MGMT

Loss of Life

Mom + Pop Music

Pop/Rock

The fifth studio album from this idiosyncratic art rock duo splits the difference between adventurous production and smart pop songwriting.

— Fred Thomas

Hurray for the Riff Raff

The Past Is Still Alive

Nonesuch

Pop/Rock

An unusually hushed and warm -- yet typically vital -- album from the folk-punk singer/songwriter.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Real Estate

Daniel

Domino

Pop/Rock

The sixth album from this New Jersey indie band continues their arc of maturation while returning to the straightforward charm of their earliest days.

— Fred Thomas

Mary Timony

Untame the Tiger

Merge

Pop/Rock

The singer/songwriter returns to her solo career with songs about surviving grief that combine mystical folk with the rock crunch of her band Ex Hex.

— Heather Phares

Laetitia Sadier

Rooting for Love

Drag City

Pop/Rock

Sadier combines urgent calls for love and self-knowledge with experimental sonics that border on sacred, making for some of her most vital solo music.

— Heather Phares

Jools Holland / Jools Holland & His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra / Rod Stewart

Swing Fever

Rhino / Warner Bros. / Warner Records

Jazz, Vocal

A joyous celebration of jump blues, swing, and boogie woogie made by a pair of natural collaborators.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Nadine Shah

Filthy Underneath

EMI / EMI North

Pop/Rock

A period of relentless turmoil involving loss, rehab, and divorce inspired the art rocker's resilient and atypically groove-heavy fifth LP.

— Marcy Donelson

Hudson Mohawke / Tiga

L' Ecstacy

Turbo / Turbo Recordings / Turbo Sound

Electronic

A successful collaboration that sounds like the work of two friends bonding over everything that made them fall in love with club culture.

— Paul Simpson

Can

Live in Paris 1973

Mute

Pop/Rock, Avant-Garde

Essential document of the group at their prime, using material from Ege Bamyasi as the launching pad for extended freak-outs.

— Paul Simpson

Fire!

Testament

Rune Grammofon

Jazz, Pop/Rock

The eighth album from this experimental Scandinavian supergroup was recorded live in studio without extra instruments, guests, or electronics.

— Thom Jurek

Erika de Casier

Still

4AD

R&B

Third album of highly nuanced pop-R&B from the Danish singer, songwriter, and producer, fresh from co-writing hits for NewJeans.

— Andy Kellman

The Dream Academy

Religion, Revolution & Railways

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

Massive collection of the new wave baroque pop band's work that gathers up three full albums, singles, B-sides, remixes, and rarities.

— Tim Sendra

Modern English

1 2 3 4

Inkind

Pop/Rock

Fiery work from the veteran post-punk band on their first album in seven years.

— Andy Kellman

I Dont Know How but They Found Me

Gloom Division

Concord

Pop/Rock

Returning as a solo act for this sophomore set, Dallon Weekes delivers a stylish but scattered mix of indie anthems and midtempo cuts.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Maya Shenfeld

Under the Sun

Thrill Jockey

Avant-Garde, Electronic

A reflection on the natural world, recorded between a Berlin studio and in Portugal, at one of the world's deepest marble quarries.

— Paul Simpson

Jane Getter Premonition

Division World

Esoteric Antenna

Jazz, Pop/Rock

The third album from the guitarist's band showcases a solidified lineup weaving progressive and indie pop into their ambitious mix.

— Thom Jurek

JJ Grey & Mofro

Olustee

Alligator Records

Pop/Rock

Closing a nine-year recording gap, the Florida native and band dig into the roots of Southern soul, folklore, and funky Americana.

— Thom Jurek

Corb Lund

El Viejo

New West

Country

A loose, intimate roundabout tribute to Ian Tyson recorded live in Corb Lund's living room.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Bardo Pond

Vol. 9

Fire Records

Pop/Rock

Ninth entry to this heavy psych collective's ongoing archival series features drumming from Michael Zanghi on several sprawling jams.

— Fred Thomas

Allie X

Girl with No Face

Twin Music

Pop/Rock

The Canadian avant-pop auteur's synth-washed fourth album channels New Order, Depeche Mode, and Eurythmics on a catalog best.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Curve

Unreadable Communication: Anxious Recordings 1991-1993

Cherry Red

Pop/Rock

Four-CD box compiling the innovative alternative band's first two albums, early EPs, B-sides, single versions, and remixes.

— Paul Simpson

Whitelands

Night-bound Eyes Are Blind to the Day

Sonic Cathedral

Pop/Rock

An alluring, Slowdive-inspired shoegaze debut distinguished by poetic turns of phrase and yearning, sometimes political outsider perspectives.

— Marcy Donelson

The Body / Dis Fig

Orchards of a Futile Heaven

Thrill Jockey

Electronic, Pop/Rock

A sludgy, apocalyptic collaboration with delicate elements which give the smoldering fire and ashes an ethereal glow.

— Paul Simpson

Hieroglyphic Being

Quadric Surfaces

Viernulvier Records

Electronic, Avant-Garde

A challenging but fascinating set of abstract pieces composed for a pair of surreal, abstract animations.

— Paul Simpson

Persher

Sleep Well

Thrill Jockey

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Techno producers Blawan and Pariah cross-wire industrial synth-punk with sludge metal.

— Paul Simpson

Tugan Sokhiev / The Philharmonic Brass

Overture!

Decca

Classical

Superb brass ensemble playing, with arrangements that coax forth a striking range of orchestral sounds from the instruments.

— James Manheim

Marie Lys / Reinoud Van Mechelen / Christophe Rousset

Lully: Atys

Château de Versailles

Classical

A splendid performance of Lully's 1676 tragédie lyrique seethes with energy.

— James Manheim

Sandrine Piau / Jean-François Verdier

Reflet

Alpha

Classical

French songs familiar and less so, flawlessly sung and organized.

— James Manheim

Frank Peter Zimmermann / Jakub Hrůša

Stravinsky: Violin Concerto; Bartók: Rhapsodies 1 and 2; Martinu: Suite Concertante; Méditation

BIS

Classical

Shades of interwar styles are superbly captured by this violinist and orchestra.

— James Manheim

Harlem Chamber Players / Talea Ensemble

Julius Eastman: Femenine

Kairos

Classical

Although strongly influenced by minimalism, this often-performed work nevertheless explores the composer's ahead-of-his-time social themes.

— James Manheim

Howard Shelley / Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra

The Romantic Piano Concerto, Vol. 86: Tellefsen, Kalkbrenner

Hyperion

Classical

Piano concertos that would have been known well enough in Chopin's time but are all but forgotten today.

— James Manheim

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