Twenty One Pilots

Breach

Atlantic

Pop/Rock

After ten years and five albums, the genre-blurring Ohio duo brings the story of Clancy to a cathartic, satisfying close.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Ed Sheeran

Play

Atlantic

Pop/Rock

The English singer/songwriter kicks off a new thematic series, blending global pop influence with his reliably heartfelt acoustic musings.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Spinal Tap

The End Continues (Original Soundtrack)

Interscope / Spinal Tap

Pop/Rock, Comedy/Spoken

Britain's loudest and most punctual band pull themselves out of mothballs and confront old age with truly uneven results.

— Mark Deming

Led Zeppelin

Live

Atlantic / Rhino / Rhino Atlantic

Pop/Rock

More a short live album than an EP, this four-song release features raging versions of Physical Graffiti tunes from concerts in 1975 and 1979.

— Fred Thomas

Acceptance

Phantoms/Twenty

Equal Vision

Pop/Rock

The emo-rock crew celebrates 20 years of their seminal debut with the help of some famous friends.

— Neil Z. Yeung

The Chameleons

Arctic Moon

Metropolis / Metropolis Records

Pop/Rock

The influential British post-punk band's first original album in over 20 years maintains their urgent yet atmospheric sound.

— Paul Simpson

Parcels

LOVED

Because Music

Pop/Rock, R&B

While not for cynics, the Aussies' third LP offers a winning mix of celebratory dance-funk, caring bittersweetness, and stratospheric group harmonies.

— Marcy Donelson

Baxter Dury

Allbarone

Heavenly Recordings

Pop/Rock

With the help of Paul Epworth's shimmering production, the debauched poet of the London scene has made his most accessible record yet.

— Tim Sendra

Kassa Overall

CREAM (Cash Rules Everything Around Me)

Warp

Jazz

On his fourth long-player, the drummer and his ensemble revision rap classics live in the studio as instrumental contemporary post-bop jazz.

— Thom Jurek

Metronomy

Greatest Hits/BBC Sessions [2 CD]

Because Music

Pop/Rock, Electronic

The band celebrates their 25th anniversary with an immensely enjoyable collection of highlights from their discography and BBC performances.

— Heather Phares

Robin Kester

Dark Sky Reserve

Memphis Industries

Pop/Rock

An intensely spooky and vulnerable second album recorded with Ali Chant (PJ Harvey, Aldous Harding) and members of Portishead and This Is the Kit.

— Marcy Donelson

Bombadil

How the Moon Got Back Home

Ramseur Records

Pop/Rock

In yet another tunefully bittersweet charmer, the acoustic trio's ninth outing is a concept album about friends helping a fallen moon.

— Marcy Donelson

Joviale

Mount Crystal

Ghostly International

Pop/Rock, R&B

The left-field pop artist joins early collaborator Bullion on Ghostly International with an anguished if buoyant first album.

— Andy Kellman

Peyton

Au

Stones Throw

R&B, Pop/Rock

Funkier and restorative second album from the Houstonian singer/songwriter, produced by Sa-Ra's Shafiq Husayn (Erykah Badu, Robert Glasper).

— Andy Kellman

Rafiq Bhatia

Environments

Anti-

Avant-Garde, Electronic

The wondrous second album from the guitarist, composer, and sound designer, aka one-third of the Academy Award-nominated Son Lux.

— Andy Kellman

Carson McHone

Pentimento

Merge

Pop/Rock

The gifted singer and songwriter takes on a new approach, informed by poetry and artful melodies, that succeeds admirably.

— Mark Deming

The Hidden Cameras

Bronto

Motor / Universal

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Joel Gibb's long-running project genre-hops to Berlin with this pulsing meta-dance-pop set.

— Timothy Monger

Modeselektor

DJ-Kicks

!K7

Electronic

Highly adventurous mix album from the German duo, incorporating polyrhythmic techno, club rap, and dubstep.

— Paul Simpson

Orions Belte

Pur Jus

The Imports / Jansen

Pop/Rock

Breezy grooves rule the quasi-instrumental psych rock trio's less mercurial fourth LP, which was entirely self-recorded live in the studio.

— Marcy Donelson

Blue Earth Sound

Cicero Nights

DeepMatter

Jazz, R&B

Debut by James Weir's Chicago ensemble weds spacy, lush modern jazz to atmosphere, soundtrack, library music, and soul.

— Thom Jurek

Marcel Tadokoro

Adolf von Henselt: Complete Piano Études

Naxos

Classical

Elegant and underrated Romantic piano etudes apply virtuosity to pictorialism and narrative.

— James Manheim

London Oratory Schola Cantorum / Charles Cole

Sacred Treasures of Rome

Hyperion

Classical

The music of Palestrina gains from being surrounded by his lesser-known contemporaries, predecessors, and successors.

— James Manheim

Chloe Chua / Hans Graf / Ziyu He / Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Mozart: Violin Concertos

PentaTone Classics

Classical

Superlatively graceful Mozart from a still-teenage star violinist.

— James Manheim

Julieth Lozano Rolong / João Araújo

Alma: Ibero-American Songs

Somm

Classical

A collection of songs from South America and Iberia, showcasing an impressive young soprano.

— James Manheim

Vilém Vlček / Denis Linnik

Bohuslav Martinů: The Complete Works for Cello and Piano

Supraphon

Classical

A strong recording of Martinů's complete cello music, attuned to its lyrical-dramatic balances.

— James Manheim

Maya Beiser

Salt

Islandia Music

Classical

A collection of works for a very agile cello on the biblical theme of Lot's Wife and related ideas.

— James Manheim

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