It’s fair to say if you don’t find anything worthwhile somewhere in this record, you probably just don’t enjoy electronic music.

By drawing on atypical influences and wearing her disillusioned heart on her sleeve, Sky Ferreira has made the pop album of the year.

Neko Case hasn't produced a disappointing solo venture yet, and between "Fox Confessor Brings The Flood" and Middle Cyclone, her recent production is the strongest of her increasingly beautiful catalog.

St. Vincent's most sonically rich effort to date.

Kozelek’s sixth project under the Sun Kil Moon moniker, Benji, is his most intimate work yet, thoroughly documenting definitive moments that marked his past and continue to haunt his present.

Manipulator stands as Segall’s most intricately woven and patiently developed work.

Regardless of classification, Japandroids have created something pure, something without pretense and without any concern for how smart or cool they will sound.

The storytelling in Carrie & Lowell is as vivid as its always been, only that the focus is his.

New Leaves may tackle some subtle rites of passage - small in scope but difficult for most men to deal with--but they’re approached with such delicate grace, it’s hard to question that this may be Kinsella’s finest hour yet.

You can imagine, and probably relate, to the monotony and helpless angst that attacks us when we're a certain age, going through certain ritualistic processes of life. So imagine this record as the soundtrack to those feelings, and how liberating, not only that would have felt then, but does feel now.

Dream River is probably as evocative a record as Callahan has ever made, and that really is saying a great deal when considering his extensive back catalog.

Although For Emma, Forever Ago works best as a concise listen, as each song segues naturally into the next, tracks like 'Blindsided' and 'For Emma' quickly rise as shining standouts.

Despite the group’s apathetic demeanor, it makes you wonder if each track on You’re Nothing’s sublime dirge is a result of those fleeting moments of carnal ecstasy, as it’s hard not to get lost in the beaten and bruised squalor Iceage expels on their grittiest--and best--album yet.

Microshift clearly demonstrates that Hookworms are operating on a new level.

I’m gonna go way out on a limb and say that this is their best album yet.

While there are moments with more levity, Marling casts this world with a haunting backdrop of striking stories and superb instrumentation. It’s the rare album where a stripped-down approach entirely works, making these tales central and unmissable in their telling.

In summation, though, there is not much you could ask for in a Big Star box set that is not included here.

While still featuring the repetition and reverb that embodies much of Lennox's work, Tomboy is more divisible, and more accessible for a downloaded generation, or listeners looking to simply dabble their toes.

His voice a weathered and worn device, there are facets to his personality that seem to make this album work, when otherwise its disjointed presentation would seem haphazard or pasted together. It’s also very short, clocking in at shy of thirty minutes despite its fifteen tracks.

A dark and beautiful album with true emotional resonance and weight.

Tropical Fuck Storm (also driven by ex-Drones bassist Fiona Kitschin, drummer Lauren Hammel and guitarist/keyboardist Erica Dunn) is less Gang Of Four than they are The Pop Group, a similar level of poetic critique and takedowns packaged and delivered with unsettling and risky discord, a veritable junkyard sculpture thoughtfully constructed from punk scraps, crusty psychedelia and a rhythmic articulation of ideas bred from the spoken word.

The Lady Killer is generic in the best possible sense of the word; put simply: this is music for the soul, and even Mr. Gallagher has one of those.

Despite the fact that Offend Maggie is, in some ways, a “nothing new” addition to Deerhoof’s canon, it’s also one of their best.

Mature, reflective, elegant and just that little bit haunting, but ultimately and most importantly of all, brilliant.

Despite Mering's sonic flights of fancy, Titanic Rising is a lean, 40-minute recording that carefully considers her performative sentiments with fine craftsmanship. No emotions go astray.

Truly electrifying.

Each track sounds as fresh and as punchy as the last, and it is instantly infectious.

The album also crammed full of innovative bleeps and squeaks - if you're familiar with Four Tet you'll know the sort of thing--which add more of a unique selling point which in the end isn't all that necessary, because this is a somewhat dazzling album from some great talents, and it has an abundance of riches.