Their studio albums solidified Can's reputation as one of the most important and groundbreaking bands of their time, but Stuttgart 1975 exemplifies how that creative spirit translated to the stage, highlighting yet another side of Can's limitless ability.

Maps is one of woods' most accessible and relatable efforts, containing some of his clearest, most vivid narratives.

This certainly goes a long way to illustrating that Petty & the Heartbreakers always delivered the goods, but it's somewhat at the expense of forward momentum; it's hard not to wish that it was arranged chronologically, to be able to hear the raw energy give way to easy skill, but that's just nitpicking--any way you look at it, this Live Anthology offers an overdose of prime rock & roll.

Shifting from pounding rock to experimental jazz at a feather’s touch, the album’s sonics provide the theatrical soundscape to Sumney’s words, rising and falling in line with his crystalline tones.

The album is not the flawless statement against complacency the band seemed to strive for, but it succeeds at tearing heads off, shooting fascists, and quickly asking questions later with unbelievable fury. For these reasons alone, it easily serves as one of the band's highest marks.

On Ultraviolet Battle Hymns and True Confessions, the Dream Syndicate aim for mood and atmosphere rather than showing off their chops, and the performances serve the nuances of the songs without pushing them to places they don't want to do.

G Stands for Go-Betweens is a labor of love, carefully put together by Forster with obvious affection, and essential for any fan of the band, especially those who treasure their tumultuous formative years over their more full-formed, yet still quite tumultuous, later period.

Even for longtime fans, Savage Young Dü is revelatory, charting a young band's progress as it achieved its potential for greatness.

While 50 offers a fitting tribute on the occasion of Neu!'s first recordings reaching the half-century milestone, more than anything it reminds us that there's never a bad time to listen to Neu!

Z is intuitive, intensely creative, classicist-minded, nearly flawless.

In concert, the Replacements sounded like a tighter version of classic Replacements, and the same can be said of the Matt Wallace version of Don't Tell a Soul, which is why Dead Man's Pop is such a blessing: this set helps make this era seem like a grand farewell from the band instead of the beginning of a messy end.

The collection's hand-curated feel is much more personal than the average best-of or streaming play list. The idiosyncratic track list shuffles the pages of the Stripes' songbook, bringing new life to their music in the process. While there are plenty of expected choices here ("Fell in Love with a Girl," "Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground," "The Hardest Button to Button") that still sound great, the set goes deeper with songs that are just as strong if not quite as well known.

As her most satisfying, artful, and accessible album yet, St. Vincent earns its title.

At this point in their story arc, Bannon, Kurt Ballou, Nate Newton, and Ben Koller really don't have anything to prove, which makes it all the more impressive that they haven't let up on trying to do just that.

This blend of contemporary attitudes and classic sounds is insinuating and addictive, particularly because at nine songs, it's too brief--once it's through, the album practically begs you to start all over again.

If the first album was the supernova, RTJ2 is the RTJ universe forming, proving that Mike and El-P's one-off can be a going, and ever growing, concern.

The record offers something to nearly every audience that could approach it, with a bit of a groove for electronic fans, an obtuse sense of music-making for experimentalists, and a dreamy melodicism sure to endear it to indie-pop fans.

The intricacy of the band's sound remain[s], but with less experimental desperation and considerably better ideas.

There's little doubt to Since I Left You's status as one of the most intimate and emotional dance records that isn't vocal-based.

Robyn continues to make the trends instead of following them, and with Honey, she enters her forties with some of her most emotionally satisfying and musically innovative music.

With Eternity, In Your Arms, Creeper have truly proven themselves masters of the dark arts, as they've managed to create something as genuinely inspired as it is stylistically derivative.

Kiwanuka stands head and shoulders above it as a complex, communicative, poetic, and sometimes even profound collection that wears its heart on its sleeve and its sophistication in its grooves.

The alternates of songs that were on the albums are interesting but not revelatory, but hearing these early versions of songs that appeared on later albums is pretty fascinating.

It feels live, immediate.

Ultimately, on Dreams and Daggers, with its balanced framework of live and studio recordings, happy and sad romantic songs, small group and classical chamber pieces, Salvant remains as bold and as sharp as ever.

On-stage, these same songs straighten themselves out and, in the process, get a touch lighter. On Tonight's the Night, it often appeared as if Young and his crew learned the songs as they recorded them, but on Roxy, the Santa Monica Flyers have the changes under their belts and are really in the mood to have a good time.

Vocally, Ware has somehow found another gear, turning in her most commanding performances while having what sounds like a ball with her background singers.

A copy of Soul'd Out should be in every public library. Stax fanatics will find that it superbly complements the four Complete Stax/Volt Singles boxed sets.