PJ Harvey

The Hope Six Demolition Project

Island

Pop/Rock

Collecting raw dispatches inspired by Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Washington, D.C., the artist's ninth album approaches musical photojournalism.

— Heather Phares

Sturgill Simpson

A Sailor's Guide to Earth

Atlantic

Country

A sprawling concept album that expands the notion of what constitutes Cosmic American Music in the 21st century.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

J Dilla

The Diary of J Dilla

Pay Jay

Rap

Fourteen years after it was shelved, the material intended for James Yancey's MCA album finally reaches the public in complete, often rowdy form.

— Andy Kellman

Cate Le Bon

Crab Day

Amplify / Drag City

Pop/Rock

The fourth full-length outing from the singular Welsh pop confectioner is as peculiar and capricious as anything she has done thus far.

— James Christopher Monger

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

PersonA

Community Music / Universal

Pop/Rock

Their first LP written and recorded as a group (and sans Jade Castrinos) still offers music-festival-friendly fare, now more jammy than jamboree.

— Marcy Donelson

Cluster

1971-1981 [9CD Box]

Bureau B

Electronic, Avant-Garde, Pop/Rock

The influential Krautrock duo's first decade of output is collected on this monumental nine-disc box set.

— Paul Simpson

Various Artists

Wake Up You! Vol. 1 : The Rise & Fall of Nigerian Rock Music 1972-1977

Now-Again

International, Pop/Rock

The first volume features 18 great tracks from the '70s Afro-rock era and an illustrated hardbound book with an amazing historical essay.

— Thom Jurek

Sam Beam / Jesca Hoop

Love Letter for Fire

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

This collaboration between the Iron and Wine leader and the eclectic indie-folk chanteuse reveals they're an inspired pairing.

— Mark Deming

Ace Frehley

Origins, Vol. 1

Entertainment One

Pop/Rock

With his fun "all covers" album, the Spaceman offers up one of the best Kiss-related releases in years.

— David Jeffries

Phil Collins

No Jacket Required [Deluxe Edition]

Rhino / Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

His third solo album was his biggest, filled with huge modern pop songs and truly heartbreaking ballads.

— Tim Sendra

Phil Collins

Testify [Deluxe Edition]

Rhino / Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

An immaculately produced adult contemporary album in the vein of Phil Collins' Oscar-winning "You'll Be in My Heart."

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Kevin Morby

Singing Saw

Dead Oceans

Pop/Rock

The singer/songwriter's third album benefits from the expansive production by Yellowbird's Sam Cohen.

— Tim Sendra

Marcus Strickland / Marcus Strickland's Twi-Life

Nihil Novi

Blue Note

Jazz

On his Blue Note debut, the saxophonist premieres a new band on a set of funky, ambitious tunes.

— Thom Jurek

Santana

Santana IV

Santana IV Records

Pop/Rock

The reunion of the iconic band's 1971-1972 lineup delivers on its classic sound and canny musical interaction.

— Thom Jurek

Graham Nash

This Path Tonight

Blue Castle Records

Pop/Rock

Graham Nash faces turbulent times with sensitivity and hope.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Metallica

Ride the Lightning [Deluxe Edition]

Blackened Recordings / Universal

Pop/Rock

Second LP in 1984 proved the speed metal act no flash, with darker, deeper lyrics and compositions extending to dirges and ballads.

Metallica

Kill 'Em All [Deluxe Edition]

Blackened Recordings

Pop/Rock

Landmark 1983 debut by speed metal megaforce, as influenced by Iggy Pop as by Iron Maiden.

All Saints

Red Flag

London Records / Universal Music TV

Pop/Rock

On their first album in a decade, the soulful British-Canadian quartet returns matured and confident with empowering live-and-learn pop gems.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Ashley Shadow

Ashley Shadow

Felte

Pop/Rock

The aching debut of Vancouver musician Ashley Webber's solo moniker weaves an engaging, gritty mix of strong and vulnerable.

— Marcy Donelson

Babyfather

BBF Hosted by DJ Escrow

Hyperdub

Electronic

Difficult yet powerful full-length debut by Dean Blunt's abrasive, experimental hip-hop project Babyfather.

— Paul Simpson

Blaqk Audio

Material

Blaqknoise / Kobalt

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Shimmering evolution of the duo's '80s new wave-inspired sound, combining bright dance elements and dark lyrical content.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Brass Bed

In the Yellow Leaf

Modern Outsider

Pop/Rock

The Louisiana indie trio turn in a noisier and more urgent effort, but their focus on quality songwriting remains their best asset.

— Timothy Monger

Cellars

Phases

Manifesto / Manifesto Records

Pop/Rock

A sultry, retro-inspired mixtape of a debut that sounds like a long-lost Madonna demo from the early '80s.

— Matt Collar

Future of the Left

The Peace & Truce of Future of the Left

Prescriptions

Pop/Rock

Despite its title, the band's fifth album is one of their most uncompromising.

— Heather Phares

Har Mar Superstar

Best Summer Ever

Cult Records / Kobalt

Pop/Rock

An exuberant, expertly conceived fake compilation album featuring Har Mar Superstar's best cuts, 1950 to 1985.

— Matt Collar

Jeffrey Runnings

Primitives & Smalls

Saint Marie

Pop/Rock

The co-founder of American indie veterans For Against continues to create dreamy, atmospheric rock with biting lyrics on his solo debut.

— Paul Simpson

John Carpenter

Lost Themes II

Sacred Bones

Stage & Screen, Electronic, Pop/Rock

The director/composer's second album is more confident, more streamlined, and more like his film music.

— Heather Phares

John Frusciante

Foregrow

Acid Test

Electronic

Ex-Chili Pepper John Frusciante continues to embrace experimental electronic music with this challenging, captivating EP.

— Paul Simpson

Keb' Mo'

That Hot Pink Blues Album [Live Version]

Kind of Blue / Relativity

Blues

The live interpretations breathe and sigh on-stage, which makes this warm and enveloping in a way few other Keb' Mo' records are.

Superpitcher

So Far So Super

Kompakt

Electronic

Basic overview of Aksel Schaufler highlights, 2001-2010, issued on double vinyl for Record Store Day.

— Andy Kellman

Lita Ford

Time Capsule

SPV / Steamhammer

Pop/Rock

Archival recordings offer up a snapshot of the artist at her stiletto-heeled commercial peak, jamming with her famous friends.

— James Christopher Monger

Lucky Peterson

Long Nights

JSP / JSP Records

Blues, R&B

A laid-back but powerful set of blues from the gifted multi-instrumentalist and former child prodigy.

— Mark Deming

Masha Qrella

Keys

Morr Music

Pop/Rock

The Berlin-based indie electronic artist's fifth solo album is her most assured, emotionally direct set of songs yet.

— Paul Simpson

Mr. Lif

Don't Look Down

Mello Music Group

Rap

Uplift and hope fill the underground rapper's 2016 LP, but expect edgy lyrics and challenging production instead of a crossover or clampdown.

— David Jeffries

Musiq Soulchild

Life on Earth

eOne

R&B

Taalib Johnson's first proper solo album in five years is a reliably smooth set of soul-rooted R&B, made with Warryn Campbell.

— Andy Kellman

Suuns

Hold/Still

Secretly Canadian

Pop/Rock

Working with producer John Congleton, the Montreal art rock quartet's third proper full-length streamlines their minimal yet heavy sound.

— Paul Simpson

The Coathangers

Nosebleed Weekend

Suicide Squeeze

Pop/Rock

Fifth album from all-female garage punk band finds them polishing their instrumental attack and refining their songwriting.

— Mark Deming

Wild Belle

Dreamland

Columbia / Sony Music

Pop/Rock, Reggae

The Chicago outfit takes its beachy island grooves to a darker, more emotionally complex place on its sophomore outing.

— Matt Collar

Clairy Browne

Pool

Vanguard

Pop/Rock

The Australian retro-soul stylist, joined by Amanda "MNDR" Warner and others, makes a bid for pop stardom in ebullient fashion.

— Andy Kellman

Otep

Generation Doom

Napalm Records

Pop/Rock

Generation Doom finds Otep as punitive as ever, raging against the machine and then some via an 11-track assault that touches on everything from LGBT rights to Isis.

— James Christopher Monger

Gary V

Prism Tats

Anti-

Pop/Rock

Wry observations and clamorous electro-garage riffage from the solo project of L.A.-based, South African-born Garett van der Spek.

— Timothy Monger

Yannick Nézet-Séguin / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Mahler: Symphonie Nr. 1

BR Klassik

Classical

Yannick Nézet-Séguin's live performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 1 produces energy and tone colors that make it a delight.

— Blair Sanderson

Richard Bonynge

Michael William Balfe: Satanella

Naxos

Classical

The supernatural plot is preposterous, but it's an enjoyable find, and for lovers of Victorian-era culture it's essential.

— James Manheim

Nikolaus Harnoncourt / Concentus Musicus Wien

Beethoven: Symphonies 4 & 5

Sony Classical

Classical

Nikolaus Harnoncourt's valedictory recording with Concentus Musicus Wien offers superb performances of Beethoven's Fourth and Fifth Symphonies.

— Blair Sanderson

Simone Young

Schmidt: Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln

Oehms Classics

Classical

Simone Young's farewell concert with the Hamburg Philharmonic featured Franz Schmidt's oratorio, The Book with Seven Seals.

— Blair Sanderson

Khatia Buniatishvili

Kaleidoscope

Sony Classical

Classical

Buniatishvili, who has learned something about seizing the attention of an audience, deploys her formidable technical talent here.

— James Manheim

Zuill Bailey / David Leisner

Arpeggione

Azica Records

Classical

With intelligent arrangements by guitarist Leisner, this contains beautiful playing, nicely recorded.

— James Manheim

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