Loyalty is an exceptionally affecting masterpiece, at once timeless and very much of its time, highly personal in its specificity and universal in its emotional accessibility and resonance.

The final number is “All Creatures of Our God and King”, a traditional hymn sung with piano only, and it showcases Griffin’s voice at its most pure, a fitting and mesmerizing end to an album that, regardless of one’s belief, is an uplifting, moving, and exquisite listening experience.

The true appeal of 1989, in its perfect evocation of our hugest, most teenage feelings, isn’t the socio-political purity so many critics seem to begrudge Swift for failing to embody, its an aesthetic purity--the purity of feeling, the life-affirming way pop music like hers can force us to drop our pretenses of sophistication for the length of an album and feel on a visceral, unfiltered level

There is a dedication and an ardor in play that cannot be denied.

Her experimental approach to club and ambient music complements the progressive choreographic mind of McGregor. The score's staggered rhythms are easily tangled to abstract legs, and its disjointed melodies are naturally entwined to twisted arms, making Jlin's soundtrack perfectly malleable for McGregor's Autobiography.

Kourtesis pieces together all the samples, sounds, and roots she has brought us before in a tighter and more incandescent package than past EPs. Certainly, it’s a debut worth the wait.

The lyrics might not make much sense, and there's nothing groundbreaking here, but with songs as ridiculously catchy and fun as these, who cares?

It is simply a stunning accomplishment.

That level of "realness", the way that the songs ring true whether he's bragging or self-criticizing, joking or praying, is what makes The College Dropout more than worthy of all of the attention that it's getting.

You could spend weeks with COW/Chill Out, World! and still feel the thrill of discovery with each new listen.

Ultimately, Elitism for the People 1975-1978 functions as a veritable primer for not only those interested in the band, but also those looking to explore the possibilities of popular music.

Everything works on Tomorrow Is My Turn, an album that heralds the arrival of a major American artist.

It’s as difficult as black metal gets, often so difficult that the ”you” of the title seems leveled at the listener as much as at the rest of the world, but it’s also as perfect as black metal gets and the logical end goal of everything the Body and Thou have been working towards, separately and together, since they began.

It’s a confident, balanced work of mass art with only extremely minor flaws.

Icky Mettle might have a reputation for containing a one-trick pony and the band's singular best known moment in the form of "Web in Front," but there's a wealth of material to really dig into and enjoy.

Chiu and Honer’s interpretations of this space build a sense of place at the intersection of their lived experience and the unique geography of the archipelago, and it’s this sense that they share with us on this new release.

It reveals Lekman as a maturing songwriter and human being who’s able to roll with the life’s uncertainty and continue to make beautiful art about it.

This is music for uncontrollable giggle fits, playing fetch with over excited border collies, and sledding down steep, snowy hills with your kids; this is music that makes you feel intensely alive.

There simply isn't another singer working in pop music now that holds a candle to Jones.

The truly impressive thing about Piñata is that when the album is at its top level, it’s nearly untouchable.

With a mix of analogue synths, warped acoustic instruments and an unmatched passion for effects pedals, West has produced easily one of the most vivid and soul-stirring electronic albums of the year.

Heaven and Earth is a lengthy album, and one that refuses to shortchange the listener. There is a wealth of ideas on the table here. It takes a musician, composer, and arranger of Washington's caliber to take these ideas and form them into a brilliant collection of performances.

It is a masterful effort, taking the most memorable elements of their past work and alchemically changing it to something completely new but no less great for the difference.

Blonde is the sound of an artist urging his listener to be patient, and in this age of instant gratification, it is a refreshing, rewarding triumph.

If Black City represents the dark night of Dear's soul, Beams is the neon-lit dawn of an accomplished artist at the height of his creative powers.

Both "Meek Warrior" and "Love Is Simple" are strong albums, but there’s a sense of unfulfillment in them--Akron/Family seems to be testing itself in new areas rather than completing a task. On new album Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free, though, that changes, as the band delivers a masterpiece.

In Our Heads could be the best thing we've heard from them.

It's an album that gets better with every play, with every peeling back of its more obvious, glossy layers. It especially repays headphone use, where each stutter, bend, warp, and pitchshift can be discovered and new subtleties can become apparent.