Total Life Forever is still thoroughly identifiable as a Foals album, their personality and songwriting quirks shine through even the thickest of creative haze--they're making pop out of art, which is a pretty good recipe for a young band.

Destroyer of the Void is a fitting reminder of what’s possible when you already have such a strong catalog of music under your belt: exceptional music that always seems to beautifully connect, no matter how varying the sounds may be.

Before Today is another fun Ariel Pink pop/rock record, more solidly constructed than any of his past efforts. Even more importantly, it’s also more joyously musical than most full-lengths that have been coming out in recent years, aware not of self and scene but only of the fact that music is fun and feels good.

It is instrumental rock music that is experimental, emotional, colorful, and engaging, while skillfully blurring many musical boundaries.

Putting to work every kind of noise you could think of--dub echoes, laser squiggles, slurring sludge, fractured voices, bass rumbles, innocent chirps, and so on--Splazsh is a feast for the ears.

There are a lot of moments that gently wash away, against the pushing drive of the other songs on the album. Segall mostly attempts to create different spaces of time and is able to make many of them work to his direct advantage.

The ghosts of some of the greats are there for sure, but in the end, This Is Happening sounds like no one except LCD Soundsystem.

Please allow yourself to get lost in its sweeping scope of wonder because it is definitely sprawling. But mostly, we knew he’d be diverse, we just didn’t know it would be this good.

Whether or not you love their music, Brothers represents a champion sound for the duo, one that covers all of their best strengths onto a terrific album; you can’t ask for a better present than that.

Through the different flavors of ice cream on here, The ArchAndroid: Suites II and III remains a proudly boastful album. It should be discussed by a lot of people and the love it's receiving is no fluke either: this is a skillfully talented artist.

Sea of Cowards, for all its snarkiness and caustic overtones, is ultimately a fun record, but it’s likely the band had way more fun playing it than I did listening to it.

It's exceptionally crafted, it's gorgeously composed and it's remarkably rendered by a band that might just be the very best we have today.

On the whole, Grey Oceans seems to be the same old thing. I wouldn't recommend this to a first time listener of the band.

Heaven is Whenever is not just a vast improvement from their last effort but it's also a fifth album from a band that still sounds surprisingly awesome and it's just another album for a detractor to listen to and hopefully, fall in love with--it's only a matter of time.

Flying Lotus has made the strongest album to date with his amazing collection of sounds, beats and instruments; as good as you felt after hearing the sheer brilliance of "Los Angeles."

The album finds the Vancouver collective making only subtle yet effective changes to the way it does business while the songs remain as sturdy and taut as ever; it's one of the most reliable releases you're likely to encounter this year.

At the root of all good music is a dying cause to tell a good story and Future Islands take that kind of attitude to heart with In Evening Air; there is nothing dismissible, or close to it, on here.

Lali Puna’s Our Inventions mesmerizes with wonderfully layered and intricately constructed electronic sound manipulations that are tastefully crafted into experimental pop songs.

While Trans-Continental Hustle isn't exactly a disappointment, it isn't the thoroughly solid album it could (and should have) been.

That Caribou is still hitting the bull's-eye on a moving target is no surprise, but that he's done it with an emotional heft beyond what he seemed capable of in the past makes this album feel like a personal victory as well as a step forward.

Ringle is easily one of the few that can do it so well and lucky us, Thistled Spring is an exemplary example of what folk music is capable of when done right.

There are nine tracks of somewhat forgettable spacey-psych 70's songs that are packed with confusion from start to finish. It sounds as if the band skipped a few pages, assuming that their immediate debut success would carry over with the risks they took for this one.

They’ve amassed a collection of songs that stand together, proudly. It’s not a life-changing moment, nor is it even something that will win tons of new fans but it is a solid album, from front to back.

Ultimately, The Wild Hunt is anything but a disappointment; instead it's a smooth progression that departed exactly where he left off: it's still affecting with countless moments of brilliance, it still showcases a musician that is everything we could want in a songwriter and on a more contextual look, it's still a man making simply honest music with nothing in the way but his heart and soul.

Year of the Black Rainbow is not a bad album. It has its moments, but it is a far, far cry from the greatness Coheed & Cambria possessed on all four previous albums, especially the masterpiece of melody, dynamics, musicianship and continuity that was "Good Apollo I."

It’s certainly going to be one of the most, if not the most, fresh sounding electronic albums of the year and it’s only going to get better as time passes.

These aren't the most outlandish songs but they also aren't the most invasive either; it's all about how much you're willing to let go and enjoy pop music in one of its most honest states. And even if it doesn't move you, Animal Feelings will definitely have you grooving and shaking for quite some time.

No matter the speed at which it moves, Go glows brightly with a formidable sense of ambition and hope.