At its best, Gabe Ibañez’s Automata is the kind of visually rich, idea-driven SF sleeper that will always find a home in our collective unconscious, holding up a mirror to the horrors nested in our march towards an increasingly contemporary future world.

Wilco’s first big splash as a band came with their sophomore release, 1996’s Being There. A double album stuffed to the brim with varying styles, moods, and themes, it remains an enjoyable and eclectic listen as a tour through rock and roll and alt-country history.

The past decade-plus has not been kind to Bill Murray characters.

While Brooklyn duo Dinosaur Feathers claim acts as diverse as Harry Nilsson and Drake as influences, on second album Control this supposed manifold of era-defining sounds is nowhere to be seen. Instead, the end result is something of a post-Foster the People/Phoenix pastiche of chirpy guitar pop.

Jessica Lange is back leading American Horror Story, this time as Elsa Mars, the fame seeking, washed-up Vaudeville actress and ringmaster of Freak Show. Craving the stardom that eluded her as a younger performer, Elsa recruits freaks, “human oddities” that perform—or at least, put themselves on display—in her traveling act.

Some people age well—“successful agers” as they say. After 66 years and over 18 million albums sold, a bit of wear and tear is to be expected. And a “bit” is all that Jackson Browne shows.

John Darnielle is the songwriter/guitarist/vocalist for the band The Mountain Goats. Wolf in White Van is his first novel. The book traces protagonist Sean as he copes with life after a self-inflicted “accident” has rendered him with a deformed face.

Spencer Krug’s fifth recording as Moonface, the 5-song EP City Wrecker, continues along the path he walked on 2013’s Julia With Blue Jeans On: it’s simply Krug’s voice and a piano.

Connections are growing into a distinctive sound, away from the classic-era Guided By Voices vibe they cultivated early on.