Editors' Choice for April 2012
Cooperative Music / V2
The full-length follow-up to the 2011 EP Sister Wife.
Slumberland
The group's second album cuts back on ukulele and adds more uptempo tracks, but has the same melodic charm and emotional punch as their debut.
The End
On their brilliant Weather Systems, Anathema embrace strings unreservedly, become very accessible musically and lyrically, and still remain heavy.
Wigmore Hall Live
Marwood and Madzar unpack the detailed material Brahms put into these intricate, late works, full of big melodies.
Ribbon Music
The veteran noise act’s electronic fits are never easily approachable, but their sixth album is fun-filled nonetheless.
Iamsound
Bleeding Knees Club's rambunctious, youthful debut LP is made for lazy hangouts, trips to the beach, or drives to a make-out spot.
Honest Jon's
This country/folk/psychedelic collaboration between Will Oldham and Trembling Bells is a cult classic in the making.
Hear Music
Demos spanning from Carole King's Brill Building days to the early '70s shed light on her genius with a sense of intimacy and immediacy.
Real Gone Music
Collecting his early King Records sides and his later Starday Records sides, this set is easily the best Cowboy Copas introduction out there.
Six Degrees
Brazilian songstress Céu changes things up on Caravana Sereia Bloom, melding MPB with cumbia, brega, and rocksteady to deliver a stunner.
Epic
The avant hip-hop crew offer a dark ball of anti-matter rap on their exciting major-label debut.
Nonesuch
On Locked Down, Dr. John and producer Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, get gritty, funky, spacey, and steamy.
Morr Music
The duo's second album takes on heartache and breakup with a fuller sound that gives their sweet indie pop tunes some real emotional punch.
Duck Down Entaprizez / Jesgrew Records
Plug 1 and Plug 2 from the legendary De La Soul join French producers Chokolate and Khalid on this ambitious concept album.
Parlophone
Graham Coxon returns to arty, noisy punk-pop on the thrilling A+E.
Columbia / Third Man Records
Jack White's first solo album is a softer, polished spin on his signature blues-rock, filled with country and classic rock flourishes.
Mack Avenue
Kenny Garrett's Seeds from the Underground is an excellent aural portrait of sophisticated melody, harmony, and adventurous rhythms.
Geographic
Gerald Love's first album away from Teenage Fanclub delivers all the guitar pop melody and hooks of a TFC record, but double the relaxed atmosphere.
Crammed Discs
Lonely Drifter Karen's third album is an eclectic triumph, adding rock and electronic touches to their masterful cabaret and folk.
Kranky
This album is more straightforward than The Floodlight Collective, but it's still a great showcase for Lockett Pundt.
Sugar Hill
A sequel of sorts to 2010's Ghost Train, Marty Stuart's second album for Sugar Hill Records features his touring band, the Fabulous Superlatives.
Linn Records
Robin Ticciati and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra present one of the most exciting versions of Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique.
eOne
The trio's first album in 15 years sounds like it was made with no expectations beyond delivering a high-quality 2012 R&B album.
Häpna
This Japanese chamber pop duo builds a meticulous world of sound that comes on childlike but has a hidden core of darkness.
Various Artists
Fat Possum Records / Turnstile
The Eastbound & Down soundtrack collects music from the first two seasons of the HBO original series depicting the fall and rise of Kenny Powers.
Various Artists
Chocolate Industries / Numero
Enjoyable oddness from obscure outsiders, equipped with drum machines and synthesizers, whose contemporaries included Timmy Thomas, Shuggie Otis, and Motown space cadet Mandré.
Hot Charity / XL
Chicago outsider offers an incredibly raw selection of genre-hopping basement jams, and a sometimes uncomfortably honest look into a very personal world.
Zig Zag Territoires
Martynov is outstanding in Liszt's transcriptions of these two Beethoven symphonies, using an 1837 Erard piano for authenticity.