Shane Embury / Mark "Barney" Greenway / Mitch Harris / Danny Herrera / Napalm Death

Apex Predator: Easy Meat

Century Media

Pop/Rock

After 15 albums and nearly 30 years, Birmingham's extreme metal legends refuse to rest on their laurels and deliver a monster.

— Thom Jurek

The Lone Bellow

Then Came the Morning

Descendant Records / RED Music Solutions

Country

The Brooklyn trio -- with help from producer Aaron Dessner -- reveals startling growth and maturity on its wonderful second album.

— Thom Jurek

Ne-Yo

Non-Fiction

Motown

R&B

A rebound release from the dapper R&B singer and songwriter -- his best album since 2008.

— Andy Kellman

Jessica Pratt

On Your Own Love Again

Drag City

Pop/Rock

Second album from California singer/songwriter thankfully does little to change the strange radiance established on her debut.

— Fred Thomas

Punch Brothers

The Phosphorescent Blues

Nonesuch

Folk

Aided by producer T-Bone Burnett, the sophisticated progressive bluegrass outfit creates a defining record.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Gaz Coombes

Matador

Hot Fruit

Pop/Rock

A moody yet comforting record that plays like a decade-delayed sequel to Supergrass' Road to Rouen.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Bettye LaVette

Worthy

Cherry Red

R&B

The soul diva is reunited with producer Joe Henry for another album focused on her peerless gifts as an interpretive singer.

— Mark Deming

The Charlatans

Modern Nature

BMG

Pop/Rock

Soulful, contemplative, and mellow record from the gracefully aging former kings of Madchester.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Twerps

Range Anxiety

Merge

Pop/Rock

Excellent second record by a group dead set on resurrecting the classic Flying Nun sound, this time with better sound and tunes.

— Tim Sendra

The Dodos

Individ

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock

Intricate rhythms and assertive sounds mark the guitar-and-drum duo's lively sixth album.

— Marcy Donelson

Gov't Mule

Sco-Mule

Evil Teen

Pop/Rock, Jazz

Fifteen years after the fact, these historic dates get officially released and provide evidence that they deserve their "legendary" status.

— Thom Jurek

Shadows of Knight

Live 1966

Sundazed

Pop/Rock

This archival release of the quintessential garage band captured on an average night in 1966 in their hometown of Chicago is pure dynamite.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Standells

Live on Tour - 1966!

Sundazed

Pop/Rock

Fun archival release of the garage rockers playing a good-humored show at the University of Michigan in 1966.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Noveller

Fantastic Planet

Fire Records

Pop/Rock, Avant-Garde

Cinematic instrumentalist turns her gaze away from dark meditations of the past to more celestial and blissful compositions.

— Fred Thomas

Papa Roach

F.E.A.R.

Eleven Seven

Pop/Rock

Eighth album of heavy modern hard rock and metal from the California outfit.

— Matt Collar

Jib Kidder

Teaspoon to the Ocean

ADA / Weird World

Pop/Rock, Electronic

Strange and wonderful sample-heavy synth pop by this genre-defying musical collagist.

— Fred Thomas

Danny James

Pear

Burger Records

Pop/Rock

Solo debut from the former bassist with the Cuts is an ambitious blend of rock, pop, funk, and R&B.

— Mark Deming

Dan Kroha

Angels Watching over Me

Third Man Records

Pop/Rock

Powerfully raw collection of traditional blues, folk, and gospel tunes played by this Detroit garage punk legend.

— Fred Thomas

Packway Handle Band / Jim White

Take It Like a Man

Yep Roc

Folk, Pop/Rock, Country

Visionary songwriter meets a band of playful virtuosos, and their collaboration brings out the best in everyone concerned.

— Mark Deming

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis

The Third

Sunday Best

Pop/Rock

Rootsy, genre-bending third album from the British trio featuring production from the Clash's Mick Jones.

— Matt Collar

Alasdair Roberts

Alasdair Roberts

Drag City

Pop/Rock, Folk

The Scottish folk singer/songwriter delivers another beautifully conceived and mostly solo effort on his self-titled eighth album.

— Timothy Monger

Amason

Sky City

Fairfax Recordings

Pop/Rock

Debut album of slick soft rock-inspired pop from a Swedish supergroup (Miike Snow, Dungen) of sorts.

— Tim Sendra

Half Japanese

Volume Two: 1987-1989

Fire Records

Pop/Rock

Three late-'80s albums from Jad Fair's long-running fusion of chaos and inspiration find the group in a (relatively) accessible mood.

— Mark Deming

Howlin Rain

Mansion Songs

Easy Sound Recording Company

Pop/Rock

Songwriter/guitarist Ethan Miller delivers the first album in a projected trilogy. This set contains the best songs of his career to date.

— Thom Jurek

Milo Greene

Control

Elektra

Pop/Rock

The California outfit takes a moody, '80s new wave- and R&B-influenced turn on their sophomore album.

— Matt Collar

Beat Spacek / Steve Spacek

Modern Streets

Ninja Tune

Electronic

Veteran producer and vocalist Steve Spacek draws from the multicultural club scene of '80s London with up-to-date gear.

— Andy Kellman

Lord Dying

Poisoned Altars

Relapse Records

Pop/Rock

On their sophomore full-length, the Northwestern quartet up the ante with a chugging, compelling assault of rhythm and riff.

— Thom Jurek

Venom

From the Very Depths

Spinefarm Records

Pop/Rock

The black metal institution's 14th studio long-player is reliably evil.

— James Christopher Monger

Visigoth

The Revenant King

Metal Blade

Pop/Rock

Salt Lake City, Utah's best power metal album of 2015.

— James Christopher Monger

Xibalba

Tierra y Libertad

Southern Lord Records

Pop/Rock

A blistering, beatdown-heavy, 11-track set that invokes names like Napalm Death, Morbid Angel, Nails, and Bolt Thrower.

— James Christopher Monger

Dengue Fever

The Deepest Lake

Tuk Tuk Records

Pop/Rock, International

More eclectic and passionate music from this Cambodian-obsessed LA combo; one of their most flavorful and satisfying efforts yet.

— Mark Deming

Chandos

Rats in Your Bed

Carpark Records

Pop/Rock

Debut album from angular Boston trio channels the best of the guitar-heavy '90s underground scene.

— Fred Thomas

Cotillon

Cotillon

Burger Records

Pop/Rock

First full-length album from Jordan Corso's indie pop project is tuneful, eclectic, and makes the most of a bad breakup.

— Mark Deming

Rae Morris

Unguarded

Atlantic

Pop/Rock

Literate, evocative debut of sophisticated, Kate Bush-influenced pop from the Lancashire-born singer.

— Matt Collar

The Phantom Band

Fears Trending

Chemikal Underground

Pop/Rock

The Scottish rockers conjure some dark magic making an essential companion release to 2014's Strange Friend.

— Timothy Monger

The Primitives

Galore

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

The band's third album is a brightly lit, cleanly recorded slice of modern guitar pop circa 1991.

— Tim Sendra

Supreme Jubilees

It'll All Be Over

Light in the Attic Records

R&B, Religious

The lone release by this deeply soulful, family-led gospel group is a comforting and strangely wistful diamond in the rough.

— Timothy Monger

Jan St. Werner

Miscontinuum Album (Fiepblatter Catalogue #3)

Thrill Jockey

Electronic

One half of Mouse on Mars turns his experimental opera into a fascinating album exploring the gaps and loops in our perception of time.

— Heather Phares

Kenny G

Brazilian Nights

Concord

Jazz

The saxophonist pays tribute to the cool, breezy sounds of bossa nova with this 2015 album.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Invisible Familiars

Disturbing Wildlife

Other Music Recording Company

Pop/Rock

The Brooklyn trio's debut performs a precarious, engaging balancing act between experimental music and indie rock.

— Heather Phares

Jake Xerxes Fussell

Jake Xerxes Fussell

Fat Possum Records / Paradise of Bachelors

Folk

The North Carolina blues/folk singer's wonderfully understated debut is full of personality and charm.

— Timothy Monger

Zun Zun Egui

Shackles' Gift

Bella Union

Pop/Rock

Second album from tropical Bristolians Zun Zun Egui.

— James Pearce

Young Ejecta

The Planet

Driftless Recordings

Pop/Rock

The duo reinvents its electropop with a mini-album that's equally wide-eyed, sophisticated, heartbroken, and euphoric.

— Heather Phares

Zakary Thaks

It's the End: The Definitive Collection

Big Beat

Pop/Rock

The Texan garage titans Zakary Thaks get a comprehensive overview containing original mixes of all their singles plus unearthed rarities.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Aqualung

10 Futures

BMG Rights Management

Pop/Rock

The seventh outing from Matt Hales offers up an evocative pairing of R&B-infused trip-hop, Brit-pop, and soul-folk.

— James Christopher Monger

Twiztid

The Darkness

Majik Ninja Entertainment

Rap

The horrorcore crew's first album for their own label is cleaner and meaner than previous releases.

— David Jeffries

Various Artists

Dance Mania: Ghetto Madness

Strut

Electronic

A round of predominantly raw, mid- to late-'90s vulgarities from one of Chicago's early house labels.

— Andy Kellman

The Body / Thou

You, Whom I Have Always Hated/Released from Love

Thrill Jockey

Pop/Rock

Collaborative album by two monsters of noisy doom metal includes harrowing covers of Nine Inch Nails and Vic Chesnutt.

— Fred Thomas

Masaaki Suzuki / Bach Collegium Japan

Mozart: Requiem

BIS

Classical

Mozart's Requiem receives a stunning performance on this SACD by Masaaki Suzuki and his choir and orchestra, the Bach Collegium Japan.

— Blair Sanderson

Anna Netrebko / Emmanuel Villaume / Vitalij Kowaljow / Alexey Markov / Sergei Skorokhodov / Slovenia Philharmonic Orchestra

Tchaikovsky: Iolanta

Deutsche Grammophon

Classical

Tchaikovsky's one-act opera Iolanta receives a passionate performance from Anna Netrebko, who sings the lead role in this live recording.

— Blair Sanderson

Maurizio Pollini

Beethoven: Sonatas, Opp. 31 & 49

Deutsche Grammophon

Classical

Those who have admired Pollini's Beethoven in the past will be very satisfied with this capstone to his Beethoven efforts.

— James Manheim

Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin

Antonio Vivaldi: Le Quattro Stagioni; Rebel: Les Éléments

Harmonia Mundi

Classical

The Akademie für Alte Musik, Berlin offers Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Rebel's Les Éléments with Harmonia Mundi's 2015 catalog.

— Blair Sanderson

Anderson & Roe Piano Duo

The Art of Bach

Steinway & Sons

Classical

This is a program that views the range of Bach's creativity under a different lens from those anybody else has used.

— James Manheim

Zuill Bailey / Jun Märkl / Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

Nico Muhly: Cello Concerto; Ernest Bloch: Schelomo - Hebraic Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra; Three Jewish Poems

Steinway & Sons

Classical

This is a more coherent way of including contemporary music in a program than American orchestras usually provide.

— James Manheim

Previous Week Next Week