Robin Thicke

Blurred Lines [Bonus Track]

Interscope

R&B

Featuring the number one Hot 100 single of the same title, Thicke's sixth is lighthearted with a surprising amount of dance-pop and few ballads.

— Andy Kellman

Harry Nilsson

The RCA Albums Collection

RCA / Sony Legacy / Sony Music

Pop/Rock

A wonderful and mammoth 17-disc collection of all of Nilsson's RCA albums, plus three discs of rarities.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

AlunaGeorge

Body Music

Interscope / Island

Pop/Rock

The BRIT-nominated pop duo's long-in-the-making debut album is led by past A-sides and a small clutch of new highlights.

— Andy Kellman

Paul Franklin / Vince Gill

Bakersfield

MCA Nashville

Country

This driving, wonderfully performed tribute to the 1960s country of Merle Haggard and Buck Owens is a candidate for country album of the year.

— Thom Jurek

Dumpstaphunk

Dirty Word

Louisiana Red Hot Records

R&B

On their second studio album, this NOLA quintet and guests expertly match their musical sophistication with the gritty energy of their live shows.

— Thom Jurek

Buddy Guy

Rhythm & Blues

RCA

Blues

One disc is devoted to soul and one disc is devoted to blues on this ambitious two-CD album.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Jay Sean

Neon

Island / Republic

R&B

Lacking much of the charisma that made his biggest hits so strong, the fourth album from this British R&B singer falls short.

— Fred Thomas

Andy Bauer / Colin Brown / Domenica Fossati / God Forbid / Lucas Lejeune / David Luther / Sam Merrick / Kendra Morris / Jeremy Page / Evan Sanders / Jeremy Siegel

Mockingbird

Wax Poetics

R&B

A bluesy, soulful, and psych-tinged covers album from the N.Y.C.-based singer/songwriter.

— Matt Collar

Hiatus Kaiyote

Tawk Tomahawk

Flying Buddha

R&B

Thrilling Australian "future soul" band's self-released 2012 debut is re-circulated through Salaam Remi's Sony-distributed Flying Buddha label.

— Andy Kellman

Ikonika

Aerotropolis

Hyperdub

Electronic

Sara Abdel-Hamid's conceptual second album is an electro-techno air-travel equivalent to Carl Craig's Landcruising and Model 500's Deep Space.

— Andy Kellman

The Cult

Electric Peace

Beggars Banquet

Pop/Rock

At last, the band's classic album is packaged together with its earlier rejected and differently titled version.

— Thom Jurek

Spearhead / Michael Franti / Michael Franti & Spearhead

All People

Capitol / Virgin EMI

Rap, Reggae

Peaceful vibes and that sunshine feeling flow out of Franti's hopeful and happy 2013 release.

— David Jeffries

The Heavy Blinkers

Health

Factor

Pop/Rock

After a decade-long break, the Canadian chamber poppers return with a dark and emotional tale of war, death, and unrequited love.

— Tim Sendra

Backstreet Boys

In a World Like This

BMG

Pop/Rock

BSB are unafraid to act their age on the cannily adult contemporary 20th anniversary LP.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Express Rising

Express Rising

Express Rising / Numero / Numero Group

Pop/Rock, Electronic

Cloaked in obscurity, this second volume of glowing, brilliant, instrumental indie electronica arrives ten years after the debut.

— Fred Thomas

Chris Shiflett & the Dead Peasants

All Hat and No Cattle

Le Coq Napoleon / SideOneDummy

Country, Pop/Rock

A rip-roaring tribute to the classic sound of Bakersfield and '60s honky tonk.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rocketnumbernine

MeYouWeYou

Smalltown Supersound

Electronic

The genre-defying duo returns with a set of precise yet passionate songs that blend dance, jazz, and drone in seamless and thrilling ways.

— Heather Phares

Alela Diane

About Farewell

Rusted Blue

Folk, Pop/Rock

Diane's fourth commercially released album is a cathartic, stark, and honest documentation of the end of a seven-year relationship, masterfully delivered without drama or malice.

— James Wilkinson

Five Finger Death Punch

The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Vol. 1

Prospect Park

Pop/Rock

Five Finger Death Punch give listeners a taste of their inspired run in the studio with the first installment of their two-album set.

— Gregory Heaney

Tech N9ne

Something Else

Strange Music

Rap

Big and bold, Tech's excellent, ambitious effort features guests like T-Pain, System of a Down's Serj Tankian, and even the Doors.

— David Jeffries

Chanté Moore

Moore Is More

Shanachie

R&B

Synchronized with her role on R&B Divas: Los Angeles, the singer's sixth studio album is a broad, uneven mix of grown and pop-R&B sounds.

— Andy Kellman

Roomful of Blues

45 Live

Alligator Records

Blues, Jazz

This eight-piece band celebrated their 45th anniversary with three days of live shows recorded at the Ocean Mist in their Rhode Island hometown.

— Al Campbell

14 Iced Bears

Hold on Inside: Complete Recordings 1991-1986

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

Complete recordings from this largely unknown C-86 band, working backwards from its later shoegaze material to early shambling pop.

— Fred Thomas

Ben Monder

Hydra

Naïve / Sunnyside Communications

Jazz

An evocative album showcasing Monder's intricate guitar lines and wordless vocal arrangements, which are a cross between ambient classical and jazz.

— Matt Collar

Kumail Nanjiani

Beta Male: Live at the Moody Theater in Austin, TX

Comedy Central Records

Comedy/Spoken

Epic video games and cats that run pizza delivery businesses ("Meowminos") inspire some of the best bits on the comedian's excellent debut.

— David Jeffries

T. Hardy Morris / T. Hardy Morris & the Outfit

Audition Tapes

Dangerbird Records

Pop/Rock

Co-founder of Dead Confederate delivers a haunting, atmospheric, cough syrup-paced gem.

— Steve Leggett

Moreland & Arbuckle

7 Cities

Telarc

Blues, Pop/Rock

This seasoned Kansas blues and roots rock unit enlists producer Matt Bayles and delivers an expansive, soulful, literate, stone cold killer.

— Thom Jurek

Dionne Warwick

The Complete Warner Bros. Singles

Real Gone Music

R&B

A nice glimpse of a singular vocalist transitioning into slightly different stylistic territory without losing her stride.

— Steve Leggett

Dionne Warwick

We Need to Go Back: The Unissued Warner Bros. Masters

Real Gone Music

R&B

Nineteen tracks recorded but never issued during Warwick's Warner Bros. stay in the early to mid-'70s.

— Steve Leggett

Earl Klugh

Hand Picked

Heads Up / Telarc

Jazz

After a five-year hiatus, the guitarist returns with a beautifully realized, (mostly) solo effort of jazz and pop standards and originals.

— Thom Jurek

Emblem3

Nothing to Lose [Deluxe Edition]

Sony Music

Pop/Rock

The debut album from this update to the boy band sound lacks the personality to really make a huge impression.

— Fred Thomas

John Zorn

Dreamachines

Tzadik Records

Avant-Garde, Classical, Jazz

Using the same masterful group from Nova Express, the composer creates a companion album in tribute to Brion Gysin and William S. Burroughs.

— Thom Jurek

Ken Camden

Space Mirror

Kranky

Electronic, Avant-Garde, Pop/Rock

The Chicago-based guitarist's second album is a lunar expedition of controlled space rock drones and synthy blooming.

— Fred Thomas

Michael Fennelly

Love Can Change Everything: Demos 1967-1972

Sundazed

Pop/Rock

Nice 24-track collection of demos from Millennium and Crabby Appleton member, including an acoustic version of the latter's "Go Back."

— Tim Sendra

Ron Block

Walking Song

Rounder

Country

Block's third solo album in a dozen years is a good one, a warm, easy-paced gem that is uncommonly graceful and sturdy.

— Steve Leggett

Soundsci

Soundsational

Ubiquity

Rap, Electronic

The rap quintet flashes back to the golden age and looks to the work of soul artist Mike James Kirkland for inspiration.

— Jason Lymangrover

Gil Shaham / Orli Shaham

Nigunim: Hebrew Melodies

Canary Classics

Classical

The Shahams here have not only paid tribute to their origins but also explored worthwhile and underexposed music.

— James Manheim

Tasmin Little / Piers Lane

British Violin Sonatas, Vol. 1: Walton, Ferguson, Britten

Chandos

Classical

Little's performances are imbued with radiant lyricism, and she doesn't lose control of the big Walton movements. Very well done all around.

— James Manheim

Sally Bruce-Payne / Adrian Chandler / La Serenissima

Vivaldi: A Tale of Two Seasons - Concertos & Arias

Avie

Classical

This is a state-of-the-art album for those wanting to get deeper into Vivaldi and how his music changed over the course of his career.

— James Manheim

Sequentia

Hildegard von Bingen: Celestial Hierarchy

Deutsche Harmonia Mundi / DHM Deutsche Harmonia Mundi

Classical

Sequentia's virtues are fully intact after 35 years, and the Hildegard set as a whole is something to treasure.

— James Manheim

Alicia Zizzo

Rhythm & Hues: Music of Gershwin & Chopin

4Tay Records

Classical

Here Zizzo keeps the Chopin preludes neutral in style, placing the focus in Gershwin. An immensely stimulating release.

— James Manheim

Beethoven Trio Bonn

Piano Trios No. 1: Arensky, Rachmaninoff, Shostakovich, Kapustin

CAvi-music

Classical

Arensky's Piano Trio is well worth reviving on this album of offbeat selections that will appeal to serious fans of Russian music.

— James Manheim

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