Jay-Z

Magna Carta... Holy Grail

Roc Nation

Rap

Overshadowed by its promotional campaign, the 12th studio album from Beyoncé's husband is as hasty as it is inspired.

— Andy Kellman

Ciara

Ciara

Epic

R&B

Despite involvement from several writers and producers, including fellow Atlanta native Mike Will, Ciara's fifth album is lean and focused.

— Andy Kellman

Robert Pollard

Honey Locust Honky Tonk

Guided by Voices, Inc.

Pop/Rock

Pollard's first solo outing for 2013 (his 19th overall) survives a rocky start by delivering a satisfying endgame.

— James Christopher Monger

Mr. 305

International Takeover, Vol. 1

Ultra Records

Electronic, Rap

With members David Rush, Qwote, and Vein, Pitbull's posse offer a pool party soundtrack with plenty of uplifting club cuts.

— David Jeffries

µ-Ziq

Chewed Corners

Planet Mu

Electronic

After a six-year hiatus, µ-Ziq returns with an eclectic album full of unexpected juxtapositions of three decades' worth of electronic music.

— Heather Phares

Letlive

The Blackest Beautiful

Epitaph

Pop/Rock

In a blistering show of both aggression and sophistication, this L.A.-based hardcore unit turns in its most ambitious work to date.

— Fred Thomas

Preservation Hall Jazz Band

That's It!

Sony Legacy

Jazz

The storied New Orleans institution's first album of all-original material, featuring production from My Morning Jacket's Jim James.

— Matt Collar

Bell X1

Chop Chop

Belly Up

Pop/Rock

Atmospheric, deeply ruminative sixth studio album from the Irish indie rock outfit.

— Matt Collar

Thundercat

Apocalypse

Brainfeeder

R&B

Super-powered bassist Stephen Bruner works through the passing of collaborator and close friend Austin Peralta with a phenomenal second album.

— Andy Kellman

Anna von Hausswolff

Ceremony

Other Music Recording Company

Pop/Rock

On her sophomore effort, the Swedish singer/songwriter bravely chooses an Annedal church organ as her primary instrument and the result is thrilling.

— Thom Jurek

Whirr

Around

Graveface Records

Pop/Rock

Languid, droning, and communicated from a distance, this four-song EP channels the greats of '90s shoegaze in a textural blur.

— Fred Thomas

Maps

Vicissitude

Mute

Pop/Rock, Electronic

Maps' third album delivers clear-eyed electro-pop about coming to terms with life's inevitable changes.

— Heather Phares

Salvia Plath

The Bardo Story

Weird World

Pop/Rock

Well-crafted, very tuneful neo-psych with folk and soundtrack influences that's a little weird, but easy to get into.

— Tim Sendra

Scud Mountain Boys

Do You Love the Sun

Ashmont Records

Pop/Rock

Joe Pernice and company return with another fine collection of melancholic country and Sunday afternoon, post-pot roast AM pop.

— James Christopher Monger

Speedy Ortiz

Major Arcana

Carpark Records

Pop/Rock

The group's 2013 debut sounds like an exact replica of mid-'90s indie rock, but it's a darn good one.

— Jason Lymangrover

Congo Natty

Jungle Revolution

Big Dada

Electronic, Rap, Reggae

The jungle producer and rebel MC offers an exciting batch of old-school jungle on his first album in eight years.

— David Jeffries

CFCF

Music for Objects

Dummy / Paper Bag Records

Pop/Rock, Electronic

Michael Silver's Montreal-based studio project grows into a more heady experience with this EP exploring everyday objects.

— David Jeffries

Hebronix

Unreal

ATP Recordings / The Orchard Records

Pop/Rock

When the ambitious, sprawling shoegaze of this debut from Hebronix works, it really does work.

— Daniel Clancy

The Deadly Gentlemen

Roll Me, Tumble Me

Rounder / Rounder Records

Folk, Country, Pop/Rock

Boston-based string band has grown into a solid acoustic pop band with its third album.

— Steve Leggett

The Octopus Project

Fever Forms

Peek-a-Boo

Pop/Rock

Following an ambitious 2010 album, this Texas quartet pushes its sound into warmer, more accessible places than expected.

Fossil Collective

Tell Where I Lie

Vagrant

Pop/Rock, Country

Debut album from a Leeds-based duo cut from the same classic rock-inspired indie folk cloth as Fleet Foxes or Bon Iver.

— Fred Thomas

Mekon

Piece of Work

The End

Electronic, Pop/Rock

John Gosling's Mekon project genre-jumps across the electronica spectrum on this dark but attractive album.

— David Jeffries

Charnett Moffett

Spirit of Sound

Motéma Music

Jazz

Atmospheric, exotic, and often hypnotic bass-driven songs that showcase Moffett's virtuoso skills.

— Matt Collar

Trampled Under Foot

Badlands

Telarc

Blues

The major-label debut from a trio of siblings who grew up in the Kansas City jazz and blues scene with their parents.

— Al Campbell

Travis Tritt

The Calm After...

Post Oak Records

Pop/Rock, Country

Tritt's 2007 album The Storm is reissued with two bonus covers.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Battlecross

War of Will

Metal Blade

Pop/Rock

Battlecross deliver old-school metal the way you remember it on War of Will.

— Gregory Heaney

Maysa

Blue Velvet Soul

Shanachie

R&B

Yet another enjoyable album from the Incognito vocalist, highlighted by an excellent cover of a song originally recorded by Nancy Wilson.

— Andy Kellman

Cornell Campbell / Soothsayers

Nothing Can Stop Us

Strut

Reggae

The reggae great has found an excellent backing band with the London-based Soothsayers, and the results are outstanding.

— David Jeffries

The Dirty Streets

Blades of Grass

Alive Records

Pop/Rock

Power trio takes its classic hard rock sound into Ardent Studios.

— Steve Leggett

Donell Jones

Forever

eOne

R&B

Even closer to a one-man show than his previous release, Jones' sixth album offers more mid-wattage consistency with a couple surprises.

— Andy Kellman

Louise Burns

The Midnight Mass

604 Records / Light Organ Records

Pop/Rock

Second solo record by former Lillix bassist shows remarkably artistic growth and sophistication as well as a newfound synth pop influence.

— Tim Sendra

Omar Dykes

Runnin' with the Wolf

Mascot / Provogue

Blues

Omar Dykes, of Omar & the Howlers, pays tribute to blues icon Howlin' Wolf on Runnin' with the Wolf.

— Al Campbell

Conrad Tao

Voyages

EMI Classics / Warner Classics

Classical

As one of just a few exploring the role of pianist/composer, early indications are good. Tao's own works, though brief, are quite engaging.

— James Manheim

Roedelius Schneider

Tiden

Bureau B

Electronic, Pop/Rock

On their elegant second album, these musicians explore time not as a free-floating construct, but as a series of relationships between sounds.

Skylar Grey

Don't Look Down

Interscope

Pop/Rock, Rap

The debut by the co-author of Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie" sounds like bubblegum Lana Del Rey.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Teenage Guitar

Force Fields at Home

Guided by Voices, Inc.

Pop/Rock

This outing by Guided by Voices frontman Robert Pollard is even more rough around the edges than usual.

— Jason Lymangrover

Jac van Steen / Dortmunder Philharmoniker

Alban Berg: Drei Orchesterstücke; Arnold Schönberg: Pelleas und Melisande

MDG

Classical

Jac van Steen and the Dortmund Philharmonic Orchestra perform Berg and Schoenberg with extraordinary details and vibrant tone colors.

— Blair Sanderson

The Candles

La Candelaria

The End

Pop/Rock

A warm, wise, and road-ready ten-track set that evokes names like Big Star, the Jayhawks, and Gin Blossoms.

— James Christopher Monger

Thomas Dausgaard / Swedish Chamber Orchestra

Beethoven: The Creatures of Prometheus; Twelve Menuets; Twelve German Dances

Simax / Simax Classics

Classical

This is fresh Beethoven, worked out down to small details, and recorded with an ear to what's going on with the performers.

— James Manheim

Francesco D'Orazio / Giampaolo Nuti

A Sentimental Devil: Complete Works for Violin/Viola and Piano by Nino Rota

Stradivarius

Classical

Nino Rota's works for violin and viola with piano are explored on this disc by Francesco d'Orazio and Giampaolo Nuti.

— Blair Sanderson

Mark O'Connor

The Improvised Violin Concerto [Includes DVD]

OMAC

Classical

Fans of O'Connor's popular, accessible style of orchestral music will find his Improvised Violin Concerto an interesting variation on the theme.

— James Manheim

Mariss Jansons / Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 10

RCO Live

Classical

Mariss Jansons and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra turn in a straightforward but compelling reading of Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony.

— Blair Sanderson

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