Panda Bear

Sinister Grift

Domino

Pop/Rock

While just as sunny and dreamlike as earlier work, live band instrumentation makes this Animal Collective member's solo album sound uncharacteristically friendly and carefree.

— Fred Thomas

Yazz Ahmed

A Paradise in the Hold

Night Time Stories

Jazz

Ten years in the making, the composer/trumpeter and her stellar cast juxtapose modern electric jazz and Bahraini folk sounds.

— Thom Jurek

Mdou Moctar

Tears of Injustice

Matador

International, Pop/Rock

The West African star trades volume for intent on this acoustic reworking of 2024's Funeral for Justice.

— Timothy Monger

The Chills

Spring Board: The Early Unrecorded Songs

Fire Records

Pop/Rock

Late New Zealand songwriter returns to unfinished songs he began writing decades earlier in this full-circle farewell album.

— Fred Thomas

Deep Sea Diver

Billboard Heart

Sub Pop

Pop/Rock

The band shine up and rough up their sound on their vibrant fourth album and Sub Pop debut.

— Marcy Donelson

Various Artists

Disco Discharge Presents More Sin: Box of Sin 2

Edsel

Electronic

Another five-disc overview of the dance music that soundtracked the U.K.'s gay clubs in the 1980s.

— Andy Kellman

Original Soundtrack

Kneecap [Music from the Motion Picture]

Heavenly / Heavenly Recordings

Stage & Screen, Rap, Electronic

The soundtrack to the Irish rap trio's self-titled film, featuring their own music as well as songs by Fontaines D.C., Orbital, Bicep, and others.

— Paul Simpson

Ella Fitzgerald

The Moment of Truth: Ella at the Coliseum

Verve

Vocal, Jazz

Ebullient live album with the legendary singer backed by the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

— Matt Collar

Dub Syndicate

Out Here on the Perimeter 1989-1996

On U Sounds / On-U Sound

Reggae, Electronic

Four prime dub albums originally issued by On-U Sound, plus Adrian Sherwood's freshly recorded rework of material from the same era.

— Paul Simpson

Andy Bell

Pinball Wanderer

Sonic Cathedral

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Third solo album from the co-leader of Ride expands from dream pop and shoegaze into more exploratory grooves and deeper electronic textures.

— Fred Thomas

Artemis

Arboresque

Blue Note

Jazz

The jazz supergroup evoke Miles Davis' second great quintet on their organic and artful third album.

— Matt Collar

Edith Frost

In Space

Drag City

Pop/Rock

The singer/songwriter's first album in 20 years adds more wisdom and poignancy to her artfully simple music.

— Heather Phares

The Beckies

Good to Know: The Beckies Story

Omnivore

Pop/Rock

The only album and a set of demos from this short-lived power pop band driven by songs of the Left Banke's Michael Brown.

— Tim Sendra

Billy Hart Quartet / Billy Hart

Just

ECM

Jazz

The fourth ECM album from the legendary drummer's cohesive, harmonically nuanced quartet.

— Matt Collar

Everything Is Recorded

Temporary

XL / XL Recordings

Pop/Rock

The sorrowful, comforting, and folk-inspired third album from Richard Russell's cross-generational collective of singers and players.

— Andy Kellman

Ichiko Aoba

Luminescent Creatures

hermine

Pop/Rock

Whispery vocals, delicate classical guitar, and impressionistic chamber accompaniment etch the transportive sequel to Windswept Adan.

— Marcy Donelson

Michi

Dirty Talk

Stones Throw

R&B

Michelle Guerrero's impressive album debut for Stones Throw, made with Blake Rhein (of Durand Jones & the Indications) and Paul Cherry.

— Andy Kellman

bdrmm

Microtonic

Rock Action

Pop/Rock

The British group continue to move away from shoegaze, incorporating sounds like acid house synths and drum'n'bass breakbeats.

— Paul Simpson

Marie Davidson

City of Clowns

DeeWee

Electronic, Pop/Rock

The artist's sixth solo album, co-produced by Soulwax, is a return to the throbbing electro-techno and snarky humor of Working Class Woman.

— Paul Simpson

Noah Preminger

Ballads

Chill Tone Records

Jazz

The tenor saxophonist displays his immense control on this nuanced and bittersweet session.

— Matt Collar

Rattle

Encircle

Upset the Rhythm

Pop/Rock

The Nottingham drum duo return with their first album in seven years, and it's partly inspired by the occult.

— Marcy Donelson

Steve Lehman

The Music of Anthony Braxton

Pi Recordings / QPM

Jazz

Recorded live in celebration of Braxton's 80th birthday, this set offers an extremely creative, seemingly spontaneous approach to his work.

— Thom Jurek

David Grubbs

Whistle from Above

Drag City

Avant-Garde, Pop/Rock

With a host of collaborators, this enigmatic experimental guitarist creates a set of pensive sounds that oscillate between familiarity and uneasiness.

— Fred Thomas

Architects

The Sky, the Earth and All Between

Epitaph

Pop/Rock

The 11th album from the Brighton metalcore band continues with their accessible, stadium-ready take on the genre.

— TiVo Staff

Various Artists

New Awakening: Adventures in British Jazz 1966-1971

Strawberry

Jazz, Pop/Rock

Anthology illuminating the explosion of British experimental jazz and progressive rock beginning in the late '60s.

— Matt Collar

Holger Falk / Steffen Schleiermacher

Georges Auric: Melodies & Chansons

MDG

Classical

Glimpses of the 1920s Parisian avant-garde through songs of one of Les Six.

— James Manheim

Yunjie Chen

Scriabin: The Complete Piano Sonatas

Accentus

Classical

Impressive command over the sweep of Scriabin's sonatas from a pianist who has played them at a single stretch.

— James Manheim

Roberto Prosseda

Ludwig van Beethoven: Sonatas, Op. 2

Challenge Classics

Classical

Sharply articulated, quite tumultuous early Beethoven, played on a piano a generation later than ones the composer would have known.

— James Manheim

Bart Aerbeydt / Gijs Laceulle / Gottfried von der Goltz / Freiburger Barockorchester

Auf der Jagd nach Romantik

Aparte

Classical

Idiomatic and exciting recording of works from the largely neglected 18th century repertory of music for natural, hand-stopped horn.

— James Manheim

Ricercar Consort / Philippe Pierlot

Distracted Tymes

Mirare

Classical

A sampling of 17th century English music inclining toward the gloomy side of an already melancholy genre.

— James Manheim

Jean-Luc Tingaud / National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland

Fauré: Pelléas et Mélisande - Suite; Prométhée (Excerpts); Shylock; Songs

Naxos

Classical

The familiar and unknown mix in a sleeper recording of Fauré selections.

— James Manheim

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