Like a lot of Andrew Bird albums of late, Inside Problems needs some time to reveal itself. Its frustrations and lidless graspings at the world are part of the game here, so that it doesn’t nestle quickly into a box on first listen feels appropriate.

Headcage has a pair of iffy tracks to weigh down two good--if not great--tracks, the whole EP sits in a generally favourable position in my view.

Neither cold enough to make a disquieting impression nor warm enough to connect with the listener the way the artist’s own A Strangely Isolated Place or, hell, Amber did.

It helps make clear that Endless Arcade is a quiet record that helps reaffirm Teenage Fanclub’s enduring appeal: their songs can help dull the pain. And pain there is.

Lucky Shiner has all the facets of something good. It breathes on its downbeats, sings rickety sampler loops, and, most enjoyably, it takes its time.

Though the rest of the EP features both highs (the delightful "Bug," which sounds like it could be the prototype for which Williams bases all of his best material) and lows (the Weezer b-side material of "Poor Lenore"), the overall affect of Life Sux feels innocuous; an effort that will neither convert detractors or drive-away die hards.

Short, sweet, and edgy without being rough, Strange Grey Days is the perfect soundtrack to an afternoon daydream, be it sunny or shadowed, for its lullaby quality if not its stark originality.

Liminal Soul's likeness to work by others in her country does make it a bit blander than what her fans would expect. Nonetheless, the signature feelings of coldness and solitude, among many other sensations, are still very much present on the record.

Take Care is a record unsure of itself, certainly more focused and interesting than its predecessor, but still far from the classic Drake had hinted at.

Prelude To Ecstasy, for all intents and purposes, is a really enjoyable pop record, but they are not burning down the mansion with this collection of songs anytime soon.

There’s an impressive amount of sound and instrumentation for a trio. The consequence is that McEntire doesn’t stand out quite as well as last time, and can easily get lost in the tight, economical work from her bandmates.

At the very least instead of sounding like he was curling up into a melancholic hibernating state as on Exercises, here he sounds like he once again wants to fight the boredom and start actively engaging the listener on all levels.

Interplay is space rock as solid as it comes, but also deeply indebted to a millennial era about 20 years ago, which both shoegaze and alternative rock have left behind. A different kind of nostalgia, perhaps.

It may not be as game-changing or complete as †, but Audio, Video, Disco has the exact same energy, intrigue, ear for melody and air of defiance as the group's glittering debut.

Change seems more concerned with how the music impacts on a subliminal level than how it actually ends up sounding. Without those inner blemishes out on full display, that magnanimous intent could only go so far.

It's just a Hot Chip side project that sounds like a Hot Chip side project, and there's nothing wrong with that, but nothing terribly exciting either.

Where Gift of Sacrifice really succeeds is in its forays away from tracks that eschew the standard song structure.

If I don't revisit it, (and I might not, because it wasn't exactly mind-blowing), I appreciate it for at least being a pleasant listen.

Most of the takes on Songs From Isolation are engaging, if not provocative alternatives to the originals. Some are less successful, even if they constitute an ambitious undertaking. It might have been worthwhile if Williams had picked at least a couple of tunes more essentially divergent from her own style and energy.

It's just solid and efficient, a period piece with modern trimmings.

As out of place as the occasional vocals are, the production surrounding them is impressive enough to at least disregard the problems for the short-term.

Venus finds Larsson serving energy and vulnerability in equal measure, however, still giving the listener an uneven experience when it comes to song choices and sequencing.

The Overload has enough interesting touchstones, but unfortunately, how Yard Act aim to utilize them within their songwriting MO is still a bit of a jumble. Many of the sounds and textures don’t really add much expressive gusto to Smith’s thespian qualities, and I feel the group can cover a lot of ground here on upcoming releases.

If you can forgive Barnes' very unfortunate excursions into hip-hop and overlook what is hopefully the last few Georgie Fruit guest spots, you'll be amazed at the range of sounds that the band manages to successfully explore here.

In the end, you get 44 minutes of solid beats and bars and a handful of songs to put on your best-of playlists for Savage and/or Metro. That’s not the worst thing, but on Savage Mode II it feels like there’s both too much and not enough going on at once.

It’s an electronic album from DJs who love to sample the music that inspires them, and in the past they’ve successfully done, furnishing us with some of the most golden-crisped memories. With some trimming, We Will Always Love You might have been a victory lap, but instead it feels like The Avalanches would have been better off taking another decade to fine-tune it.

While it is hard to pinpoint anything wrong with Sound Kapital on a micro-level (and a great many people are likely to be happy with the collection), the resulting picture of Sound Kapital as a whole is one of complacency, making the album easy enough to like, but difficult to love.

It's when I keep in mind the idea of Pull It Together being an album for her daughter that I enjoy the album most, as it's in this light that it sounds at its most charming and likeable.

It's an intermittently engaging set of ephemeral longevity, ultimately a little too nonspecific and slipshod to be considered alongside the rest of his full-length catalogue.

Sure, they may borderline on gimmick at times, but Born To Die has its own sound, and that is more than we can say about a lot of music that is presently being released.

His newest resembles an above-average B-sides compilation: something to tie over the diehards while they wait for his next official album.

There are echoes of the Spice Girls, Le Tigre, The Ting Tings, Kero Kero Bonito, and country-mates The Presets here, but despite its musical and stylistic nods to other acts, it still feels fresh – which is mostly down to the relentless delivery. But even at a respectable 39 minutes, it still loses steam; any album with this much energy would.

Continue as a Guest hints at what a more purposeful turn could look like for the band.

Although this may be a relative disappointment it should not be looked at as the start of a decline, but merely a curiosity in the collection.

It does sound a lot like oOoOO and under scrutiny with A-B comparisons, Our Loving Is Hurting Us is pretty starkly more of the same.

For all its spookiness, Confrontations is ultimately a pleasant listen that goes down easy and doesn’t leave much of a impression.

Where GREY Area was all about Chinese restaurants, squats, dark back alleys and illegal warehouse clubs, Sometimes I might be introvert is about office buildings, record shops, bedrooms and stage productions. It’s daring and conceptual, but lacks physicality, unity and focus.

In The Runner, Boy Harsher deliver variety for new listeners and for devoted fans, something new so they can continue to experience the band live but safe behind the big screen.

Side B is not a total miss though, nor even a miss at all. Once Mathers stumbles through this opening salvo and the awkward bits of “Tone Deaf”, the album settles into a comfortable space, and even becomes enjoyable.

There is certainly potential here, but this first Bloodmoon record definitely feels like a testing ground. There is an uncertainty in tone, and a clashing of sensibilities that is thrilling at times, awkward at others.

They write very strong songs, but aural satiation sinks in over Bones‘ 48 minute runtime.

It’s as though Jay is playfully toying around with genres without building a fully cohesive record. There are plenty of lovely moments on this LP, but without a clear structure it never truly acts as one.

Much like their genre, Clock Opera's music is nothing new, but has charming roots.

Everyone Else is a Stranger might hook in a few new fans, but they will find better work with further exploration into Lindstrøm’s discography. For everyone else, all you need to know is that it’s just Lindstrøm doing what he does best, which is no bad thing from space disco royalty.

The album struggles to find a particular voice, and make any sort of statement, leaving me more than a couple of steps off using the album's own title to describe my opinion of it.

Elements of Light ultimately feels like a stop off between Black Noise and whatever Pantha Du Prince has waiting on the horizon.

This is frivolous music best enjoyed as such. The trick to Sofi Tukker’s success is not to take them too seriously, even when they do so themselves.

These six instrumentals are pleasant if not pretty in the usual way an Andrew Bird instrumental track might be.

Like Earth as a whole, "The Children" doesn't make for the most pleasant of listening experiences, but it does represent another evolution in Richter's artistic progression.

As a whole, Tomboy is a success, but its short runtime and somewhat underdeveloped arrangements leave the impression that Jurado was more concerned with just getting this set of songs released, rather than making sure they expand his extensive catalog in a meaningful way.

Anyone who considers themselves a fan of unvarnished punk should listen to OFF! at least once.

The record often flows nearly-imperceptibly from track to track, creating a sort of ecosystem all its own, which harkens to its deep ambient undercurrents. But, hanging together as it does, like a morning mist, YIAN is a bit of a soggy, homogenous listen.

While there are plenty of fantastic moments to be found and the album is certainly recommendable, its sluggishly repetitive second half reminds the listener too often of exactly what the strengths and weaknesses of this band are.

There’s no denying the trio put on a dedicated show on Providence, but it’s easy to argue that producer Dave McCracken puts too heavy a coat of gloss over the whole thing, leaving a gaudy, saturated aftertaste on the album.

Feel the Sound is not a classic, it's not a masterpiece, and despite its pristine delivery, it's not perfect. But it is an honest and genuine sampling of a band who continues to subvert expectations.

While I don't understand a lot of the decisions made on this record, it is still undeniably an exhibition of some of the best sonic control and sound shaping around.

The end result is an unfortunate fact that while Death Cab For Cutie seems as capable as ever at expressing themselves, they are running out of things to say. Or, at least, things worth hearing.

If nothing else, Attention Please proves Boris can do this softer pop-informed rock, but ultimately it holds more untapped potential than success.

There's much to cherish here, but this isn't a complete effort.

The music on This Is Another Life isn’t the kind that boasts colour, or even deep and dark hues, but rather is full of big strokes of dull greys.

From A Birds Eye View ups the stakes in every imaginable way from his rookie outing, The Lost Boy. Still, it lacks a true it-factor, suffering from questionable songs and moments. Luckily, the emcee’s ever-growing ambitions as an artist are put on full display here—even if they haven’t been fully realized quite yet.

That two of the five songs are covers isn't a bad thing, but it does give the impression that this record's a bit of a throwaway: there are some interesting directions pointed out by the denser arrangements, but we'll have to wait to see how they'll realise them more fully.

The finished product sounds like a work in progress, which is cool, but here's to hoping that Blunt and Copeland will improve the production quality and fully realize their genrebending sketches next time around.

It doesn’t always work as well as an album, but folks will still look back and remember the time Cummings spent everything, went all in, and became Ramona.

Coming up with interesting sounds isn't an issue for these guys, it's putting them together that is.

Overall, Frontera retains the qualities that fans of Fly Pan Am always appreciated about the collective, but this time around they feel disconnected. That is not to say the album is bad, it simply appears that it cannot be properly appreciated without the aid of the dance performance by Animals Of Distinction.

It manages to feel both too specific and not quite specific enough; while it sounds like her own personal sound world and collection of memories, the album lacks that relatable hook to draw the listener in.

A big collection of tracks that is sure to please some undemanding fans, but just misses the mark as a great release.

Goons Be Gone is nothing particularly new for them, but when No Age balance their flavors of weirdness with the wildness, it still hits the right marks.

The majority of Hands of Glory is devoted to covers, though, and while Bird already has plenty of fine covers in his catalogue ("Don't Be Scared", "Trimmed + Burning", "The Giant of Illinois"), his efforts here are something near enough lacklustre and uninspiring.

Little Oblivions doesn’t so much feel like a step to a higher point as so much as a stumble that Baker has made to look as graceful as she can.

That’s what How Many Times is: another record about lost love. Yet, what saves Rose’s version from sinking into tired banality is the earnestness of it all: she displays the full gamut of her emotions in the songs, from longing to anger, yearning to acceptance.

Aerial East is a talented songwriter with a signature voice, and Try Harder certainly includes its stellar moments. However, the project as a whole would have benefited from more melodic, tonal, and atmospheric variation, issues which could in part have been addressed via a greater use of recording options and a more hands-on production approach.

Blouse are a promising, if yet to be fully realized, project.

Where each song on Melodrama felt like rushing into the next room at a wild house party to discover a new scandal or hookup, each successive song on Solar Power feels like returning to the same yoga class day after day; there might be the odd new mantra or position, but there’s nothing truly revelatory.

Gloria is a frequently satisfying yet uneven statement of self-love and confidence that heralds a new era, both musically and personally, for Sam who proves that it is just as equally an act of vulnerability to show your happiness, as it is your sadness.

This may be a confused record, but it finds its place through a universal truth it manages to hit: so Skinner can't quite find his way in this world: who among us can?

Four sounds like an album created by a talented band that finally got back in a room together after a long time apart, and just seemed to put together all the various ideas they've all had without stopping to think too much about them.

With snappier sounds and clearer EQs, the tracks on BlackenedWhite sound much crisper than anything on Goblin – a record that sounded too muddy for its own good.

As an experiment, the album hints at expansion but it feels restrained, afraid to really push hard. Even still, Present Tense has a little something for everyone and is a perfect launching pad for the next one.

It is arguably his most sonically interesting and personal project so far, but its inconsistency punches a few pot-holes in the listening journey. The experimentation here doesn’t always work, but when it does, it shows that Post is heading in some exciting directions for future albums.

Mixed Emotions seems served just too late, and comes off as regrettably stale.

The strange, yet awfully satisfying, collection of tracks certainly won't attract new listeners to the Gorillaz catalogue, but synth-infused pop tracks like "Revolving Door" or "Hillbilly Man" will appease most listeners.

Ultimately, Tracey Denim lives and thrives in the shadows of past greats, but is unable to escape them.

Make no mistake; the album isn't a failure, it's just sacrificed a little too much to be a success.

Throughout Fly Siifu’s, the duo offer nothing more than a chill rap record, which has highs and lows. It’s a fine record to put on in the background, but a slog to try to focus on, as so much of it blends together with hardly anything to standout in the end.

The fragmentation of characters, the dislocation and purposefully disruptive sense of a core musical identity on Warm Chris make this a collection of disparate songs rather than a body of work – for some this will be a boon, for others problematic.

Exister succeeds at painting a portrait of his despair in charcoal. Unfortunately, as a piece of music to consume it’s just too choppy and incoherent to elicit a feeling. In the end it’s a risky exploitation of his frail psyche, a destination already travelled to and not worth revisiting all that often.

It's all very well-done, but it's not something that you'll feel much incentive to revisit over and over; an experience worth taking, but not necessarily one worth repeating.

No Witch might not be a particularly ground-breaking album, but it is a significant leap forward for this band, and that's most definitely a step in the right direction.

Splazsh's followup simply doesn't hold the same tension or drive.

For every fault that Neighborhoods has--and it has quite a few--the album is infectious and catchy.

What this results in is an album that is just as frequently successful as it is frustrating.

These are pretty songs, but largely forgettable when amassed together, and though EYEYE is an honorable attempt at switching lanes yet again after a divisive fourth album, it mostly comes up short as a finished product.

The album's top heavy, and its finest moments come when T.I.'s able to look past himself, whether it be to attack the legal or education system. The rest is frustratingly mixed.

Fatigue, for all its many-sided intrigue and snatches of moving beauty, can be a bit like driving by a series of natural wonders at 150mph – too fast to truly appreciate what’s there. There’s a purposely otherworldly vibe to these 29 minutes, but the moments when Cheek the artist is most nakedly visible in the constellation are when Fatigue feels most successful.

Clark and Byrne are never fully on the same page. Instead they ricochet of each other, flying off on miniaturized tangents that never stray far from home.

While Ship has a few compelling moments, it's mostly lethargic and sinks into its own monotonous haze.