Rogue Wave / Zach Rogue / Pat Spurgeon

Nightingale Floors

Vagrant

Pop/Rock

The band's fifth album serves as a tuneful summary of their entire career to date.

— Tim Sendra

Future Bible Heroes

Partygoing

Merge

Pop/Rock

The third outing from the Stephin Merritt-led trio pairs kitschy, Brill Building-inspired electro-pop with darkly comic tales of woe.

— James Christopher Monger

Queens of the Stone Age

...Like Clockwork

Matador

Pop/Rock

The band reunite with Dave Grohl and Nick Oliveri but sound markedly different on this bold, complex album.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Quadron

Avalanche

Vested in Culture

R&B

On their second album, the Denmark duo fill out and commercialize their sound a little, but neither clutter nor compromise it.

— Andy Kellman

Camera Obscura

Desire Lines

4AD

Pop/Rock

With a new producer and a renewed sense of confidence, this Glaswegian indie pop institution turns in one of its best albums.

— Fred Thomas

Eleanor Friedberger

Personal Record

Merge

Pop/Rock

Friedberger's second solo album blends classic rock warmth with even more finely honed songwriting and pop skills.

— Heather Phares

Buika / Concha Buika

La Noche más larga

Warner Bros. / Warner Music

Latin

On her first record in five years, the Spanish singer and songwriter delivers a stunner that weds flamenco jazz, Afro-Cuban, and R&B.

— Thom Jurek

W. Earl Brown / Max Burkholder / T-Bone Burnett / Patch Darragh / Kelly Garner / Stephen King / Harry Lennix / Hamish Linklater / Samantha Mathis / Matthew McConaughey / John Mellencamp / Meg Ryan

Ghost Brothers of Darkland County

Concord / Hear Music

Stage & Screen

A Southern gothic ghost story musical that wrestles with identity, redemption, and the cruel, recurring cycles of history and fate.

— Steve Leggett

Portugal. The Man

Evil Friends

Atlantic / Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

This delightful experiment pairs the band with producer Danger Mouse, who adds a polished rhythmic attack to their psych-rock sound.

— Thom Jurek

Lenka

Shadows

INgrooves / Skipalong Records

Pop/Rock

A rapturous and endlessly melodic orchestral pop album inspired by Lenka's first pregnancy.

— Matt Collar

Barenaked Ladies

Grinning Streak

Vanguard

Pop/Rock

A polished, electronic-tinged effort that mixes BNL's wry sense of humor with a reflective maturity.

— Matt Collar

Ben Folds Five

Ben Folds Five [Live]

Sony Music

Pop/Rock

The first official live album from the newly re-formed trio captures the group at their most professionally laid- back.

— James Christopher Monger

The Olms

The Olms

Harvest

Pop/Rock

Singer/songwriters Pete Yorn and J.D. King team up to deliver relaxed and hooky guitar pop that sounds like a chilled-out Wilco.

— Tim Sendra

Jon Hopkins

Immunity

Domino

Electronic

Some of his most expansive and accomplished music, Immunity reunites Hopkins with his Diamond Mine collaborator King Creosote.

— Heather Phares

Megadeth

Super Collider

T-Boy Records

Pop/Rock

The band's 14th outing is the first to be released on Dave Mustaine's Tradecraft label.

— James Christopher Monger

George Benson / Nat King Cole

Inspiration: A Tribute to Nat King Cole

Concord

Jazz

A warm, sweet, and impressive big-band tribute to Nat King Cole that is one of Benson's finest albums.

— Steve Leggett

Filter

The Sun Comes Out Tonight

Wind-Up

Pop/Rock

Filter moves back to a major and comes up with a slick, satisfying exercise in maturity.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Gretchen Wilson

Under the Covers

Redneck

Pop/Rock

An album of classic rock songs from the 1970s that mirror Wilson's beginning as a vocalist in cover bands in her native Missouri.

— Steve Leggett

Original Soundtrack

More from Pitch Perfect

Republic / Universal

Pop/Rock, Stage & Screen, Vocal

A mini-album featuring more performances from the Barden Bellas, including Anna Kendrick's viral hit "Cups."

— Heather Phares

Iain Ballamy / Quercus / June Tabor / Huw Warren

Quercus

ECM

Folk, Jazz

This gorgeous live recording by June Tabor, Iain Ballamy, and Huw Warren offers radically rearranged versions of folk songs and standards.

— Thom Jurek

Various Artists

Motown: The Musical [Original Broadway Cast Recording]

Motown

R&B, Stage & Screen, Classical

The Broadway versions of classic Motown hits play closely to the originals, but could never come close to replicating that rare magic.

— Fred Thomas

Big Deal

June Gloom

Mute

Pop/Rock

The London duo's second album captures moody '90s noise-pop and the kind of partly sunny heartbreak that can actually feel pretty good.

— Heather Phares

GRMLN

Empire

Carpark Records

Pop/Rock

GRMLN's first full-length trades the Explore EP's melancholy for clean-cut, '90s-style punk-pop that recalls Jimmy Eat World and Superchunk.

— Heather Phares

Capital Cities / Ryan Merchant / Sebu Simonian

In a Tidal Wave of Mystery

Capitol

Pop/Rock

'70s disco and '80s new wave come together on this ambitious, infectious, synth-heavy debut.

— Matt Collar

Matthew Morrison

Where It All Began

222 Records

Pop/Rock

Glee star Matthew Morrison returns to Broadway on the amiable enough Where It All Began.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Dave Davies

I Will Be Me

Cleopatra / Purple Pyramid

Pop/Rock

Dave Davies' I Will Be Me is an idiosyncratic blend of mysticism, hard rock, and searching pop.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Giovanni Guidi / Giovanni Guidi Trio

City of Broken Dreams

ECM

Jazz

The Italian pianist's ECM debut is an elegant, mysterious, and graceful offering, whose subtlety belies its sophisticated lyricism.

— Thom Jurek

Zak Appleby / Shane Cody / Houndmouth / Matt Myers / Katie Toupin

From the Hills Below the City

Rough Trade

Pop/Rock, Country, Folk

This young Americana band rides bygone themes and imagined nostalgia to a wearying point on its impassioned but ultimately hollow debut.

— Fred Thomas

Peyton Pinkerton

Peyton Pinkerton

Darla

Pop/Rock

Solid first solo album from longtime member of New Radiant Storm King and the Pernice Brothers.

— Tim Sendra

Anarbor

Burnout

Hopeless Records

Pop/Rock

Emo rockers make the move from teenage years to young adulthood on their slightly more mature proper second full-length.

— Fred Thomas

Lonestar

Life as We Know It

4 Star

Country

Lonestar attempts to ride some modern trends on their 20th Anniversary album Life as We Know It.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Naam

Vow

Teepee Records

Pop/Rock

Brooklyn psychedelic warriors guide us through heavy trips and transcendent near-metal moments on their second full-length.

— Fred Thomas

Rory Block

Avalon: A Tribute to Mississippi John Hurt

Stony Plain

Blues

The fifth volume of Rory Block's mentor series features 11 tracks dedicated to country-blues pioneer Mississippi John Hurt.

— Al Campbell

São Paulo Underground

Beija Flors Velho e Sujo

Cuneiform Records

Jazz, Electronic

The Chicago-São Paulo band's jazz-tropicalia-electronic experiments remain concise and appealing on their second Cuneiform album.

— Dave Lynch

Various Artists

Vans Warped Tour 2013 Compilation

SideOneDummy

Pop/Rock

Take an audio tour of the 2013 Warped Tour lineup with this two-disc compilation from SideOneDummy.

— Gregory Heaney

Claudio Abbado / Alessandro Carbonare / Orchestra Mozart / Guilhaume Santana / Jacques Zoon

Mozart: Clarinet Concerto; Flute Concerto No. 2; Bassoon Concerto

Deutsche Grammophon

Classical

This is a lovely thing in many ways and in general will be a recording prized by Abbado fans and old-school Mozart listeners.

— James Manheim

Jon Kimura Parker

Rite

Jon Kimura Parker

Classical

Jon Kimura Parker plays his piano transcriptions of Stravinsky's Le Sacre du printemps and Petrouchka with virtuosic skill and brilliance.

— Blair Sanderson

Mason Williams

The Mason Williams Phonograph Record

Real Gone Music

Pop/Rock, Classical, Easy Listening, Holiday

An eccentric and maverick period piece that is fascinating and odd by turns.

— Steve Leggett

Mason Williams

The Mason Williams Ear Show

Real Gone Music

Pop/Rock, Classical, Easy Listening, Holiday

The follow-up to the Mason Williams Phonograph Record continues its often fascinating eccentricities.

— Steve Leggett

The Builders and the Butchers

Western Medicine

Badman Recording Co.

Pop/Rock

The Portland-based folk-rockers' fourth outing offers up a Cormac McCarthy-inspired set of apocalyptic frontier jams.

— James Christopher Monger

Julian Steckel / Paul Rivinius

Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev

Oehms Classics

Classical

Julian Steckel and Paul Rivinius take on the Russians in this 2013 album of cello sonatas by Rachmaninov and Prokofiev.

— Blair Sanderson

Various Artists

Stravinsky: Le Sacre du printemps

Sony Classical

Classical

Sony celebrates of the centennial of Le Sacre du printemps by reissuing ten historic recordings from RCA and Columbia.

— Blair Sanderson

The King's Singers

Jean Richafort: Requiem - Tributes to Josquin Desprez

Signum Classics

Classical

The King's Singers present Jean Richafort's Requiem in Memoriam Josquin Desprez with motets by his contemporaries and by Josquin himself.

— Blair Sanderson

Ekaterina Derzhavina

Haydn: The Piano Sonatas

Profil - Edition Günter Hänssler

Classical

Ekaterina Derzhavina performs the complete piano sonatas of Haydn with precision, delicacy, and the crispness associated with period practice.

— Blair Sanderson

Dickey Lee

Original Greatest Hits

Real Gone Music

Country

This is the first comprehensive collection of the singer/songwriter's charting singles for RCA during the 1970s.

— Thom Jurek

Albert King

Roadhouse Blues

Stax / Concord / Fantasy

Blues

A nice sampler of Albert King's somewhat unheard and definitely underrated early-'70s work.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

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