The Avalanches

Wildflower

Astralwerks

Electronic

After 15 years of rumors and hopes, the group finally returns with a solid, guest-filled batch of sunny, sample-filled electronica.

— Tim Sendra

ScHoolboy Q

Blank Face LP [LP]

Interscope / Top Dawg Entertainment

Rap

Inside a sprawling, excessive track list there's a classic album from the Top Dawg/Black Hippy MC.

— David Jeffries

Aphex Twin

Cheetah

Warp

Electronic

Aphex Twin's Cheetah EP concentrates on his more relaxed side, with slower tempos and simpler compositions.

— Paul Simpson

Chevelle

The North Corridor

Epic

Pop/Rock

Keeping the spirit of '90s rock alive, the Chicago band pummels with its heaviest, darkest, and most aggressive effort in over a decade.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Heart

Beautiful Broken

Concord / Universal

Pop/Rock

The Wilson sisters revisit their catalog with unusual and exciting choices and add excellent new material for balance.

— Thom Jurek

The Julie Ruin

Hit Reset

Hardly Art

Pop/Rock

Kathleen Hanna's beguiling crew delivers a 13-track sonic blast of hooky, rhythmically driven dance-punk.

— Timothy Monger

BadBadNotGood

IV

Innovative Leisure

Jazz

On its fourth album, the Canadian jazz group greatly expands its sound with new influences and several guest artists.

— Paul Simpson

Big Business

Command Your Weather

Joyful Noise

Pop/Rock

The Seattle-based duo may be broadcasting from metal's outer limits, but these post-rock anthems dressed up in stoner metal might are engaging and sonically demanding.

— James Christopher Monger

Ian William Craig

Centres

130701 / Fat Cat

Avant-Garde, Electronic

The Canadian electro-acoustic composer/vocalist expands his already distinctive, powerful sound on his FatCat Records debut.

— Paul Simpson

Inter Arma

Paradise Gallows

Relapse Records

Pop/Rock

The Virginia quintet delivers a 71-minute behemoth of intense, devastating heavy music as darkly beautiful as it is ambitious.

— Thom Jurek

Boris

Pink [Deluxe Edition]

Sargent House

Pop/Rock

This tenth anniversary edition a second disc called Forbidden Songs that adds nine unreleased tracks from the original sessions.

— Thom Jurek

Kenny Garrett

Do Your Dance!

Mack Avenue

Jazz

The saxophonist heads his ensemble on songs that combine aggressive post-bop improvisation and subtly infectious dance rhythms.

— Matt Collar

Konx-om-Pax

Caramel

Planet Mu

Electronic

The Glasgow-born graphic designer's second album for Planet Mu is a bright, cheerful haze of ethereal rave nostalgia.

— Paul Simpson

Left Lane Cruiser

Beck in Black

Alive / Alive Naturalsound Records

Pop/Rock

Collection of raw, blues-centric rock from this band's first decade, with Brenn Beck on drums. Includes six unreleased tracks.

— Mark Deming

Miroslav Vitous

Music of Weather Report

ECM

Jazz

The founding Weather Report bassist and his sextet offer a bracing homage with variations of tunes recorded during and after his tenure with the group.

— Thom Jurek

Omni

Deluxe

Trouble in Mind

Pop/Rock

Brainy, hooky, and energetic blend of Postcard pop, angular post-punk, and scrappy D.I.Y. punk by ex-members of Deerhunter and Carnivores.

— Tim Sendra

Switchfoot

Where the Light Shines Through

Vanguard

Pop/Rock

The California outfit successfully balances urgent dance-rock, spiritual balladry, and hip-hop-influenced grooves on their tenth album.

— Matt Collar

Metronomy

Summer 08

Because Music

Pop/Rock

The project's fifth album revisits the fun of Nights Out with equal measures of nostalgia and sophistication.

— Heather Phares

Róisín Murphy

Take Her Up to Monto

PIAS

Pop/Rock

Recorded at the same time as Hairless Toys, Murphy's fourth solo album is some of her most personal and eclectic music yet.

— Heather Phares

Biffy Clyro

Ellipsis

14th Floor Records / Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

The Scottish power trio tighten their epic prog-punk sound into a gripping set of snarly anthems.

— Matt Collar

Cassy

Donna

!K7 / AUS / Aus Music

Electronic

Proper debut production album from esteemed techno and house DJ Catherine Britton, much of it made with King Britt.

— Andy Kellman

Will Downing

Black Pearls

Shanachie

R&B

Rich and restrained covers set, featuring faithful updates of "Street Life," "Nights Over Egypt," "Get Here," and other R&B hits.

— Andy Kellman

Wymond Miles

Call by Night

Sacred Bones

Pop/Rock

The Fresh and Onlys guitarist's third solo album is a dramatic and bleak slice of alternative singer/songwriter fare.

— Tim Sendra

Emily Jane White

They Moved in Shadow All Together

Talitres

Pop/Rock

The singer/songwriter's fifth LP marks a return to spooky acoustic form after a digression into lusher synth sounds on 2013's Blood/Lines.

— Marcy Donelson

Eric Copeland

Black Bubblegum

DFA

Pop/Rock

Easily the most concise pop record by the Black Dice leader, although still supremely warped and wacky.

— Paul Simpson

Exotic Adrian Street / The Pile Drivers

Shake, Wrestle 'n' Roll

Burger Records

Pop/Rock

Engaging and thoroughly odd album from the Welsh wrestler with the effeminate, glitter-clad persona.

— Mark Deming

J Dilla

The Diary of J Dilla [Instrumentals]

Mass Appeal / 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

Mark Barrott

Sketches from an Island, Vol. 2

International Feel Recordings

Electronic, Pop/Rock

The British DJ/producer expands his Balearic-inspired series with an even more chilled-out follow-up volume.

— Timothy Monger

Mark Chesnutt

Tradition Lives

BFD / Red River

Country

Mark Chesnutt keeps the first wave of pure country alive on Tradition Lives.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Mykal Rose

Rasta State

VP Records

Reggae

King Tubby and the Black Uhuru singer reunite on this politically charged effort.

— David Jeffries

Robert De Niro / Nils Frahm / Woodkid

Ellis [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

Erased Tapes Records

Stage & Screen

The Berlin-based composer and multi-talented singer/songwriter give us their official soundtrack for French artist JR's short narrative film Ellis.

— Rob Wacey

Radio Moscow

Live in California

Alive / Alive Naturalsound Records

Pop/Rock

An epic-scale showcase for Parker Griggs' guitar skills, but how much is too much of a good thing?

— Mark Deming

Sarathy Korwar

Day to Day

Ninja Tune

Jazz, International, Electronic

On his debut, the producer, percussionist, and composer blurs lines between modern jazz and ancient Indian and African musical traditions.

— Thom Jurek

Sean McConnell

Sean McConnell

Decca / New Rounder

Folk

The Nashville resident makes his Rounder label debut with a warm and deeply nostalgic set of roots-pop tunes.

— Timothy Monger

Shura

Nothing's Real

Interscope / Polydor

Pop/Rock

The singer/songwriter's debut mixes 2010s atmosphere and '80s vibrancy with results that are as ephemeral and powerful as a crush.

— Heather Phares

The Rave-Ups

Town & Country [Bonus Tracks]

Omnivore

Pop/Rock

Country-influenced alternative rock band shows off both heart and attitude on this reissue of its influential indie debut.

— Mark Deming

TTNG

Disappointment Island

Sargent House

Pop/Rock

A sturdy third album from the time-signature shifters formerly known as This Town Needs Guns, debuting as TTNG.

— Marcy Donelson

Vanna

All Hell

Pure Noise

Pop/Rock

An abrasive, full-tilt rager that aims for catharsis via pure, unadulterated fury.

— James Christopher Monger

Various Artists

Venezuela 70: Cosmic Visions of a Latin American Earth: Venezuelan Experimental Rock in the 1970s

Soul Jazz

International, Jazz, Pop/Rock

Trippy, highly engaging compilation of experimental, psychedelic rock and jazz that emerged out of Venezuela in the '70s.

— Matt Collar

Christoph von Dohnányi / Philharmonia Orchestra

Schubert: Symphony No. 9 - Live in Concert

Signum Classics

Classical

Christoph von Dohnányi and the Philharmonia present an uptempo performance of Schubert's Symphony No. 9, "The Great."

— Blair Sanderson

Park Avenue Chamber Symphony / David Bernard

Bartók: Dance Suite; Copland: Appalachian Spring; Stravinsky: Firebird Suite; Vaughan Williams: Fantasia

Recursive Classics

Classical

David Bernard and the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony present four contrasting works by Bartók, Vaughan Williams, Copland, and Stravinsky.

— Blair Sanderson

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski / London Philharmonic Orchestra

Bruckner: Symphony No. 5

LPO

Classical

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski and the London Philharmonic Orchestra give a studious and detailed account of Bruckner's Symphony No. 5.

— Blair Sanderson

St. John's College Choir, Cambridge / Andrew Nethsingha

Harvey: Deo

Signum Classics

Classical

Harvey's harmonic language and melodic shapes are conventional, but his development of them is not; accessible yet offering much to study.

— James Manheim

Martha Argerich

Early Recordings

Deutsche Grammophon

Classical

These 1960 radio broadcasts give abundant evidence of why those in the know spotted the young Argerich.

— James Manheim

Allan Clayton

Where'er You Walk: Arias for Handel's Favourite Tenor

Signum Classics

Classical

The effect here is different from albums devoted to Handel's soprano and countertenor repertoire; a fresh, careful performance.

— James Manheim

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