The Armed

The Future Is Here and Everything Needs to Be Destroyed

Sargent House

Pop/Rock, Electronic

After a few albums of iconoclastic pop experimentation, this Detroit art-punk collective returns to the chaos of their hardcore roots.

— Fred Thomas

Elvis Presley

Sunset Boulevard

RCA / Sony Music

Pop/Rock, Country

Newly remixed studio masters and outtakes from Presley's 1970s Los Angeles sessions for the greatest breakup album that never was.

— Mark Deming

Buddy Guy

Ain't Done With the Blues

RCA

Blues

At 89, the Chicago-by-way-of-Lousiana singer/guitarist remains a potent blues force.

— Matt Collar

Debby Friday

The Starrr of the Queen of Life

Sub Pop

Electronic, Pop/Rock, Rap

The Polaris Prize winner's celestially inspired second album is both more introspective and hedonistic than her debut.

— Paul Simpson

Wisp / Wisp

If Not Winter

Interscope / Music Soup

Pop/Rock

Ranging from crushing riffs to ambient collages, Natalie Lu's debut album secures her place as one of the definitive shoegaze artists of the 2020s.

— Heather Phares

Rachael & Vilray

West of Broadway

Concord Jazz

Jazz, Vocal

On their Concord debut, the East Coast vocal duo offer a fresh take on melding traditional pop, musicals, and West Coast jazz.

— Thom Jurek

Reneé Rapp

BITE ME

Interscope

Pop/Rock

The Mean Girls star embraces her sexuality with a candid playfulness.

— Matt Collar

Various Artists

Maybe I'm Dreaming

Anthology Recordings

Pop/Rock, Folk

The fourth volume in this compilation series of unknown soft rock artists from the '70s and '80s focuses on even deeper obscurities from private press recordings.

— Fred Thomas

The Sabres of Paradise

Haunted Dancehall

Warp

Electronic

Brilliant slice of classic electronica that slashes across genres -- dub, funk, trip-hop, film music -- like a pirate with a noir techno style.

— Tim Sendra

The Sabres of Paradise

Sabresonic

Warp

Electronic, Pop/Rock

Minimal techno, dancefloor bangers, and the occasional ambient interlude make up the group's debut album.

— Tim Sendra

Snarky Puppy

We Like It Here [Remixed, Remastered & Reimagined]

Ground Up Records / GroundUP Music

Jazz

The fusion ensemble's boldly adventurous, stylistically sophisticated ninth album.

— Matt Collar

Laura Groves

Yes

Bella Union

Pop/Rock

Four more spellbinding art-pop jewels from the prolific collaborator (Sampha, Actress, Everything Is Recorded).

— Andy Kellman

April Magazine

Sunday Music for an Overpass

Tough Love

Pop/Rock

Atmospheric and intimate album with none of the rough edges shorn off; the group's debut is melancholy and often uplifting.

— Tim Sendra

Various Artists

Invictus: The Definitive Collection

Edsel

R&B

A sharply presented two-disc overview of Holland-Dozier-Holland's most prominent post-Motown label.

— Andy Kellman

The Soft Boys

Underwater Moonlight [45th Anniversary Edition]

Glowing Green Frog / Tiny Ghost Records

Pop/Rock

A 45th anniversary remaster including a 20 page booklet with liner notes from David Fricke and Robyn Hitchcock.

Christophe Rousset / Choeur de Chambre de Namur / Les Talens Lyriques

Antonio Salieri: Cublai, Gran Kan de' Tartari

Aparte

Classical

An unusually topical Salieri opera that was banned shows something of musical satire in Mozart's time.

— James Manheim

Kebyart

Unraveled: Homage to Maurice Ravel

Linn Records

Classical

With its roots in Baroque style, Ravel's music proves an unexpectedly good match for saxophone quartet.

— James Manheim

Kazushi Ono / Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra

Scriabin: Symphony No. 3 ("Le Divin Poème")

EPR-Classic

Classical

A fine rendering of this difficult symphony from musicians and engineers alike.

— James Manheim

Barbara Hannigan / David Chalmin / Katia Labèque / Marielle Labèque

Electric Fields

Alpha

Avant-Garde, Classical

A convincing mixture of medieval and Renaissance female-composed music with electronics that shows them fitting together at multiple levels.

— James Manheim

Felix Klieser / Sebastian Manz / Theo Plath

Beethoven & Kreutzer: Septets

CAvi-music

Classical

Elegant performance of Beethoven's Septet, together with a much less common work that is closely modeled on it.

— James Manheim

Isabelle Faust / Jean-Frédéric Neuburger / François-Xavier Roth / Les Siècles

Ligeti: Concertos - Violin, Piano & Romanesc

Harmonia Mundi

Classical

Cool, precise performances of Ligeti's two big concertos show their links to his earlier styles.

— James Manheim

Previous Week Next Week