tUnE-yArDs

Sketchy.

4AD

Pop/Rock

The duo's most infectious album since Nikki Nack captures the point where frustration becomes positive action.

— Heather Phares

Carrie Underwood

My Savior

Capitol / EMI

Religious, Country

An understated and passionate gospel album from the former American Idol winner.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Dr. Lonnie Smith

Breathe

Blue Note

Jazz

The Hammond B-3 master is joined by punk legend Iggy Pop on this earthy Don Was production.

— Matt Collar

Floating Points / London Symphony Orchestra / Pharoah Sanders

Promises

Luaka Bop

Electronic, Jazz

Sam Shepherd enables the inventive saxophonist to stretch out for most of this glimmering suite.

— Andy Kellman

Skegss

Rehearsal

Loma Vista

Pop/Rock

The Australian group's second album scrubs down and powers up their beach punk sound, while traveling down new sonic avenues as well.

— Tim Sendra

Dua Lipa

Future Nostalgia [The Moonlight Edition]

Warner Records

Pop/Rock

This deluxe version of her Grammy-winning, pulse-pounding sophomore set of '70s disco, '80s dance-pop, and '90s club updates adds fresh tracks and hit collaborations.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Neil Young

Young Shakespeare

Reprise

Pop/Rock

A charmingly modest acoustic set taken from the same tour as Live at Massey Hall 1971.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

serpentwithfeet

Deacon

Secretly Canadian

Pop/Rock, R&B

The singer/songwriter turns away from heartache on softly strong songs about the beauty of everyday love and happiness.

— Heather Phares

Xiu Xiu

Oh No

Polyvinyl

Pop/Rock

The duo celebrate the power of connection with duets that reflect hard times and the way friends lift each other out of them.

— Heather Phares

Real Estate

Half a Human

Domino

Pop/Rock

Six-song EP from New Jersey indie band finds the meeting point of their polished songwriting formula and the pleasant experimentation of their earliest days.

— Fred Thomas

El Michels Affair

Yeti Season

Big Crown

R&B

The fifth album from Leon Michels' main outlet is a set of originals highlighted by four songs featuring Piya Malik.

— Andy Kellman

Joe Strummer

Assembly

BMG

Pop/Rock, Reggae

This 16-track collection offers a sampling of the Clash frontman's solo work, and leaves the listener wanting a bit more.

— Mark Deming

The Writhing Squares

Chart for the Solution

Trouble in Mind

Pop/Rock

This double album from the Philly duo pushes every dimension of their primitive cosmic punk even further out.

— Fred Thomas

Noga Erez

Kids

City Slang

Pop/Rock, Electronic

On her sleek yet unpredictable second album, the producer hones her defiant, playfully ominous pop.

— Heather Phares

Clark

Playground in a Lake

Decca

Electronic

The producer/composer's Deutsche Grammophon debut combines folk, orchestral, and electronic elements into a haunting meditation on climate change.

— Heather Phares

Sara Watkins

Under the Pepper Tree

New West

Pop/Rock, Country

A warm, gentle children's album inspired by songs Sara Watkins loved as a child.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Esther Rose

How Many Times

Father/Daughter Records

Country, Pop/Rock

The retro-country specialist's third album brings in an outside producer for the first time to burnish a full set of spunky, heartbroken earworms.

— Marcy Donelson

Death from Above 1979

Is 4 Lovers

Spinefarm Records

Pop/Rock

The Toronto disco-punk duo's stylistically balanced, sonically engaging fourth album.

— Matt Collar

Various Artists

Shake the Foundations: Militant Funk & the Post-Punk Dancefloor 1978-1984

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

Another one of the Cherry Red label's deep digs into the post-punk era, this is full of thrills and surprises.

— Andy Kellman

T2

It'll All Work Out in Boomland [Expanded Edition]

Esoteric Recordings

Pop/Rock

Brilliant collision of prog rock, psychedelia, baroque pop, and proto-metal, collected here with later demos.

— Tim Sendra

The Antlers

Green to Gold

Anti-

Pop/Rock

On their first new album in seven years, this Brooklyn duo reshape the intensity of their ambient chamber pop into something softer and more relaxed.

— Fred Thomas

Music On Hold

30 Minutes Of

Born Bad Records

Pop/Rock

The Parisian trio's 30-minute full-length debut offers a homespun, punk-edged take on new wave.

— Marcy Donelson

Bell Orchestre

House Music

Erased Tapes Records

Pop/Rock

The post-rock sextet return with an organically flowing suite born from an improvised session at violinist Sarah Neufeld's house.

— Paul Simpson

New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers

New Moon Jelly Roll Freedom Rockers, Vol. 2

Stony Plain

Blues

A second volume from the loose, live-in-studio weekend session in 2007 yields as many high-quality results as its predecessor.

— Thom Jurek

Tim Cohen

You Are Still Here

Bobo Integral

Pop/Rock

A capricious sixth solo album that finds the West Coast psych-pop stylist recording in a studio (a first) with Beach House drummer James Barone.

— Marcy Donelson

Tex Crick

Live In...New York City

Mac's Record Label

Pop/Rock

Casual and warm piano pop from this Australian singer/songwriter who owes a debt to '70s soft rock.

— Timothy Monger

Cabaret Voltaire

Dekadrone

Mute

Electronic

The first of two experimental ambient releases from Richard H. Kirk, consisting of a harsh but balanced 50-minute continuous piece.

— Paul Simpson

Brian Bennett

Voyage [2CD Expanded Edition]

Strawberry / Strawberry Recording Co.

Electronic, R&B

Shadows drummer and library music composer Brian Bennett's contribution to the original wave of space disco during the late '70s.

— Paul Simpson

Jane Getter / Jane Getter Premonition

Anomalia

Esoteric Antenna / Esoteric Recordings

Pop/Rock, Jazz

Few bands could so effectively meld jagged metal, progressive rock and jazz fusion under a poignant singer-songwriter umbrella.

— Thom Jurek

Various Artists

Dynam'hit: Europop Version Francaise [1990-1995]

Born Bad Records

Electronic, Pop/Rock

A fun selection of lesser-known French and Belgian dance-pop tunes from the early '90s.

— Paul Simpson

Stile Antico

The Golden Renaissance: Josquin des Prez

Decca

Classical

The small choir Stile Antico shows itself adept with a Josquin "greatest hits" approach.

— James Manheim

Lars Vogt

Janácek: On an Overgrown Path; In the Mists; Sonata 1.X.1905

Ondine

Classical

A superb reading of Janáček's subtle, psychologically intricate piano music.

— James Manheim

Osmo Vänskä / Minnesota Orchestra

Mahler 10

BIS

Classical

Slow, restrained, beautifully precise Mahler Tenth gains power if approached with patience and meditativeness.

— James Manheim

Clare Hammond

Variations

BIS

Classical

Intelligent survey of the 20th (and 21st) century piano variation set features superb control from Hammond.

— James Manheim

John Neschling / Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège

Ottorino Respighi: Transcriptions of Bach & Rachmaninov

BIS

Classical

Another of the consistently strong performances in Neschling's Respighi series also involves fine neglected music.

— James Manheim

Andris Nelsons / Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra

Bruckner: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 8; Wagner: Meistersinger Prelude

Deutsche Grammophon

Classical

A technically flawless Bruckner Eighth in which everything points to the mighty finale.

— James Manheim

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