...??? is the third time in a row that they've turned a handful of sounds and a wealth of ideas into a haunting, forward-thinking album.

Offset seems equally at home in almost every style he tries on, and though the heavily varied production and artistic approaches from track to track can give the album a less-than-consistent feel, the steady stream of guest appearances from stars like Future, Young Nudy, Latto, and others all help to emphasize how Set It Off is more exciting than it is uneven.

Madres deals with serious subject matter, but ultimately it's an abundantly thankful, joyous, and celebratory record.

If Jenny From Thebes may be a bit more cryptic than his best work, every song contains a yarn worth hearing, and his quietly bold, ordinary-guy delivery is surprisingly flexible, adjusting itself to fit any situation he presents.

Twenty years after the release of Keep on Your Mean Side -- a time when many acts consolidate their sound into something safe and reliable -- Mosshart and Hince are still at the top of their game.

The Silver Cord was released in two different editions; one with the songs edited to around four minutes each, one where the songs stretch out over the ten minute mark. The extended versions don't add much to the overall effect of the album, merely giving the listener more time to wonder why the band chose to go down this route.

Action Adventure doesn't sound like DJ Shadow's other records, but it's exactly the type of album he would make -- a risky, expectation-bucking set that only fully makes sense to the artist himself.

An album that continues very much in the melancholy vein of its predecessor while taking a generally looser approach to arrangements.

With a more congruous title, "Anxiety's Rainbow" is an album highlight for its marriage of rousing melody, dissonance, and groove, while the rest is interesting enough to hope for more from this ambitious isolation-induced project.

It's always fascinating to hear Barnes take Forest Swords' distinctive musical vocabulary in different directions, especially when the results are as eloquent as Bolted.

The EP's wistful quality combined with its brevity can make The Rest seem almost unassuming, but it's not slight: it's a welcome coda to the relative exuberance of The Record.

While it plays a less-sure hand than classic predecessors like YHLQMDLG, it nonetheless proves a welcome gift for the star's dedicated fanbase.

At its heart, it's nothing more than the Rolling Stones knocking out some good Rolling Stones songs, which seems like a minor miracle after such a long wait.

It may not be the second -- or third to be more precise -- coming of Lush, but it's good to have Anderson back and making music as pretty, sweetly sad, and ultimately comforting as Pearlies.

Overall, it feels less like a comeback and more like the latest chapter in the ongoing saga Skinner has been spinning since 2002.

While this is far less downcast, the joy, wonderment, and fond reminiscences in the songs are complicated by worry, uncertainty, and longing.

One More Time... plays like a love letter, both to fans who stuck with them and to each other -- a letter that doesn't so much ask for forgiveness as offer it willingly, passionately, and without conditions.

More accessible than past Slauson Malone releases, Excelsior is still a strange, mysterious creation that warrants extensive, engrossed listening.

Chock-full of brusque rhymes that, even with occasional respite with the odd slow jam, become mind-numbing over the course of its hour-long duration, Scarlet is a fascinating follow-up to Planet Her.

Though Crazymad, For Me lacks a bit of the wit of If My Wife New I'd Be Dead, anyone who has had their heart stepped on in the past 20 years will embrace it as their own.

The deep involvement of McClenney, assistance from additional producers such as Wynne Bennett and Alissia Benveniste, and the familiar presence of Peter CottonTale all nudge and stretch Woods' sound into new realms of left-field pop, folk, and funk without squeezing out a drop of soul.

Goat prove once again on Medicine that they deserve to be in the top echelon where the groups, past or present, who play this style of music with an incalculable amount of imagination and an unquenchable desire to scale new heights of sound are nobly enshrined.

Tomorrow's Fire may be the most melancholic of Squirrel Flower's albums, but its sense of drama is captivating.

His growth is evident on every one of Jonny's touching, impressive moments and near-perfect blend of all the sides of the Drums' music -- and that makes his artistic triumph all the sweeter.

It's ambient music at its absolute best, providing a space that the listener can be enveloped in completely just as easily as they can drift away from it without noticing.

Every bit as creative and trippy as L'Rain's first two albums, I Killed Your Dog has some of the artist's most relatable lyrics, and cuts closer to the bone.

Perspective displays how her music has evolved from its roots in club culture to the realm of contemporary composition, retaining such a distinctive sound that the boundaries crumble.

Not many groups sound more mysterious four albums into their career than when they began, but these shifting, shadowy visions suggest Vanishing Twin have more tricks up their collective sleeve.

It might not be the worst Drake album, but it's in the conversation for sure.

Working with around a dozen producers and co-writers, among them Life Support's Leroy Clampitt and One Love, its more intimate character was at least partly inspired by Lana Del Rey.

We Buy Diabetic Test Strips feels like a step forward from a duo whose discography has been consistently innovative from the start.

Compared to the debut, the songs are a little tighter in structure, communicate more, and bounce from style to style -- whereas Lost & Found presented an evolved, commercially minded brand of street soul -- with introspective R&B always somewhere in the mix.

Javelin is an album about the need to be loved, agape and philia, and Stevens shows that he can write about both without trivializing or minimizing the importance of either.

Layover is a gorgeous dose of adult-oriented pop that might be unexpected for those expecting the big BTS sound, but that's a big part of the allure.

Hostile Environment is a triumphant comeback effort, and it continues On-U Sound's run of late-career highlights from veterans like African Head Charge and Horace Andy.

Smith helps give Blues Deluxe, Vol. 2 a loose, lived-in feeling that contrasts with the eager fire of the 2003 record. It's a change that suits Bonamassa.

The Dark Side of the Moon Redux doesn't offer uninterrupted talk but the stress is placed firmly on the words, to the point that "The Great Gig in the Sky" now doesn't float weightlessly: it's now about a letter Waters wrote to the assistant to Donald Hall when the poet was in his last days. It's a subtle change but it's a substantial one, turning Dark Side of the Moon into a voyage inward, not outward.

An album that sustains a mellow, melancholy mood without quite distinguishing itself as a collection of individual songs. Then again, that's kind of the point of the album: it's a pensive soundtrack for a specific season, nothing more and nothing less.

He's explicitly treating country music as a genre that evolves, one that can encompass all manners of stories by building upon what's already been laid at the foundation. With its empathetic heart and kinetic kick, Rustin' in the Rain illustrates how vibrant and vital that idea can be.

Bewitched offers up 13 tender, decade-defying originals in all, alongside a seductive, loyal version of the Erroll Garner standard "Misty."

Come with Fierce Grace is easy to embrace on its own -- even if some tracks lack distinctive identities. No matter its release as a separate entity, Come with Fierce Grace is part and parcel of GOLD; it's not a mere sequel but a truly worthy companion album.

Coin Coin Chapter Five: In the Garden's collision of styles, genres, and individual and group voices are not only welcome, but essential to the process of Roberts engendering dialogue, celebrating difference, and communicating emotions, psychologies, and cultures, all testifying to the import and cultural and artistic achievement of her evolving project.

Lydia Loveless has matured into one of the most compelling and consistently impressive singer/songwriters America can claim, and with Nothing's Gonna Stand in My Way Again, they have matched form and content with a skill that makes it their finest album to date -- no small statement given the strength of their catalog.

Emergent Diddy protégé Jozzy shines on the slow-grinding funk of "It Belongs to You." Another highlight with brilliantly nuanced live instrumentation, "Moments," is Justin Bieber's new exhibit A in arguing his case as an R&B artist. .... Diddy for the most part is his typical self, ceding enough room for each singer and rapper while interjecting some conversational wisdom, relationship analysis, and random chatter with occasional bluster.

Isn't It Now? carries over the inspiration and fire Animal Collective rekindled on Time Skiffs. It finds them reveling in a state of joyful curiosity, but exploring with a knowing control earned through years of getting to know themselves and their singular sound inside out.

Sit Down for Dinner finds Blonde Redhead revitalized. Arriving nearly a decade after Barragán and 30 years after they formed, it's a return to be savored.

Personal and grand at the same time, Again's mixtape of memories continues Lopatin's enduring brilliance at moving forward by looking back.

It's hard to imagine any of these songs immediately becoming crowd favorites, but as a carefully considered mood piece, Cousin is a powerful, affecting work that once again shows how many great things Wilco can do -- and how well they respond to the right kind of creative direction.

Depth and dimension rule the turbulent group improv in "Were You There" before the album closes on a tender, reverent read of "Precious Lord," wherein in each player -- save for the frenetic Taylor -- engages in harmonic blues conversation. Here, the Red Lily Quintet underscores Jackson's import as a visionary and prophet. The approach to her music combines those qualities of the historic past with the power and drama of contemporary life with all its victories and struggles.