Tyler, The Creator

Wolf

Odd Future

Rap

Featuring guests Erykah Badu and Earl Sweatshirt, Tyler's third solo effort is a fun but frustrating mix of old tactics and new money.

— David Jeffries

Mudhoney

Vanishing Point

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

Mudhoney celebrate their 25th anniversary with the joyously cranky and nasty Vanishing Point.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Hem

Departure & Farewell

Nettwerk / Waveland

Pop/Rock, Folk

After nearly seven years, this Brooklyn group emerges with an album whose sessions were tried by fire and is all the better for it.

— Thom Jurek

The Band Perry

Pioneer

Republic Nashville

Country

The Band Perry rely on Kimberly Perry's swagger and get accidentally odd on Pioneer.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Bombino

Nomad

Nonesuch

International

Bombino traveled to Nashville for this set with the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, and the result mixes Tuareg rhythms with deep country trance blues.

— Steve Leggett

Alkaline Trio

My Shame Is True

Epitaph

Pop/Rock

Some of the best songs of the punk-pop outfit's career are buoyed by production from the Descendents' Bill Stevenson.

— Matt Collar

New Kids on the Block

10

The Block / Boston Five

Pop/Rock

New Kids on the Block get a Euro-pop makeover on the mature 10.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Gretchen Wilson

Right on Time

Redneck

Country

The aptly named Right on Time shows that Gretchen Wilson is capable of much more than just country honky tonk anthems.

— Steve Leggett

The Besnard Lakes

Until in Excess, Imperceptible UFO

Jagjaguwar

Pop/Rock

The Besnard Lakes' fourth album of expansive, dream-filled psych rock is crafted with skill and affection in equal measure.

— James Wilkinson

Caveman

Caveman

Fat Possum Records

Pop/Rock

Taking a step back from the neon rock of their debut, Caveman's self-titled second album is a more reflective, atmospheric ride.

— Fred Thomas

A Hawk and a Hacksaw

You Have Already Gone to the Other World

L.M. Dupli-Cation

Pop/Rock

The worldly duo's sixth outing was inspired by the1964 art house film Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors by the Soviet filmmaker Sergei Parajanov.

— James Christopher Monger

Various Artists

The Music Is You: A Tribute to John Denver

ATO

Pop/Rock

An eclectic mix of mainstream (Dave Matthews Band, Train) and indie artists (Blind Pilot, Sharon Van Etten) pay homage to a legend.

— James Christopher Monger

Rilo Kiley

Rkives

Little Record Company

Pop/Rock

Rkives is a collection of odds and ends, B-sides, rarities, and unheard songs from Rilo Kiley.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Bonobo

The North Borders

Ninja Tune

Electronic

Organic meets electronic once again, but this excellent effort is the most melancholy and modest album in Bonobo's catalog.

— David Jeffries

Telekinesis

Dormarion

Merge

Pop/Rock

Michael Benjamin Lerner, along with the help of Spoon drummer/producer Jim Eno, offers up another solid set of convivial power pop gems.

— James Christopher Monger

The Bicycles

Stop Thinking So Much

Aporia Records / Fuzzy Logic

Pop/Rock

After a four-year break, Toronto's Bicycles come back with another album of happy, hooky pop that expands their musical horizons a bit.

— Tim Sendra

Charles Bradley

Victim of Love

Dunham Records

R&B

The sophomore album by the Broolkyn soul singer is a progression rather than a departure and every bit as gritty and true.

— Thom Jurek

Generationals

Heza

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock

The '80s new wave-influenced New Orleans duo delivers a warm, lightly experimental, and engaging third album.

— Matt Collar

The Black Angels

Indigo Meadow

Blue Horizon

Pop/Rock

Pared down to a four-piece, the psych-rockers take a break from repetitious riffs and embrace song structure.

— Jason Lymangrover

Milk Music

Cruise Your Illusion

Fat Possum Records

Pop/Rock

This debut owes more than a little of its sound to the influence of the early SST roster, but more original ideas also peek through.

— Fred Thomas

Implodes

Recurring Dream

Kranky

Pop/Rock

Implodes' mix of shoegaze, post-rock, and drone is even more bleakly beautiful on their second album.

— Heather Phares

Kopecky

Kids Raising Kids

ATO

Pop/Rock

A cross between California pop and British Invasion with a dose of Byrdsian guitars, heavily echoed vocals, and nary a Nashville drawl in sight.

— Steve Leggett

Los Amigos Invisibles / Los Hermanos Naturales

Repeat After Me

Nacional Records

Latin

Los Amigos mix '70s funk, Latin soul, and early disco in their wildly creative new gozadera sound, making this a pure listening pleasure.

— Thom Jurek

Io Echo

Ministry of Love

Iamsound

Pop/Rock

Io Echo's debut album introduces their moody, Asian-tinged synth pop, which works best when they don't rely on gimmicks.

— Heather Phares

Brian McKnight

More Than Words

eOne

R&B

Filled with late-'70s/early-'80s R&B and soft rock references, and a bit weird, this is the singer's most enjoyable album since 2006.

— Andy Kellman

Port St. Willow

Holiday

Downtown

Pop/Rock

Bridging skeletal indie arrangements with patches of ambient texture, this debut offers a very personal look at one person's quiet catharsis.

— Fred Thomas

DJ Koze

Amygdala

Pampa

Electronic

The mad techno experimentalist's most daring and creative album yet features help from Matthew Dear, Ada, and Milosh (Rhye).

— Andy Kellman

Don Nix

Living by the Days

Real Gone Music

Pop/Rock

A fine 1971 obscurity by a stellar songwriter, producer, and musician recorded at Muscle Shoals with a who's who of session players.

— Thom Jurek

The Dear Hunter

Migrant

Equal Vision

Pop/Rock

Migrant finds songwriter Casey Crescenzo stepping away from his conceptual album cycle to explore the freedom of writing a traditional album.

— Gregory Heaney

Dutch Uncles

Out of Touch, In the Wild

Memphis Industries

Pop/Rock

If Hot Chip and Field Music had a well-mannered but slightly odd musical baby, it would sound like Out of Touch, in the Wild.

— Heather Phares

Sea Power

Machineries of Joy

Rough Trade

Pop/Rock

BSP's sixth long-player finds the eccentric English indie rockers searching for the sweet spot between magic and melancholy.

— James Christopher Monger

Ólafur Arnalds

For Now I Am Winter

Mercury

Pop/Rock

For Now I Am Winter incorporates elements of pop into the Icelandic artist's already evocative blend of neo-classicism and icy electronica.

— James Christopher Monger

Heavy Hawaii

Goosebumps

Art Fag

Pop/Rock

If the Beach Boys were cough syrup addicts when they recorded "Surfer Girl," it may have ended up sounding like this.

— Tim Sendra

Gin Wigmore

Gravel & Wine

Mercury / Polydor / Universal / Universal Music

Pop/Rock

Gravel & Wine, originally released in New Zealand in 2011, is a huge-sounding dance-pop album full of songs geared straight for the radio station.

— Steve Leggett

Kreutzer Quartet / Gloria Coates

Gloria Coates: Among the Asteroids

Tzadik Records

Classical

This album as a whole seems intended as a sort of introduction to Coates. As such, it's highly recommended.

— James Manheim

The Four Tops

50th Anniversary/The Singles Collection/1964-1972 [3 CD]

Motown

R&B

Like Motown Select's anniversary releases for the Temptations, Supremes, and Vandellas, a generous three-disc object aimed at collectors.

— Andy Kellman

Martha & the Vandellas

50th Anniversary: The Singles Collection 1962-1972

Motown

R&B

Two discs of A-sides and B-sides, plus a fascinating third disc of previously unreleased material, are packaged to delight hardcore fans.

— Andy Kellman

Hawk Nelson

Made

Fair Trade Services

Pop/Rock, Religious

The band's sixth album, 2013's Made, is another big-hearted, big-sounding emo-pop album that's fully stocked with big choruses.

— Tim Sendra

Vladimir Ashkenazy

Rachmaninov Rarities

Decca

Classical

This disc of Rachmaninov rarities offers two genuine novelties on a program of fairly obscure gems for solo piano.

— Blair Sanderson

Hiss Golden Messenger

Haw

Paradise of Bachelors

Pop/Rock, Country

Embodying the traditions of Southern folk, country, bluegrass, rock, psych, and more in visionary prophetic songs, Haw is timeless and mysterious.

— Thom Jurek

Gerald Clayton

Life Forum

Concord

Jazz

A passionate, literate, and hauntingly soulful sophomore album features the pianist backed by an all-star jazz ensemble.

— Matt Collar

Josh Krajcik

Blindly, Lonely, Lovely

BMG / BMG / Relativity / Trajcik Music

Pop/Rock, R&B

The runner-up on the 2011 season of Fox's The X Factor delivers his passionate, soulful major-label debut.

— Matt Collar

Bring Me the Horizon

Sempiternal

Epitaph

Pop/Rock

Bring Me the Horizon open up their hybrid electronica/metalcore sound with a more nuanced and atmospheric fourth album.

— Gregory Heaney

Dark Horses

Black Music

Last Gang Records

Pop/Rock

A surprisingly eclectic, psychedelic set of songs, Black Music shows why Dark Horses are friends with Kasabian and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

— Heather Phares

Beth Hart

Bang Bang Boom Boom [US Bonus Track]

Mascot / MRI / Provogue

Pop/Rock, Blues

Bang Bang Boom Boom finds Beth Hart delivering blues basics with precision and minimal flair.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

HK 119

Imaginature

One Little Indian

Electronic

Aided by Fever Ray's producer, HK 119's third album is an exploration of spirituality and nature that melds the organic with the electronic.

— Heather Phares

Killswitch Engage

Disarm the Descent

Roadrunner Records

Pop/Rock

Original singer Jesse Leach rejoins Killswitch Engage after the departure of Howard Jones on the band's sixth album.

— Gregory Heaney

Kinski

Cosy Moments

Kill Rock Stars

Pop/Rock

After a five-year break, Kinski return with more vocals than ever before and a new appreciation for pop in their expansive jams.

— Fred Thomas

Mad Season

Above [DVD]

Columbia / Legacy

Pop/Rock

Mad Season's lone album gets a deluxe edition complete with B-sides, a live show, DVD, and outtakes from their abandoned second LP.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Barbara & Ernie / Ernie Calabria / Barbara Massey

Prelude To...

Real Gone Music

R&B

A rare 1971 soul-jazz and psych-pop gem featuring vocalist Barbara Massey and guitarist Ernie Calabria.

— Matt Collar

Edo de Waart / Royal Flemish Philharmonic

Mahler: Symphony No. 1

Royal Flemish Philharmonic

Classical

Edo de Waart and the Royal Flemish Philharmonic deliver a worthwhile performance of Mahler's First for the label's A-List series.

— Blair Sanderson

Tine Thing Helseth / Kathryn Stott

Tine

EMI Classics / Warner Classics

Classical

The highlight just may be Hindemith's Trumpet Sonata, to which Helseth brings an unusual most welcome dose of humor.

— James Manheim

Andris Nelsons

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 "Leningrad"

Orfeo

Classical

Andris Nelsons and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra read Shostakovich's Seventh with an emphasis on the work's enigmatic content.

— Blair Sanderson

Grzegorz Nowak / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Brahms: Symphonies No. 1-4

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / RPO

Classical

Grzegorz Nowak's Brahms symphonic cycle is a reliable standard-issue set with traditional interpretations, bonus works, and terrific sound quality.

— Blair Sanderson

Previous Week Next Week