Anderson East didn't reinvent the wheel with his latest efforts on 'Encore', he just made a really good album. "This guy is the real deal," lauds Bill DeVille of the Nashvillian.

All 10 songs on "Ruins" stay true to the formula that Johanna and Klara first charmed listeners with - lush vocal harmonies and infectious melodies. With some added instrumentation from Peter Buck and Wilco's Glen Kotche, the album is some their finest work yet.

If Merrill Garbus is a painter she's a surrealist like Dali, with sounds dripping, warping and in places that shouldn't fit, but somehow tell a more interesting story because of the strange juxtaposition. And if she's a baker, she's making croissants; a painstaking process of bending, folding, and layering - over and over.

'Just for Us' leans on a very minimalistic sound, giving the air of something he whipped up with some keyboards in his bedroom one afternoon. That isn't a bad thing, as all of these songs sound like a brief emotional snapshot, whose impact would perhaps have been lessened had they been subjected to a more rigorous recording process.

'A Sheik's Legacy' takes the listener on a journey through the dark and twisting corners of Abban's mind, flickering torches lighting the way. It will take years for all of his potential paths to be fully illuminated -- making him one of the most promising new artists to emerge in 2017.

Sharon Jones' life was a reminder that you never give up on your dreams and that you'll never be let down if you believe in yourself and embrace the lessons of finding the love in others.

Bjork is one of the most divisive artists that we play. Sometimes, as detractors will point out, her vocal stylings can be shrill, piercing, hard to take and even harder to comprehend. Yes, she's different, difficult and wonderfully divisive and thank goddess for that.

On 'Undivided Heart and Soul', JD McPherson and his band are a well oiled machine. Recorded at Nashville's Studio B, it's certainly McPherson's most raucous album yet.

Given how difficult it is to maintain freshness as an artist 37 continuous years into a career, 'Songs of Experience' teaches us this is a thing to be celebrated.

The Rural Alberta Advantage's fourth studio album is one of the best independent rock albums of the year, and one of the most overlooked.