David Byrne

American Utopia

Nonesuch / Todomundo

Pop/Rock

At once playful and ominous, this witty and sonically inventive album spins ten tales from an imagined other America.

— Mark Deming

Of Montreal

White Is Relic/Irrealis Mood

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock

Studio LP 15 was inspired by the '80s phenomenon of extended-play dance mixes of pop songs.

— Marcy Donelson

Judas Priest

Firepower

Columbia / Epic

Pop/Rock

Britain's iconic metal masters show no signs of succumbing to age. This driving, imaginative set finds the band at a late-career peak.

— Thom Jurek

Albert Hammond, Jr.

Francis Trouble

Red Bull Records

Pop/Rock

The singer/songwriter transforms the lingering loss of his stillborn twin into smart, emotional guitar pop.

— Heather Phares

Editors

Violence

PIAS

Pop/Rock

A grandly anthemic pop production rife with electronica and rock underpinnings.

— Matt Collar

Nathaniel Rateliff / Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats

Tearing at the Seams

Fantasy

Pop/Rock

The Night Sweats expand and refine their sound on their sophomore set.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Jimi Hendrix

Both Sides of the Sky

Experience Hendrix / Legacy / Sony CMG / Sony Music

Pop/Rock, R&B

Both Sides of the Sky is another collection of high-quality studio recordings, dating from 1968-1970.

— Sean Westergaard

Phonte

No News Is Good News

Foreign Exchange Music

Rap

Second solo album from the Little Brother and Foreign Exchange veteran confronts grim realities and celebrates new love.

— Andy Kellman

August Greene

August Greene

Rap

Common, Karriem Riggins, and Robert Glasper meet again to fuse hip-hop with contemporary soul and jazz on this resolutely pro-black set.

— Andy Kellman

Whyte Horses

Empty Words

CRC

Pop/Rock

Brilliantly kaleidoscopic follow-up to the group's stunning debut adds new vocalists and a couple stylistic left turns along the way.

— Tim Sendra

Echo Collective / Erasure

World Beyond

Mute

Pop/Rock

A track-by-track re-recording of 2017's World Be Gone by Andy Bell and the seven-piece chamber ensemble Echo Collective.

— Marcy Donelson

The Neighbourhood

The Neighbourhood

Columbia Records / Sony Music

Pop/Rock

Flourescent '80s synths color the Los Angeles band's icy yet pop-savvy third album.

— Matt Collar

Young Fathers

Cocoa Sugar

Ninja Tune

Rap

The Scottish trio set out to make a "linear" third album but wound up with their least classifiable, most unique work yet.

— Andy Kellman

The Jazz Butcher

The Violent Years

Fire Records

Pop/Rock

Collection of the eccentric English pop band's four albums made for Creation Records between 1988 and 1991.

— Tim Sendra

Tom Waits

Closing Time

Anti-

Pop/Rock

The singer/songwriter's spare 1973 debut album already displays his scenic vignettes, with wry humor and melancholy in boozy ballads and juke jumpers.

— Thom Jurek

Various Artists

Gumba Fire: Bubblegum Soul & Synth Boogie in 1980s South Africa

Soundway

International, R&B

Excellent collection of synth-heavy African pop that is equally influenced by disco and boogie, while keeping a strong South African feel.

— Tim Sendra

Oneida

Romance

Joyful Noise

Pop/Rock

Brooklyn experimental rock veterans Oneida sound re-energized on their first non-collaborative studio album in six years.

— Paul Simpson

Eric Chenaux

Slowly Paradise

Constellation

Avant-Garde, Folk, Pop/Rock

A triumph of warmth and innovation from the avant folk balladeer.

— Bekki Bemrose

Hieroglyphic Being

The Red Notes

Soul Jazz

Electronic

Fusing cosmic jazz with deep house, The Red Notes is one of the warmer, mellower albums from Chicago-based innovator Jamal Moss.

— Paul Simpson

Nap Eyes

I'm Bad Now

Paradise of Bachelors

Pop/Rock

The cerebral Canadians examine inner and outer philosophies on their strong third outing.

— Timothy Monger

George FitzGerald

All That Must Be

Double Six

Electronic

British post-dubstep producer George FitzGerald sounds re-energized on his first release since moving back to London.

— Paul Simpson

6 String Drag

Top of the World

Schoolkids / Second Motion Records

Pop/Rock, Country

Reunited alt-country act sounds stronger than ever on its second comeback album.

— Mark Deming

Between the Buried and Me

Automata I

Sumerian Records

Pop/Rock

The first of a two-part album, this six-track set finds the band looking over its back catalog and influences as they move ever forward.

— Thom Jurek

Ministry

AmeriKKKant

Nuclear Blast

Pop/Rock

Industrial metal juggernauts Ministry inevitably return with their vitriolic reaction to the presidential election of Donald Trump.

— Paul Simpson

jeremy messersmith

Late Stage Capitalism

Glassnote Entertainment Group

Pop/Rock

After putting out a ukulele album in response to the 2016 election, the singer/songwriter draws on '60s sunshine pop.

— Marcy Donelson

Brad Mehldau

After Bach

Nonesuch

Jazz

The acclaimed jazz pianist explores Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier fugues, and offers his own inspired pieces.

— Matt Collar

Nightwish

Decades

Nuclear Blast

Pop/Rock

Finland's premiere symphonic prog band celebrate their 20th anniversary with this 22-track overview of their catalog.

— Thom Jurek

The Third Eye Foundation

Wake the Dead

Ici d'Ailleurs

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Matt Elliott revives his Third Eye Foundation project for a tense, unsettling album of experimental dub.

— Paul Simpson

A Certain Smile

Fits & Starts

A Certain Smile

Pop/Rock

The debut from this Portland-based indie outfit recalls elements of the C-86 scene and classic jangle pop.

— Timothy Monger

Embrace

Love Is a Basic Need

Cooking Vinyl

Pop/Rock

The aptly named Love Is a basic Need serves up ten expertly crafted specimens of Coldplay-era Brit-pop that invoke the highs and lows of devotion.

— James Christopher Monger

Turbowolf

The Free Life

So Recordings

Pop/Rock

The Free Life delivers a tightly wound set of nervy room-shakers that meld the machine-like precision of Muse (minus the melodrama) with the kinetic garage punk attack of Band of Skulls.

— James Christopher Monger

Gloria

Oîdophon Echorama

Ample Play / Howlin' Banana Records

Pop/Rock

Six-song EP of swaggering and sweet psych-meets-garage-meets-girl-groups from a mysterious French band.

— Tim Sendra

Majeure

Timespan Redux

Temporary Residence

Pop/Rock

The solo debut from Zombi's A.E. Paterra sounds as dynamic as ever in this remixed and remastered 2018 edition.

— Heather Phares

Moose Blood

I Don't Think I Can Do This Anymore

Hopeless Records

Pop/Rock

On their third set, the British emo-punk revivalists keep the overwrought emotions flowing for the post-breakup crowd.

— Neil Z. Yeung

No Babies

Someone to Watch Over Me

Upset the Rhythm

Pop/Rock

The Oakland-based no wave collective fine-tune their wild jazz-punk craft on their long-awaited sophomore effort.

— Timothy Monger

Teenage Wrist

Chrome Neon Jesus

Epitaph

Pop/Rock

An interesting, although not entirely called for, combination of early-'90s shoegaze and early--2000s alt-rock.

— Liam Martin

The Herbaliser

Bring Out the Sound

BBE

Electronic

The Herbaliser's eighth studio album is possibly their most eclectic yet, blending live-band funk with folk, jazz, reggae, and more.

— Paul Simpson

What So Not

Not All the Beautiful Things

Counter Records

Electronic

The Australian producer's first full-length draws from different genres on a slick collection of synth throbbers.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Dennis Gruenling / Nick Moss / Nick Moss Band

The High Cost of Low Living

Alligator / Alligator Records

Blues

Nick Moss teams with harpist Dennis Gruenling for a jumping collection of new blues in the Chicago style.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet / Edward Gardner / Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

Grieg: Piano Concerto; Incidental Music to "Peer Gynt"

Chandos

Classical

There are silkier performances of Peer Gynt, but few that seem to have such a sense of Grieg's much-vaunted Norwegian soul.

— James Manheim

Philip Dukes / James Gilchrist / Anna Tilbrook

Vaughan Williams: Songs of Travel - Songs and Chamber Works

Chandos

Classical

All the music comes from the first part of Vaughan Williams' career and hangs together beautifully.

— James Manheim

John Wilson / BBC Philharmonic Orchestra

Copland: Orchestral Works, Vol. 3 - Symphonies

Chandos

Classical

Chandos' cycle of Copland works is timely and valuable, and this volume is a must for any fan lacking Statements in his or her library.

— James Manheim

Sylvie Proulx

Les Tendres Plaintes: Works by Jean-Philippe Rameau

Centaur Records

Classical

By playing transcriptions of Rameau's keyboard pieces, Sylvie Proulx spreads his music to a wide audience of guitar fans.

— Blair Sanderson

Jiří Bělohlávek / Czech Philharmonic

Smetana: Má Vlast

Decca

Classical

Bělohlávek's interpretations fit together into a coherent whole, and the Czech Philharmonic, sinewy and strong, has never sounded better.

— James Manheim

Martin Helmchen

Beethoven: Diabelli Variations

Alpha

Classical

Martin Helmchen runs the gamut of expressions in the Diabelli Variations, one of the greatest of Beethoven's late works.

— Blair Sanderson

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