The Weeknd

Starboy

Republic

R&B

The follow-up to Abel Tesfaye's multi-platinum 2015 album features plenty of dread and depravity but is highlighted by its lighter cuts.

— Andy Kellman

Garth Brooks

Gunslinger

Pearl

Country

A relaxed, cheerful, back to basics album from Garth Brooks.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Prince / Prince and the Revolution

4Ever

Rhino / Warner Bros. / WEA

R&B, Pop/Rock

This double-disc compilation, which is the first posthumous Prince release, contains most -- but not all -- of the Purple One's big '80s and '90s hits.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rumer

This Girl's in Love: A Bacharach & David Songbook

East West / Rhino / WEA

Pop/Rock

A lush, orchestral-tinged production from the British singer celebrating the music of Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

— Matt Collar

Gillian Welch

Boots No 1: The Official Revival Bootleg

Acony Records

Country, Folk, Pop/Rock

Outtakes, demos, and alternate takes from the sessions for the songwriter's stellar 1996 debut; austere but strikingly beautiful.

— Mark Deming

Julia Holter

Bleed for This

Milan

Pop/Rock, Stage & Screen

Julia Holter's score and songs by Willis Earl Beal give the tale of boxer Vinnie Pazienza's comeback a transporting beauty.

— Heather Phares

Busted

Night Driver

East West / EastWest / Rhino

Pop/Rock

The reunited British boy band delivers a sophisticated album of '80s-style disco-funk and synth-heavy pop anthems.

— Matt Collar

Letherette

Last Night on the Planet

Ninja Tune

Electronic

The duo's second album adds hip-hop and downtempo to their stylish, eclectic sound.

— Heather Phares

Nouvelle Vague

I Could Be Happy

Kwaidan

Pop/Rock

The group's first album in five years includes original songs as well as covers of dream pop and punk classics.

— Heather Phares

Babes in Toyland

Redeux

Blank Records

Pop/Rock

Concise and effective overview of this all-female noise-making trio; brutal, cathartic, and uncompromising music.

— Mark Deming

Elephant Stone

Ship of Fools

Burger Records

Pop/Rock

The psych-pop band's fourth LP brings heavy grooves and '80s-inspired synths to some tunes while hanging on to their warm, kaleidoscopic core.

— Marcy Donelson

Exit Verse

Grant No Glory

Ernest Jenning

Pop/Rock

Geoff Farina's Chicago power trio turns in a wonderfully streamlined sophomore set.

— Timothy Monger

Howe Gelb

Future Standards

Fire America

Pop/Rock, Jazz

The Giant Sand frontman turns lounge lizard on an album of acoustic piano tunes with a jazz influence.

— Mark Deming

Lissie

Live at Union Chapel

Cooking Vinyl

Country, Pop/Rock

A stripped-down live affair from Lissie.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Moderat

Live

Mute

Electronic

Modeselektor and Apparat document their concert experience with this album, recorded at a sold-out hometown show in Berlin.

— Paul Simpson

Jack Lee

Bigger Than Life

Alive Naturalsound Records / Alive Records

Pop/Rock

Two-fer reissue of two long out of print albums from the power pop cult hero with some great tunes, but a lot more filler.

— Mark Deming

Jay Daniel

Broken Knowz

Technicolour

Electronic

The Detroit house producer makes his full-length debut with a collection of loose, jazzy tracks recorded in his mother's basement.

— Paul Simpson

Oliver Coates / Mica Levi

Remain Calm

Slip

Avant-Garde, Electronic

Odd, captivating collaboration between cellist Oliver Coates and composer Mica Levi of Micachu & the Shapes.

— Paul Simpson

SunPalace

Raw Movements/Rude Movements

BBE

Electronic, Jazz, R&B, Pop/Rock

Revelatory anthology of early-'80s home-recorded instrumental funk from British duo Sunpalace.

— Matt Collar

Terry Dolan

Terry Dolan

High Moon

Pop/Rock

After 44 years in the vault, the lone, star-studded effort by this Bay Area singer/songwriter gets a deluxe posthumous release.

— Thom Jurek

Polyvinyl Plays Polyvinyl

Polyvinyl Plays Polyvinyl

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock

Deerhoof, Of Montreal, and Beach Slang are among 20 Polyvinyl acts who covered other Polyvinyl acts to honor the label's 20th anniversary.

— Marcy Donelson

Bohren & der Club of Gore

Bohren for Beginners

PIAS

Pop/Rock

A two-disc, two-plus-hour introduction to the haunted, snail-paced, eerily beautiful soundworld of Germany's doom jazz pioneers.

— Thom Jurek

Cluster

Kollektion 06:1971-1981 Compiled by John McEntire

Bureau B

Electronic, Avant-Garde, Pop/Rock

John McEntire of Tortoise boils down the first decade of output from Krautrock legends Cluster into a single hourlong disc.

— Paul Simpson

Schneider TM / Conrad Schnitzler

Con-Struct

Bureau B

Electronic, Avant-Garde

Dirk Dresselhaus creates an album of bleak, sinister soundscapes from the vast audio archive of the late Conrad Schnitzler.

— Paul Simpson

The Afghan Whigs

Black Love [20th Anniversary Edition]

Elektra / Rhino

Pop/Rock

Expanded and remastered edition of the follow-up to Gentlemen; tough and well executed, but the songs don't quite make the mark.

— Mark Deming

Ravioli Me Away

Living Is a Myth

Upset the Rhythm

Pop/Rock

Confrontational art-punk weirdness with surprisingly durable hooks from this guitarless trio of Londoners.

— Timothy Monger

Ron Dante

Anthology

Sunset Blvd Records

Pop/Rock

Collection of the Archies vocalist's pre- and post-Archies work, ranging from teen idol ballads to thumping disco.

— Tim Sendra

Various Artists

New Orleans Funk 4: Voodoo Fire in New Orleans 1951-1975

Soul Jazz

R&B

The fourth volume in this celebrated series ranges even wider, tracing the origins of NOLA's voodoo funk to its explosion in the 1970s.

— Thom Jurek

Jenny Lin

Melody's Mostly Musical Day

Steinway & Sons

Classical

Lin creates a magical atmosphere of favorite compositions and delightful rarities, amplified by excellent illustrations in the booklet.

— James Manheim

Valery Gergiev / Münchner Philharmoniker

Mahler: Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection"

Münchner Philharmoniker

Classical

Valery Gergiev leads the Munich Philharmonic in an exceptional recording of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in C minor, "Resurrection."

— Blair Sanderson

Alexandre Tharaud / Alexander Vedernikov

Tharaud Plays Rachmaninov

Erato

Classical

Those in search of an elegant C minor concerto or near-definitive Cinq Morceaux de fantaisie should hear this release.

— James Manheim

Hervé Niquet / Le Concert Spirituel Orchestra & Chorus

Requiems pour Louis XVI & Marie-Antoinette: Cherubini, Plantade

Alpha

Classical

Requiems for Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette receive authentic period interpretations from Hervé Niquet and Le Concert Spirituel.

— Blair Sanderson

San Francisco Symphony / Michael Tilson Thomas

Debussy: Images; Jeux; La Plus Que Lente

SFS Media

Classical

Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony perform three evocative orchestral works by Claude Debussy.

— Blair Sanderson

Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra / Vasily Petrenko

Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64

Lawo Classics

Classical

Vasily Petrenko and the Oslo Philharmonic present Prokofiev's complete Romeo and Juliet with exceptional sonorities and balanced expressions.

— Blair Sanderson

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