José James

No Beginning No End

Blue Note

Jazz

On his Blue Note debut, José James magnificently blurs genre boundaries between pop, R&B, and jazz, and creates sophisticated music of his own.

— Thom Jurek

Chaz Bundick / Toro y Moi

Anything in Return

Carpark Records

Pop/Rock

Toro y Moi's third full album is a sleek, late-night Chill&B album that's perfectly arranged and rewards multiple listens.

— Tim Sendra

Aaron Neville

My True Story

Blue Note

R&B

The great New Orleans vocalist does his own unique take on doo wop with help from co-producers Keith Richards, Don Was, and an all-star band.

— Thom Jurek

Ex Cops

True Hallucinations

Other

Pop/Rock

The N.Y.C. band borrows from many cool sources (from the Velvet Underground to Factory Records) to make its dreamily sweet indie pop.

— Tim Sendra

Ra Ra Riot

Beta Love

Barsuk

Pop/Rock

The orchestral pop-inflected outfit expands their sonic palette on this synthesizer-heavy album inspired by futurists Ray Kurzweil and William Gibson.

— Matt Collar

Esben and the Witch

Wash the Sins Not Only the Face

Matador

Pop/Rock

Sleek and spectral, Esben and the Witch's second album finds the trio at the peak of its powers.

— Heather Phares

The Joy Formidable

Wolf's Law

Atlantic

Pop/Rock

The Welsh trio's second outing sounds like a storm making its way to land, pausing occasionally to pick up steam amidst the ruin.

— James Christopher Monger

Camper Van Beethoven

La Costa Perdida

429 Records / Membran

Pop/Rock

Willfully homespun, rough around the edges, and crackly as a campfire full of pine branches, roaches, junk mail, and empty tall boys.

— James Christopher Monger

The Lone Bellow

The Lone Bellow

Descendant Records / RED Music Solutions

Country, Pop/Rock

The Lone Bellow's debut album is a gem, full of haunting, passionate songs that breathe with country soul and a kind of autumnal grace.

— Steve Leggett

Alasdair Roberts

A Wonder Working Stone

Drag City

Folk, Pop/Rock, International

This wise and wordy self-penned set from the Glasgow-based scholar of traditional Scottish music is masterfully arranged.

— James Wilkinson

Widowspeak

Almanac

Captured Tracks

Pop/Rock

Widowspeak's second album provides the missing link between Fleetwood Mac and Mazzy Star.

— Heather Phares

Mountains

Centralia

Thrill Jockey

Pop/Rock, Electronic

With this album, the Brooklyn-based electro-acoustic duo take their glowing sounds to new levels of composition and meditative majesty.

— Fred Thomas

Foxygen

We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic

Jagjaguwar

Pop/Rock

A convergence of borrowed ideas, pop star mimicry, and brilliant songcraft result in an incredibly strong album from this nostalgic duo.

— Fred Thomas

He's My Brother She's My Sister

Nobody Dances in This Town

Park the Van / Wienerworld

Pop/Rock

A solid debut from the self-described Los Angeles-based "glam-folk," "cirque rock," "garage country," and "desert pop" quintet.

— James Christopher Monger

Bad Religion

True North

Epitaph

Pop/Rock

For their 16th album, Bad Religion are still delivering sturdy, memorable, and solidly crafted material.

— Jason Lymangrover

Big Harp

Chain Letters

Saddle Creek Records

Pop/Rock

On their sophomore offering, Big Harp move beyond the sonic confines of White Hat toward something more electric, raw, and rootsy.

— Thom Jurek

Petra Haden

Petra Goes to the Movies

Anti-

Pop/Rock

An (almost) all a cappella album that skillfully tackles Haden's favorite movie themes.

— Tim Sendra

Randy Houser

How Country Feels

Stoney Creek Records

Country

Gone indie, Randy Houser winds up with a big, bright country-pop album that sounds as if it should be on the majors.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Carrie Rodriguez

Give Me All You Got

Ninth Street Opus

Folk, Pop/Rock, Country

Everything on Carrie Rodriguez's new outing fits together like honey and smoke in a warm but vibrant Texas breeze.

— Steve Leggett

Poppy Ackroyd

Escapement

Denovali

Avant-Garde

The debut solo album by the Hidden Orchestra's Poppy Ackroyd is a quietly magical and immensely creative.

— Thom Jurek

FaltyDL

Hardcourage

Ninja Tune

Electronic

Cute, crafted, and rich, this fun bundle of irresistible future garage is the N.Y.C.-based producer at his finest.

— David Jeffries

Gary Allan

Set You Free

MCA Nashville

Country

Gary Allan tightens up and lays back on Set You Free, a clean collection of no-frills modern country.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Helloween

Straight Out of Hell

The End

Pop/Rock

Immaculate blasts of impossibly tuneful power metal forged with humor, apocalyptic glee, and an unapologetic love for all things Iron Maiden.

— James Christopher Monger

Max Gomez

Rule the World

New West

Pop/Rock, Country

Sounding calm, unassuming, weary, and wise, Max Gomez sings with the kind of balance and unhurried phrasing of a Townes Van Zandt.

— Steve Leggett

Lavinia Meijer

Philip Glass: Metamorphosis; The Hours

Channel Classics

Classical

The kind of details Meijer adds to the music here are the same as what Glass himself has added to his music over the years. The result is an unusually satisfying way to encounter the music of Philip Glass.

— James Manheim

DRGN King

Paragraph Nights

Bar/None Records

Pop/Rock

Singer/songwriter Dominic Angelella and hip-hop producer Ritz Reynolds joined forces for this soulful mix of slacker pop and psych-tinged rock.

— Matt Collar

Voivod

Target Earth

Century Media / Century Media/EMI

Pop/Rock

Voivod's first studio album with guitarist Michael Langevin recalls the relentless creativity and power of Dimension Hatröss and Nothingface.

— Thom Jurek

Pia Fraus

Silmi Island

Shelflife

Pop/Rock

15-track collection of remixed (and sometime re-recorded) highlights from the career of the Estonian shoegaze revivalists.

— Tim Sendra

The Pogues

The Very Best of the Pogues [2013]

Shout! Factory

Pop/Rock, Folk

Concentrates heavily on the group's first three albums, where Shane MacGowan's writing was its sharpest and the band sounded best.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Don Rich

Sings George Jones

Omn / Omnivore

Country

Buck Owens' guitarist Don Rich recorded this enjoyable collection of George Jones covers in 1970 and it remained unreleased until now.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Buck Owens

Honky Tonk Man: Buck Sings Country Classics

Omn / Omnivore

Country

A collection of 18 unheard, unreleased classic country covers Buck Owens cut for Hee Haw in the early '70s.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Billy Joel

She's Got a Way: Love Songs

Columbia / Legacy / Sony Legacy / Sony Music Distribution

Pop/Rock

Enjoyable collection of Billy Joel's romantic tunes.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Horace Andy

Broken Beats

Echo Beach

Reggae

Dub meets left-field house music as the reggae legend teams with a set of electronica producers on this remix effort.

— David Jeffries

Trapt

Reborn [Deluxe]

Epochal Artists Records / F0F

Pop/Rock

Trapt return with a more expansive, electronic-influenced sound on their fifth album, Reborn.

— Gregory Heaney

Dawn Richard

Goldenheart

AltaVoz

R&B

The second proper album from the former member of Danity Kane and Diddy-Dirty Money is a theatrical contemporary R&B triumph.

— Andy Kellman

FIDLAR

FIDLAR

Mom + Pop Music

Pop/Rock

For their debut, the wild boys in FIDLAR are influenced by classic L.A. hardcore and beer.

— Jason Lymangrover

The Holydrug Couple

Noctuary

Sacred Bones

Pop/Rock

Psychedelic duo the Holydrug Couple evoke the dreamy beauty of their native Chile on their full-length debut for Sacred Bones, Noctuary.

— Gregory Heaney

Föllakzoid

II

Sacred Bones

Pop/Rock

The Chilean post-psych group on Sacred Bones specializes in long-winding space rock jams.

— Jason Lymangrover

Jimbo Mathus / Jimbo Mathus & the Tri-State Coalition

White Buffalo

Fat Possum Records / Turnstile

Pop/Rock

Skillfully navigates the nooks and crannies of Americana, pulling out the sweet and succulent bits and serving them up with Southern hospitality.

— James Christopher Monger

The Night Marchers

Allez! Allez!

Swami

Pop/Rock

The group's second album is another hot-to-the-touch blast of rock & roll fury powered by some of Speedo's typically great songs.

— Tim Sendra

Nightlands

Oak Island

Secretly Canadian

Pop/Rock

The dreamy, experimental pop of Nightlands' second album revisits the innocence of the past with newfound sophistication.

— Heather Phares

Nosaj Thing

Home

Innovative Leisure

Electronic

Jason Chung's downcast second album, following an xx remix and a Kendrick Lamar production, features Chaz Bundick and Kazu Makino.

— Andy Kellman

Patricia Barber

Smash

Concord Jazz

Jazz

Smash is a poetically rich, musically creative meditation on lost love presented with insight, wit, searing honesty, and tenderness.

— Thom Jurek

Pillowfight

Pillowfight

Bulk Recordings

Electronic

Producer Dan the Automator and singer/songwriter/violinist Emily Wells partner for an album that recalls the best bits of trip-hop.

— David Jeffries

Lisa Batiashvili / Christian Thielemann / Staatskapelle Dresden

Johannes Brahms & Clara Schumann

Deutsche Grammophon

Classical

Batiashvili, playing a fearsome cadenza by Ferruccio Busoni in the first movement, is technically superb, but she doesn't let technique overwhelm enthusiasm. The other strong point of this performance is the rousing finale.

— James Manheim

State Choir Latvija / Māris Sirmais

Gabriel Jackson: A Ship with Unfurled Sails

Hyperion

Classical

Ave regina caelorum (2008), in which the choir is joined by electric guitarist Kaspars Zemitis is a unique combination in the annals of choral music. It is masterfully handled and really has to be heard to be believed; it's worth the purchase price by itself.

— James Manheim

Say Anything

All My Friends Are Enemies: Early Rarities

Equal Vision

Pop/Rock

Early demos, rarities, and even the band's self-released debut are collected on the three-disc compilation All My Friends Are Enemies.

— Gregory Heaney

Shugo Tokumaru

In Focus?

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock

Tokumaru's fourth album has some of his most accessible, yet creative, music yet.

— Heather Phares

Tim Easton

Before the Revolution: The Best of Tim Easton 1998-2011

New West

Country

Tim Easton deserves to be better known, and this wonderful collection drawn from his seven New West albums shows why.

— Steve Leggett

Gilles Peterson

Brownswood Bubblers Nine

Brownswood

Electronic

Highlights from Gilles Peterson's ninth eclectic Brownswood compilation come from the likes of Hiatus Kaiyote, Diggs Duke, and Lady.

— Andy Kellman

Various Artists

Pop Ambient 2013

Kompakt

Electronic

Kompakt's 13th ambient compilation is highlighted by a return from Leandro Fresco and Terrapin's cover of Pink Floyd's "Cirrus Minor."

— Andy Kellman

Brokeback

Brokeback and the Black Rock

Thrill Jockey

Pop/Rock

On their first release in almost ten years, the Tortoise spin-off evokes images of dusty highways and desert scenes with their polished instrumentals.

— Fred Thomas

John Wilson / BBC Concert Orchestra

The Longed-for Light: Elgar's Music in Wartime

SOMM

Classical

The whole program is a mixed bag, some blood-and-guts patriotic poems, and Callow delivers weepy, intense performances that are exactly what is called for.

— James Manheim

Leif Ove Andsnes / Mahler Chamber Orchestra

The Beethoven Journey: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 3

Sony Classical

Classical

What you get here are a pair of Beethoven's early piano concertos, recorded with Norwegian Leif Ove Andsnes, conducting the Mahler Chamber Orchestra from the keyboard. These are fresh, vital performances that are well worth the attention.

— James Manheim

Kristian Bezuidenhout

Mozart: Keyboard Music, Vol. 4

Harmonia Mundi

Classical

The two minor-key fantasies and the Prelude and Fugue in C major, K. 394, are presented here in muscular, intense readings that work very well. Even better are the 12 Variations on "Je suis Lindor" in B flat major, K. 354, which can be a very tricky work.

— James Manheim

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