This week’s best albums
– On its latest, hardcore outfit Doomriders keeps things short but powerful, giving the album a more straightforward punk feel.
– With its anticipated second LP, Cults showcases a remarkable skill set for crafting dark and demented pop gems.
– Red Fang returns to blast listeners in the face with 11 feel-good stoner-metal stompers.
– Pelican takes a heavier, more aggressive direction on Forever Becoming, taking a bit of the “post” out of the band’s “post-metal.”
– Marijuana Deathsquads presents a more refined direction on a new batch of boundary-blurring, heavily collaborative experimental rock-tronica.
– On his third collaborative album with Greg O’Keeffe, Wilco keyboardist Mikael Jørgensen has his songwriting chops shine through with clarity and power.
Honorable mentions
Anacondas: Sub Contra Blues (Prosthetic)
Black Milk: No Poison, No Paradise (Fat Beats)
The Books: Music for a French Elevator and Other Oddities (Temporary Residence)
Brian Haas & Matt Chamberlain: Frames (The Royal Potato Family)
Cave: Threace (Drag City)
The Dismemberment Plan: Uncanney Valley (Partisan)
Four Tet: Beautiful Rewind (Temporary Residence)
Tim Hecker: Virgins (Kranky)
Kwes: Ilp (Warp)
Dana Lyn: Aqualude (Ropeadope)
Mamiffer & Circle: Enharmonic Intervals (for Paschen Organ) (Ektro / SIGE)