Pixies

The Night the Zombies Came

BMG Rights Management / Universal / Universal Music

Pop/Rock

The band's first album with bassist Emma Richardson upholds their brash, eccentric, oddly moving legacy with flashes of brilliance.

— Heather Phares

Amyl and the Sniffers

Cartoon Darkness

Virgin

Pop/Rock

The Australian punks' hardened third LP is a muscular dose of righteous anger in the face of a harsh reality.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Soccer Mommy

Evergreen

Concord / Loma Vista

Pop/Rock

Reflecting a step back from the adventurous production of Sometimes, Forever, acoustic textures help soften the palette of a ruminative fourth LP.

— Marcy Donelson

Ben Folds

Sleigher

New West

Holiday, Pop/Rock

Parts Vince Guaraldi, Randy Newman, and The Lawrence Welk Show, a winning mix of melancholy and amusing Christmas tunes, including seven originals.

— Marcy Donelson

Halsey

Great Impersonator

Columbia

Pop/Rock

Ambitious set that finds the pop chameleon channeling her favorite artists on a fascinating journey from past to present.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

Live at Fillmore East, 1969

Atlantic / Rhino Atlantic

Pop/Rock, Folk

Full acoustic and electric sets from one of the earliest live shows of this classic rock supergroup, newly mixed and restored from the original tapes.

— Fred Thomas

Lone Justice

Viva Lone Justice

Afar

Pop/Rock, Country

L.A.'s Americana pioneers captured in joyous, unfiltered form, from recently discovered early-'90s recordings.

— Mark Deming

Shigeto

Cherry Blossom Baby

Ghostly International

Electronic, R&B, Rap

The producer and DJ collaborates with other members of Detroit's rich musical community, such as Kesswa, Ahya Simone, and Tammy Lakkis.

— Paul Simpson

St. Lenox

Ten Modern American Work Songs

Don Giovanni

Pop/Rock

Ten ecstatic songs from New York popsmith Andrew Choi examining his work journey.

— Timothy Monger

BadBadNotGood

Mid Spiral

XL

Jazz

Casual yet accomplished effort from the Canadian jazz group, recorded in a spontaneous rush during a week-long session in Los Angeles.

— Paul Simpson

Naked Roommate

Pass the Loofah

Trouble in Mind

Pop/Rock, Electronic

The second album from this Oakland art-punk band turns up the danceability with the inclusion of a horn section and additional percussion.

— Fred Thomas

Elephant9 / Terje Rypdal

Catching Fire

Rune Grammaphon / Rune Grammofon

Jazz, Pop/Rock

Cut at a festival gig in 2017, this offering marks a one-of-a-kind jazz-rock gig with noisy, wildly inventive communication between guitarist and trio.

— Thom Jurek

2nd Grade

Scheduled Explosions

Double Double Whammy

Pop/Rock

The Philly power pop recording project presents their most engaging, listenable set of songs yet, despite it also being their most lo-fi.

— Fred Thomas

Fashion Club

A Love You Cannot Shake

Felte

Pop/Rock

The project's second album captures the joy and pain of living authentically with songs that borrow from classical, electronic, and industrial music.

— Heather Phares

Ali Shaheed Muhammad / Adrian Younge

Jazz Is Dead 021

Jazz Is Dead

Jazz, International, R&B

The creative duo return with a third series on the Jazz Is Dead label and collaborate with artists from Brazil and Ghana.

— Thom Jurek

Various Artists

Ayo Ke Disco: Boogie, Pop & Funk from the South China Sea (1974​-​88)

Soundway

R&B, Pop/Rock

Educational and fun collection of tracks made for dancing with a political undertow and great cultural significance.

— Tim Sendra

Avishai Cohen

Ashes to Gold

ECM

Jazz, Pop/Rock

The trumpeter offers a five-part suite ruminating on the tragedy of war and the hope for peace.

— Matt Collar

Bardo Pond

Melt Away

Matador

Pop/Rock

Compilation of outtakes and rarities from this psychedelic rock act's late-'90s period.

— Fred Thomas

Bastille

& [Ampersand]

EMI / EMI Records / Republic

Pop/Rock

Frontman Dan Smith puts the focus on storytelling on these intimate tales of historical and mythological figures.

— Heather Phares

Blue Magic

Stop to Start: The ATCO & WMOT Recordings 1973-1977

SoulMusic

R&B

A six-disc box that reissues and expands the first five studio albums from the underappreciated Philly soul group.

— Andy Kellman

Bryan Ferry

Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023

BMG Rights Management

Pop/Rock, Jazz

Career-spanning set nicely detailing the broad scope and musical élan of the Roxy Music icon's solo work.

— Matt Collar

Chuck Prophet

Wake the Dead

Yep Roc

Pop/Rock, Latin

The roots rock veteran embraces his love of cumbia on an album that celebrates life and living in a variety of ways.

— Mark Deming

Underworld

Strawberry Hotel

Smith Hyde Productions / Virgin

Electronic

An exploratory, journey-like full-length balancing introspective tone poems with progressive club-stormers.

— Paul Simpson

Kevin Ayers

All This Crazy Gift of Time: The Recordings 1969-1973

Esoteric Recordings

Pop/Rock

This ten-disc, 140-track lavishly illustrated box set contains definitively remastered versions of Harvest albums with unreleased material, alternates, and more.

— Thom Jurek

311

Full Bloom

SKP / VYDIA

Pop/Rock

Another solid installment in the reggae-funk-metal band's late-era run, this uplifting LP is good vibes only.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Razorlight

Planet Nowhere

Cooking Vinyl / V2

Pop/Rock

The classic 2000s Razorlight lineup reunites for a fizzy, swaggering fifth album.

— Matt Collar

Roedelius

90

Groenland

Pop/Rock, New Age, Avant-Garde, Electronic

An archival dig of unreleased sketches and songs from this ambient forebear, recorded primarily between 1968 and 1980.

— Fred Thomas

Ruthven

Rough & Ready

Paul Institute / XL Recordings

R&B, Pop/Rock

Synth funk, art pop, and soft rock are fused by the singer/songwriter on the second LP from Jai and A.K. Paul's Paul Institute label.

— Andy Kellman

Gavin Friday

Ecce Homo [Deluxe Edition]

BMG Rights Management

Pop/Rock, Electronic

On his first album in 13 years, with producers Dave Ball and Michael Heffernan, the singer creates a poignant, wonderfully danceable collection.

— Thom Jurek

Fievel Is Glauque

Rong Weicknes

Fat Possum Records

Pop/Rock, Jazz

For their third LP, the experimental jazz-pop act edited together three different full-length live takes -- with fascinating and challenging results.

— Marcy Donelson

Flock

Flock II

Strut

Jazz, Electronic

The second album by this star-studded Brit jazz ensemble moves in different sonic, dynamic, and textural directions than its predecessor.

— Thom Jurek

Kelsea Ballerini

Patterns

Black River / Black River Entertainment

Country, Pop/Rock

A vulnerable and reflective set of songs that parse the wreckage of past relationships and the blinding joy of new love.

— James Christopher Monger

Tears for Fears

Songs for a Nervous Planet

Concord

Pop/Rock

The English pop heroes' first official live album also includes four new studio tracks.

— Timothy Monger

Lise Davidsen / Andris Nelsons / Wiener Philharmoniker

Sommernachtskonzert Schönbrunn 2024

Sony Classical

Classical

A relatively high-minded Sommernachtskonzert nevertheless offers plenty of flash and thunder.

— James Manheim

Klaus Mäkelä / Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra

Shostakovich: Symphonies 4, 5 & 6

Decca

Classical

A strong entry in a rising conductor's new Shostakovich cycle.

— James Manheim

The Sixteen / Harry Christophers

Charles Villiers Stanford: Partsongs, Pastorals and Folksongs

Coro

Classical

A simpler side of Stanford than that revealed in his large choral works, with some especially effective partsongs.

— James Manheim

Gabriel Schwabe / Nicholas Rimmer

Beethoven: Complete Works for Cello and Piano, Vol. 1

Naxos

Classical

Passionate performances of Beethoven's first two cello sonatas capture the untrammeled imagination of these unique works.

— James Manheim

Stewart Goodyear / Andrew Litton / BBC Symphony Orchestra

Prokofiev: Piano Concertos 2 & 3; Piano Sonata No. 7

Orchid Classics

Classical

Sharp, virtuosic Prokofiev that catches the contrasts and the emotional depths.

— James Manheim

John Wilson / Sinfonia of London

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Carousel

Chandos

Stage & Screen, Classical

An "authentic performance," so to speak, of Carousel with the complete music and a theatrical ambiance.

— James Manheim

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