tUnE-yArDs

Better Dreaming

4AD

Pop/Rock

The duo delivers a soulful, funky, and uplifting antidote to the fractured state of life in the 2020s.

— Heather Phares

Chuck D

Chuck D Presents Enemy Radio: Radio Armageddon

Def Jam

Rap

The Public Enemy leader's first Def Jam-issued solo effort revisits the Bomb Squad's chaotic, experimental production style.

— Paul Simpson

José James

1978: Revenge of the Dragon

Rainbow Blonde

R&B, Jazz

A joyous sequel to the singer's 2024 studio LP, this is artfully split between inspired cover versions and solid originals.

— Andy Kellman

Billy Nomates

Metalhorse

BWSCD / Invada

Pop/Rock

The singer/songwriter turns her personal and professional highs and lows into witty, affecting sketches of resilience.

— Heather Phares

Mourning [A] BLKstar

Flowers for the Living

Don Giovanni

R&B

Celebrating their tenth year, the Cleveland-based Afrofuturists honor the living and dead while railing against inequality and brutality.

— Andy Kellman

Friendship

Caveman Wakes Up

Merge

Pop/Rock

Full of blue-collar imagery and ambling, dissonant arrangements, an artful expression of depression penned by Dan Wriggins following a breakup.

— Marcy Donelson

Shamir Bailey / Shamir

Ten

Kill Rock Stars

Pop/Rock

The singer/songwriter leaves his turbulent twenties behind with warm and witty manifestos for the next stage of his life.

— Heather Phares

M(h)aol

Something Soft

Merge

Pop/Rock

With their drummer taking over lead vocals, the anti-establishment post-punk band sound a little less angry but at least as relentlessly provoked.

— Marcy Donelson

Various Artists

Chet Baker Re:imagined

Blue Note

Pop/Rock, Jazz, Vocal

U.K. and European indie pop artists pay homage to the iconic trumpeter/singer's classic West Coast jazz recordings.

— Matt Collar

Edmar Castañeda / Béla Fleck / Antonio Sanchez

BEATrio

Béla Fleck Productions

Jazz

The American banjo player joins a Colombian harpist and Mexican jazz drummer in a startling, diverse, and virtuosic jazz trio.

— Thom Jurek

Goldie / Rufige Kru

Goldie Presents Rufige Kru: Alpha Omega

London Records

Electronic

Goldie and James Davidson (Submotive) present a forward-thinking album that remains true to the drum'n'bass underground.

— Paul Simpson

Grails

Miracle Music

Temporary Residence

Pop/Rock

A slightly darker, heavier continuation of the somber, elegiac sound world of the band's previous album, Anches En Maat.

— Paul Simpson

Avicii

Avicii Forever

Geffen

Electronic

Posthumous greatest-hits compilation that's an ideal primer to the electronic producer's beloved catalog.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Bardo Pond

Volume 4 & 5

Fire Records

Pop/Rock

Two-fer vinyl reissue of jam sessions recorded and self-released by the Philly psych institution during the 2000s.

— Paul Simpson

Carolyn Wonderland

Truth Is

Alligator Records

Blues

The Texas blueswoman re-teams with producer Dave Alvin and hosts a star-studded cast including Shelley King, Marcia Ball, and Ruthie Foster, among others.

— Thom Jurek

Charlie Musselwhite

Look Out Highway

Forty Below Records

Blues

The 81-year-old legend brings his touring band into the studio for the first time and delivers 11 original autobiographical and road songs.

— Thom Jurek

Don Glori

Paper Can't Wrap Fire

Mr. Bongo

Electronic, Jazz, R&B

The Australian bassist/multi-instrumentalist's third album of soulful, throwback fusion and R&B.

— Matt Collar

Matt Maltese

Hers

Tonight Matthew

Pop/Rock

A midcentury glow inhabits the lush chamber ballads of the singer/songwriter's sixth album as it grapples with heartbreak.

— Marcy Donelson

Orquesta del Sol

Rainbow Love

BBE

Latin, Jazz

The U.K.'s BBE remasters the 1981 debut album by Japan's pioneering salsa band.

— Thom Jurek

Morgan Wallen

I'm the Problem

Big Loud Records / Mercury

Pop/Rock, Country

I'm the Problem sees Wallen deliver another sprawling double LP with roots in country, pop, and hip-hop.

— TiVo Staff

Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha / Aron Goldin

Masabane

Rubicon

Classical

Virtuoso singing from a rising soprano is impressive, not least in its variety of languages.

— James Manheim

Charlie Lovell-Jones / John Wilson / Sinfonia of London

Walton: Violin Concerto; Symphonic Suite from 'Troilus and Cressida'; Portsmouth Point

Chandos

Classical

Crack Walton performances, with superb interaction between soloist and orchestra in the violin concerto.

— James Manheim

Beatrice Rana / Amsterdam Sinfonietta

Bach: Keyboard Concertos BWV 1052, 1053, 1054, 1056

Warner Classics

Classical

Splendid performances of four Bach keyboard concertos on modern instruments but marked by historical performance influences.

— James Manheim

Various Artists

Toivo Tulev: Dawn, Almost Dawn

Navona Records

Classical

Unique confluences of sound in spare, reflective textures.

— James Manheim

Marc-André Hamelin / Takács Quartet

Dvořák & Price: Piano Quintets

Hyperion

Classical

Performance does unusually well in linking Florence Price to her true predecessor, Dvořák.

— James Manheim

Pygmalion / Raphaël Pichon / Julie Roset / Beth Taylor

J.S. Bach: Mass in B minor

Harmonia Mundi

Classical

Historically oriented performance of Bach's magisterial late mass has much of the power of traditional classics.

— James Manheim

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