Michael Jackson

Xscape

Epic

R&B, Pop/Rock

Surprisingly enjoyable and savvy collection of unreleased MJ material, pitched halfway between Off the Wall and the 2010s.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Black Keys

Turn Blue

Nonesuch

Pop/Rock

The Ohio blues-rock duo gets soulful and spacy on the follow-up to their 2011 blockbuster El Camino.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Tori Amos

Unrepentant Geraldines

Decca / Island / Mercury

Pop/Rock

A quintessentially Tori record, one that's as seductive in its pain as it is in its comfort.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Little Dragon

Nabuma Rubberband

Republic

Electronic

The Swedish group's fourth, mostly self-produced album is highlighted by a handful of stormy ballads.

— Andy Kellman

Neil Young

A Letter Home [LP]

Reprise / Third Man Records

Pop/Rock

Odd collection of covers of songs from the '60s and '70s, all recorded direct to vinyl in Jack White's Voice-O-Graph booth.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Chromeo

White Women

Big Beat Records

Pop/Rock

The swagger of the '80s meets the dancefloor punch of 2014 on this fine album from the electro duo.

— David Jeffries

Rascal Flatts

Rewind

Big Machine Records

Country

A bright, sentimental reaffirmation of the country-pop group's strengths.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Mirah

Changing Light

Absolute Magnitude Recordings / K Records

Pop/Rock

Fifth album from this indie songwriter reflects the aftermath of a harrowing breakup with gorgeous arrangements and production.

— Fred Thomas

Swans

To Be Kind

Young God

Pop/Rock

Another epic-scale salvo from these noise-rock pioneers, slightly less dark than their best-known work but no less intense.

— Mark Deming

Amen Dunes

Love

Sacred Bones

Pop/Rock

The pastoral psych-folk of Amen Dunes' third album is imbued with a strange grace and yearning.

— Heather Phares

Jake Bugg

Messed Up Kids

Island

Pop/Rock

Earnest and melodic five-song follow-up to his 2013 sophomore effort.

— Matt Collar

Blondie

Greatest Hits Deluxe Redux/Ghosts of Download

Noble Id

Pop/Rock

Two-fer package combines a new EDM-friendly album with a disc of re-recorded hits that pale in contrast with the originals.

— Mark Deming

La Sera

Hour of the Dawn

Hardly Art

Pop/Rock

Adding some punk snarl and Pretenders swagger to their sound, the group's third album is a tough slice of mascara pop.

— Tim Sendra

Guided by Voices

Cool Planet

Guided by Voices, Inc.

Pop/Rock

Wildly prolific indie pop band demonstrates it can make the most of a bad winter by recording an album during a snowstorm.

— Mark Deming

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart

Days of Abandon

Yebo Music

Pop/Rock

The band's third album finds them turning away from stadium-sized indie pop in favor of something more personal and intimate.

— Tim Sendra

Sylvan Esso

Sylvan Esso

Partisan / PTKF

Pop/Rock

An evocative blend of breezy late-night laptop pop and glitchy metropolitan folk.

— James Christopher Monger

Jeremy McMonigle / Evan Patterson / Nick Thieneman / Young Widows

Easy Pain

Temporary Residence

Pop/Rock

Moody and ominous, the noise rock trio dive deeper down the atmospheric rabbit hole on their fourth album.

— Gregory Heaney

Down

Down IV, Pt. II

Down / Down Records

Pop/Rock

The second installment of the sludge metal supergroup's EP series delivers quality over quantity with a (relatively) short blast of grimy Southern metal.

— Gregory Heaney

Tobacco

Ultima II Massage

Ghostly International

Pop/Rock

Sitcking with the abrasive side of his warped synth pop, the Black Moth Super Rainbow frontman's third solo album is a fun blast of weirdness.

— Tim Sendra

Sean Nicholas Savage

Bermuda Waterfall

Arbutus Records

Pop/Rock

Canadian songwriter branches out somewhat from his avant take on sentimental '80s R&B influences.

— Fred Thomas

Walter Martin

We're All Young Together

Family Jukebox

Pop/Rock, Children's

The Walkmen founding member's debut delivers glimpses of childhood that burst with the mischievous innocence of early rock & roll.

— Heather Phares

The Clientele

Suburban Light

Merge

Pop/Rock

Two-disc collection of haunting, pastoral indie pop taken from the group's early singles and EPs presents a full picture of their formative years.

— Tim Sendra

Beaty Heart

Mixed Blessings

Nusic Sounds / Universal

Pop/Rock

Psychedelic art rock and Afro-pop-informed debut from the London quartet.

— Matt Collar

Buffalo Killers

Heavy Reverie

Sun Pedal Recordings

Pop/Rock

Expanding to a quartet, they continue to untangle and explore rock's classic lexicon.

— Steve Leggett

Sturgill Simpson

Metamodern Sounds in Country Music

High Top Mountain / Thirty Tigers

Country

On his sophomore effort, the singer/songwriter expands his songwriting and sonic reach but stays country to the core.

— Thom Jurek

Freddie Gibbs / The Worlds Freshest

The Tonite Show

Fresh in the Flesh

Rap

Indiana rapper Gibbs joins Bay Area producer Fresh on this short blast of throwback gangsta music.

— David Jeffries

Incognito

Amplified Soul

Shanachie

R&B

Another high-quality, double-length set from the U.K.'s premier jazz-R&B group, featuring a cover of Atlantic Starr's "Silver Shadow."

— Andy Kellman

The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project / Jeffrey Lee Pierce

Axels & Sockets

Glitterhouse Records

Pop/Rock

Powerful third volume in a series featuring new interpretations of rare songs composed by the former Gun Club frontman.

— Mark Deming

Torch Runner

Committed to the Ground

Southern Lord Records

Pop/Rock

Oscillating between crawling doom and furious grindcore, the band's Southern Lord debut shows that there's more to their sound than speed.

— Gregory Heaney

Dawn Golden / Dexter Tortoriello

Still Life

Downtown

Pop/Rock

Crushing emotional currents meet innovative electronic production on this crisp debut from member of dream pop band Houses.

— Fred Thomas

Nick Mulvey

First Mind

Fiction / Harvest

Pop/Rock

Former Portico Quartet percussionist delivers a diverse and cultured debut solo album, led by his intricate guitar work.

— Scott Kerr

John Mayall

A Special Life

Forty Below Records

Pop/Rock, Blues

Never strays too far from the classic Chicago blues model, but now and then he gently bumps it into an interesting side alley.

— Steve Leggett

Kishi Bashi

Lighght

Joyful Noise

Pop/Rock

Rainbow-colored, classical-infused electro-pop that's as dense as it is effervescent.

— James Christopher Monger

Hiss Tracts

Shortwave Nights

Constellation

Avant-Garde

The experimental duo's debt album offers listeners a warm and human take on the world of ambient drone.

— Gregory Heaney

Joseph Arthur

Lou

Vanguard

Pop/Rock

The innovative New York songwriter's acoustic tribute album to Lou Reed is a reverent and subtly crafted gem.

— Timothy Monger

Rodrigo Amarante

Cavalo

Easy Sound Recording Company

Pop/Rock, Latin

Brazilian songwriter and member of Los Hermanos, Orquestra Imperial, and Little Joy turns in a wonderfully understated debut.

— Timothy Monger

Douglas Dare

Whelm

Erased Tapes Records

Pop/Rock

London singer/songwriter/pianist delivers a strikingly elegant and elegiac debut that thrives in its minimalism and mystique.

— Timothy Monger

Hunterchild / Luke Aaron Jones / Kevin Ratterman / Marty Sprowles

Hunterchild

Temporary Residence

Pop/Rock, R&B

Dark, sexy, emotionally engaging debut from the synth soul duo.

— Matt Collar

Ned Doheny

Separate Oceans

Numero / Numero Group

Pop/Rock

Numero restores the reputation of the SoCal soft rock crooner through this collection of album tracks and demos.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Nightfell

The Living Ever Mourn

Southern Lord Records

Pop/Rock

Members of His Hero Is Gone and Aldebaran tackle grim and gloomy death-doom on their debut outing.

— Gregory Heaney

Cherry Ghost / Kekko Fornarelli

Herd Runners

Harmonia Mundi / Heavenly

Pop/Rock

Lush and languid, largely midtempo tales of ruin, reward, sin, stagnation, and salvation.

— James Christopher Monger

Jacqui Abbott / Paul Heaton

What Have We Become?

Universal / Virgin EMI

Pop/Rock

The voices of the Beautiful South reunite on an excellent effort that's both caustic and clever.

— David Jeffries

Alexander Abnos / Charlie Gokey / Marie Parker / Secret Cities

Walk Me Home

Western Vinyl Records

Pop/Rock

North Dakota indie pop trio deliver their most unified and engaging record yet.

— Timothy Monger

Structures

Life Through a Window

Sumerian Records / Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

Breakdown-heavy djent-metal with occasional blasts of melody from these angry Canadians.

— James Christopher Monger

The Trouble with Templeton

The Rookie

Bella Union

Pop/Rock

The debut full-length from the Brisbane-based indie quintet ventures out into various alt-rock and folk styles.

— Timothy Monger

Yvette

Process

Tough Love

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Experimental and grating debut full-length from Brooklyn indie duo with strong industrial influences.

— Fred Thomas

Goldner String Quartet / Piers Lane

Pierné: Piano Quintet; Vierne: String Quartet

Hyperion

Classical

Beyond the similarity of their names, nationality, and lifespans, Pierné and Vierne wrote chamber works in the fin de siècle style.

— Blair Sanderson

John Eliot Gardiner

Stravinsky: Oedipus Rex; Apollon musagète

LSO Live

Classical

John Eliot Gardiner and the London Symphony Orchestra present two vivid Stravinsky performances on this audiophile recording.

— Blair Sanderson

Werner Güra

Haydn: Scottish Airs

Harmonia Mundi

Classical

For those interested in the development of Scottish song, or in hearing some of the last notes Haydn set to paper, this is a strong pick.

— James Manheim

Ludovic Morlot / Seattle Symphony Orchestra

Ravel: Orchestral Works; Saint-Saëns: Organ Symphony

Seattle Symphony

Classical

Recorded live in 2013, Ludovic Morlot leads the Seattle Symphony in vibrant orchestral showcases by Maurice Ravel and Camille Saint-Saëns.

— Blair Sanderson

Iestyn Davies / Thomas Dunford

The Art of Melancholy: Songs by John Dowland

Hyperion

Classical

Here Davies shows what he can do, aided by lutenist Dunford, and the delicacy and intricate ensemble of the pair is remarkable.

— James Manheim

Zuill Bailey / Lara Downes

Some Other Time

Steinway & Sons

Classical

This recital as a whole is engaging, original, and insightful, bringing together a particular musical scene in a fresh way.

— James Manheim

Lewis

L' Amour

Light in the Attic Records

Pop/Rock

Mysterious dustbin discovery featuring the Canadian crooner's synth and acoustic guitar balladry.

— Matt Collar

Watery Love

Decorative Feeding

In the Red Records

Pop/Rock

Super-sized serving of bad karma and cheap guitar abuse on this Philly noise-punk quartet's debut album.

— Mark Deming

Eastlink

Eastlink

In the Red Records

Pop/Rock

Smart but unpretentious exploration of the possibilities of noise and rhythm on the debut album from this Australian guitar army.

— Mark Deming

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