HAIM

Women in Music, Pt. 3

Columbia / Sony Music

Pop/Rock

The trio open up on their accomplished third album, confronting the hard times in life with breezy yet vulnerable songs.

— Heather Phares

Jessie Ware

What's Your Pleasure?

Virgin EMI

Pop/Rock

Following three Top Ten U.K. entries, the fourth album from the singer/songwriter deals in rhapsodic dancefloor intimacy.

— Andy Kellman

Arca

KiCk i

XL

Electronic, Pop/Rock

The producer's fourth album celebrates her music's unapologetic contradictions and fragments in startling, beautiful, and genuine ways.

— Heather Phares

CeeLo Green

CeeLo Green Is Thomas Callaway

Easy Eye Sound

R&B

The "Don't Cha" producer and "Fuck You" singer joins Dan Auerbach's Easy Eye family with down-to-earth throwback soul.

— Andy Kellman

The Rentals

Q36

Pop/Rock

Science fiction-themed double album from this sporadic pop project is their most ambitious work and also some of their best.

— Fred Thomas

Depeche Mode

Spirits in the Forest

Columbia / Depeche Mode / Sony Music

Pop/Rock

A live concert CD/DVD from the English synth pop group's final stop of their 2017 Global Spirit tour.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Khruangbin

Mordechai

Dead Oceans

Pop/Rock

On their third album, the Texan trio place more emphasis on their vocals, resulting in their strongest, most affecting material yet.

— Paul Simpson

Grey Daze

Amends

Loma Vista / Virgin EMI

Pop/Rock

Featuring original vocals by the late Chester Bennington, this compilation showcases the music of his post-grunge '90s band.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Nadine Shah

Kitchen Sink

BMG / Infectious / Infectious Music

Pop/Rock

The British crooner's fourth effort is a wily and inventive collection of funky noir-pop that pairs wry social commentary with crisp, cosmopolitan arrangements.

— James Christopher Monger

Derrick Hodge

Color of Noize

Blue Note

Jazz, R&B

The veteran bassist and producer assembles a new band to record unheard material in the studio, blurring genre boundaries to explore the uncharted.

— Thom Jurek

The Mothers / Frank Zappa / Frank Zappa & the Mothers

The Mothers 1970

Universal / Zappa Records

Pop/Rock

The Mothers 1970 presents unreleased live and studio recordings from Frank Zappa's 1970 band.

— Sean Westergaard

Ray LaMontagne

Monovision

RCA

Pop/Rock

Ray LaMontagne gets back to his troubadour roots on this warm, soothing record.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Johnny Cash

The Complete Mercury Albums 1986-1991

Mercury / Mercury Nashville

Country

A complete box set of Cash's Mercury stint proves that, contrary to conventional wisdom, he recorded plenty items of merit during the late '80s.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Johnny Cash

Easy Rider: The Best of the Mercury Recordings

Mercury / Mercury Nashville

Country

A sampler of Cash's Mercury stint proves that, contrary to conventional wisdom, he recorded plenty items of merit during the late '80s.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Gordi

Our Two Skins

Jagjaguwar

Pop/Rock

The more-intimate follow-up to her Australia-charting debut draws on major life events, including struggles with identity.

— Marcy Donelson

Joe Lovano / Marcin Wasilewski / Marcin Wasilewski Trio

Arctic Riff

ECM

Jazz

Evocative and harmonically nuanced meeting between the sax heavyweight and the Polish pianist.

— Matt Collar

Hiroshi Yoshimura

Green

Light in the Attic Records

Electronic

The late Japanese ambient music pioneer's fourth album rings with a new clarity on this lovely reissue.

— Timothy Monger

Benny Green

Benny's Crib

Sunnyside Communications

Jazz

The lauded jazz pianist applies his ear for swinging, harmonic sophistication to the electric Rhodes keyboard.

— Matt Collar

Redd Kross

Red Kross EP [40th Anniversary Edition]

Merge

Pop/Rock

Deluxe reissue of the band's 1980 debut EP of snotty teen punk enlivened by the group's already keen sense of humor.

— Mark Deming

Remo Drive

A Portrait of an Ugly Man

Epitaph

Pop/Rock

On their third album, the former emo revivalists deliver a taut ten-song set that looks to post-punk and snappy, spring reverb-licked indie rock for inspiration.

— James Christopher Monger

Sam Spiegel

Random Shit from the Internet Era

Spectrophonic Sound

Electronic

An adventurous exploration of multi-genre pop from the DJ/producer/songwriter with help from a huge host of famous friends.

— Fred Thomas

Sports Team

Deep Down Happy

Island

Pop/Rock

An attention-grabbing debut of hooky, exasperated indie rock from a U.K. band that blends classic punk and Brit-pop.

— Marcy Donelson

Thad Cockrell

If in Case You Feel the Same

ATO

Pop/Rock

Singer/songwriter forsakes his country/folk sound for contemporary pop, while maintaining the same lyrical passions.

— Mark Deming

Céu

APKÁ!

Six Degrees / Slap / Urban Jungle

International, Latin

On her fifth long-player, the Brazilian singer/songwriter sums up all of her earlier music and takes it into the future with heart and humor.

— Thom Jurek

Art Feynman

Half Price at 3:30

Western Vinyl Records

Pop/Rock

A second set of strangely soothing, shape-shifting, wistful, and whimsical folktronica from the alter ego of Luke Temple.

— Marcy Donelson

The Orange Peels

Square Cubed

Minty Fresh

Pop/Rock

The sweetly jangling debut from the West Coast masters of the indie pop genre, expanded and reexamined in a deluxe edition.

— Tim Sendra

Various Artists

Louis Wayne Moody High

Numero

Pop/Rock

A tear-jerking collection of garage rock ballads from the late '60s packed in a replica of a high school yearbook of the time.

— Tim Sendra

Bananagun

The True Story of Bananagun

Full Time Hobby

Pop/Rock

The Australian psych combo offer an appealingly rhythmic romp that touches on Tropicalia, Afrobeat, garage rock, and sunshine pop.

— Timothy Monger

Corb Lund

Agricultural Tragic

New West

Country, Pop/Rock

On this dynamic album, Corb Lund threads in a bunch of guitar pop and rock tricks into his clever country music.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Lisa E. Harris / Nicole Mitchell

Earthseed

FPE

Avant-Garde, Jazz

Recorded live in 2017, this collaboration between two seminal artists is based on two late prescient novels by Afrofuturist matriarch Octavia Butler.

— Thom Jurek

Pottery

Welcome to Bobby's Motel

Partisan / PTKF

Pop/Rock

The Montreal quintet's first full-length delivers wild-eyed, sweaty punk-funk that's never dull.

— Heather Phares

Public Practice

Gentle Grip

Wharf Cat Records

Pop/Rock

The debut full-length from this dancey Brooklyn band is a well-crafted pastiche of late-'70s punk-funk influences.

— Fred Thomas

BOYO

Where Have All My Friends Gone?

Park the Van

Pop/Rock

Evoking names like Alex G and Jay Som, home recordist Robert Tilden pairs fuzzy, reverbed textures with improved songwriting for his third album.

— Marcy Donelson

Tenille Townes

The Lemonade Stand

Columbia / SM Entertainment

Country, Pop/Rock

A smart, splashy, stylish country-pop debut.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Nash Ensemble

Clara Schumann: Piano Trio; Fanny Mendelssohn: Piano Trios; String Quartet

Hyperion

Classical

Clean, committed performances of chamber music by Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann, who pair well here.

— James Manheim

Sharon Isbin

Affinity

Zoho Music

Classical

A strong outing from guitarist Isbin is centered on Latin rhythm but encompasses its "affinities" with other world traditions.

— James Manheim

Sean Shibe

Bach

Delphian

Classical

Exceptional renderings of Bach lute works on guitar, intricate in local details, profound in deeper structure.

— James Manheim

Garrick Ohlsson / Takács Quartet

Elgar & Beach: Piano Quintets

Hyperion

Classical

Very strong late Romantic chamber performances, with the highlight being a neglected work by Amy Beach.

— James Manheim

Piers Lane / Leon Botstein / The Orchestra Now

The Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol. 81: Rubbra, Bliss

Hyperion

Classical

A strong entry in the Romantic Piano Concerto series, with distinctive works that fit the Romantic descriptor despite late composition dates.

— James Manheim

James Ehnes / Andrew Armstrong

Beethoven: Violin Sonatas Nos. 4, 5 & 8; Rondo in G; Six German Dances

Onyx / Onyx Classics

Classical

Violinist James Ehnes' Beethoven series continues with sensitive, alert performances.

— James Manheim

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