Neil Young

Peace Trail

Reprise

Pop/Rock

With his second album of 2016, Neil Young delivers a shambolic and odd protest album.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Demdike Stare

Wonderland

Modern Love

Electronic

The consistently brilliant electronic duo follows a series of limited 12"s with a thrilling album of mutated club tracks.

— Paul Simpson

Buck Owens / Buck Owens & His Buckaroos

The Complete Capitol Singles 1957-1966

Omnivore

Country

A double-disc collection that contains the A- and B-sides of all the singles Buck Owens & His Buckaroos released between 1957 and 1966.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Sun Ra

Singles: The Definitive 45s Collection 1952-1991

Strut

Jazz, Avant-Garde

The jazz icon's singles, ranging from '50s doo wop tunes to spoken intergalactic wisdom, are collected on this essential three-CD set.

— Paul Simpson

John Cale

Fragments of a Rainy Season

Domino

Pop/Rock

The artist revisits his album catalog to deliver a remastered and greatly expanded version of this live solo classic.

— Thom Jurek

Anthony Child

Electronic Recordings from Maui Jungle, Vol. 2

Editions Mego

Electronic

British electronic musician Anthony Child (aka Surgeon) packs up his Buchla Music Easel and heads to Hawaii for a second volume of improvisations.

— Paul Simpson

Deniece Williams

Black Butterfly: The Essential Niecy

BBR

R&B

Definitive and attractively packaged 1976-1989 overview of the top-tier pop-soul artist's rich discography.

— Andy Kellman

Mica Levi

Jackie [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]

Milan

Stage & Screen

The composer's haunting music for Pablo Larrain's Jacqueline Kennedy biopic captures the disorienting strangeness of intense grief.

— Heather Phares

Ricky Eat Acid

Talk to You Soon

Caroline / Terrible

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Indie electronic musician Sam Ray follows up his cult classic Three Love Songs with his best and most ambitious work yet.

— Paul Simpson

Holly Bowling

Better Left Unsung

Royal Potato Family / Rpf Studio Productions

Pop/Rock

Beautifully detailed and frequently inventive arrangements of Grateful Dead songs for solo piano.

— Timothy Monger

Post Malone

Stoney

Republic

Rap

The Dallas hip-hop fan sings his way through an album's worth of woozy R&B-inflected hip-hop.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Tech N9ne

The Storm

Strange Music

Rap

Eleventh solo effort from the veteran rap workhorse that delves into familiar dark and honest territory.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Marker Starling

I'm Willing

Tin Angel

Pop/Rock

Tender covers of lush jazz pop tunes, Brazilian ballads, and pre-disco soul, with only electric piano and a drum machine backing Chris A. Cummings vocals.

— Tim Sendra

Maria Taylor

In the Next Life

Flower Moon

Pop/Rock

The erstwhile Azure Ray singer's sixth solo LP is a gentle pop rumination of life experiences.

— Timothy Monger

Woods

Live at Third Man Records

Third Man Records

Pop/Rock

Recorded live at Nashville's Third Man Records on a May night in 2016, the long-running folk-psych band play a relaxed, peaceful, career-spanning set.

— Tim Sendra

Richard Youngs

The Rest Is Scenery

Glass Records Redux / Glass Redux Records

Pop/Rock

The Glaswegian songwriter uses one chord for each of these 13 songs. His strict methodology buoys rather than hinders his creativity.

— Thom Jurek

Archie Bell & the Drells

Let's Groove: The Archie Bell & the Drells Story

BBR

R&B

Easily the sharpest, most in-depth overview of a soul group whose 1967-1979 output has much more to offer beyond their few major hits.

— Andy Kellman

Ash

Live on Mars: London Astoria 1997

Atom

Pop/Rock

18 highlights from Ash's five nights headlining the London Astoria in 1997.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Ben Frost

The Wasp Factory

Bedroom Community

Avant-Garde, Stage & Screen, Electronic

Australian composer Ben Frost adapts Iain Banks' infamous 1984 novel The Wasp Factory into an intense, harrowing opera.

— Paul Simpson

Bert Jansch

Strolling Down the Highway

Secret Records

Folk

Fine if not exceptional live recording of the U.K. folk legend on-stage in 2006.

— Mark Deming

Jeff Healey

Holding On: A Heal My Soul Companion

Provogue

Pop/Rock, Blues

A companion to the posthumous Heal My Soul featuring five studio outtakes and a full live concert from 1999.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Colorist Orchestra / Emilíana Torrini

The Colorist & Emiliana Torrini

Rough Trade

Pop/Rock

The Icelandic singer/songwriter's live collaboration with the Colorist explores and expands on her music.

— Bekki Bemrose

Various Artists

Doing It in Lagos: Boogie, Pop & Disco in 1980s Nigeria

Soundway

R&B

A heady, glamorous anthology of disco, funk, and R&B that emerged out of Nigeria in the '70s and '80s.

— Matt Collar

Rebel / Jorg-Michael Schwarz

Johann Gottlieb Goldberg: Beyond the Variations - Chamber Music for Strings & Basso Continuo

Bridge

Classical

Jörg-Michael Schwarz and the period ensemble Rebel play chamber sonatas by John Gottlieb Goldberg, the namesake of Bach's Goldberg Variations.

— Blair Sanderson

Michelle DeYoung / Matthias Goerne / Jaap van Zweden / Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

Wagner: Die Walküre

Naxos

Classical

Jaap van Zweden and the Hong Kong Philharmonic present the second of Wagner's Ring operas, Die Walküre.

— Blair Sanderson

Roman Simovic / London Symphony Orchestra String Ensemble

Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; Britten: Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge; Elgar: Introduction and Allegro

LSO / LSO Live

Classical

Roman Simovic and the London Symphony Orchestra's String Ensemble present brilliant works by Elgar, Vaughan Williams, and Britten.

— Blair Sanderson

Yannick Nézet-Séguin / Staatskapelle Dresden

Anton Bruckner: Symphonie No. 3 d-Moll

Profil - Edition Günter Hänssler

Classical

Bruckner's Third, the so-called "Wagner Symphony," is performed in its original 1873 version by Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Staatskapelle Dresden.

— Blair Sanderson

Previous Week Next Week