Sia

1000 Forms of Fear

RCA

Pop/Rock

Returning to the spotlight after years as a chart-topping songwriter, Sia balances her arty instincts with big hooks.

— Heather Phares

Lewis Watson

The Morning

Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

The social media sensation delivers a soft, fuzzy solo debut.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

CSNY 1974

Atlantic / Rhino

Pop/Rock

CSNY's legendary 1974 tour finally gets an official live document in this sprawling box.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Judas Priest

Redeemer of Souls

Columbia / Epic

Pop/Rock

The leanest and most confident-sounding collection of new material the band has released in ages.

— James Christopher Monger

Cold Beat

Over Me

Crime On the Moon

Pop/Rock

The debut album from Hannah Lew's post-Grass Widow project contrasts post-punk tension with winning indie pop hooks.

— Heather Phares

Comet Gain

Paperback Ghosts

Fortuna POP!

Pop/Rock

The group's seventh album is heavy on the autumnal ballads, but still burns with an undimmed fire and passion.

— Tim Sendra

Leela James

Fall for You

Shesangz

R&B

The 100%-soul singer's fifth studio album offers an unaffected synthesis of classic and contemporary sounds.

— Andy Kellman

Chicago

Now: Chicago XXXVI

Frontiers Records

Pop/Rock

Chicago live the Now but evoke the past -- specifically the '80s -- on their 36th album.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Proper Ornaments

Wooden Head

Fortuna POP! / Slumberland

Pop/Rock

The band's debut album is a low-key psych pop delight that casts a calmly enchanting spell that's hard to break, even after the album ends.

— Tim Sendra

Corey Harris

Fulton Blues [Deluxe Edition]

Blues Boulevard / Music Avenue

Blues, Reggae

Harris continues exploring his expansive and still traditional hybrid version of the blues.

— Steve Leggett

Eugene McGuinness

Chroma

Domino

Pop/Rock

The fourth long-player from the mercurial English singer/songwriter and frontman for Eugene + the Lizards.

— James Christopher Monger

Braid

No Coast

Top Shelf Records

Pop/Rock

First album in 16 years from this staple of the Midwestern emo scene sounds like a logical next step in the group's development.

— Fred Thomas

Gustavo Santaolalla

Camino

Masterworks / Sony Music

Latin, International

On his Sony Masterworks debut, the Oscar and Grammy-winning Argentine composer offers a spare, intimate, yet emotionally resonant instrumental set.

— Thom Jurek

The Skygreen Leopards

Family Crimes

Woodsist

Pop/Rock

Once a freaky communal folk act, this album finds the band embracing pop more than ever before.

— Fred Thomas

Chicks on Speed

Artstravaganza

Chicks on Speed

Electronic, Pop/Rock

The group's most ambitious album yet explores the increasingly blurry lines between pop culture, high art, and everyday life.

— Heather Phares

Example

Live Life Living

Epic

Electronic

The rapper/singer mostly sings on his most bright, most uplifting, and most EDM-flavored LP to date.

— David Jeffries

Matt Kivel

Days of Being Wild

Woodsist

Pop/Rock

Second album of drifty indie folk-rock from this L.A. songwriter turns up the volume just a touch.

— Fred Thomas

The 13th Floor Elevators

Live Evolution Lost

Charly Records / Snapper / Snapper UK

Pop/Rock

Bad acid gets the better of the pioneering Texas psychedelic band in one of its only professionally recorded concerts.

— Mark Deming

Aaron West & the Roaring Twenties

We Don't Have Each Other

Hopeless Records

Pop/Rock

Wonder Years frontman Dan Campbell delivers a conceptual solo project that splits the difference between Americana and emo with mixed results.

— Timothy Monger

Cloud Boat

Model of You

Apollo

Electronic

Pensive British folktronica duo expand inwardly on their sophomore release, which feels both bigger and more nuanced than its predecessor.

— Timothy Monger

The Mastersons

Good Luck Charm

New West

Pop/Rock

Second album from this Texas by way of New York duo is full of good tunes and excellent harmonies that truly satisfy.

— Mark Deming

Wolves in the Throne Room

Celestite

Artemisia

Pop/Rock

This compelling, completely instrumental set -- composed on analog synths, guitars, winds and brass -- is anything but black metal.

— Thom Jurek

French Style Furs

Is Exotic Bait

Frenchkiss Records

Pop/Rock

The trio's debut captures the bookish yet brawny essence of its members' work in Cold War Kids and We Barbarians.

— Heather Phares

Goatwhore

Constricting Rage of the Merciless

Metal Blade

Pop/Rock

Six albums in, the bayou-based black metal outfit is so dialed in that there may as well be nobody listening.

— James Christopher Monger

James Blackshaw

Fantômas: Le Faux Magistrat

Tompkins Square

Avant-Garde, Stage & Screen

An original score for one of Louis Feuillade's serial films performed live on the occasion of its centenary.

— Thom Jurek

John Mellencamp

Performs Trouble No More: Live at Town Hall

Mercury

Pop/Rock

A live version of Mellencamp's 2003 blues and folk covers LP, performed a month after the album's release.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Viet Cong

Cassette

Mexican Summer

Pop/Rock

Eclectic, intelligent, and muscular fusion of indie rock, pop, and art rock on the debut from this quartet from Canada.

— Mark Deming

Ted Nugent

Shut Up & Jam!

Frontiers Records

Pop/Rock

The 17th solo studio long-player from the now Texas-based Motor City Madman.

— James Christopher Monger

Peter Rowan

Dharma Blues

Omnivore

Country, Folk

The musically innovative singer/songwriter delivers bracing, rootsy, open-ended songs that emerge from decades of meditation practice.

— Thom Jurek

Dale Watson

The Truckin Sessions Trilogy

Red River / Red River Entertainment

Country, Pop/Rock

The Texas honky tonk hero rounds up three full albums of truck-driving songs into one high-octane package.

— Mark Deming

Steve Earle

Live in Nashville 1995

Shout! Factory

Country, Pop/Rock

Released on its own for the first time, this thrilling date is the singer/songwriter's first Nashville concert after getting through rehab.

— Thom Jurek

Steven Wilson

Cover Version

Kscope

Pop/Rock

Initially issued as limited-edition singles, with a cover and original on each side, these essential tracks are now widely available in one package.

— Thom Jurek

The Boys

Punk Rock Menopause

Wolverine

Pop/Rock

First album in 33 years from the venerable U.K. punks is a snarky and rollicking return to form.

— Mark Deming

Magnificat / Philip Cave

The Tudors at Prayer

Linn Records

Classical

This is a release has a lot to recommend it and belongs on any decent shelf or hard drive of English choral music.

— James Manheim

Dennis Russell Davies

Philip Glass: Symphony No. 1 "Low"

Orange Mountain Music

Classical

Under the supervision of Glass' own Orange Mountain Music label, this is a state of the art effort. Recommended for Glass fans.

— James Manheim

Stewart Goodyear

Tchaikovsky, Grieg

Steinway & Sons

Classical

Of the many choices the listener has in this repertory, Goodyear's performance is well into the top tier.

— James Manheim

Dublin Guitar Quartet

The Dublin Guitar Quartet Performs Philip Glass

Orange Mountain Music

Avant-Garde, Classical

This album as a whole represents a new stage in thinking about the music of Glass.

— James Manheim

Karen Cargill / Simon Lepper

Alma & Gustav Mahler: Lieder

Linn / Linn Records

Classical

Sample Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen for an introduction in just six minutes to the essential Mahler. A superb job.

— James Manheim

Carolyn Sampson

A French Baroque Diva

Hyperion

Classical

Fel's range is matched by that of Ex Cathedra, under Skidmore, who all deliver a variety of theatrical effects. Highly recommended.

— James Manheim

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