Every single moment of Man vs. Sofa is suspenseful and exciting.

Despite all the changes she introduces on Cacti, the honesty of Maries' music remains paramount, and the savvy and polish she brings to the album confirm she's an excitingly hard-to-pin-down artist.

rouble & Love is unlike any other "heartbreak and healing" album; its hard-won, experiential, Buddhist-like wisdom borders on the profound.

The collection's 70-odd tracks can be a little daunting, but appreciated one song (or album) at a time, the creaky magic of the group becomes apparent. Beat Happening existed in a rare and singular space, unmoved by anything outside of the excitement of creating art on their own terms.

Each of the the album's ten tracks is naked, open, and bleeding, yet rousing at the same time. The lyrics don't hide behind Stern's infectious, blast-and-burn 21st century rock; they are buoyed by them.

Acid Tongue is where Lewis finally pulls it all together and delivers one killer of a record.

His tracks are vibrant and imaginative, calling on fuzzed-out guitar solos and summer-day vocals that recall a raft of solid shoegazers.

Vespertine isn’t so much a departure from her previous work as a culmination of the musical distance she’s traveled...

Our Endless Numbered Days is very subdued, thoughtful, melodic, and downright beautiful album and the new sound is more of a progression than a sudden shift in values, production or otherwise.

There's a palpable sense of real listening, of generously shared creativity. Ultimately, it's that synergistic spark that makes Thile and Mehldau's collaboration sound less like a one-off experiment and more like the start of a lasting partnership.

Mareridt is a work of atavistic mystery, unflinching honesty, and balance. It embraces everything from horror and beauty to the sacred and profane; its creator has encountered them all within, faced and accepted them, and ultimately woven them into the fabric of her being as music.

It's a wounded if proud and defiant response that draws from vintage high-tech R&B and art pop -- the 1982-1987 era with greatest frequency -- with all sharp edges melted off.

The new material didn't merely simmer.

Is less a bold statement of principle as it is a blossoming into maturity.

Simply the finest effort yet from the Bad Seeds; one which leaves the listener in awe, full of complex emotions and pondering the fact that they've just been in the presence of great art...

While these songs offer resistance to a particular reference point, as a whole the work is transcendent. Some of Ribot's own songs are fine enough to warrant inclusion next to the classics he adapts.

One of his very best records.

If some of the ballads aren't as distinguished as the livelier tracks, they nevertheless are as sharply crafted as the rest, and the end result is that It Won't Be Soon Before Long is that rare self-stylized blockbuster album that sounds as big and satisfying as was intended.

They're one of the most consistent bands in metal, and this is a terrific example of them playing to their strengths.

Shifting from pounding rock to experimental jazz at a feather’s touch, the album’s sonics provide the theatrical soundscape to Sumney’s words, rising and falling in line with his crystalline tones.

Joe Strummer 002 is worth its weight simply for containing remastered versions of all three Mescaleros albums, but the copious liner notes, ephemera, and bonus disc of demos and rarities make it essential.

The loving layers of static, submerged guitar progressions, and effortless meshes of naturalistic themes and glitchy processing all play into a language of sound distinct to Fennesz and reaching some of their clearest articulations here.

Easily the band's finest work yet, Illegals' little quirks and huge emotions have what it takes to sweep listeners off their feet.

Keyboardist Cleo Sample and singer/songwriter Kendra Foster are among the variable cast that joins that trio, so the set unsurprisingly has the densely layered, spaced-out, and fiery qualities of D'Angelo's Black Messiah.

A must-listen for anyone following Harvey's archival series, B-Sides, Demos & Rarities serves as a fascinating parallel primer to her music and the multitudes within it.

Tool managed to improve and perfect their sound even further, resulting in one of the strongest statements in their catalog. Whether 10,000 days or the actual 4,868, Fear Inoculum was well worth the wait.

Never before has the singer infused more mainstream rock elements (prominent strummed guitars) into her music.

Donuts just might be the one release that best reflects his personality.