Lupe Fiasco

Drogas Light

1st & 15th

Rap

Uneven, occasionally inspired sixth album from the embattled rapper, featuring beneficial collaborations with Ty Dolla $ign and Big K.R.I.T.

— Andy Kellman

Sallie Ford

Soul Sick

Vanguard

Pop/Rock

A musically diverse and emotionally naked set from Sallie Ford.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Sadies

Northern Passages

Yep Roc

Pop/Rock

The tenth album from celebrated Canadian indie roots rockers is full of mystery, drama, and great guitar work.

— Mark Deming

Jesca Hoop

Memories Are Now

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

Featuring production by Blake Mills, the songwriter's solo debut for Sub Pop is a sparse and captivating expression of empowerment.

— Marcy Donelson

Tinariwen

Elwan

Epitaph

International

Exiled from their Saharan home, the Tuareg guitar seekers deliver an album full of tension and beauty.

— Timothy Monger

Craig Taborn

Daylight Ghosts

ECM

Avant-Garde, Jazz

An engaging, experimental quartet date from the pianist with Chris Speed, Chris Lightcap, and the Bad Plus' Dave King.

— Matt Collar

Froth

Outside (Briefly)

Wichita

Pop/Rock

The quartet's dreamy shoegaze sound comes together in constantly surprising, always thrilling fashion on their third album.

— Tim Sendra

Chuck Prophet

Bobby Fuller Died for Your Sins

Yep Roc

Pop/Rock

The veteran songwriter and guitarist tells tales both witty and heartbreaking on his 12th solo album.

— Mark Deming

Noveller

A Pink Sunset for No One

Fire Records

Pop/Rock, Avant-Garde

Sarah Lipstate continues to push her otherworldly guitar drone sound in new directions with her eighth solo album as Noveller.

— Paul Simpson

Hand Habits

Wildly Idle (Humble Before the Void)

Woodsist

Pop/Rock

A full-length debut of languid, textured guitar pop from bedroom recordist and in-demand indie support player Meg Duffy.

— Marcy Donelson

Laraaji

Celestial Vibration

Soul Jazz

New Age, Avant-Garde, Pop/Rock

Originally released in 1978, the debut album from Laraaji (Edward Larry Gordon) is just as powerful and fascinating as any of his subsequent works.

— Paul Simpson

Meatbodies

Alice

In the Red Records

Pop/Rock

A grungy, powerful, and hooky thrill ride of an album anchored by proto-metal guitars and a pounding rhythm section.

— Tim Sendra

POW!

Crack an Egg

Castle Face

Pop/Rock

Jumpy and exciting retro '80s synth rock, delivered with newfound power and lots of hooks.

— Tim Sendra

Quelle Chris

Being You Is Great! I Wish I Could Be You More Often

Mello Music Group

Rap

Moody and introspective, Detroit-based MC Quelle Chris ultimately advocates self-acceptance with his fifth album on Mello Music Group.

— Paul Simpson

Thievery Corporation

The Temple of I & I

Eighteenth Street / ESL Music / Ye

Electronic

Eight records and 22 years have done little to change the core sound of Thievery Corporation.

— Liam Martin

Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness / Andrew McMahon

Zombies on Broadway

Vanguard

Pop/Rock

A gleaming, electro-inflected modern pop production that nevertheless stays true to McMahon's signatures.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Lowly

Heba

Bella Union

Pop/Rock

The Danish group's elegant first full-length is full of sensual and challenging experimental pop.

— Heather Phares

Teen Daze

Themes for Dying Earth

FLORA / Top Shelf Records

Pop/Rock

Following the guitar-centric Morning World, Teen Daze returns to his familiar ambient dream pop sound with Themes for Dying Earth.

— Paul Simpson

Michael Bolton

Songs of Cinema

Frontiers Records

Pop/Rock, Vocal

Michael Bolton sings well-known oldies that have appeared in movies.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Black Joe Lewis / Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears

Backlash

Black Joe Lewis

R&B, Pop/Rock, Blues

The Austin-based singer and bandleader adds modern themes and rock guitar to his rough-and-ready R&B/funk fusion.

— Mark Deming

Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society

Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society

Six Degrees

Electronic, New Age

Two music industry veterans collaborate for an album of serene, free-flowing ambient compositions.

— Paul Simpson

Sinkane

Life & Livin' It

City Slang

Pop/Rock

Sinkane continues to embrace post-rock, Afro-beat, and soul in elegant fashion on his latest offering.

— Bekki Bemrose

Miguel Zenón

Tipico

Miel Music

Jazz

A sophisticated, kinetic, and deeply poetic quartet session from the acclaimed Puerto Rican saxophonist.

— Matt Collar

Vermont

II

Kompakt

Electronic

Danilo Plessow and Marcus Worgull's side project delivers another set of sedate and melodic ambient techno created with analog gear.

— Andy Kellman

Old Crow Medicine Show

Best of Old Crow Medicine Show

Nettwerk

Country, Folk, Pop/Rock

Excellent compilation covering the Americana band's first four records.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Jim and the French Vanilla

Afraid of the House

Dirtnap Records

Pop/Rock

Jim Blaha (of the Blind Shake) trades his acoustic guitar for an electric on the third album from his lo-fi side project.

— Mark Deming

Mariss Jansons / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Strauss: Eine Alpensinfonie; Tod und Verklärung

BR Klassik

Classical

Mariss Jansons presents two of Richard Strauss' most compelling tone poems, An Alpine Symphony and Death and Transfiguration.

— Blair Sanderson

Ian Bostridge / Xuefei Yang

Songs from Our Ancestors

Globe Music

Classical

Any number of pieces here are interesting, but the real accomplishment is that they all seem natural, not merely exotic.

— James Manheim

Ádám Fischer

Mahler: Symphony No. 7

CAvi-music

Classical

Adam Fischer launches a Mahler cycle with the Düsseldorf Symphony, delivering a compelling performance of the Symphony No. 7.

— Blair Sanderson

Leonard Slatkin / Orchestre National de Lyon / Spirito

Ravel: Orchestral Works, Vol. 4 - Daphnis et Chloé

Naxos

Classical

Leonard Slatkin continues his series of the orchestral music of Maurice Ravel with Daphnis et Chloé and Une barque sur l'océan.

— Blair Sanderson

Alexandre Moutouzkine

Piano Music of Cuba

Steinway & Sons

Classical

An album of fascinating music and of interest far beyond the circle of Latin American classical music fans.

— James Manheim

Spencer Myer

William Bolcom: Piano Rags

Steinway & Sons

Classical

Myer rightly makes these into concert works, not showboat nostalgia; this is an essential item for ragtime collections.

— James Manheim

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