Death Cab for Cutie

Kintsugi

Atlantic

Pop/Rock

Without bassist and co-founder Chris Walla in tow, Ben Gibbard succumbs to his soft, sentimental side in the supple, alluring Kintsugi.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

José James

Yesterday I Had the Blues

Blue Note

Jazz

To celebrate the jazz legend's 100th birthday, the singer and a killer trio deliver a riveting set in tribute to her influence and legacy.

— Thom Jurek

Darius Rucker

Southern Style

Capitol / Capitol Nashville / Universal Music

Country, Pop/Rock

Another pleasant collection of amiable country-ish roots rock from the former Hootie & the Blowfish leader.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Sufjan Stevens

Carrie & Lowell

Asthmatic Kitty

Pop/Rock

The acclaimed singer/songwriter confronts the death of his mother with this powerful song cycle of memory and loss.

— Mark Deming

Wale

The Album About Nothing

Atlantic

Rap

With the help of his friend Jerry Seinfeld as narrator, the rapper drops an introspective and autobiographical effort.

— David Jeffries

Boz Scaggs

A Fool to Care

429 Records

Pop/Rock

The peerless singer records in Nashville with a crack band and special guests for a program of timeless R&B, blues, and soul.

— Thom Jurek

The Sonics

This Is the Sonics

Revox

Pop/Rock

The manic Pacific Northwest garage band returns to the studio and delivers an album that lives up to their furious legend.

— Mark Deming

Death Grips

The Powers That B

Electro Magnetic / Harvest

Rap

The avant hip-hop band call it quits with a double album that's half-esoteric and half-essential.

— David Jeffries

Scott Weiland & the Wildabouts / Scott Weiland

Blaster

Universal

Pop/Rock

Weiland returns to action with a new band called the Wildabouts, who help turn his signature psychedelic glam into something heavier.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

James Blackshaw

Summoning Suns

Important Records

Folk

The guitarist/composer adds singing and songwriting to his résumé, resulting in what may be the record he always desired to make.

— Thom Jurek

Ringo Starr

Postcards from Paradise

Universal

Pop/Rock

Working closely with his 2010s touring band, Ringo conjures a sweetly goofy and sentimental pop record that's his best album in years.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Scharpling & Wurster

The Best of the Best Show

Numero Group

Comedy/Spoken

Massive 16-disc set of the funniest and strangest phone calls from the long-running radio show.

— Mark Deming

Billie Holiday

The Centennial Collection

Legacy

Vocal, Blues

Released to celebrate the singer's 100th birthday, this is an excellent primer of her Columbia, Commodore, and Decca sides.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Ludacris

Ludaversal

Disturbing tha Peace

Rap

The snarling rapper offers a winning return to form with help from Miguel, Big K.R.I.T., Usher, and many more.

— David Jeffries

The Prodigy

The Day Is My Enemy

Cooking Vinyl / Take Me to the Hospital / Warner Bros.

Electronic

Angry rave music rears its head again as the veteran crew return with some help from Flux Pavilion and Sleaford Mods.

— David Jeffries

The Soft Moon / Luis Vasquez

Deeper

Captured Tracks

Pop/Rock

Written and recorded in near isolation in Venice, Luis Vasquez's third album is his most emotional, and compelling, to date.

— Heather Phares

Lower Dens

Escape From Evil

Ribbon Music

Pop/Rock

The Jana Hunter-led outfit's third studio outing eschews the lo-fi minimalism of past efforts for Krautrock and new wave-inspired electro-pop.

— James Christopher Monger

Angélique Kidjo / Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg

Sings

429 Records

International

This fine retrospective studio date pairs the great African singer with Luxembourg's Philharmonic Orchestra.

— Thom Jurek

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress

Constellation

Pop/Rock

This large Canadian band issue a more focused studio version of a sprawling live work on their first single-length album since 1998.

— Thom Jurek

Benoît Pioulard

Sonnet

Kranky

Electronic

Largely instrumental and warmed with analog effects, this is a beautiful, affecting exploration of freedom within form.

— Heather Phares

Föllakzoid

III

Sacred Bones

Pop/Rock

Inspired by techno and traditional Andean music, the Chilean trio delivers its heaviest, most atmospheric music yet.

— Heather Phares

Fort Romeau

Insides

Ghostly International

Electronic

The producer's ambitious second album enriches his deep house with nods to kosmische and early electronic music.

— Heather Phares

Plain White T's

American Nights

Megaforce / MRI / Proud Bird Records

Pop/Rock

Despite copping a few moves from recent bands, Plain White T's stay true to their pop roots on this appealing record.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Sneaky Feelings

Send You [Bonus Tracks] [2015]

Flying Nun

Pop/Rock

Debut album of smart, sophisticated, and emotional pop from the most underrated band in the Flying Nun stable past or present, re-leased in 2015 with added bonus tracks.

— Tim Sendra

Apartments

The Evening Visits...And Stays for Years

Captured Tracks

Pop/Rock

Thoughtful, obscure, and important debut album from the underrated Australian band, now with demos and early singles added.

— Tim Sendra

Grateful Dead

The Best of the Grateful Dead

GC / Grateful Dead / Rhino

Pop/Rock

Excellent double-disc history of the Dead told through studio recordings.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Eliane Elias

Made in Brasil

Concord Jazz

International, Jazz

The pianist/singer celebrates her heritage with a sultry mix of Bossa Nova and lushly harmonized, R&B-infused vocal jazz.

— Matt Collar

Marching Church

This World Is Not Enough

Sacred Bones

Pop/Rock

The Iceage frontman bends post-punk, soul, and jazz to his whims as he explores the all-consuming nature of desire.

— Heather Phares

Ryley Walker

Primrose Green

Dead Oceans

Pop/Rock

The Chicago guitarist pays homage to the influences of Tim Buckley, John Martyn, and more on this stoned, sensual set.

— Thom Jurek

Translator

Sometimes People Forget

Omnivore

Pop/Rock

A collection of unreleased demos showing off a rougher and more energetic side of these new wave cult favorites.

— Mark Deming

William Elliott Whitmore

Radium Death

Anti-

Pop/Rock

The usually solo folk singer/songwriter indulges in ragged rock and country with backing musicians to fine effect.

— Thom Jurek

Robben Ford

Into the Sun

Provogue

Blues

Ratcheting up the soul and funk, the blues guitarist winds up with a sunny, grooving record.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Blancmange

Semi Detached

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

Now Neil Arthur on his own, the veteran synth pop act returns with a dark and heavy album.

— David Jeffries

Faith Healer / Jessica Jalbert / Renny Wilson

Cosmic Troubles

Mint

Pop/Rock

Relaxed psych pop with traces of smoky British folk and sleepy chillwave, done expertly by Jessica Jalbert with help from Renny Wilson.

— Tim Sendra

Deke Dickerson

Greatest Hits

Rockbeat Records

Pop/Rock

Raucous, genre-spanning, and consistently rollicking collection from the expert guitar picker and genuine entertainment fireball.

— Mark Deming

Hiiragi Fukuda

Seacide

Trouble in Mind

Pop/Rock

Japanese experimental musician improvises with an outdated synthesizer and creates a curiously beautiful album.

— Mark Deming

Houndstooth

No News from Home

No Quarter

Pop/Rock

A fine sophomore outing from the Portland, Oregon indie pop outfit that skillfully blends fuzzed-out Americana with psych-tinged dream pop.

— James Christopher Monger

Circa Waves

Young Chasers

Virgin EMI

Pop/Rock

Mark Olson

Good-bye Lizelle

Glitterhouse Records

Pop/Rock, Country

Former Jayhawks singer travels the world and develops a taste for Indian music, with only limited success.

— Mark Deming

Nightwish

Endless Forms Most Beautiful

Nuclear Blast

Pop/Rock

The eighth studio long-player from the Finnish symphonic metal outfit, and the first Nightwish outing to feature new vocalist Floor Jansen.

— James Christopher Monger

Polar Bear

Same as You

Leaf / The Leaf Label

Jazz

Sebastian Rochford and company follow up their Mercury Prize nomination with a killer set of dub-inflected dark, holistic grooves.

— Thom Jurek

Prong

Songs From the Black Hole

SPV / Steamhammer

Pop/Rock

The veteran industrial-metal crew kick the "all-covers album" cliche up the backside with fierce songs from Bad Brains, Killing Joke, and others.

— David Jeffries

Reptar

Lurid Glow

Joyful Noise

Pop/Rock

Highlighted brass and percussion and Graham Ulicny's adrenalized vocals deliver extra snap and crackle for a glistening and rhythmic sophomore LP.

— Marcy Donelson

Lost Boy ?

Canned

Papercup Music

Pop/Rock

One-man-band turned four-man-band cranks out sugar crunch '90s revivalism at its best.

— Tim Sendra

Cappella Romana / Alexander Lingas

Good Friday in Jerusalem

Cappella Romana

Classical

Recommended not only for those planning a trip to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but to anyone curious about Byzantine chant in general.

— James Manheim

Peter Donohoe

Prokofiev: Piano Sonatas, Vol. 2 - Sonatas Nos. 9 & 10; Sonatinas Nos. 1 & 2; Cello Sonatas

Somm

Classical

The second volume in Donohoe's series of Prokofiev's piano sonatas presents the Ninth Sonata, along with the Cello Sonata and the sonatinas.

— Blair Sanderson

Hilary Hahn / Paavo Järvi

Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 5; Vieuxtemps: Violin Concerto No. 4

Deutsche Grammophon

Classical

Hahn welds these two works together into a program that might have been heard in Paris in 1880, and her playing has the same distinction.

— James Manheim

Serge Kakudji / Fabrizio Cassol / Rodriguez Vangama

Coup Fatal

Outhere Music

Classical

What makes this all so extraordinary is that there is absolutely nothing of pat pastiche about it, or even of experiment. A real triumph.

— James Manheim

Matt Haimovitz / Christopher O'Riley

Beethoven, Period.

Pentatone / PentaTone Classics

Classical

Cellist Matt Haimovitz and pianist Christopher O'Riley perform Beethoven's five sonatas and three sets of variations on period instruments.

— Blair Sanderson

Karen Cargill / Antoine Tamestit / Valery Gergiev / London Symphony Orchestra

Berlioz: Harold en Italie; La mort de Cléopâtre

LPO / LSO Live

Classical

Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra bring excitement and passion to Berlioz's Harold en Italie and La mort de Cléopâtre.

— Blair Sanderson

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