With a new album of expertly-crafted, touching, and refreshingly honest odes to life, Regina Spektor has grown without growing away from what makes her so special.

It's one slightly embarrassing Nicki Minaj verse and one awkward Lil' Wayne feature (the "HYFR" one) away from being by far the smoothest hip-hop and/or pop listen you're likely to come across this year.

One of the album’s more striking elements is its limited instrumental palette.

Music may not by itself cure all these ills, but the virtue of superb electropop is that it helps make them seem a bit less insurmountable.

The painstaking arrangements, dynamic shifts and tempo changes of Dear Catastrophe Waitress equal or surpass the chamber-pop perfection of the group's earlier work.

The fuzzed-out lead guitar, the languid vocals, and the unbridled backbeat that keeps it all together nail this resemblance down, recalling Bug-era Dinosaur from the late 1980s. ... Tracks like “Wishing Well”, “Cheewawa”, and “Bainmarie” from that LP are beautifully rendered.

One of 2014’s most deftly sequenced, produced, written and performed albums.

Lynne has crafted a disc that--while not exactly transcendent--still manages to go to emotional places that remain unattainable to your run-of-the-mill pop vocalists.

Clark has served notice that he’s still here, and that those old hands haven’t yet gone still. Stuff that works, indeed.

A powerfully emotional and poignant album that reclaims the American spiritual from the depths of the irrelevant past and rewrites it for the post-modern age.

This new album sounds fuller and crisper than Iron and Wine's earlier recordings, but the minimalist artistry hasn't changed.

Kano's album is ridiculously good.

Promises is a genius work, a victory for slow releases and the spacious. Sanders sounds as much ahead of his time as ever, while Floating Points again proves the efficacy of well-executed minimalism.

The Order of Time is unique and presents a confident and dynamic songwriter and performer with a rich background in stylistic and regional influences.

A record that handily bests anything that they've put out in the last 15 years, and can stand head and shoulders against their best efforts of the '80s.

Near To The Wild Heart Of Life conjures the same humanist swoon that runs through everything from the Who and Bruce Springsteen to Sufjan Stevens and Explosions in the Sky.

It's funky and fantastic, futuristic but retro. It's in a category of its own.

To be clear, on Hunter Anna Calvi is not simply meeting male musicians on their common ground and outperforming them; rather, she's defining a new geography and daring everyone to follow. It's the lioness, after all, who is the true hunter.

They could have coasted gracefully the rest of the way and nobody would have complained. But they did push themselves like they’ve never done before, and they’ve rewarded their millions of worldwide fans with a late-career zenith.

This is the metal album of 2013, and proof that Carcass still hold the tools of the trade to show all and sundry how to write a winning (“comeback”) album.

Joe Strummer 002: The Mescaleros Years gets to the heart of this matter comprehensively, dishing up all three albums and a modest peek behind the curtain. The packaging is lovely, and the Mescaleros never made a bad album.

The Soft Bounce may not be the best album of the year, but it’s certainly one of the most enjoyable listens to come along within these first seven months. And with its lack of date-stamping, it’s surely one to which we can return time and again without the slightest whiff of nostalgia for 2016, 1996 or 1966.

In the end, the greatest testament to David Comes to Life is how it feels like there's more and more to it, even when you're already on sensory overload as it is.

Sure it comes with its imperfections, but it's this humanity that makes music so life affirming. Like all great rock bands that have gone before them-allow Baroness the opportunity to change your life. They just might succeed in doing so.

93696 weighs in at nearly 80 minutes, and its numerological conceit does make one suspect even the song lengths might be perfectly poised elements in some delicately balanced scheme.

The hooks and riffs are just so, so pummelling and intoxicating, it’s as though every element of this record was plotted and constructed to maximum effect. And yet, Antipodes is an all out effortless feeling effort, with a natural flow that feels almost as though it was pulled out of a magician’s hat.

Man Mountain is an explosion of cinematic orchestration and lush 1960s guitars, cerebrally chill and simply extraordinary.... One of the best albums of 2002.

Ware gives her most understated performance on the record, and ironically her most anonymous, but the track's hypnotic, uneasy lurch calls for this delivery.

The band never merely repeats itself here, creating a record that sounds at once cohesive and loaded with singles. It's a rare feat, and one that usually gets overlooked by critics shooting for the zeitgeist. Good for us that we didn't miss out on this one.

As the album moves forward, the number of moments, musical and lyrical, that sneak up on you and tear you apart increases.

This talented duo has made one hell of an album, actually one of the best of 2008, in the process.

Taken as a whole, Please, Pleasure, and Patience represent Lerche's finest work as a musician.

Nothing that Fever Ray does is as immediate or soaring as a track like 'Marble House' but Fever Ray makes up for the lack of highs by being an even more all-enveloping experience than the last few Knife records.

Demons makes it clear that Chesnutt's dark and solemn songwriting is naturally suited for a band like Cowboy Junkies, and should go a long way toward furthering Chesnutt's own legacy.

Older, wiser and with nothing to lose other than hair, Madness has gone and released an album that’s virtually flawless.

The album is sonically and lyrically her best work yet, and proves that any process of healing is never black or white and does not exist on a straight line.

You can call it selling out. You can call it mainstream. Just don’t call it bad. Call it the best album of their career. Scratch that: call it one of the best of 2006.

MOTOMAMI is experimental in a way that does not sacrifice function over form. These songs have a pop purpose: they are fragmented, but they are laid in catchy hooks and enthralling beats. MOTOMAMI doesn’t fail to entertain.

Here, Jukebox the Ghost give me everything I need and more. For those mourning the loss of Jellyfish, Beulah, Blur, or the sounds of XTC's or Squeeze's heydays, purchasing this album is a direct order, and not up for debate.

An eminently powerful work of rock ‘n’ roll from start to finish, Slave Vows hasn’t saved the soul of rock music, but it sure as hell has revitalized it.

This is R&B that is considered and it is timeless, done exactly the way that Ekwere clearly wants it to be done. Empress is brilliant. Ray BLK has earned a spot at the top of the R&B heap. Hand her the crown.

Mostly, Iyer defies comparison other than in convincing you that he belongs in august company. If this first solo recital was a historical test, then Vijay Iyer gets an A.

Even with these toe-dips in fuzzier, darker grooves, there's still a sanguine blanket that covers Nine Types of Light -- and, astonishingly, it doesn't come off as a wallow in overdone pathos.

Her lyrics are sharp and direct, and the band is there to match her, providing tension and release across all 11 songs. While far from poppy, the songs have a hooky rawness that is addictive.

On their fifth LP Discontinued Perfume this is true again. They're not doing anything all that differently, yet it seems like a giant step forward, and their best album yet.

Its nine songs, all evocative and transporting, strive toward a new vocabulary for connection, confidence, and queer love.

With NOT TiGHT, however, DOMi & JD BECK take their impromptu jam sessions and make a greater leap toward notoriety with support from some of the hottest musicians on today’s scene. The duo has achieved high-flying musicianship status at a break-knit speed, similar to the tempos they traverse.

It’s a poignant, reflective, and very often frank portrayal of humanity’s dual impulses authored by someone who has lived several chapters, yet knows the story is constantly being rewritten.

Judas Priest have exceeded all expectations and made one of the best albums of their storied career.

Rather than rest on his laurels or deliver a bigger and better sequel, Tillman has instead created an album that covers a wider variety of subject matter with more focused and rich songwriting.

The Soul Position album is even more appealing than the Deadringer "Final Frontier" single, as topics and production are pushed beyond what seems to be the visible limits of hip-hop.

[It] could be annoying if it turned into a game of "spot the references", but somehow it never does.

I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass is nothing if not dazzling.

Ultimately it’s a reaffirmation of that original gambit and breakthrough, a renewal of vows between artist and audience, and a reminder that second acts are possible.

Renaissance derives its meaning through its diverse soundscape, which, due to Beyoncé’s astute curation, becomes a statement about letting the music speak for itself.

It's bold, it's demanding, and it might very well go down as the finest full-length Fiona Apple has ever made.

An Americana capstone, artists present and future should aspire to reach the heights of You Can’t Go Back If There’s Nothing to Go Back To.

Merriweather Post Pavilion finds Animal Collective tight and sharp, and it suits them. Animal Collective’s music is for everyone’s world.

The Private World of Paradise [is] clearly one of the best albums of this young year so far.

A singer-songwriter in the classical sense, Choi employs a wholly unique vocal and musical approach, each standing in contrast to the other to create a gloriously incongruous fusion. ... Ten Hymns from My American Gothic is nothing short of a 21st century pop masterpiece.

Shut off the social media for an hour, and pay attention to these stories. The co-writers of these poignant and powerful songs have fought in defense of our collective freedom of speech. We should honor them by listening to their stories.

Better Souls Good Angels was written and recorded well before the pandemic. But the album, with its darkness tinged with glimmers of hope, its rage touched with tenderness, is very much one for our terrible time.

Origin is a rich, intoxicating listen that benefits from Rakei's clear, succinct vision. In effect, the desire to challenge himself to write a more thematic, conceptual album has encouraged him to write more immediate, more impactful songs. The result is a remarkably accomplished album that offers more with every listen.

Devastating and exquisite, You Are There is the pinnacle of MONO’s discography thus far.

Black Messiah is less throwback funk and more a vision of the possibilities of modern post-funk, although it’s clearly rooted in soul and funk traditions.

She continues that upward streak on Walking Proof, where each of the 11 tracks shines with imaginative playing, spirited vocals, and sensitive, literate lyrics. It's truly a kick-ass record.

By taking on Remain in Light, Kidjo brings her finely honed Afropop sounds to one of the 1980s' most iconic new wave albums, packing just as much of a punch as the Talking Heads ever did--no small feat for most, but all in an album's work for Angélique Kidjo.

Her albums have matured exponentially with every release, and with Blacklisted, an album that will get your blood pumping and give you goosebumps at the same time, Neko Case emerges as a true original.

Especially remarkable about Maal’s work on Being is how thoroughly his ethos as an artist and human permeates every piece of the production. His support of younger artists feels organic amid modern electropop sounds, an essential element of his overall emphasis on collaboration.

It is Meshell Ndegeocello’s most complete and fully integrated record and a defining work that in evading category seems to generate its own rules of engagement and enjoyment.

PROTO demonstrates that small data and machine learning can be used to evolve our practices of art, community, and tradition, using AI to enhance our most human practices.

Low's always been nothing but heart, but it's been a while since that heart has been as clear and strong as this.

Enemies of electronica will find the Osso album more accessible and entertaining than the Stevens original. Furthermore, Osso’s titular connection with the American Dream/nightmare may ironically have more in common with Stevens’ most recent conceptual project the BQE than the BQE has with his own Enjoy Your Rabbit.

What makes this possibly the best album of the band’s career is that it represents how sonic exploration can actually go right.

Wake Up the Nation, once again illustrates not only his perennial songwriting prowess, but also his incredible staying power amidst artists for whom influence is sporadic and brief at best.

The 16 songs that appear on Rejoicing in the Hands, are so striking in their sound and so original, that no producer could've have imagined them. If anything, they affirm Devendra Banhart as one of the most unique musical talents to emerge in quite some time.

De La Soul returns to classic form relishing their status as one of hip-hop's longest running acts and flaunting their roles as hip-hop's cerebral older brothers.

You could drop in on 6 Feet Beneath the Moon at any moment and let it unspool to its end, looping back to the start, and feel as captivated as you would at any other point of entry.

More cinematic than "Twin Cinema," more cohesive than any other record released this year, Challengers is so very good it almost compels you to think in the cliches of music criticism.

An album that resembles a focused collection of small, brilliant things.

A Kind Revolution is a vital, confident new entry in the catalog of a man who could very easily retire but still has too much music to share.

This is a brilliant album. Not a brilliant album after almost 100 other albums, not a brilliant album for a man who has been working for twice as long as I have been alive, but the best country album of the year, and perhaps the best album this year.

John Wizards contains a surplus of happiness spilling out all over the place, but there is also a haunting sadness on many of these tracks, one often turning on a dime into the other.

In my view This Is Still It is chock-full of so much consistently great music that’s it definitely the equal of [Gang Of Four's] "Entertainment!," and may even be superior.

The best album of Björk's career

Genuinely great pop music that's experimental, catchy, and, most of all, weird.

Dir En Grey is one intense metal asylum patient paddling a brand of hair-raising sonic art packed so full of diversity and avant-garde goodness that they keep you coming back for more.

A big leap from the already high elevation of Michigan.

The New Pornographers are a recurring reminder of how ebullient this kind of music can be, which makes them radicals of the form.

Whichever end of the spectrum you might land on, there’s rage, yearning, and reckless behavior here that transcends generations, which is a soaring accomplishment.

In some sense, it is true that any of these new songs could fit comfortably among his earlier works. Yet now there is an even more polished grace to the undertakings, as if age and experience have refined and further honed what already was smooth.

It's a shame only Church and Remy Zero fans will be inclined to check this out because it is a masterpiece lying beyond the power of the descriptive word.

Pretty Years is a document of Cymbals Eat Guitars’ most accessible music, D’Agostino’s richest vocal performances, and his ever-deepening lyrical acuity. It’s the best release yet from one of America’s most promising bands.

Full of Light and Full of Fire is easily one of the best albums of the decade.

Ultimately, Distance Inbetween can’t quite summon the dominant golden theme that infused Butterfly House. But in other ways, this endlessly fascinating band have gone one step further, demonstrating that a love of Chris Isaak, ‘70s American driving music, David Lynch dreamscapes, Question Mark and the Mysterians, and Eastern drone can still find a place for listening in the noise factory of 2016. Highly recommended.

Home is a definite top pick for 2002, and certainly kicked country music in its ass once again when it needed it the most.

Eternal Sunshine marries the dueling methods of processing pain presented on Sweetener and Thank U, Next, weaving heartbreak throughout an album that never lets the tears spill as freely as they did on “Ghostin”, a ballad from Thank U, Next. .... Eternal Sunshine strikes new ground by including confessional hits that don’t appear to have a goal beyond the act of confession.

Rush has emerged with more edge and energy than some bands can even dream of.