Above the Prairie unfolds as a series of shimmering, seductive soundscapes that effectively convey the other-worldly imagery asserted in its title. Within this beguiling set of songs, a dream-like scenario with a nocturnal gaze unfolds.

This Is Glue is several orders of magnitude better than the already quite enjoyable Metalmania. Without changing the formula much, Sampson has somehow increased the impact of his ramshackle, ear-wormy songs and made them matter more.

Recorded live on the floor with his band, ChesnuTT's second album cuts the fat away for a lean, no-bullshit sweet soul program that hearkens back to the heyday of the O'Jays and Al Green.

Nothing is Wrong is a terrific follow-up for a band that delivers beautiful, powerful music straight from their own hearts and right to yours. Believe.

What you end up with on End Times Undone, is a trance-y, pop-psych, hypno-rhythmic romp that showcases a group of players that have magically meshed into a single hive-mind, behind the very talented Mr. K., at the top of his game.

You're Nothing is an album full of power--power which makes you think and react viscerally.

Americana is damn near as excellent an album as Davies has delivered since the ‘70s, a set of songs that will someday be seen as among his best.

Both rocking and reflective, Small Town Dreams is chock full of the kind of ready for prime time anthems that effectively assert both his acumen and authority.

Don’t look for fireworks here, but rather smaller, quieter revelations that take time to unveil themselves.

The disc turns more experimental as it progresses.

Surprisingly sedate for a final blow-out, Throw It to the Universe sends The Soundtrack of Our Lives down the road to retirement with beauty, class and grace.

It's an A-list of contributors for sure, but what's most impressive is how Hogan makes each offering her own.

Mudhoney’s new live set, L.i.E. (Sub Pop), collected from a 2016 tour, is bluntly, ferociously coherent, though it spans three decades, seven albums and one Roxy Music cover.

There’s nary a moment missed by the band to demonstrate that Sharon Jones is one of the greatest female vocalist currently operating.

While this is Hurray For The Riff Raff’s strongest record to date, it’s doubtful this is a peak. Keep Segarra on your radar.

GOB is heavyweight hip-hop from one of urban England's brightest new talents of microphone mastery.

For the Glory Fires, it's all about "Righteous, Ragged Songs," and Bains and the band deliver that in spades on There is a Bomb in Gilead.

It's the sound of songwriter matched to band that makes this record so deliriously good.

It's the sound of three guys blasting their way out of suburban torpor.

This record isn’t just Worthy--it’s essential.

The way the group interweaves its strengths on its take on Miles Davis’ “Nardis” shows the pure pleasure that comes from listening to experts who love their jobs doing them well.

Life Is Fine boasts some of Kelly’s best lyrics in years.

It’s a combination of old and new, letting Liddiard play to his strengths as a writer while letting a new band paint his compositions in different colors. That blend of comfort and risk makes A Laughing Death in Meatspace one of the best rock records of 2018.

Silver Age is another peak in a career full of them, and it's due to the quality of the material Mould uses to construct the suit, rather than the classic cut of the design.

The Take Off and Landing of Everything is another fine release from a band that has yet to steer wrong.

Going Down In History is pretty much what you’d expect from the genre veterans; catchy three-chord country with some distorted guitars and plenty of punk rock attitude and smart ass lyrics.

More than any previous Timber Timbre record, Hot Dreams simmers sonically with the chaos lurking just below these surfaces. Rarely does such calm feel so utterly foreboding.

Overall, This is Lone Justice: The Vaught Tapes, 1983 may just be the definitive Lone Justice recorded experience.