Against Me!

Transgender Dysphoria Blues

Total Treble / Xtra Mile Recordings

Pop/Rock

A powerful, pseudo-conceptual punk record concerning Laura Jane Grace's transgender dysphoria.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Beatles

The U.S. Albums

Capitol / Universal

Pop/Rock

All of the Beatles' U.S.-only releases for Capitol are boxed up in this 13-CD set.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Mogwai

Rave Tapes

Pop/Rock

The band's cerebral eighth album divides its time between aloof rock and muted interludes.

— Heather Phares

Los Lonely Boys

Revelation

Lonelytone Records / Playing in Traffic

Pop/Rock, Latin

A lively, melodic, and warmly eclectic collection of rootsy adult alternative pop from the Texan trio.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Wild Cub

Youth

Mom + Pop Music

Pop/Rock

Built on a familiar '80s synth pop foundation, this infectious debut explores disparate styles while gelling nicely as a whole.

— Fred Thomas

Damien Jurado

Brothers and Sisters of the Eternal Son

Secretly Canadian

Pop/Rock

Working again with skilled producer Richard Swift, the long-running indie folksinger turns in more adventurous fare on his 11th album.

— Fred Thomas

A Great Big World

Is There Anybody Out There?

Epic

Pop/Rock

Glee-endorsed piano pop duo offer up a big, melodic debut full of spirit and hooks.

— Timothy Monger

The Hidden Cameras

AGE

Evil Evil / Motor Music

Pop/Rock

The colorful Torontonians trade in their "gay church folk music" for sunny and sordid electro-pop confections.

— James Christopher Monger

Warpaint

Warpaint

Rough Trade

Pop/Rock

The band's self-titled second album gives more shape to Warpaint's alluringly hypnotic haze.

— Heather Phares

Elizabeth & the Catapult

Like It Never Happened

Thirty Tigers

Pop/Rock

On her first offering in over three years, the songwriter employs leaner, more imaginative production in a solid collection of new songs.

— Thom Jurek

Alcest

Shelter

Prophecy / SPKR / Weltnetz

Pop/Rock

On this deliberate homage to shoegaze, this influential French outfit casts off all metal influences and delivers an album of beauty and excess.

— Thom Jurek

Jeremy Jay

Abandoned Apartments

K Records

Pop/Rock

Jay's first pop album in three years is one of his best blends of dreamy surrealism and crisp-edged hooks.

— Heather Phares

Young the Giant

Mind Over Matter

Fueled by Ramen Records

Pop/Rock

The second album by the Orange County indie rockers further builds on the big-budget guitar/synth framework of their debut.

— Timothy Monger

I Break Horses

Chiaroscuro

Bella Union

Pop/Rock

The band's second album tosses aside any traces of shoegaze in favor of an all-encompassing synth pop gloom that is deeply, darkly emotional.

— Tim Sendra

The Vintage Caravan

Voyage

Nuclear Blast

Pop/Rock

Second album from Icelandic trio hops around stylistically but stays rooted in various forms of classic '70s metal and heavy music.

— Fred Thomas

John Hammond, Jr.

Timeless

Palmetto

Folk, Blues

A live Hammond solo set, recorded at Chan's in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, in the spring of 2013.

— Steve Leggett

Bad Things

Bad Things

Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

The debut album from snowboarder Shaun White's band soars on its own merits aside from the guitarist's Olympic achievements.

— Matt Collar

The Reverend Horton Heat

REV

Victory Records

Pop/Rock

After creative detours, Texas psychobilly icons head back to the hard stuff with this album full of fast songs about fast cars.

— Mark Deming

Bushman's Revenge

Thou Shalt Boogie!

Rune Grammofon

Jazz, Pop/Rock

On its sixth studio album, this Norwegian trio comes across with more disciplined writing, a bigger sonic palette, and wider horizons.

— Thom Jurek

Together Pangea

Badillac

Harvest / Island

Pop/Rock

Thundering garage grunge on the newly relaunched Harvest Records from a California trio with a truly terrible name.

— Tim Sendra

A Silver Mt. Zion / Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra

Fuck Off Get Free We Pour Light on Everything

Constellation

Pop/Rock

On its first offering in three years, this Canadian quintet is more forceful, powerful, and dazzling than ever before.

— Thom Jurek

Billy Branch & the Sons of Blues

Blues Shock

Blind Pig

Blues

Ace harmonica player and his top-notch band shine on this set of classic-style Chicago blues and upbeat R&B.

— Mark Deming

Blue Highway

The Game

Rounder / Rounder Records

Country

Another fine set that shows off Blue Highway's intelligent songwriting and precision playing.

— Steve Leggett

Damon Fowler

Sounds of Home

Blind Pig

Blues, Pop/Rock

Fowler's guitar lines cut though sharp as Texas wind over a Louisiana swamp in his third outing for Blind Pig Records.

— Steve Leggett

Dog Bite

Tranquilizers

Carpark Records

Pop/Rock

Dog Bite's second album -- and their first as a full-fledged band -- delivers some of their prettiest and most purposeful music yet.

— Heather Phares

Doug Paisley

Strong Feelings

No Quarter

Country, Pop/Rock

A handsome, warm, burnished collection of sturdy Americana.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Bill Callahan

Have Fun With God

Drag City

Pop/Rock

A curious remix album, offering dub versions of each of the eight songs from 2013's softly brilliant Dream River.

— Fred Thomas

Feadz

Instant Alpha

Because Music / Ed Banger Records

Electronic

The French producer who made his name with Uffie and Mr. Oizo gets loose and lively on his debut album.

— David Jeffries

Graham Colton

Lonely Ones

Graham Colton Recordings / United Opportunity

Pop/Rock

The Oklahoma-based singer/songwriter broadens his sonic palette with keyboards and some neo-psych production.

— Matt Collar

Patrick Cowley

School Daze

Dark Entries

Electronic

A fascinating and often brilliant archival set of the dance music pioneer's most experimental work.

— Andy Kellman

Iced Earth

Plagues of Babylon [DeluxeCD/DVD]

Century Media

Pop/Rock

Iced Earth's 11th album finds the band benefiting from the creative partnership formed by founding member Jon Schaffer and singer Stu Block.

— Gregory Heaney

Jack Name

Light Show

Drag City / God?

Pop/Rock

Super weird lo-fi pop with a fetish for sped-up vocals from a White Fence/Ariel Pink collaborator.

— Tim Sendra

Jeremy Pelt

Face Forward, Jeremy

HighNote Records

Jazz

Pelt pushes the boundaries of jazz with deep fusion and electronica influences.

— Matt Collar

Jim Woerhle / Michael Yonkers

Borders of My Mind

Drag City

Folk, Pop/Rock

An intimate, direct-to-two-track home recording of unreleased material by the songwriter guitarist and his bandmate.

— Thom Jurek

Michael Yonkers

Michael Lee Yonkers

Drag City

Country, Pop/Rock

Recorded in 1972, this is the singer/songwriter's country album that alternately celebrates and sends up the tradition.

— Thom Jurek

The Velvet Underground

Golden Archive Series

MGM Records / Sundazed

Pop/Rock

The VU's first "best-of" collection, released around the same time as Loaded and sounding almost as friendly.

— Mark Deming

John Medeski / Matt Wilson Quartet

Gathering Call

Palmetto

Jazz

A joyous mix of the jazz tradition, both avant-garde and swinging, that makes the most of Wilson and Medeski's influences.

— Matt Collar

Monte Pittman

The Power of Three

Metal Blade

Pop/Rock

Monte Pittman shows off his heavy metal pedigree on his third solo album, The Power of Three.

— Gregory Heaney

Nashville Pussy

Up the Dosage

SPV / Steamhammer

Pop/Rock

More songs about booze, dope, and risky sexual behavior from the most willfully sleazy hard rock band in the United States.

— Mark Deming

POW!

Hi-Tech Boom

Castle Face

Pop/Rock

Consistently strong debut album of tough and hooky synth-infested garage punk discovered by John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees.

— Tim Sendra

Pro-Pain

The Final Revolution

SPV / Steamhammer

Pop/Rock

N.Y.C. hardcore veterans Pro-Pain bring the confrontation on their chest-thumping 14th album, The Final Revolution.

— Gregory Heaney

Sister

Disguised Vultures

Metal Blade

Pop/Rock

A 40-minute bar fight soundtrack that offers up classic Sunset Strip sleaze metal with a Viking-punk twist.

— James Christopher Monger

Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Wanderlust

EBGB's / Love Da Records

Pop/Rock

An exquisitely sculpted and opulent ode to retro glamour and European pop.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Ken Stringfellow

I Never Said I'd Make It Easy

Lojinx

Pop/Rock

A sampler drawn from the Posies founder's solo recordings, revealing a darker but equally strong body of work.

— Mark Deming

Tommy Castro / Tommy Castro & the Painkillers

The Devil You Know

Alligator Records

Blues, Pop/Rock

The new configuration of Castro's band has him fired up and roaring on the Stratocaster with a renewed sharpness.

— Steve Leggett

Vex

Sanctuary: The Complete Discography

Sacred Bones

Pop/Rock

Remarkably brief discography gathers together the complete recorded output of this short-lived '80s U.K. punk act.

— Fred Thomas

White Denim

Pretty Green EP

Downtown / Downtown Records

Pop/Rock

Four-song EP featuring reworked versions of the title track single, plus one previously unreleased cut.

— Matt Collar

Zara McFarlane

If You Knew Her

Brownswood

Jazz

The second album from the jazz producer, songwriter, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist is richer, more imaginative than her MOBO-nominated debut.

— Andy Kellman

Roberta Invernizzi / Sonia Prina / Luca Pianca / Ensemble Claudiana

Amore e Morte dell Amore

Naïve

Classical

Invernizzi and Prina get the intimate chamber quality, its habitat of a music room with a group of connoisseurs ready to listen closely.

— James Manheim

Rudolf Buchbinder / Wiener Philharmoniker

Beethoven: The Piano Concertos

Sony Classical

Classical

Buchbinder may deserve credit right off the bat for these performances, which have a satisfying unity between soloist and orchestra.

— James Manheim

Andrew Simon / Warren Lee

Ebony and Ivory: Works for Clarinet and Piano

Naxos

Classical

This delightful recital approaches the dance-oriented side of 20th century music from a variety of perspectives and is essential for clarinetists.

— James Manheim

Alexandre Tharaud

Autograph

Erato / Virgin Classics

Classical

This release from Erato and Warner Classics is at root a very old-fashioned type of album: a program of encores.

— James Manheim

Sabine Devieilhe

Rameau: Le Grand Théâtre de l'Amour

Erato

Classical

This album has it all and Devieilhe's voice comes in as a flutelike thing in the mid-range and then scores with an agile top.

— James Manheim

The Hilliard Ensemble

Il Cor Tristo

ECM

Classical

The music, which is mixed up, all hangs together, which may be due to the sheer force of the Hilliard Ensemble's personality.

— James Manheim

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