A heavily introspective tour de force, Lamar has created a stubbornly parochial soundtrack to his life in Compton, CA.

It's unfortunate that Vicious Lies has come out after everyone has finished compiling their year-end lists, but it's already a contender for best record of 2013.

Excavation is a brilliant piece of work, one best enjoyed actively with a premium set of headphones, in solitude.

To See More Light is a masterpiece that organically and coherently blends Stetson's avant-garde playing and dark, complex themes with accessible and compelling compositions that bring a ray of hope not just for the characters in his underlying narrative, but for the future of music.

This is the album on which Daft Punk are truly and convincingly "human after all." And on this toweringly grand achievement, they've never sounded better.

On their new full-length, much-anticipated Epitaph debut On The Impossible Past, they exceed expectations once again.

It's clear that White's bravery in baring his soul has resulted in a quiet masterpiece.

This is a minimalist masterpiece.

Ghosts is the thinking electronic music fan's subtler and more paranoid alternative to Amon Tobin's brick-smashing A/V opus, ISAM.

De Vermis Mysteriis is a bloody, hard-fought triumph.

With a more dynamic and drastically enhanced sound, this is how Dopesmoker was meant to be heard.

Live from the Underground is the best Southern rap record since Big Boi's Sir Lucious Left Foot dropped two summers ago.

The Moritz Von Oswald Trio deliver their most impressive and spatially alluring album to date with Fetch.

There certainly is a great deal more to Guthrie's immense body of work than what is represented on Woody At 100, but apart from some newly discovered recordings that completists will want, this is an ideal package for the uninitiated, and one to be treasured for years to come.

Sensual, artful and accessible, it is easily one of the best pop albums of the year.

This is one of the most rewarding and beautiful albums of the year.

Kaleidoscope Dream is a statement that Miguel has arrived.

Vast and breathtaking, RIITIIR is simply stellar.

Clark can do it all and it's entirely likely that Blak And Blu will be recognized in the future as a moment when American music suddenly got a great deal more interesting.

Luxury Problems is a highly impressive full-length album of dark, atmospheric techno.

Young rappers take notice: you want to sound like this when you get older.

NYC's Roc Marciano follows up his 2010 critically celebrated solo debut, Marcberg, with a sequel nonpareil in its originality and craftsmanship.

There are few out there above what he has achieved with Lonerism.

It's when producer the Alchemist trims and arranges that Bronson becomes a salable bouquet.

It's not often to encounter music this conceptually sophisticated and well executed that also, in its most secret depths, simply hates you.

While the album is a drone-based record, Mountains never stagnate, unafraid of abrasive movement, and their sometimes intense palette never feels out of place or unpleasant.

If there were any doubts among the faithful about legendary Quebec prog-metal dudes Voivod being able to recapture the magic of their classic era in the absence of deceased guitarist Denis "Piggy" D'Amour, they're shattered within moments of the title track.

This is Nguyen's strongest work yet, with the aforementioned songwriting taking a leap forward, while gradually perfecting her melting pot sound of country, folk and pop.