Bon Iver

Sable, Fable

Jagjaguwar

Pop/Rock

Stripped-down and sophisticated songs that touch on folk, R&B, and country as well as Justin Vernon's usual brand of indie folk.

— Tim Sendra

Valerie June

Owls, Omens, And Oracles

Concord

Pop/Rock, Folk, R&B

The Tennessean finds an inspired collaborator in producer M. Ward, yielding a deeply textured and memorable album.

— Timothy Monger

Nell Smith

Anxious

Bella Union

Pop/Rock

Released after her death at age 17, the singer/songwriter's first set of original songs is a bubbly, often poignant glimpse into teenage girlhood.

— Heather Phares

Cold Specks

Light for the Midnight

Mute

The singer/songwriter transforms some of her hardest times into transcendent, timeless-sounding expressions of empathy.

— Heather Phares

Mamalarky

Hex Key

Epitaph

Pop/Rock

The band's entirely self-recorded third album is compellingly weird and relentlessly catchy despite being their most experimental and mercurial yet.

— Marcy Donelson

Gerald Clayton

Ones & Twos

Blue Note

Electronic, Jazz

The pianist blends contemporary jazz and DJ-inspired concepts on his deftly experimental third Blue Note album.

— Matt Collar

Jetstream Pony

Bowerbirds and Blue Things

Shelflife

Pop/Rock

The band's satisfyingly dissatisfied, sonically blurry second album bolsters their blend of vintage indie pop, dream pop, shoegaze, and post-punk.

— Marcy Donelson

Savina Yannatou

Watersong

ECM

Avant-Garde, Jazz

With Primavera en Salonico and Tunisian singer Lamia Bedioui, the Greek vocalist offers a 21st century historical exploration of songs about water.

— Thom Jurek

My Raining Stars

Momentum

Shelflife

Pop/Rock

The third album from Thierry Haliniak's project adds more shoegaze-style guitars to its jangly indie pop sound.

— Paul Simpson

Jon Pardi

Honkytonk Hollywood

Capitol Nashville / Snakefarm Records

Country

A reflective and mature set of songs with roots in both Music City and the Sunset Strip.

— TiVo Staff

Kate Liu

Beethoven: Op. 110; Brahms: Sonata No. 3

Orchid Classics

Classical

A superbly intimate recording of a late Beethoven sonata is worth the price of admission in itself.

— James Manheim

Nathan Granner / Melody Moore / Dennis Doubin / Barbary Coast Orchestra

Gordon Getty: Goodbye, Mr. Chips

PentaTone Classics

Classical

A new opera based on the classic tale of a beloved schoolteacher.

— James Manheim

Marek Štilec / Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra

Wranitzky: Orchestral Works, Vol. 8

Naxos

Classical

A choice item from this small Czech orchestra's series devoted to Wranitzky.

— James Manheim

Karim Sulayman / Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective

Reynaldo Hahn: Piano Quintet; Songs; Piano Quartet

Chandos

Classical

Works by a composer who almost, but not quite, returned to France's Belle Époque.

— James Manheim

Samson Tsoy

Inmost Heart

Linn Records

Classical

Artful program shows not only Brahms' much-touted links to the past but also those pointing to the future.

— James Manheim

Simon Rattle / Bavarian Radio Chorus / Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Joseph Haydn: Die Schöpfung

BR Klassik

Classical

Old-school Haydn with a big sound, despite moderate choral size, and vivid pictorial effects.

— James Manheim

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