Featured New Album Releases

David Guetta

Listen

Atlantic / Elektra / Parlophone / Warner Bros.

Electronic

The EDM producer puts his usual genre aside for a varied album featuring Nicki Minaj, John Legend, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and others.

— David Jeffries

Iggy Azalea

Reclassified

Def Jam / Hustle Gang / Turn First / Virgin EMI

Rap

Iggy's debut album gets retooled and improved with five new numbers added to the track list.

— David Jeffries

Various Artists

SHADYXV [Only @ Best Buy]

Shady

Rap

The label Eminem co-founded celebrates its 15th anniversary with one disc of new material, and one disc of hits.

— David Jeffries

Deadmau5

5 Years of Mau5

Ultra

Electronic

The EDM producer celebrates five years of his Mau5trap imprint with this desirable collection of hits.

— David Jeffries

Public Enemy

It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back [Deluxe Edition]

Def Jam

Rap

Deluxe reissue containing a bonus CD of remixes, B-sides, and rarities plus a DVD of the Fight the Power Live home video.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Coldplay

Ghost Stories Live 2014 [CD/DVD]

Atlantic / Parlophone

Pop/Rock

Bright, open live renditions of the nine songs that comprise the group's 2014 album, Ghost Stories.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Idris Elba / IDRIS

Mi Mandela

Parlophone

Rap

Noted actor dives deep into the many sounds and rhythms of South African music, as well as honoring the late Nelson Mandela.

— Mark Deming

Faith Evans

Incomparable

Prolific / Relativity Entertainment

R&B

Scattered and lengthy, the sixth album from the R&B Divas star is nonetheless her best release in nearly a decade.

— Andy Kellman

Pitbull

Globalization

Polo Grounds Music / RCA

Latin, Rap

The Miami rapper's eighth studio effort features the highlights "Wild Wild Love" and the Penguins of Madagascar soundtrack cut "Celebrate."

— David Jeffries

Simple Minds

Big Music

Caroline

Pop/Rock

The Glaswegian legends go all the way back to 1979 and successfully wrap their roots and pop past together with 21st century dance rock.

— Thom Jurek

Faust / Jean Hervé Peron / Zappi Diermaier

jUSt

Bureau B

Pop/Rock

A collection of somewhat skeletal foundations sounds as wild and playful as the band's work from the early '70s.

— Fred Thomas

Flake Music

When You Land Here It's Time to Return [2014 Remix]

Aural Apothecary / Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

The band's charming first, and only, album held the potential they later delivered on as the Shins.

— Heather Phares

Game Theory

Dead Center [Bonus Tracks]

Omnivore

Pop/Rock

A major step forward for Miller and his group, reissued by Omnivore.

— Mark Deming

Olly Murs

Never Been Better

Epic

Pop/Rock

The former British X Factor runner-up's fourth album of melodic, dance-oriented pop and R&B.

— Matt Collar

Jerome Derradji

KStarke Records: The House That Jackmaster Hater Built

Still Music

Electronic

Unmixed compilation of raw and nasty Chicago house, mostly rare or previously unreleased, along with newer tracks inspired by the approach.

— Andy Kellman

Various Artists

Native North America, Vol.1: Aboriginal Folk, Rock and Country 1966-1985

Light in the Attic Records

Pop/Rock, Folk, Country

Handsomely packaged and musically arresting, this collection of aboriginal popular music offers another side of cultural "reality."

— Thom Jurek

Nels Cline / Julian Lage

Room

Mack Avenue

Jazz

An excellent conversational meeting between two very different jazz guitarists that juxtaposes energy and ideas in ten colorful presentations.

— Thom Jurek

Selena Gomez

For You

Hollywood

Pop/Rock

An excellent hits collection that spans her four albums from 2009 to 2013 and adds a couple newly recorded tracks.

— Tim Sendra

Robin Williamson

Trusting in the Rising Light

ECM

Folk

The Scottish-born folk legend returns mightily with his first album of all-original material in eight years.

— Thom Jurek

Cursive

The Ugly Organ [Deluxe Edition]

Saddle Creek Records

Pop/Rock

Emotionally ragged and musically intense, the band's fourth album is a tough, but worthwhile, listen.

— Tim Sendra

Attila

Guilty Pleasure

Artery Recordings / Razor & Tie

Pop/Rock

The Atlanta-based bro-metalcore crew offer up a familiar-sounding sixth long-player.

— James Christopher Monger

C.J. Ramone

Last Chance to Dance

Fat Wreck Chords

Pop/Rock

Second solo album from the former Ramones bassist is solid, rollicking fun that honors his old band but has its own personality.

— Mark Deming

Keith Jarrett / Charlie Haden / Paul Motian

Hamburg '72

ECM

Jazz

An archival German radio recording captures this high-powered trio at a creative peak, firewalking through composition and improvisation.

— Thom Jurek

Sleaford Mods

Tiswas EP [Orange Vinyl]

Invada

Pop/Rock

The duo's final 2014 release is leaner and darker, but still full of brilliantly crude social commentary and beats.

— Heather Phares

September Girls

Veneer

Kanine Records

Pop/Rock

Four songs of shadowy, goth-influenced garage rock from this Irish quintet.

— Fred Thomas

The Brand New Heavies

Sweet Freaks

Eagle Rock Entertainment

R&B

Vocalist Dawn Joseph takes her turn fronting the veteran party people and the results are funky.

— David Jeffries

Two Inch Astronaut

Foulbrood

Exploding In Sound

Pop/Rock

Maryland-based post-rock trio hits its mark on a monster third LP full of precision, fuzz, and pop smarts.

— Timothy Monger

Lumen Drones

ECM

Pop/Rock

Playing hardanger fiddle, electric guitars, and drums, this Norwegian instrumental trio deliver a fine debut of post-psych rock.

— Thom Jurek

Your Old Droog

Droog

Rap

Debut album from N.Y.C. rapper whose early tracks had fans convinced he was Nas working under a secret alias.

— Fred Thomas

Cripper

Hyëna

Metal Blade

Pop/Rock

The fourth LP (and first outing for Metal Blade) from the German thrash revivalists fronted by guttural siren Britta Görtz.

— James Christopher Monger

Illum Sphere

Fabriclive 78: Illum Sphere

Fabric

Electronic

The DJ/producer's mix for the legendary London club's label is an eclectic dive into dub, techno, and experimental sounds.

— Heather Phares

Jimmy Greene

Beautiful Life

Mack Avenue

Jazz

A jazz saxophonist's loving tribute to his daughter who was killed in the Sandy Hook shootings in 2012.

— Matt Collar

The Electric Eels

Die Electric Eels

Superior Viaduct

Pop/Rock

Masters of what they called "Art Extermination," this raw, snotty Ohio band anticipated punk at its harshest.

— Mark Deming

Michael Chapman

The Polar Bear

Blast First Petite

Folk, Pop/Rock

Celebrated British folk guitarist explores beauty and chaos on this set, which includes an extended jam with Thurston Moore.

— Mark Deming

Michael Mantler / Nouvelle Cuisine Big Band

The Jazz Composer's Orchestra: Update

ECM

Jazz

Forty-five years after the original, the composer profoundly re-envisions his tunes for a new generation, adding period material never before recorded.

— Thom Jurek

Óbó

Innhverfi

Morr Music

Pop/Rock

Debut release from Icelandic multi-instrumentalist and Sigur Rós live performer.

Phil Seymour

Phil Seymour in Concert!: The Phil Seymour Archive Series, Vol. 3

Airline Records

Pop/Rock

Two live sets from the power pop cult hero, full of energy, hooks, and revved-up Elvis Presley covers.

— Mark Deming

Powder

Ka-Pow! An Explosive Collection 1967-1968

Big Beat

Pop/Rock

26 track compilation offers comprehensive coverage of this remarkably short-lived 60's U.S. popsike act.

— Fred Thomas

Woody Allen

The Stand-Up Years 1964-1968

Razor & Tie

Comedy/Spoken

The comic renaissance man's three albums from the '60s, collected in full, along with interviews on his standup years.

— Mark Deming

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet / Gabor Takács-Nagy

Haydn: Piano Concertos

Chandos

Classical

The answer is that Bavouzet is as brilliant as ever, and he has essentially rewritten the book on these pieces.

— James Manheim

Clare College Choir, Cambridge / Graham Ross / Dmitri Ensemble

Lux de Caelo: Music for Christmas

Harmonia Mundi

Classical

This is a grand survey of what the idea of the Christmas carol has meant over hundreds of years.

— James Manheim

Le Concert d'Astrée / Emmanuelle Haïm

Handel: Messiah

Erato

Classical

Emmanuelle Haïm's spectacular version of Handel's Messiah in authentic period style is one of the most exciting available.

— Blair Sanderson

Philippe Jaroussky

Vivaldi: Pietà

Erato

Classical

Several things come together to make this work: the presence of Ensemble Artaserse, the program, and Jaroussky's voice, equally beautiful in its lower ranges.

— James Manheim