Mercury Rev

Born Horses

Believe Direct Limited / Believe Music / Bella Union

Pop/Rock

Informed by free jazz and beat poetry, the band's first album in a decade is a swirl of transcendent sounds, brilliant imagery, and deep feeling.

— Heather Phares

David Gilmour

Luck and Strange

Sony Music

Pop/Rock

A richly detailed late-career highlight from the veteran singer and guitarist, whose family joins him on several songs.

— Timothy Monger

Toro y Moi

Hole Erth

Dead Oceans

Pop/Rock, Rap

Trying out yet another new style, Chaz Bundick sure-handedly whips up a dreamlike mix of cloud rap, nocturnal trap, chillwave, shoegaze, and emo pop.

— Tim Sendra

Sylvester

Live at the Opera House: The Complete Recordings

Craft Recordings

R&B

Loving documentation of the charismatic gay icon's celebratory March 1979 performance in his adoptive hometown of San Francisco.

— Andy Kellman

LL Cool J

THE FORCE

Force / LL Cool J / Universal Music

Rap

The hip-hop legend reaffirms his legacy with an album of richly musical beats, wide-ranging lyrical themes, and powerful, self-assured performances.

— TiVo Staff

Max Richter

In a Landscape

Decca

Classical

Release from a famed crossover postminimalist features some new ideas.

— James Manheim

The The

Ensoulment

Ear Music

Pop/Rock

The British group's first all-original studio album in 20 years is a literate, darkly rendered return to form.

— Matt Collar

Hinds

Viva Hinds

Lucky Number

Pop/Rock

Now a duo, the band replace the pop gloss of their previous album with a slightly darker, still quite hooky modern indie rock sound.

— Tim Sendra

Dummy

Free Energy

Trouble in Mind

Pop/Rock

The band's second album sees them altering their shoegaze-Stereolab template to get more experimental as they add avant-garde, new age, and dance music elements.

— Tim Sendra

The Heavy Heavy

One of a Kind

ATO

Pop/Rock

The Will Turner-led U.K. duo dial up the charm on a debut LP full of nostalgia-activating could-be-hits steeped in mid- and late-'60s influences.

— Marcy Donelson

Nala Sinephro

Endlessness

Warp

Jazz

An enlightening and awe-inspiring second effort from the visionary composer, harpist, and modular synth player.

— Paul Simpson

Bremer/McCoy

Kosmos

Luaka Bop

Pop/Rock, Jazz, New Age

The Danish duo's relaxing and sonically atmospheric third album of spacey dub jazz for Luaka Bop.

— Matt Collar

MJ Lenderman

Manning Fireworks

Anti-

Pop/Rock

The guitarist from Wednesday and Waxahatchee creates a triumph of noisy roots rock on his fourth solo effort.

— Mark Deming

Molchat Doma

Belaya Polosa

Sacred Bones

Pop/Rock

The Belarusian trio's expansive fourth album sounds closer to '90s Depeche Mode and futurepop than their early, lo-fi work.

— Paul Simpson

Tears Run Rings

Everything in the End

Shelflife

Pop/Rock

A spaced-out, deeply immersive fourth album from the Pacific Northwest dream pop group.

— Paul Simpson

Peel Dream Magazine

Rose Main Reading Room

Top Shelf Records

Pop/Rock

The Los Angeles band introduce subtle electronic elements to their Stereolab-by-way-of-Van Dyke Parks baroque pop sound.

— Fred Thomas

Masayoshi Fujita

Migratory

Erased Tapes Records

Electronic, Avant-Garde

An immersive, tranquil reflection on the natural world from the Japanese composer, vibraphonist, and marimba player.

— Paul Simpson

George Strait

Cowboys and Dreamers

MCA / MCA Nashville / Snakefarm Records

Country, Pop/Rock

The King of Country Music's 31st set is reliable and comforting with enough standouts to make it interesting.

— Timothy Monger

Beatrice Rana

Chopin, Beethoven: Sonatas - Funeral March, Hammerklavier

Warner Classics

Classical

Two famous sonatas in an unusual pairing and in distinctive readings

— James Manheim

Elsa Dreisig / Jakub Józef Orliński / Fatma Said / Stefan Plewniak

Gluck: Orfeo & Euridice

Erato

Classical

A fine Gluck performance powered by one of the rising countertenors of the day.

— James Manheim

Kenneth Woods / English String Orchestra / English Symphony Orchestra

Robert Saxton: Scenes from the Epic of Gilgamesh

Nimbus Alliance

Classical

The latest installment in the "21st Century Symphony Project" offers two works not named as such.

— Keith Finke

St. John's College Choir, Cambridge / Andrew Nethsingha / George Herbert

Magnificat 4

Signum Classics

Classical

The final volume in this series devoted to the Magnificat and Nunc dimittis genre sums up the effort nicely.

— James Manheim

Arcadia Quartet

Weinberg, Vol. 4: String Quartets Nos. 6, 13, and 15

Chandos

Classical

Excellent performances, to the restrained side, of works by Weinberg that diverge totally from Shostakovich.

— James Manheim

Jeremy Huw Williams / Wendy Hiscocks

Grace Williams: Songs

Naxos

Classical

A wonderful revival, all world premieres, of songs by an underrated Welsh composer.

— James Manheim

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