Franz Ferdinand

Right Thoughts Right Words Right Action

Domino

Pop/Rock

Nearly a decade after their breakthrough, Franz Ferdinand return with some of their most confident and engaging music.

— Heather Phares

Bob Dylan

Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10

Columbia / Sony Legacy

Pop/Rock, Folk

Containing a wealth of unreleased songs, alternate takes, demos, and undubbed masters, this is an essential addition to the catalog.

— Thom Jurek

Big Sean

Hall of Fame

Def Jam

Rap

With plenty of guest stars and vibrant tracks, there's no sophomore slumping on the Detroit rapper's second effort.

— David Jeffries

Juicy J

Stay Trippy

Columbia

Rap

The Three 6 Mafia member joins Wiz Khalifa's Taylor Gang imprint and the results are nasty in the best sense of the word.

— David Jeffries

Sly & the Family Stone

Higher!

Epic / Legacy

R&B, Pop/Rock

Superb rarities-laden career-spanning box set of Sly & the Family Stone.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Beach Boys

Made in California

Capitol

Pop/Rock

Rarities-laden box set telling the entire history of the Beach Boys.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Goodie Mob

Age Against the Machine

The Right

Rap

The fifth album by the Atlanta hip-hop act features the original lineup and the return of Cee Lo Green.

— Jason Lymangrover

King Krule

6 Feet Beneath the Moon

XL

Pop/Rock

London-styled blue-eyed soul meets trip-hop and lo-fi indie rock on Archy Marshall's intriguing True Panther/XL debut.

— Jason Lymangrover

Black Joe Lewis

Electric Slave

Vagrant

R&B, Blues, Pop/Rock

The soul man's fourth album of barebones garage blues and fuzz-laden grooves.

— Matt Collar

Damon Carruesco / Brian Case / Disappears / Noah Leger / Jonathan Van Herik

Era

Kranky

Pop/Rock

Featuring new drummer Noah Ledger, Era presents some of Disappears' starkest and darkest music yet.

— Heather Phares

John Frusciante

Outsides

Record Collection

Pop/Rock

Another wildly abstract EP from the Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist, this time centered around a ten-minute guitar solo.

— Fred Thomas

Dent May

Warm Blanket

Paw Tracks

Pop/Rock

May's third album cuts down on the disco in favor of a piano-based, Nilsson-inspired classic pop approach.

— Tim Sendra

Carly Ritter

Carly Ritter

Vanguard

Pop/Rock

Ritter's best songs have a pop DNA and a searching intelligence behind them.

— Steve Leggett

Robbie Fulks

Gone Away Backward

Bloodshot

Pop/Rock, Folk

Fulks returns to the label where it all began with a mostly acoustic and ballad-filled album engineered and produced by Steve Albini.

— Steve Leggett

Joe Higgs

Unity Is Power

Pressure Sounds

Reggae

Second album from this often overlooked reggae innovator is a colorful blend of styles and messages, heavy on highlights that rank as classic.

— Fred Thomas

Serena Ryder

Harmony

Capitol / Serenader Source

Pop/Rock

The Canadian singer/songwriter's sixth album is a melodic showcase for her soulful, bluesy vocals.

— Matt Collar

Austin Lucas

Stay Reckless

New West

Country, Folk, Pop/Rock

A folk-country gem, more country than anything else, catchy enough to be played in heavy rotation on contemporary country stations.

— Steve Leggett

Avenged Sevenfold

Hail to the King

Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

The metal group attempts to simplify its sound by returning to its roots, but ridiculous extremes suit the band best.

— Jason Lymangrover

Foy Vance

Joy of Nothing

Glassnote Entertainment Group

Pop/Rock

Big, soulful, blues-inflected AOR country-folk that falls somewhere between the Frames and Ray LaMontagne.

— James Christopher Monger

Carousel

Jeweler's Daughter

Teepee Records

Pop/Rock

Carousel deliver classic hard rock on their debut album, Jeweler's Daughter.

— Gregory Heaney

Compay Segundo

Guantanamera: The Essential Album

Warner Music

Latin

This 20-song collection was issued to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the great Cuban singer's passing.

— Thom Jurek

The Jeff Lorber Fusion

Hacienda

Concord / Heads Up International / Telarc

Jazz

This trio and its guests examine the roots of jazz funk with a 21st century twist, including a fine cover of Frank Zappa's "King Kong."

— Thom Jurek

The Dodos

Carrier

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock

Inspired by the passing of guitarist Chris Reimer, Carrier is a remarkably balanced meditation on joy and loss.

— Heather Phares

Alabama

Alabama & Friends

Show Dog

Country

Alabama stage a comeback via a star-studded tribute album containing two new songs from the group.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Elizabeth Mitchell / Dan Zanes

Turn Turn Turn

Festival Five Records

Children's, Pop/Rock

The first musical collaboration between longtime friends and pillars of the family folk music community.

— James Christopher Monger

DevilDriver

Winter Kills

Napalm Records

Pop/Rock

DevilDriver continue to keep things heavy on their sixth album, Winter Kills.

— Gregory Heaney

Ghost Wave

Ages

Flying Nun

Pop/Rock

Joining the storied ranks of the Flying Nun roster, this indie-psych outfit incorporates dub echoes and fractalized guitars into their minimal pop.

— Fred Thomas

Greg Fitzsimmons

Life on Stage

New Wave Dynamics / New West

Comedy/Spoken

Recorded in Tarrytown, New York, caustic middle-age crisis comedy fills Fitzsimmons' hilarious debut album.

— David Jeffries

Matt Cameron / Zach Hill / Janet Weiss

Drumgasm

Jackpot Records

Avant-Garde, Pop/Rock

An aggressive and winding 40-minute collaborative improvisation between the drummers of Death Grips, Pearl Jam, and Wild Flag.

— Fred Thomas

Erdal Erzincan / Kayhan Kalhor

Kula Kulluk Yakişir Mi (Live in Bursa, 2011)

ECM / Universal / Universal Music

International

On this second ECM offering, the masterful duo delivers an astonishing set of improvisations and traditional and new material.

— Thom Jurek

Krizz Kaliko

Son of Sam

Strange Music

Rap

There are less guest artists than usual, but Krizz is up to the task, offering up one of his most rewarding albums to date.

— David Jeffries

Kuniko Kato

Cantus

Linn / Linn Records

Classical

This entire album of Kuniko's arrangements is essential listening for anyone with the slightest interest in contemporary percussion.

— James Manheim

Ministry

Enjoy the Quiet: Live at Wacken 2012

Roadrunner Records / UDR

Pop/Rock

The band is captured in front of an audience of 75,000 in one of its last performances with the late Michael Scaccia.

— David Jeffries

Pieces of a Dream

In the Moment

Shanachie

Jazz

On what they call their 20th album, James Lloyd and Curtis Harmon keep it modest but lively with a predominantly instrumental set.

— Andy Kellman

Stefano Bollani / Hamilton de Holanda

O Que Será

ECM / Universal / Universal Music

Jazz

The modernist Italian pianist teams with one of Brazil's most renowned musicians in an imaginative, risky live date that dazzles.

— Thom Jurek

The Mighty Diamonds

Pass the Knowledge: Reggae Anthology

VP Records

Reggae

A long overdue, career-spanning collection of Jamaica's longest-running vocal trio.

— Steve Leggett

The Rides

Can't Get Enough

429 Records / Savoy Jazz

Blues, Pop/Rock

Exciting electric guitar leads everywhere but a striking paucity of memorable songs.

— Steve Leggett

Tired Pony

The Ghost of the Mountain

Polydor

Pop/Rock

The second long -player from Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody's English Americana outfit.

— James Christopher Monger

Various Artists

Eccentric Soul: The Forte Label

Numero

R&B

Retrospective of obscure Kansas City soul/funk label finds some unheard classics, some solid jams, and some genuine weirdness.

— Fred Thomas

Jordi Savall / Hespèrion XXI

Esprit des Balkans (Balkan Spirit)

Alia Vox

Classical

This is another in Savall's brilliant series of releases that resurrect the traditional music of southern Europe in an entirely original way.

— James Manheim

Samuel Jean

Bizet: Le Docteur Miracle

Timpani

Classical

Bizet's one-act operetta Le Docteur Miracle receives an appealing and amusing performance in this 2013 release by Timpani.

— Blair Sanderson

Thomas Dausgaard / Swedish Chamber Orchestra

Schubert: Symphony No. 6; Rosamunde (Incidental Music)

BIS

Classical

For those convinced Schubert has something new and intriguing to offer, this recording may be a good place to start.

— James Manheim

Jaap van Zweden / Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra

Bruckner: Symphony No. 6

Challenge Classics

Classical

Jaap van Zweden and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra present a revised version of Bruckner's Sixth, edited by Rüdiger Bornhöft.

— Blair Sanderson

Choir of King's College London / Choir of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge

Deutsche Motette: German Romantic Choral Music from Schubert to Strauss

Delphian

Classical

The Choir of Gonville and Caius College display virtuosity in music by R. Strauss, with the Choir of King's College, London singing other works.

— James Manheim

Isabelle Faust / Daniel Harding

Béla Bartók: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

Harmonia Mundi

Classical

Faust truly comes into her own with the Violin Concerto No. 2, and the Violin Concerto No. 1.

— James Manheim

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