Featured New Album Releases

Alice Russell

To Dust

Tru Thoughts

R&B

Despite better-known peers, this Essex singer is the true blue-eyed soul queen, and To Dust proves it inarguably.

— Thom Jurek

10,000 Maniacs

Music from the Motion Picture

Org Music

Pop/Rock

10,000 Maniacs return from a nearly 15-year hiatus without a hitch on the sweet, gentle Music from the Motion Picture.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Atoms for Peace

Amok

XL

Pop/Rock

More about sounds than songs, the first Atoms for Peace full-length sounds like a fleshier sequel to Thom Yorke's first solo album.

— Andy Kellman

Rodney Crowell / Emmylou Harris

Old Yellow Moon

Nonesuch

Country

What took so long? These duets showcase the principals bringing out the best in one another and in the material.

— Thom Jurek

Johnny Marr

The Messenger

New Voodoo

Pop/Rock

Marr joyously embraces all of his signature strengths as a songwriter and guitarist on his solo debut.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Steven Wilson

The Raven That Refused to Sing and Other Stories

Kscope

Pop/Rock

Steven Wilson's third solo album features a crack new band, Alan Parsons, and an excellent set of new compositions.

— Thom Jurek

The Mavericks

In Time

Valory

Country

The Mavericks first new studio album in eight years is not only a return to form for the band, but an extension of it.

— Steve Leggett

Ivan & Alyosha

All the Times We Had

Dualtone Music

Pop/Rock

Ivan & Alyosha's All the Times We Had marks the arrival of a great band fully formed.

— Steve Leggett

Kavinsky

OutRun

Casablanca / Republic

Electronic

Combining EDM and '80s video game-influenced music, the French producer succeeds in giving old-school Sega-heads their dream soundtrack.

— David Jeffries

Deathfix

Dischord Records

Pop/Rock

Made up of alumni from D.C.'s punk scene, this new project is decidedly diverse, taking cues from Big Star, LCD Soundsystem, and '90s grunge.

— Fred Thomas

Charles Lloyd / Jason Moran

Hagar's Song

ECM

Jazz

This is an intuitive conversation on jazz and pop standards between two jazz masters, and also offers a major new composition by the saxophonist.

— Thom Jurek

Mount Moriah

Miracle Temple

Merge

Pop/Rock

The second album by Jenks Miller and Heather McEntire offers a gritty, elegiac, Southern Gothic Americana bursting with desire, poetry, and pathos.

— Thom Jurek

Mogwai

Les Revenants

Rock Action

Pop/Rock, Stage & Screen

The band's score for a French TV show where zombies walk the earth and the world doesn't end defies expectations with an intimate, low-key brilliance.

— Heather Phares

Sally Shapiro

Somewhere Else

Paper Bag Records

Pop/Rock, Electronic

Subtle shifts in sound and some new collaborators make this a nice step forward for the Swedish duo.

— Tim Sendra

Autre Ne Veut

Anxiety

Software

Pop/Rock

Paradoxically, Anxiety's bold sonics and vulnerability make it some of Autre Ne Veut's most confident-sounding music.

— Heather Phares

Shout Out Louds

Optica

Merge

Pop/Rock

The band's self-produced fourth album signals a return to a less mopey/more energetic and slightly less polished sound.

— Tim Sendra

Wayne Hancock

Ride

Bloodshot

Country, Pop/Rock

This set is right in line with what one expects from Wayne Hancock, although it is perhaps a tad more personal.

— Steve Leggett

Gold Fields

Black Sun

Astralwerks

Pop/Rock

The full-length debut from Australia's Gold Fields is dance-oriented mix of '80s new wave-influenced pop.

— Matt Collar

Pearl Necklace

Soft Opening

Smalltown Supersound

Electronic

Filled with playful samples, Soft Opening offers a low-key but promising introduction to the Brooklyn duo's take on minimal techno.

— Heather Phares

James Hunter / The James Hunter Six

Minute by Minute

Concord / Fantasy

Blues, R&B

After five years, the James Hunter Six and producer Gabriel Roth deliver this deft, expressive, wonderful celebration of earthy, gritty retro-soul.

— Thom Jurek

Benga

Chapter II

Sony Music

Electronic

On his major-label debut, the pioneering dubstep producer moves in many directions, displaying the range of his talents.

— Thom Jurek

Michael Bolton

Ain't No Mountain High Enough: A Tribute to Hitsville U.S.A.

Montaign Records

Pop/Rock

Michael Bolton re-creates the sound of classic Motown on Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Lovely Bad Things

The Late Great Whatever

Volcom Entertainment

Pop/Rock

The band's debut is a crackling pop-punk energy rush powered by a love of the Pixies, Star Wars, and making a racket.

— Tim Sendra

VietNam

An A.merican D.ream

Mexican Summer

Pop/Rock

After a five-year disappearance, this Brooklyn unit returns with their finest album to date, full of street sermons and dark imagery.

— Fred Thomas

Joan Armatrading

Starlight

429 Records / Savoy

Folk, Pop/Rock

The soulful English singer/songwriter offers up an evocative new set of jazz-pop originals.

— James Christopher Monger

Bill Frisell

Silent Comedy

Tzadik Records

Avant-Garde

This is the guitarist as we've never heard him before on record, improvising live in a studio with electric guitar, effects, and no overdubs.

— Thom Jurek

BOY

Mutual Friends

Nettwerk

Pop/Rock

BOY's full-length debut is a melodic, introspective album grounded in the group's poignant, female-centric lyrics.

— Matt Collar

Mister Lies

Mowgli

Lefse Records

Electronic, Pop/Rock

This chill album of modern-era background beats is a good throwback to the days of trip-hop.

— Jason Lymangrover

Popstrangers

Antipodes

Carpark Records

Pop/Rock

The New Zealand trio's first full-length is a surprisingly subtle and moody marriage of melody and noise.

— Heather Phares

Etana

Better Tomorrow

VP Records

Reggae

With the singer backed by her live band, the reigning queen of socially conscious reggae continues to innovate and empower on her excellent third album.

— David Jeffries

The Lions

This Generation

Stones Throw

Reggae

The L.A. reggae band signed to Stones Throw for this soulful, dusty-sounding sophomore outing.

— Jason Lymangrover

The Next Collective

Cover Art

Concord Jazz

Jazz

The debut from the jazz supergroup features songs by artists from such genres as pop, rock, R&B, and hip-hop.

— Matt Collar

Woodpigeon

Thumbtacks and Glue

Boompa! Records

Pop/Rock

A ruggedly ornate set of basement chamber pop songs that should please fans of early Sufjan Stevens.

— James Christopher Monger

Chris Duarte / The Chris Duarte Group

My Soul Alone

Blues Bureau International / Shrapnel

Blues, Pop/Rock

This set doesn't break much new ground on Chris Duarte's Texas blues template, but it does spotlight his songwriting, and his guitar work shines.

— Steve Leggett

Grave Babies

Crusher

Hardly Art

Pop/Rock

Purposely destroyed by cassette distortion, these goth pop anthems are very enjoyable all the same.

— Jason Lymangrover

Eric Alexander

Touching

HighNote Records

Jazz

Jazz tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander delivers his first album of all ballads.

— Matt Collar

Fanny

Real Gone Music

Pop/Rock

Self-titled 1970 debut from the first all-female rock & roll band signed to a major record label.

— Lindsay Planer

Freddie King

The Complete King Federal Singles

Real Gone Music

Blues

The A- & B-sides of Freddie King's classic singles for King and Federal are collected on this excellent two-disc set.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rod McKuen

Listen to the Warm [Deluxe Edition]

Real Gone Music

Vocal

Rod McKuen

Sold Out at Carnegie Hall [Deluxe Edition]

Real Gone Music

Comedy/Spoken

Spotlights the singer and poet's legendary 1969 birthday concert at Carnegie Hall.

— Matt Collar

Hank Williams

The Greatest Hits Live, Vol. 2

Time/Life Music

Country

Hank Williams' career was at an end just as the era of live-to-tape concert, radio, and television shows began, but a few performances were preserved.

— Steve Leggett

Cappadonna

Eyrth, Wynd & Fyre/Love Anger & Emotion

RBC

Rap

There's an accomplished album to carve out of it, but the Wu-Tang Clan affiliate's double-disc release is too cumbersome to call classic.

— David Jeffries

Stratovarius

Nemesis

Armoury Records / Eagle Rock

Pop/Rock

Another riveting, ludicrous, ornate, hammy, and explosive set from one of the genre's finest practitioners.

— James Christopher Monger

Hello People

Fusion

Real Gone Music

Pop/Rock

The second album from this late-'60s concept band fuses various styles of the day for a weird mesh of convoluted but pleasant songs.

— Fred Thomas

Jeff Healey / The Jeff Healey Band

House on Fire: Demos & Rarities

Eagle Rock

Pop/Rock

House on Fire collects outtakes and demos from Jeff Healey's '90s recordings for Arista.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Les Dominos / Florence Malgoire

François Couperin: Complete Sonatas

Ricercar

Classical

These are odd fusions of French and Italian styles that are beautifully animated by the French historical-instrument group Les Dominos and its leader, violinist Florence Malgoire.

— James Manheim

Max Barros

Camargo Guarnieri: Piano Music, Vol. 1

Naxos

Classical

Barros has a careful style, but his commitment to and knowledge of this music is enthusiastic. Recommended for all interested in Latin American music.

— James Manheim