Gogol Bordello

Pura Vida Conspiracy

ATO

Pop/Rock

This international musical gang careens wildly and expertly through their trademark mash of sounds, yet triumphantly explore even more.

— Thom Jurek

Selena Gomez

Stars Dance

Hollywood

Pop/Rock

Four albums in and Gomez is still making really strong, club-friendly pop music -- this time with some dubstep in the mix.

— Tim Sendra

Van Dyke Parks

Songs Cycled

Bella Union

Pop/Rock

A collection of densely orchestrated tunes originally released as a series of 7" singles in 2011-2012 from this legendary arranger.

— Fred Thomas

The Love Language

Ruby Red

Merge

Pop/Rock

A tightly packed psychedelic/power pop road trip of a record that runs on pure instinct.

— James Christopher Monger

True Widow

Circumambulation

Relapse Records

Pop/Rock

True Widow pick up the pace with an album of layered, shoegazey sludge.

— Gregory Heaney

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

Vagrant

Pop/Rock

With their third full-length, this hippie commune-styled band explores its love of the Beatles and '60s soul and doo wop.

— Fred Thomas

Grant Hart

The Argument

Domino

Pop/Rock

Dense, tantalizing song cycle based on William S. Burroughs and John Milton's Paradise Lost that evokes memories of Zen Arcade.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Marc Anthony

3.0

Sony Music Latin

Latin

After nearly a decade, the Latin superstar returns to salsa and delivers a solid, punchy, passionate set led by a chart-topping single.

— Thom Jurek

Fuck Buttons

Slow Focus

ATP Recordings / The Orchard Records

Pop/Rock

The duo's first self-produced album is also among Fuck Buttons' most ambitious and satisfying music.

— Heather Phares

Hunx & His Punx

Street Punk

Hardly Art

Pop/Rock

Dropping much of the bubblegum and girl group influence of their earlier work, this album is an assault of angry, alienated punk and hardcore.

— Fred Thomas

Rich Gang

Rich Gang [Deluxe Edition]

Republic

Rap

On this loose and messy showcase, Lil Wayne, Birdman, and Nicki Minaj lead a gang of Cash Money Records artists.

— David Jeffries

Guy Clark

My Favorite Picture of You

Dualtone Music

Country, Pop/Rock

A wonderful, balanced gem of an album from a masterful songwriter.

Otis Redding

The Complete Stax/Volt Singles Collection

Shout! Factory

R&B

Mono is how these tracks were meant to be heard, mixed to sound powerful blasting from radios and jukeboxes.

— Steve Leggett

Weekend

Jinx

Slumberland

Pop/Rock

Second album of dramatic shoegaze noise from the San Francisco trio improves on their debut by adding post-punk gloom and haunting melodies.

— Tim Sendra

Etienne Charles

Creole Soul

Culture Shock

Jazz

On his fourth outing, the Trinidadian trumpeter makes deft yet inseparable connections between Caribbean musics and modern creative jazz.

— Thom Jurek

Pyyramids

Brightest Darkest Day

Paracadute

Pop/Rock

Pyyramids' debut album lives up to its name, offering moody pop that makes heartbreak catchy.

— Heather Phares

Cairo Gang

Tiny Rebels

Pop/Rock

Six-song mini-album immediately recalls the 12-string guitars and jangly folk-rock of the Byrds, Love, and other lesser-knowns.

— Fred Thomas

Helen Love

Day-Glo Dreams

Elefant

Pop/Rock

The long-running band trades in Joey Ramone and punk boys for the Human League and synth pop on its fourth album of candy pop hits.

— Tim Sendra

Wallpaper.

Ricky Reed Is Real

Epic

Pop/Rock, Rap, Electronic

Ricky Reed's Wallpaper. project offers genre-free good times on this lightweight but infectious debut.

— David Jeffries

The Smashing Pumpkins

The Aeroplane Flies High [Deluxe CD/DVD]

Virgin

Pop/Rock

Box set of all the singles from Mellon Collie & the Infinite Sadness, later expanded with unheard rarities.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Ella Fitzgerald

Best of the BBC Vaults [CD/DVD]

Verve / Voyage Digital Media

Vocal, Jazz

A one-of-a-kind singer doing what she always did -- capture and enrich a song and capture and enrich an audience.

— Steve Leggett

Fur Trade

Don't Get Heavy

Last Gang Records

Pop/Rock

Fur Trade's debut delivers breezy, eclectic pop that reaches beyond the sounds the band's members make with Hot Hot Heat and the Gay Nineties.

— Heather Phares

All Pigs Must Die

Nothing Violates This Nature

Southern Lord Records

Pop/Rock

All Pigs Must Die return for another sonic smash and grab with their second album for Southern Lord.

— Gregory Heaney

Bad Cop

The Light On EP

Jeffery Drag Records

Pop/Rock

This short-running EP showcases the Nashville group's keen sense of melody and scuzzy brand of garage punk.

— Jason Lymangrover

Larry Grenadier / Ethan Iverson / Lee Konitz / Jorge Rossy

Costumes Are Mandatory

HighNote Records

Jazz

This all-star quartet in various formations offers a delightful, sometimes provocative encounter with Lennie Tristano's ideas.

— Thom Jurek

Grumbling Fur

Glynnaestra

Thrill Jockey

Pop/Rock

Third release from this experimental duo tucks their dark and swampy beginnings into tightly composed electronic pop songs.

— Fred Thomas

Craig Ferguson

I'm Here to Help

New Wave Dynamics

Comedy/Spoken

The Late Late Show host offers his views on butts, Brangelina, and Hitler on this smart and funny set.

— David Jeffries

Takako Minekawa / Dustin Wong

Toropical Circle

Thrill Jockey

Pop/Rock

After a 13-year hiatus, Minekawa returns with this charming and challenging collaboration with former Ponytail guitarist Dustin Wong.

— Heather Phares

Mean Lady

Love Now

Fat Possum Records / Turnstile

Pop/Rock

A lightly psychedelic, endlessly melodic, and sweet-natured debut from the Delaware duo.

— Matt Collar

Mona

Torches & Pitchforks

Virgin EMI

Pop/Rock

Nashville's Mona make another bid for arena rock success with their sophomore effort, Torches & Pitchforks.

— Gregory Heaney

Half Moon Run

Dark Eyes

IDCA SOUND STUDIO

Pop/Rock

The Montreal quartet's debut bridges the gap between the northwoods folk of Fleet Foxes and the brooding midnight pop of Alt-J.

— James Christopher Monger

Francesca Bussey / The Cannanes / James Dutton / David Nichols / The Stevie Nicks Choir

Howling at All Hours

Chapter Music

Pop/Rock

Idiosyncratic Australian indie pop legends return with their first full-length release in over a decade, and one of their best-produced albums.

— Fred Thomas

The Garden

The Life and Times of a Paperclip

Burger Records

Pop/Rock

The identical twins' slacker aesthetics get the best of them on their punky, no wave-influenced debut.

— Jason Lymangrover

Fight or Flight

A Life by Design?

Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

Members of Disturbed and Evans Blue team up for their debut album as Fight or Flight.

— Gregory Heaney

Food Pyramid

Ecstasy and Refreshment

Holy Mountain

Pop/Rock

Rooted in Krautrock textures, this trio branches off into material that becomes by turns funky, noisy, sinister, and sweet.

— Fred Thomas

Get Dead

Bad News

Fat Wreck Chords

Pop/Rock

Raw punk numbers and acoustic folk songs about drinking make up the San Franciscans' Fat Wreck debut.

— Jason Lymangrover

Hey! Hello!

Hey! Hello!

The End

Pop/Rock

Hey! Hello! deliver a bombastic rock extravaganza on their self-titled debut album.

— Gregory Heaney

Honey Ltd.

The Complete LHI Recordings

Light in the Attic Records

Pop/Rock

Compiles all of Detroit girl group Honey Ltd.'s recordings for Lee Hazlewood during the late '60s.

— Matt Collar

Kenny Burrell

Special Requests (And Other Favorites): Live at Catalina's

HighNote Records

Jazz

Recorded live in 2012, these 11 tracks are special requests by fans of the legendary jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell.

— Al Campbell

Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

The Smurfs 2: Music from and Inspired By

Kemosabe / RCA

Pop/Rock, Stage & Screen

The "Music from and Inspired By" version of the Smurfs 2 soundtrack includes brand-new tracks from Britney Spears, Owl City, and Cady Groves.

— James Christopher Monger

Don Rich & the Buckaroos

That Fiddlin' Man

Omnivore

Country

Long out of print instrumental album by Buck Owens' right-hand man gets reissued and expanded.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Buckaroos

The Buckaroos Play Buck & Merle

Omnivore

Country

Two songbook LPs from Buck Owens' backing band get reissued on this single-disc compilation.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Truth & Salvage Co.

Pick Me Up

Megaforce

Pop/Rock, Country

Scattershot but entertaining sophomore set from these Southern rock revivalists.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Keb Darge / Little Edith

Keb Darge & Little Edith's Legendary Wild Rockers, Vol. 3

BBE

Pop/Rock, R&B

Scottish crate-digging team offer up their third installment of feral rockabilly and early surf from the '50s and early '60s.

— Fred Thomas

Daniele Gatti / Orchestre National de France

Stravinsky: Pétrouchka; Le Sacre du printemps

Sony Classical

Classical

Gatti draws out crisp details in Pétrouchka and Le Sacre du printemps, though there's some loss of urgency and excitement.

— Blair Sanderson

Maxim Rysanov / Kristina Blaumane / Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra / Roman Mints

Dobrinka Tabakova: String Paths

ECM

Classical

This is a fine release for those interested in the current manifestations of the broadly neo-traditional music developed in the old East Bloc.

— James Manheim

Mark Elder / Hallé Orchestra

Vaughan Williams: Symphonies Nos. 5 & 8

Halle Concerts Society

Classical

This presentation of Vaughan Williams' Fifth Symphony mixes live and rehearsal recordings, but the Eighth Symphony is a studio session.

— Blair Sanderson

Alan Feinberg

Basically Bull

Steinway & Sons

Classical

This must be considered an experiment, albeit keeping the spirit of Bull's music, and it will certainly make you take notice.

— James Manheim

Simone Young

Bruckner: Symphony No. 0

Oehms Classics

Classical

Simone Young continues her exceptional SACD series of Bruckner's symphonies with the transitional Symphony in D minor, "Die Nullte."

— Blair Sanderson

George Benjamin / Mahler Chamber Orchestra

George Benjamin: Written on Skin

Nimbus

Classical

This is well worth hearing, especially for those interested in how the legacy of medieval song might serve as a basis for contemporary works.

— James Manheim

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