Jennifer Nettles

Playing with Fire

Big Machine Records

Country

On her second solo album, the Sugarland singer plays with R&B rhythms and slick pop textures.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Meghan Trainor

Thank You

Epic

Pop/Rock

Meghan Trainor abandons retro vibes for modern R&B rhythms on her second album.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

James Blake

The Colour in Anything

Universal

Electronic

Three years after his U.K. Top Ten second album, the Beyoncé collaborator serves up over 70 minutes of fractured, anguished ballads.

— Andy Kellman

Grateful Dead

Red Rocks 7/8/78

Grateful Dead / Rhino / Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

An exceptionally tight and exhilarating show that plays like a nonstop party.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Drake

Views

Cash Money

Rap

Featuring a balance of late-night introspection and defiant boasting, Drake's fourth album finds him reflecting on his fame, failed relationships, and his hometown, Toronto.

— Tim Sendra

Jessy Lanza

Oh No

Hyperdub

Electronic

Rollicking, animated fun that skips across four decades of electronic post-disco, ranging from boogie to juke.

— Andy Kellman

The Trash Can Sinatras

Wild Pendulum

Red River

Pop/Rock

The band's first album since 2009 shows them to be rejuvenated, even more than usual, with help from Simon Dine and producer Mike Mogis.

— Tim Sendra

Adia Victoria

Beyond the Bloodhounds

Atlantic / Canvasback

Pop/Rock, Blues

A complicated punk-blues portrait of the Deep South marks this enchanting singer/songwriter's debut.

— Timothy Monger

Corinne Bailey Rae

The Heart Speaks in Whispers

Virgin

R&B

Featuring several collaborations with Paris and Amber Strother of King, a rejuvenating set of glistening folk-soul and sophisticated funk.

— Andy Kellman

Death and Vanilla

Death and Vanilla

Fire Records

Pop/Rock

The Swedish duo's first full-length LP is a thing of beauty, made up of swirling arrangements and sweetly sleepy melodies.

— Tim Sendra

Digitalism

Mirage

Magnetism

Electronic

The German electro duo returns with an album that's filled with infectious hooks, layered synths, and inescapable, undeniable beats.

— David Jeffries

Hatebreed

The Concrete Confessional

Nuclear Blast

Pop/Rock

Muscular to the point of T-shirt ripping, and punishing enough to incite an arrest warrant.

— James Christopher Monger

Foy Vance

The Wild Swan

Atlantic / Gingerbread / Gingerbread Man Records

Pop/Rock

The third studio long-player from the soulful Northern Irishman, and his first outing for longtime tourmate Ed Sheeran's Gingerbread Man Records.

— James Christopher Monger

Fruit Bats

Absolute Loser

Easy Sound Recording Company / The Orchard

Pop/Rock

Eric D. Johnson's return to his band moniker after a five-year break blends his alt-country-imbued, sunny-melodied song with themes of surviving loss.

— Marcy Donelson

Emmett Kelly / Rob Mazurek

Alien Flower Sutra

International Anthem

Avant-Garde, Pop/Rock

This collaboration is a stunning song cycle in which a cybernetic being attempts reconciliation with the ghost traces of its humanity.

— Thom Jurek

Twin Peaks

Down in Heaven

Grand Jury / Relativity Entertainment

Pop/Rock

The garage punkers' Jagger-steeped third LP draws inspiration from favorite British Invasion LPs of 1968.

— Marcy Donelson

Wire

Nocturnal Koreans

Pink Flag

Pop/Rock

Recorded at the same time as 2015's equally strong self-titled album, this set is much more than a collection of leftovers.

— Heather Phares

Mark Pritchard

Under the Sun

Warp

Electronic

The veteran producer's mostly ambient first album under his birth name, featuring Linda Perhacs and Thom Yorke, ranges from folk to techno.

— Andy Kellman

Oddisee

The Odd Tape

Mello Music Group

Rap

He's got three 2016 releases, but the producer/rapper's all-instrumental beat tape might be the most worthy of them all.

— David Jeffries

3OH!3

Night Sports

Atlantic / Fueled by Ramen Records / Photo Finish Records

Rap, Pop/Rock

Sick jokes and slick beats are still the thing on the electro duo's 2016 album.

— David Jeffries

Al Scorch

Circle Round the Signs

Bloodshot

Pop/Rock

Chicago-based banjo picker and songwriter delivers a powerful album of rollicking big-city folk with rock & roll muscle.

— Mark Deming

Arbor Labor Union

I Hear You

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

On its debut album, Georgia-bred hard rock band has the heart of a stoner rock act but the mind of a minimalist.

— Mark Deming

David Bazan

Blanco

Barsuk

Pop/Rock

The wayfaring indie rock troubadour mines his synth-heavy Bazan Monthly 7" series to populate his third solo LP.

— Timothy Monger

David Grubbs

Prismrose

Blue Chopsticks / Drag City

Pop/Rock

A collection of pieces for electric guitar that gives the post-rock trailblazer plenty of space to work out his ideas.

— Mark Deming

Death and Vanilla

EP

Fire Records

Pop/Rock

Swedish duo's debut EP finds them already fully formed and sounding like a Euorpean cousin to Broadcast.

— Tim Sendra

Eagulls

Ullages

PTKF

Pop/Rock

Recorded in a converted church, the band's second album is the glossy -- but just as gloomy -- flip side to its gritty debut.

— Heather Phares

Islands

Should I Remain Here at Sea?

Manqué Music

Pop/Rock

The spiritual sequel to their debut album and introspective rock-leaning sibling to their simultaneously released sixth album, the synth-heavy Taste.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Islands

Taste

Manqué Music

Pop/Rock

The cool electronic heart to the reflective soul of the Montreal indie band's simultaneously released Should I Remain Here at Sea?

— Neil Z. Yeung

Jameszoo

Fool

Brainfeeder

Electronic

Unclassifiable Dutch producer Mitchel van Dinther's full-length debut for Brainfeeder is playful and unpredictable.

— Paul Simpson

Kikagaku Moyo

House in the Tall Grass

Guruguru Brain

Pop/Rock

Cinematic fourth album from a Japanese psychedelic folk group with a slowly building, sitar-inflected sound.

— Paul Simpson

Kygo

Cloud Nine

RCA

Electronic

Sparklingly light and celestial debut from the Norwegian electronic music producer and a stacked roster of guest vocalists.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Modern Baseball

Holy Ghost

Run for Cover Records

Pop/Rock

The amiable emo Pennsylvanians take a darker, more mature turn on their third LP.

— Timothy Monger

Nothing

Tired of Tomorrow

Relapse Records

Pop/Rock

The group's second album (mostly) subtracts metal from their shoegaze-metal hybrid and replaces it with dream pop wispiness and echoing pianos.

— Tim Sendra

Oscar Scheller

Cut and Paste

Wichita

Pop/Rock

The producer/songwriter's genre-bending debut is equally stylish and heartfelt.

— Heather Phares

Slow Steve

Adventures

Morr Music

Pop/Rock

Textured, experimental synth pop from Berlin-based Fenster sideman Rémi Letournelle.

— Marcy Donelson

The Smoking Trees

The Archer and the Bull

Burger Records

Pop/Rock

Made up of polished leftovers from the near-brilliant psych-pop gem TST, the tracks here are almost as good.

— Tim Sendra

The Duke Spirit

Kin

Ex Voto Records

Pop/Rock

Dreamy and at times subdued, the band's fourth album reflects the emotional impact of major life changes.

— Heather Phares

The Lines

Hull Down

Acute

Pop/Rock

Recorded after their final proper album, previously unreleased, predominantly dance-oriented material that embraced and mastered studio technology.

— Andy Kellman

Those Pretty Wrongs

Those Pretty Wrongs

Ardent / Ardent Music

Pop/Rock

The warm, wistful debut of the duo of Big Star's Jody Stephens and the Freewheelers' Luther Russell.

— Marcy Donelson

Torn Hawk

Union and Return

Mexican Summer

Electronic

The producer's third album takes inspiration from 19th century German Romantic painters and strips the irony from his music.

— Heather Phares

Various Artists

Cosmic Machine: The Sequel

Because Music

Electronic, International, Stage & Screen, Pop/Rock

Second volume of Because Music's survey of vintage French electronic music, tipping a little closer to the avant-garde than the original.

— Paul Simpson

Wolf Parade

Apologies to the Queen Mary [Deluxe Edition]

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

The Montreal quartet's full-length debut fully lives up to the potential bred by their early EPs.

— Johnny Loftus

Young Magic

Still Life [LP]

Carpark Records

Pop/Rock

Lush and expansive, the globetrotting Brooklyn-based dream pop duo's third album is their most introspective work yet.

— Paul Simpson

Markus Stenz / Gürzenich Orchestra of Cologne

Mahler: Sämtliche Symphonien

Oehms Classics

Classical

The live performances of Mahler's symphonies by Markus Stenz and the Gürzenich Orchester Köln are brought together in this 2016 box set.

— Blair Sanderson

Jesus College Choir, Cambridge / Mark Williams

The Evening Hour: British Choral Music from the 16th and 20th Centuries

Signum Classics

Classical

A fine, genuinely reflective disc, with a program touching on the evening of a day or of a life.

— James Manheim

Bridget Cunningham / London Early Opera

Handel at Vauxhall, Vol. 1

Signum Classics

Classical

With a good deal of charm for any listener, this is essential for anyone interested in understanding Handel's musical world.

— James Manheim

Leonard Slatkin / Orchestre National de Lyon

Ravel: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 - Orchestrations

Naxos

Classical

These are all delightful performances that play to the strengths of Slatkin and his Lyonnais collaborators.

— James Manheim

I Fagiolini / Robert Hollingworth

Amuse-Bouche

Decca

Classical

In terms of choosing original repertoire in a program that sustains a flavor in a satisfying way, this is nonpareil.

— James Manheim

Christian Leotta

Beethoven: Diabelli Variations

ATMA Classique

Classical

Christian Leotta's performance of Ludwig van Beethoven's Diabelli Variations is distinctive for its crisp execution and lean sonorities.

— Blair Sanderson

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