Sturgill Simpson

Sound & Fury

Atlantic / Elektra

Country, Pop/Rock

The Americana maverick cranks up the amplifiers and noise on this soundtrack to his anime film.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Sara Quin / Tegan Quin / Tegan and Sara

Hey, I'm Just Like You

Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

The duo revisit songs they wrote as teens, giving them a modern update that nods to all the phases of their long career.

— Tim Sendra

The Beatles

Abbey Road [50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition]

Capitol

Pop/Rock

The 50th Anniversary edition contains a new remix by Giles Martin and two discs of alternate takes and outtakes.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Replacements

Dead Man's Pop

Rhino / Warner Bros.

Pop/Rock

A deep, four-CD exploration of Don't Tell a Soul, highlighted by a new mix by its producer Matt Wallace.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The New Pornographers

In the Morse Code of Brake Lights

Concord

Pop/Rock

Cars and love are on A.C. Newman's mind in another offering of his group's clever and ambitious indie pop.

— Mark Deming

Laurie Anderson / Tenzin Choegyal / Jesse Paris Smith

Songs from the Bardo

Smithsonian Records

Avant-Garde

A moving collective improvisation with a text from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, as instructive as it is profound.

— Thom Jurek

Opeth

In Cauda Venenum

Atomic Fire / Nuclear Blast

Pop/Rock

The Swedish band have left metal completely to pursue their own brand of 21st century progressive rock, and are heavier than ever.

— Thom Jurek

Temples

Hot Motion

ATO

Pop/Rock

The band revisit the psychedelic splendor of their first album, setting aside the synths in favor of yet more jangling guitars.

— Tim Sendra

Of Mice & Men

Earth & Sky

Rise Records

Pop/Rock

An expertly crafted and undeniably hefty slab of grade-A melodic hardcore.

— James Christopher Monger

John Coltrane

Blue World

Verve

Jazz

Previously unissued music that showcases the classic quartet revisiting earlier material (a rarity) for a film soundtrack.

— Thom Jurek

DragonForce

Extreme Power Metal

Metal Blade

Pop/Rock

Great Britain's ultimate power metal band return sounding revitalized, refreshed, and more athletic than ever.

— Thom Jurek

Gilla Band

The Talkies

Rough Trade

Pop/Rock

More than just abrasive noise rock, Gilla Band utilize meticulous songwriting to depict a mind in conflict with itself.

— Liam Martin

Jon Pardi

Heartache Medication

Capitol / Snakefarm Records

Country

On his third album, the traditionalist country singer slyly updates old-fashioned sounds.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Telefon Tel Aviv

Dreams Are Not Enough

Ghostly International

Electronic

Beautiful and devastating fourth album from Telefon Tel Aviv, combining innovative sound design with harrowing lyricism.

— Paul Simpson

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

This Is the Place

Caroline

Pop/Rock

The second in a series of EPs finds the High Flying Birds diving deeper down into dance-rock.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Grateful Dead

Saint of Circumstance: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ, 6/17/91

Grateful Dead / Rhino

Pop/Rock

A predictably unpredictable behemoth from the summer of 1991, the band comes across as loose and celestial at New Jersey's Giants Stadium.

— Timothy Monger

Beth Hart

War in My Mind

Provogue

Pop/Rock

An introspective, ballad-heavy affair produced by Rob Cavallo.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Moon Duo

Stars Are the Light

Sacred Bones

Pop/Rock

The band's seventh album dials back the guitar crunch in favor of a slow-motion disco-inspired, shimmering ambient pop sound.

— Tim Sendra

The Monochrome Set

Fabula Mendax

Tapete Records

Pop/Rock

The band continue cranking out intelligent and tuneful albums, this time expanding their arrangements and adding new instrumentation.

— Tim Sendra

Thigh Master

Now for Example

Goner Records

Pop/Rock

The Australian band's second album is a cheeky, hooky mix of Flying Nun jangle and post-punk energy.

— Tim Sendra

Kristin Hersh

Crooked

Fire Records

Pop/Rock

Equally fiery and contemplative, the Throwing Muses frontwoman's 2009 album is among her most riveting solo work.

— Heather Phares

Magnapop

The Circle Is Round

HHBTM

Pop/Rock

The veteran guitar pop band's first album in nearly a decade celebrates their enduringly crunchy, melodic charms.

— Heather Phares

Various Artists

Jobcentre Rejects, Vol. 2: Ultra Rare NWOBHM 1980-1985

On the Dole Records

Pop/Rock

The second volume of New Wave of British Heavy Metal obscurities specializes in high-octane sleaze.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Various Artists

Pacific Northwest Fuzz Box

BeatRocket / Sundazed

Pop/Rock

More trashy garage rock and pop obscurities recorded between 1967 and 1972.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Various Artists

Pacific Northwest Stash Box

BeatRocket / Sundazed

Pop/Rock

Trashy garage rock and pop obscurities recorded between 1967 and 1972.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Various Artists

Strut My Stuff: Obscure Country & Hillbilly Boppers

Modern Harmonic

Country

32 all-but-unknown country artists set the honky tonk on fire in this first-rate collection of hillbilly dance tunes.

— Mark Deming

Joe Meek / Joe Meek & the Blue Men

I Hear A New World – The Pioneers of Electronic Music, An Outer Space Music Fantasy By Joe Meek

Él

Pop/Rock

The 2019 reissue of the space-age cult classic is supplemented with extras that recontextualize the album's place in early electronic music.

— Heather Phares

Electric Banana

The Complete de Wolfe Sessions

Grapefruit

Pop/Rock, Stage & Screen

A collection of '60s and '70s tracks recorded by a moonlighting Pretty Things for use in movies that includes some of their finest work.

— Tim Sendra

Trentemøller

Obverse

In My Room

Electronic, Pop/Rock

The Danish producer continues to explore shivering, melancholy post-punk and dream pop with help from guests like Rachel Goswell and jennylee.

— Paul Simpson

KMFDM

Paradise

Metropolis

Pop/Rock

Angst-packed set from the industrial-dance veterans is a call-to-arms to save the world.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Kristin Chenoweth

For the Girls

Concord

Pop/Rock, Vocal

A heartfelt collection of pop/rock standards popularized by women.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten / Krokofant / Ståle Storløkken

Q

Rune Grammofon

Jazz

Expanding into a quintet for this release, the Norwegian electric jazz-rock outfit channel prog, skronk, metal, and more.

— Thom Jurek

Adam Lambert

Velvet: Side A

Empire / More Is More Records

Pop/Rock

A hooky, '70s funk and glitter-pop EP that makes the most of Lambert's voice and swaggering charisma.

— Matt Collar

Alessandro Cortini

Volume Massimo

Mute

Electronic

The seventh and most accessible solo album from the Nine Inch Nails member and analog synth master.

— Paul Simpson

Automatic

Signal

Stones Throw

Pop/Rock

Punchy yet detached debut from Automatic, a guitarless post-punk trio from Los Angeles.

— Paul Simpson

Ramsey Lewis / Urban Knights

VII

Ropeadope

Jazz

A soulful, vibrantly realized production featuring Lewis and his crossover jazz outfit.

— Matt Collar

Red River Dialect

Abundance Welcoming Ghosts

Paradise of Bachelors

Pop/Rock, Folk

Another literate and deeply ruminative work of focused intensity from the Cornish folk-rock combo led by David Morris.

— Timothy Monger

Robert Sotelo

Infinite Sprawling

Upset the Rhythm

Pop/Rock

Newly based in Glasgow, Andrew Doig's third set of Sotelo psych-pop was recorded with Edwin Stevens (Irma Vep) and Ruari MacLean (Golden Grrrls).

— Marcy Donelson

Kaputt

Carnage Hall

Upset the Rhythm

Pop/Rock

Jumpy and excitable debut from this Scottish punk band feels like being caught in a friendly tropical storm.

— Fred Thomas

Kefaya / Elaha Soroor

Songs of Our Mothers

Bella Union

International

An elegant and compelling global fusion between the London-based collective and the Afghan singer.

— Timothy Monger

The Hussy

Looming

Dirtnap Records

Pop/Rock

The garage punk duo becomes a trio, and sounds bigger and tighter without losing touch with their muscle or grimy charm.

— Mark Deming

Jeff Lorber / The Jeff Lorber Fusion / Mike Stern

Eleven

Concord

Jazz

A vibrant collaboration between the fusion guitarist and the crossover jazz keyboardist.

— Matt Collar

Michaela Anne

Desert Dove

Yep Roc

Country

An idiosyncratically dark, evocative sound puts a fresh spin on this country artist's fine songs and vocals.

— Mark Deming

Vacationer

Wavelengths

Paxico

Rap

An instrumental hip-hop diversion produced concurrently with Vacationer's 2018 opus Mindset.

— Paul Simpson

Weeping Icon

Weeping Icon

Fire Talk

Pop/Rock

Debut full-length from this noise-drenched punk band is an intense but cleansing listening experience.

— Fred Thomas

Gabriel Feltz / Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 2

Dreyer-Gaido

Classical

Gabriel Feltz and the Stuttgart Philharmonic present a unified and powerful reading of Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 2 ("Resurrection").

— Blair Sanderson

Manfred Honeck / Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Bruckner: Symphony No. 9

Reference Recordings

Classical

Manfred Honeck and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra deliver a powerful performance of Bruckner's most deeply religious symphony.

— Blair Sanderson

Los Angeles Recording Arts Orchestra / Anne-Sophie Mutter / John Williams

Across the Stars

Deutsche Grammophon

Classical, Stage & Screen

Not simply a "Mutter Plays Williams" collection but a genuine collaboration, with the 87-year-old Williams conducting.

— James Manheim

Alina Ibragimova / Cédric Tiberghien

Brahms: Violin Sonatas

Hyperion

Classical

Wonderfully intimate, quiet Brahms violin sonatas performed by Alina Ibragimova.

— James Manheim

Sabine Devieilhe / Raphaël Pichon / Pygmalion

Libertà!

Harmonia Mundi

Classical

Not quite a pastiche, but a set of three "tableaux" that explore the period just before Mozart's operatic masterworks.

— James Manheim

Sarah Bob

Nobody Move... : Commissions and Premieres for the New Gallery Concert Series

Avie

Classical

Unique representation of the pianist as curator, offering music commissioned for Boston's New Gallery Concert Series by pianist Bob.

— James Manheim

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