Neil Young

Before and After

Reprise

Pop/Rock

An intimate in-studio acoustic live set that finds Neil Young looking back on his beginnings and middle age.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Nicki Minaj

Pink Friday 2

Island / Republic

Rap

The rapper and pop star's fifth album serves as a multi-genre sequel to her 2010 breakthrough, expanding her range both musically and emotionally.

— Fred Thomas

The Killers

Rebel Diamonds

EMI Records / Island

Pop/Rock

Triumphant best-of set that showcases 20 years of hits from the Las Vegas showmen.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Car Seat Headrest

Faces From the Masquerade

Matador

Pop/Rock

Will Toledo's purposefully sloppy studio sessions give way to a tight, emphatic live band on this energetic live album.

— Mark Deming

V V Brown

Am I British Yet?

YOY

R&B

A provocative and proud return examining Black British identity amid racism and cultural appropriation.

— Andy Kellman

HEALTH

Rat Wars

Loma Vista

Pop/Rock

The trio traces the vicious circle of trauma and abuse with a furious and wounded blend of industrial, metal, and pop.

— Heather Phares

Mika

Que ta tête fleurisse toujours

Universal

Pop/Rock

Inspired by his late mother, the singer/songwriter's first French-language album is a confection of feather-light pop and delicate ballads.

— Heather Phares

Apollo Brown / Planet Asia

Sardines

Mello Music Group

Rap

The West Coast rapper and Detroit producer follow their 2017 collaboration with another set of smooth beats and hard rhymes.

— Paul Simpson

James Elkington

Me Neither

4th Quarter / No Quarter / No Quarter

Folk, Jazz

A lucid outpouring of improvised guitar music from the Chicago-based British musician.

— Timothy Monger

Michael Nau

Accompany

Karma Chief

Pop/Rock

Recorded live in the studio with a band, the Cotton Jones leader embraces an especially dreamy, seductive impressionism on his fifth solo outing.

— Marcy Donelson

C-Clamp

Dream Backwards

Numero

Pop/Rock

The recorded legacy of a great but overlooked Chicago indie band of the 1990s, whose music was languid yet forceful.

— Mark Deming

Nina Walsh / Andrew Weatherall / The Woodleigh Research Facility

Phonox Nights

Facility 4

Electronic

Steady, mostly midtempo electro-techno and dub-disco explorations from Nina Walsh and the late Andrew Weatherall.

— Paul Simpson

Sama’ Abdulhadi

Fabric Presents Sama' Abdulhadi

Fabric

Electronic

A propulsive, journey-like mix from the acclaimed Palestinian techno DJ.

— Paul Simpson

Michał Urbaniak Group / Michał Urbaniak

Sound Pieces

Moosicus Records

Jazz, Pop/Rock

A triple-disc comp assembles the group's 1973 studio albums with a wide-open Radio Bremen broadcast from 1972.

— Thom Jurek

Beth & Flo / Grace Davidson / Julia Doyle / Oliver Davis / Paul Bateman / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Oliver Davis: Blue

Signum Classics

Classical

This composer's pop-minimalism makes a perfect fit with the duo piano talents of Beth & Flo.

— James Manheim

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet / Gabor Takács-Nagy / Manchester Camerata

Mozart: Piano Concertos, Vol. 8

Chandos

Classical

Elegant, self-effacing performances round out this well-recorded Mozart series on Chandos.

— James Manheim

Benjamin Appl / Oscar Jockel / Munich Radio Orchestra

Schubert: Lieder with Orchestra

BR Klassik

Classical

A rising baritone turns to orchestral arrangements of Schubert songs, mostly by famed composers.

— James Manheim

Mahan Esfahani

Bach: The French Suites, BWV 812-817

Hyperion

Classical

This traversal of the French Suites is, if possible, even more adventurous than usual for this brilliant keyboardist.

— James Manheim

BBC Singers / Martyn Brabbins

John Pickard: Mass in Troubled Times

BIS

Classical

A complex mass setting, with multilingual texts woven together, is balanced by simpler tonal pieces.

— James Manheim

Magdalena Kožená / Simon Rattle / Czech Philharmonic

Folk Songs

PentaTone Classics

Classical

Folk song collection that avoids the performer's nationality, instead exploring the meanings of vernacular music in the 20th century.

— James Manheim

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