Featured New Album Releases

Hawthorne Heights

Zero [Standard Version]

Red River

Pop/Rock

Hawthorne Heights explore a dystopian future on their conceptual fifth album, Zero.

— Gregory Heaney

Jane's Addiction

Live in NYC

Universal

Pop/Rock

Inessential but still fun listening, this live date from a 2011 concert sees these alternative rock legends sticking mostly to fan favorites.

— Fred Thomas

The Three O'Clock

The Hidden World Revealed

Omnivore

Pop/Rock

Interesting and deep collection of album tracks, singles, alternate takes, and demos from the '80 foremost psych pop revivalists.

— Tim Sendra

Mavis Staples

One True Vine

Anti-

R&B

Another fine gospel-soul collaboration with Jeff Tweedy, this features inspired Funkadelic and Low covers, along with a revived Staple Singers cut.

— Andy Kellman

India.Arie

SongVersation

Motown

R&B

The adult contemporary R&B veteran's Motown return is a positive, uplifting set enhanced by contributions from several Turkish musicians.

— Andy Kellman

Various Artists

After Dark, Vol. 2

Italians Do It Better

Pop/Rock, Electronic

Second volume of pleasantly similar Italo and electro-informed indie from the label that spawned the Chromatics and Glass Candy.

— Fred Thomas

Booker T. Jones

Sound the Alarm

Concord

R&B

Jones' tenth solo album isn't technically a guest duets album, but it's close, with a contemporary sound that sure isn't the MG's.

— Steve Leggett

Smith Westerns

Soft Will

Mom + Pop Music

Pop/Rock

The band's third album is a slick indie rock affair that relies on synth-heavy atmosphere and slower tempos to deliver an emotional punch.

— Tim Sendra

Wale

The Gifted

Atlantic

Rap

More mature but still macking, the rapper offers equal insight and irresponsibility on his third album.

— David Jeffries

Siriusmo

Enthusiast

Monkeytown

Electronic

The producer's second album offers a slightly more focused version of the freewheeling sound he's been purveying since the early 2000s.

— Heather Phares

Rose Windows

The Sun Dogs

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

Rose Windows make an impressive debut with their sprawling and psychedelic first album The Sun Dogs.

— Gregory Heaney

Alicia Keys

VH1 Storytellers

RCA

R&B

An expanded, albeit choppy, document of the singer/pianist's VH1 performance, which first aired just prior to the release of Girl on Fire.

— Andy Kellman

Bosnian Rainbows

Rodriguez Lopez Productions / Sargent House

Pop/Rock

The two members of Mars Volta sound nothing like their old band, and instead write fantastic, '80s-sounding goth pop.

— Jason Lymangrover

Forever the Sickest Kids

J.A.C.K.

Fearless Records

Pop/Rock

Poster boys for frothy emo pop release another album of catchy, but empty, songs about girls and stuff.

— Tim Sendra

Lightning Dust

Fantasy

Jagjaguwar

Pop/Rock

Moving away from their earlier dreamy folk sound, the Vancouver indie duo's third album employs clumsy, minimal electronics to great effect.

— Fred Thomas

Montag

Phases

Carpark Records

Electronic, Pop/Rock

The results of Montag's 12-singles-in-a-year project offer some of his most creative and eclectic music yet.

— Heather Phares

Hausu

Total

Hardly Art

Pop/Rock

This indie rock group from Portland pools influences from classic goth and post-punk.

— Jason Lymangrover

Transplants

In a Warzone

Epitaph

Pop/Rock

The band reunites after a few years apart and delivers a stripped-down punk attack that mostly forsakes the rap-rock hybrid displayed on previous efforts.

— Tim Sendra

Willie Nile

American Ride

Loud & Proud / River House Records

Pop/Rock

The veteran New York singer/songwriter turns in a fierce set of rock & roll tunes full of poetry, grit, swagger, and strut.

— Thom Jurek

Matias Aguayo

The Visitor

Cómeme

Electronic

Recorded in five countries with nearly 20 vocalists and percussionists, the ex-Closer Musik member's third album is his loosest and looniest work.

— Andy Kellman

Brian Posehn

The Fartist

New Wave Dynamics

Comedy/Spoken

Fatherhood turns the comedian's head around, but there are still hilarious stories of farts, boobies, and Boba Fett.

— David Jeffries

Amon Amarth

Deceiver of the Gods

Metal Blade

Pop/Rock

A winning collection of mead-drenched, mace-to-the-face Viking anthems that are as melodic as they are savage.

— James Christopher Monger

Big Star

Nothing Can Hurt Me

Omnivore

Pop/Rock

The soundtrack to the Big Star documentary is filled with alternate mixes and takes.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Bob Marley / Bob Marley & the Wailers

Legend Remixed

Island / Tuff Gong

Electronic

The best-selling reggae album of all time gets the remix treatment with rich and rewarding results.

— David Jeffries

Various Artists

Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle

Nonesuch

Folk, Pop/Rock

Three concerts recorded over three years on two continents offer both a musical family album and a star-studded tribute to songwriter Kate McGarrigle.

— Thom Jurek

Cheyenne Mize

Among the Grey

Yep Roc

Pop/Rock

On her third release, the Louisville singer/songwriter pushes the sonic envelope further, weaving spacy, organic psych through her intimate songs.

— Thom Jurek

Mood Rings

VPI Harmony

Mexican Summer

Pop/Rock

The Atlanta quintet's full-length debut takes dream pop to stylized, euphoric, and eclectic heights.

— Heather Phares

John Barrett / Bass Drum of Death

Bass Drum of Death

Innovative Leisure

Pop/Rock

For his second outing, John Barrett makes more quick, dirty garage punk in the lo-fi spirit of Wavves and Ty Segall.

— Jason Lymangrover

The Swimming Pool Q's

1984-1986: The A&M Years [CD & DVD]

A&M / Bar/None Records

Pop/Rock

Overdue collection of the '80s jangly college rock outfit the Swimming Pool Q's.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

All Tiny Creatures

Dark Clock

Hometapes

Pop/Rock

Richly detailed, highly evocative retro-electro-pop in the vein of Foster the People, Animal Collective, and the Horrors.

— James Christopher Monger

Attila

About That Life

Artery Recordings / Razor & Tie / Rsm

Pop/Rock

Southern-fried metalcore provocateurs offer up another face-melting, Axe-scented collection of nihilistic "dudebro" anthems.

— James Christopher Monger

August Burns Red

Rescue & Restore

Solid State

Pop/Rock

August Burns Red's sixth album breaks the mold with its dazzlingly technical rhapsodic metalcore.

— Gregory Heaney

Jerry Garcia / Jerry Garcia Band

GarciaLive, Vol. 2: August 5th 1990 Greek Theatre

ATO

Pop/Rock, Country

Archival date from 1990 finds Jerry with some downtime from the Dead, enjoying a lazy summer jam session with a cameo from Béla Fleck.

— Fred Thomas

Jillette Johnson

Water in a Whale

Wind-Up / Wind-Up Records

Pop/Rock

A sophisticated, boldly confident album full of confessional yet wry piano-driven epics that showcase Johnson's resonant vocals.

— Matt Collar

James Brown

Best of Live at the Apollo: 50th Anniversary

Polydor

R&B

A dynamite sequence of an explosive performer on the exact right stage at the exact right time in front of the exact right audience.

— Steve Leggett

Bomb the Bass

In the Sun

O Solo Records

Electronic

Joined by singer and co-producer Paul Conboy, Tim Simenon's electronica project takes an indie turn on this surprising success.

— David Jeffries

Natalie Cole

En Español

Verve

Vocal

Over 50 years after her father's first Spanish-language album, Natalie offers her own likable diversion.

— Andy Kellman

Omar

The Man

Freestyle Records

R&B

That's Omar Lyefook MBE now, and this is one of his most dazzling albums, featuring Caron Wheeler and Pino Palladino.

— Andy Kellman

Serengeti

Kenny Dennis LP

Anticon

Rap

Teaming with Odd Nosdam, Serengeti adopts the persona of 50-year-old rapper Kenny Dennis for this hilarious concept album.

— Jason Lymangrover

Skillet

Rise

Warner Bros.

Religious, Pop/Rock

An inspirational concept album fueled by a holy blend of hard rock, post-grunge, and soaring alternative rock.

— James Christopher Monger

Femi Kuti

No Place for My Dream

Knitting Factory Records

International

Using Afro-beat as a jumping-off point to explore other global sounds, Fela Kuti's eldest son expertly builds bridges to other cultures.

— Thom Jurek

Henning Kraggerud / Tromsø Kammerorkester

Grieg: Three Concerti for Violin and Chamber Orchestra

Naxos

Classical

The characteristic lyrical Grieg appears mostly in the slow movements, and Kraggerud is quite affecting here.

— James Manheim

Matt Haimovitz / Dennis Russell Davies / Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra

Philip Glass: Cello Concerto No. 2 "Naqoyqatsi"

Orange Mountain Music

Classical

The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under Russell Davies catches the grander moments without the pounding quality they take in inferior Glass performances.

— James Manheim