Lydia Loveless

Real

Bloodshot

Pop/Rock, Country

Outstanding fourth album from the singer/songwriter adds a dash of pop gloss, but still feels as powerful and honest as ever.

— Mark Deming

Dolly Parton

Pure & Simple

Dolly Records / RCA Nashville / Sony Music

Country

The definitive country girl returns with a low-key but heartfelt collection of songs about love.

— Mark Deming

Scientists

A Place Called Bad

Numero / Numero Group

Pop/Rock

Nearly complete career retrospective of one of the best, most exciting bands of the '80s, full of guitar noise, howling vocals, and rock & roll fire.

— Tim Sendra

Ed Harcourt

Furnaces

Caroline / Polydor

Pop/Rock

The British singer/songwriter's seventh studio album of dark, literate pop features production from Flood.

— Matt Collar

Crystal Castles

Amnesty

Fiction

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Featuring new vocalist Edith Frances, the duo's fourth album provides common ground and a fresh start.

— Heather Phares

Lisa Hannigan

At Swim

ATO

Pop/Rock

A beguiling collection of aqueous and often elegiac indie folk ballads that seep syrup-slow into your bones.

— James Christopher Monger

Nels Cline

Lovers

Blue Note

Jazz

The iconic guitarist and a 22-piece chamber orchestra deliver a startling, innovative jazz concept record on love and romance.

— Thom Jurek

Amos Lee

Spirit

Republic

Pop/Rock, R&B

The singer/songwriter's first completely self-produced album finds him balancing his earthy folk sound with a contemporary R&B and '70s soul vibe.

— Matt Collar

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings

Miss Sharon Jones!

Daptone

R&B, Stage & Screen

Soundtrack to the documentary about the retro-soul queen features one new song and a cross section of fan favorites.

— Mark Deming

Ages and Ages

Something to Ruin

Partisan / PTKF

Pop/Rock

On their third album, Tim Perry's exuberant 11-piece spins bright harmonies while tackling the fallout of corporatization and gentrification.

— Marcy Donelson

Alex Cameron

Jumping the Shark

Secretly Canadian

Pop/Rock

Tinny synth pop and portraits of failure combine with striking, moving results on the Seekae member's fascinating solo debut.

— Heather Phares

Arc Iris

Moon Saloon

Bella Union

Pop/Rock

On their second LP, the New Englanders vanquish all trendiness in favor of free-flowing, yet widely accessible exploration.

— Timothy Monger

Bayside

Vacancy

Hopeless Records

Pop/Rock

Turbulent break-up album that runs the gamut of emotions, infusing theatrical dramatics with the band's usual emo-rock sound.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Chris Staples

Golden Age

Barsuk

Pop/Rock

The singer/songwriter charms with soft-spoken candor on his second Barsuk release, which challenges the urge to dwell on the past.

— Marcy Donelson

Cosmonauts

A-OK!

Burger Records

Pop/Rock

The L.A. quartet delivers slinky, British-inspired space rock with heavy new wave tendencies.

— Timothy Monger

David Brent / Foregone Conclusion

Life on the Road [Bonus Tracks]

Caroline

Pop/Rock

A collection of tracks, both old and new, that soundtrack David Brent's feature-length film, Life on the Road.

— Liam Martin

Eddie Levert

Did I Make You Go Ooh

Blackbyrd / Entertainment One

R&B

The singer's second solo album tends to play it straight with sweetly finessed material rooted in gospel and Philly-flavored soul tradition.

— Andy Kellman

Eros and the Eschaton

Weight of Matter

Bar Records / Bar/None Records / None

Pop/Rock

Expanded from a duo to a five-piece band, the dream pop group flesh out their sound on their exuberant second album.

— Paul Simpson

Exploded View

Exploded View

Sacred Bones

Electronic

Featuring Anika's enigmatic vocals, the band's largely improvised debut is a thrilling mix of dub, Krautrock, post-punk, and avant-garde electronics.

— Heather Phares

Factory Floor

25 25

DFA

Electronic, Pop/Rock

The group's first album as a duo takes minimalism in fascinatingly claustrophobic, expansive, debauched, and sardonic directions.

— Heather Phares

Gonjasufi

Callus

Warp

Electronic

The eclectic, shamanic vocalist/producer's third album (and first in four years) is easily his most daring, confrontational work to date.

— Paul Simpson

Happy Diving

Electric Soul Unity

Topshelf

Pop/Rock

Bay Area outfit delivers melodic pop-based sludge rock on its sophomore set.

— Timothy Monger

John Paul White

Beulah

Single Lock Records

Pop/Rock, Country

On his second solo album, the singer/songwriter delivers attractive melodies that contrast with the raw emotional power in his lyrics.

— Thom Jurek

Johnnie Frierson

Have You Been Good to Yourself

Light in the Attic Records

R&B

A deeply soulful and unadorned collection of posthumously released gospel tracks from this Memphis native.

— Timothy Monger

Kaya Stewart

Kaya Stewart

Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

The debut album from Los Angeles singer and daughter of the Eurythmics guitarist is a savvy mix of pop and R&B.

— Matt Collar

Lindsey Stirling

Brave Enough

Lindseystomp Music

Pop/Rock

Stirling achieves a gorgeous balance in her classical-meets-EDM crossover sound, infusing a swell of emotion into her usual violin stompers.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Marielle V Jakobsons

Star Core

Thrill Jockey

Avant-Garde, Electronic, Pop/Rock

The Oakland-based multi-instrumentalist effortlessly combines meditative electronic and acoustic textures on her best work to date.

— Paul Simpson

Myrkur

Mausoleum

Relapse Records

Pop/Rock

Black metal singer/songwriter and chorus deliver unplugged versions of album tracks, a new song, and a cover recorded in a mausoleum.

— Thom Jurek

Pascal Pinon

Sundur

Morr Music

Pop/Rock

With a title that translates to "apart," the twin sisters' more desolate third album was inspired by their first lengthy separation.

— Marcy Donelson

Pill

Convenience

Mexican Summer

Pop/Rock

The Brooklyn outfit's debut is creative, combative, and unflinching in the spirit of no wave.

— Timothy Monger

Roosevelt

Roosevelt

City Slang

Pop/Rock, Electronic

The debut of Marius Lauber's project blends techno and varied EDM tropes with breezy indie pop.

— Marcy Donelson

Sam Coomes

Bugger Me

No Quarter

Pop/Rock

Built on a shifty foundation of Krautrock, noise, electro-vaudeville, and lounge-psych, Bugger Me is a left-field record to be sure.

— James Christopher Monger

SPC ECO

Anomalies

Saint Marie

Pop/Rock, Electronic

Moody, chilly electro-pop and trip-hop from vocalist Rose Berlin and her father, former Curve member Dean Garcia.

— Paul Simpson

Stray Birds

Magic Fire

Yep Roc

Country, Folk

The Lancaster, Pennsylvania-based outfit's fifth outing is a bluegrass-kissed, Americana, and country-pop gem.

— James Christopher Monger

The Brotherhood of Lizards

Lizardland [Bonus Tracks]

Captured Tracks

Pop/Rock

Martin Newell of Cleaners from Venus made this super poppy neo-psych gem with bassist Nelson in 1989. The reissue adds their 1988 cassette.

— Tim Sendra

The Chills

Kaleidoscope World [Bonus Tracks]

Flying Nun

Pop/Rock

Great collection of the Flying Nun stalwarts' early singles and EPs, now with bonus tracks.

— Tim Sendra

The Heaters

American Dream: The Portastudio Recordings

Omnivore

Pop/Rock

The first-ever release of the L.A. trio's homemade early-'80s neo-girl group recordings.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Minus 5

Of Monkees & Men

Yep Roc

Pop/Rock

Scott McCaughey and his associates pay homage to their heroes, four of them members of the Monkees.

— Mark Deming

The Turtles

All the Singles

Manifesto / Manifesto Records

Pop/Rock

A terrific double-disc set of all the 45s from the Turtles.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Turtles

The Complete Original Album Collection

Manifesto / Manifesto Records

Pop/Rock

Exhaustive but consistently entertaining collection from one of the wittiest and smartest pop acts of the '60s.

— Mark Deming

Tobacco

Sweatbox Dynasty

Ghostly International

Pop/Rock

His fourth album reverts to an old way of working, going from cassette to sampler to tape, but it's more of the usual oddball magic.

Tory Lanez

I Told You

Interscope

R&B

The Toronto singer and rapper remains in Drake's shadow with an overstuffed if promising debut album.

— Andy Kellman

Trapt

DNA

Crash Collide / WEA

Pop/Rock

Muscular riffs and straightforward rockers define the sixth major-label release from the California hard rock quartet.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival / Alan Gilbert

Messaien: Des canyons aux étoiles

eOne

Classical

Olivier Messiaen's Des canyons aux étoiles received a brilliant performance at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival in 2015.

— Blair Sanderson

Elizabeth Kenny / Phantasm

John Dowland: Lachrimae or Seven Tears

Linn Records

Classical

Lutenist Elizabeth Kenny and Phantasm present the pavans, galliards, and almans of John Dowland's collection, Lachrimae or Seven Tears.

— Blair Sanderson

Noriko Ogawa

Noriko Ogawa plays Erik Satie on an 1890 Erard piano, Vol. 1

BIS

Classical

Noriko Ogawa plays the best-known piano music of Erik Satie on this first volume of a super audio series for BIS.

— Blair Sanderson

Mark Bebbington / Leon Botstein / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue; Concerto in F; Variations on "I Got Rhythm"

Somm

Classical

This is a stimulating and at the same time thoroughly enjoyable Gershwin release from start to finish.

— James Manheim

Wells Cathedral Choir / Matthew Owens

John Tavener: Missa Wellensis

Signum Classics

Classical

For those who love Tavener or are interested in the phenomenon of late-life creativity, this is a must.

— James Manheim

Ensemble Musiques Nouvelles

Astor Piazzolla: Maria de Buenos Aires

NEOS

Classical

Recordings of this tango-operita are not abundant, and this respectfully presented version is a valuable addition to the Piazzolla discography.

— James Manheim

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