Creative Adult - Ring Around the Room: Much better in bite-size form.

Creative Adult - Psychic Mess: A little longer than I would have liked.

Creative Adult - Bulls in the Yard: A continuation of their previous EP.

Creative Adult - Dead Air: A little Fucked Up vibe.

Broken Social Scene - Let's Try The After, Vol. 2: Not as strong as Vol. 1 which was not as strong as Hug of Thunder.

A Certain Ratio - ACR:SET: Nice to have a one-disc overview of this essential post-punk band.

Tallest Man On Earth - I Love You. It's A Fever Dream: A little less Dylan-esque, a bit more compelling.

Starflyer 59 - Young In My Head: Perfect album after a long week.

Mummies - Never Been Caught: I would have believed you if you said it was a long lost proto-punk band.

Mountain Goats - In League with Dragons: I wish it had a little more fire.

Martha - Love Keeps Kicking: And they keep writing hooks!

Magic Circle - Departed Souls: Feels too Greta Van Fleet this time around.

Jenny Lewis - On The Line: Looking forward to a Greatest Hits from her.

La Dispute - Panorama: I want to like it, but still undecided.

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Fishing For Fishies: Unexpected, as always.

Craig Finn - I Need A New War: Or at least a new band?

Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks (Original New York Test Pressing): How different the world may have been.

Coasta - Sunzal: Interesting Brand New-related nugget.

Andrew Bird - My Finest Work Yet: Pretty close.

Beyonce - Homecoming: I was hoping this would be a good introduction. I am clearly not the target audience.

Autoclave - Autoclave: Feels so far ahead of its time, even for Dischord.

Xiu Xiu - Girl with Basket of Fruit: The album I did not know I wanted, but now need in my life.

The Wrens - Meadowlands: Sorry I missed this classic when it came out. Scratched a lot of itches.

Watsky - Complaint: My least favorite, but still better than most others.

Various - Holy Split (Origami Angel/Commander Salamander): Love what both bands are doing in their own space and, now, together.

Spirit of the Beehive - Hypnic Jerks: The Unicorns would be proud.

Spanish Love Songs - Schmaltz: Just enough different from the current Menzingers/Hotelier sound to keep it interesting.

Sidney Gish - No Dogs Allowed: Skippable.

Retirement Party - Somewhat Literate: Somewhat good.

Radar State - Strays: Feels too comfortable for its own good, but sounds like they are having fun.

Amanda Palmer - There Will Be No Intermission: Always worth a listen.

Anderson .Paak - Oxnard: Not my favorite album of his, but still solid.

Anderson .Paak - Venice: You could already here what he would become.

Mono - Nowhere Now Here: Right place, right time. Really liked this.

Knope - No Life: Looking forward to more.

Kississippi - Sunset Blush: Not bad, but nothing groundbreaking.

Khayembii Communique - Khayembii Communique: Another forgotten screamo band.

Just Friends - Nothing But Love: Great little record.

Hatebreed - Concrete Confessional: It is Hatebreed and I did not miss much by not knowing this came out.

Ezra Furman - Transangelic Exodus: Would love to see a tour with of Montreal.

The Drums - Abysmal Thoughts: Nice improvement

The Drums - Encyclopedia: Sounds like they are trying too hard.

Broken Social Scene - Let's Try The After (Vol. 1): Worthy addition to the catalog.

boygenius - boygenius: Given the hype, I was expecting more, but still solid.

Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center: Not exactly essential Oberst, but nice to have.

Beirut - Gallipoli: Beautiful soundtrack.

Paul Baribeau - Paul Baribeau: Was hoping for something more cohesive.

The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships: Not sure who the target demographic for something like this is, but it is not me.

American Football - LP3: Big step up from the solid LP2

Young Jesus - The Whole Thing Is Just There: This is an album worth diving into.

Swingin' Utters - Peace and Love: Not sure if this is the same band from Five Lessons Learned.

Street Dogs - Stand For Something Or Die For Nothing: Heard one, heard them all.

Pinback - Summer in Abaddon: AFK is a big winner, but the rest fails to engage.

mewithoutYou - [Untitled]: These guys have grown up.

The Interrupters - Fight The Good Fight: Much better than I would have thought.

Give - Love In This House: Sad to see these guys go out.

Foxing - Nearer My God: I really want to like this, but just cannot seem to get into it.

Daughters - You Won't Get What You Want: I can understand the hype for those looking for something heavier.

Camp Cope - How To Socialize and Make Friends: All the songs blend together, though not terrible songs.

Antagonize - Promo: Very much looking forward to a full length

Throbbing Gristle - 20 Jazz Funk Greats: Indeed.

Earl Sweatshirt - Some Rap Songs: Cannot wait for Some More Rap Songs.

Soccer Mommy - Clean: Pretty generic singer-songwriter album.

Smashing Pumpkins - Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1: I continue to enjoy everything he puts out.

Slow Fire Pistol - Beauty: I wish they would release more

Saba - Care For Me: Probably the best hip-hop album of last year.

Noname - Room 25: Lacks urgency

Janelle Monae - Dirty Computer: I can see the reason for the hype, but it does not hit on all cylinders.

Low - Double Negative: I had written these guys off a while back. Prematurely, it seems.

Dead Kennedys - Iguana Studios Rehearsal: Not essential, but fascinating all the same.

Beach House - 7: I cannot get into it.

Say Anything - Oliver Appropriate:Feels disjointed musically.

MF DOOM and Bishop Nehru - NehruvianDOOM: Not sure how I missed this in the DOOMverse, but glad I found it.

LVL UP - Hoodwink'd: Incredibly solid indie rock album.

Lingua Ignota - Al Bitches Die: Recommended in the vein of Death Grips, but not in the same universe.

Julia Holter - Aviary: So much here to like, even if it does feel long at time.

Laura Jane Grace - Bought To Rotl Unenamored with the lead single, the album experience completely redeems it.

Drug Church - Cheer: One of my favorite punk-adjacent albums of the year.

Disco Inferno - D.I. Go Pop: I had high hopes for this post-rock album. Too high as it turns out.

Titus Andronicus - Home Alone On Halloween: An unproductive EP.

Machine Girl - The Ugly Art: Some compelling moments, but overall falls flat.

Jim Carrol Band - Catholic Boy: Thank you for the introduction Against Me!.

Bob Dylan - More Blood, More Tracks: My favorite Dylan album, but six discs is a bit much.

Cursive - Vitriola: Been years since I revisted The Ugly Organ. Time to do so again.

Wall Breaker - 2017 - Demo: Better than anticipated from their live show. Looking forward to more.

Thrice - Palms: I can just never get their stuff to stick with me.

Saves The Day - 9: Some interesting production choices early on, but the 20+ minute closing is the only essential track.

Restorations - LP5000: Solid rock album.

The Mountain Goats - Hex Of Infinite Binding: Always so solid, I look forward to each release.

The Mice - For Almost Ever, Scooter: Fantastic power pop that should be found by more.

Paul McCartney - Egypt Station: A little long, but it still such a treasure to have.

Joyce Manor - Million Dollars To Kill Me: I want it to be harder and faster than it is.

Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow: Would love to re-listen without the two big singles.

Gouge Away - Burnt Sugar: What a ripper!

Fucked Up - Dose Your Dreams: I like some of what they are doing, but certainly feels like a band looking for a new identity at times.

Crime - San Francisco's STILL Doomed: I think I have reach peak post-punk.

Candy - Good To Feel: Another example of the modern hardcore resurgence.

Bad Moves - Tell No One: Tell everyone about this great little pop/rock album.

Coheed and Cambria - The Unheavenly Creatures: Their best since IKSSE3.

Tragedy - Fury: Yep, Tragedy.