With 10 feet in several camps, New Jersey's Dillinger Escape Plan whips back and forth between dissonant thrash and brooding prog rock on its allegedly final studio LP.

Jeffery redefines what trap could be going forward.

Paradise is--like the acute respiratory distress syndrome they're named for--breathtaking and terrifying in equal measure.

No one song stands apart, but Burn Something Beautiful hangs together as one of Escovedo's most entrancing works.

Gifted a falsetto reminiscent of famed Kentucky balladeer John Jacob Niles (1892-1980), his voice soars along rural Americana and across desolate plains ("Where I'm Calling From"). Through the tense, starry twilight of "Outlands," tranquil, meandering rivers and sprawling juniper trees ("Juniper Arms") outline a rocky terrain wherein "Some Beast Will Find You by Name." To that topography, add Adam Torres.

RR7349 mingles the tangible with the abstract to spur a novel meld of both imaginative atmosphere and gripping substance.

LWK doesn't shy away from biting into his heartbreak with gusto, even if his mild-mannered tenor betrays some of his music's much-needed grit.

Like composers Mike Post (Law & Order), Danny Elfman (The Simpsons), or Angelo Badalamenti (Twin Peaks), Survive axis Dixon and Stein's heterodox hard-wiring ameliorates TV's ambient takeaway.

Skin goes Technicolor and bigger, effectively standing on the shoulders of Disclosure and giant stars including Skrillex, Diplo, and album collaborator/reinventor Beck.

Hard rhymes and bouncy hooks, stacked atop big drums and supple synths, hold steady through a barrage of guest spots.

No Burden's Nineties crunch plus its writer's youthful sageness/naiveté fosters a propitious career launch.

Blank Face stalls near its end with pedestrian raps and an awkward R&B crossover bid, but when Q locks into the streetwise grooves of "Dope Dealer" and the lush psychedelia of "That Part," he hints at the masterpiece he came tantalizingly close to making.

Lacking the ready-made hooks of 2005's The Mysterious Pro­duc­tion of Eggs, the bookish baroque pop of Are You Serious proves the fiddler's iconoclasm lies in his technique's novelty.

Bulat's pipes and songwriting prowess flourish, more than in her prior folksy, singer-songwriter LPs.

Americana may find its best representation in the Kiwi's broad reach and inclusive interpretation.

Underneath the blustery sass and cynicism sparkles a tender human being still nursing old wounds.

They're fine tunes with few faults, but they fail to add anything meaningful to the conversation.

Everything we love about Local Natives remains, but they make us work harder for it.

Will Sheff creates albums as statements, and Away ultimately rings with a wonder in letting go.

Loathing permeates the band's third album like xenophobia at a Trump rally. Emulating Black Flag gone grindcore, You Will Never Be One of Us beats brief thrashers "Parasite," "Made to Make You Fail," "Violence Is Forever" senseless with merciless precision.

Miller indulges his appetite for electronics and repetition alongside psychedelic excursions.

Accompanied by piano, ex-Ulver shredder Håvard, and the Norwegian Girls' Choir, the now-New Yorker strips away intricate instrumental passages and dramatic flourish in favor of direct, oft-soaring communication. ... Brutal beauty.

It's a rare occasion of art transcending influence, with Toledo sounding like he's coming apart while doing it.

Like its predecessor, Hope's lyrics alone spur startling awe and fierce innovation.

Results including "Lucifer and God" and instant classic "The End of Things" equal Mould's most melodically explosive punk rock since his Eighties heyday in Minneapolis, all abrasive guitar work and barbed lyricism candy-coated by tunefulness.

Gone are any remnants of yesteryear's "rock music" ideology, thrusting Radiohead into a mature state of potentially their best work still to come.

Undercurrent might not be her best work, but she's set herself up to go wherever the music takes her, and those following along are sure to revel in the adventure.

The funky "Eastside," the snap and bop of "Green Light," and the honeyed coo of "Sweet Little Messages" all stand out on an effort that gets extra points for trying something different and succeeding beyond anybody's dreams.