Tonight We Dance

In five tracks and just over 20 minutes, “Not the Actual Events” manages to build on Nine Inch Nails’ past while stepping resolutely into their future. And after 28 years, we’re still excited to see what comes next.

Pixies’ full acceptance of the shifts in their schema only further solidify their inimitable identity. The exultant result: Head Carrier, a new classic.

“Yellowcard” never feels treacly or forced. It’s emo for grownups and a proper close for a band that wanted to go out on its own terms.

Turning it up to eleven, PUP’s second album is a tongue-in-cheek rampage through everything that matters. The dream might not be what they thought it would be, but when they’re capable of a record as unrelenting as this one, then it’s certainly not over.

Harvey set out to bring listeners and the underprivileged subjects of her record together, and the exciting thing is that that final moment should surely do that.

The dreamy sensation and emotional relevance of “Futures” is apparent here, and the catchier tracks sound as natural as they ever have.

“Instigator” is a vivid example of blending political and relevant themes. Kevin Devine has always had a political undertone; sometimes blunt, sometimes vague, and his latest album is Devine at his most direct and unforgiving.

“Ruminations” is a vulnerable Conor Oberst cracked open, spilling his soul. Pain is its recurring theme and though Oberst comes close to wallowing in it, the gift is his ability to embrace and absorb it and make it something beautiful.

Radiohead’s most melodically accessible collection, almost meditative in its ethereal mid-tempo loveliness, yet shot through with the kind of edgy details that never quite let a listener relax. It is chill-out music to put your nerves on edge.

Fallon’s story is far from finished. This guy is one of the best songwriters of his generation, in any genre, and if his future albums--solo or not--are as full of pleasures as Painkillers, we have nothing to worry about