Editors' Choice for April 2016

Album cover for Origins, Vol. 1

Origins, Vol. 1

Entertainment One

With his fun "all covers" album, the Spaceman offers up one of the best Kiss-related releases in years.

— David Jeffries

Album cover for Are You Serious

Are You Serious

Loma Vista / Universal

The enigmatic pop auteur delivers his most personal and inspired record in nearly a decade.

— Timothy Monger

Album cover for Too Many Voices

Too Many Voices

Modern Love

The Mancunian's rhythms are sludgy as ever, but synthetic choral elements and bright keyboard melodies add some color to his fourth proper album.

— Andy Kellman

Album cover for Virtuous.scr

Virtuous.scr

Planet Mu

The Canadian producer's debut album for Planet Mu is a gripping, richly detailed work inspired by artificial intelligence and microbiology.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Adieu or Die

Adieu or Die

La Castanya Records / K Records

Third album of warm and bubbly indie electronic pop from Spanish musician Isabel Fernández Reviriego.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for I AKA I

I AKA I

Ninja Tune

The Iranian experimental producer's stunning second album is inspired by synaesthesia and virtual reality.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Ashley Shadow

Ashley Shadow

Felte

The aching debut of Vancouver musician Ashley Webber's solo moniker weaves an engaging, gritty mix of strong and vulnerable.

— Marcy Donelson

Album cover for Hyper Vessels

Hyper Vessels

Suicide Squeeze

The band's fourth album is rough, fun, and loud power poppy punk co-produced by Ty Segall.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for Fever Dream

Fever Dream

Unmade Road

The songwriter investigates the stages, failures, and renewals of love on his third solo outing.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for A Mineral Love

A Mineral Love

Warp

A love letter to '70s soul, '90s synth pop, and '90s dance, the producer's seventh album transcends ultra-stylish nostalgia.

— Heather Phares

Album cover for IV

IV

Jagjaguwar

Fourth album from these trippy and ambitious Canadian rockers, produced by Randall Dunn [Sunn O))), Marissa Nadler].

— Mark Deming

Album cover for Material

Material

Blaqknoise / Kobalt

Shimmering evolution of the duo's '80s new wave-inspired sound, combining bright dance elements and dark lyrical content.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Album cover for Azel

Azel

Partisan

The fifth album by the Tuareg guitarist places all of his gifts -- as player, composer, and singer -- up front.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for In the Yellow Leaf

In the Yellow Leaf

Modern Outsider

The Louisiana indie trio turn in a noisier and more urgent effort, but their focus on quality songwriting remains their best asset.

— Timothy Monger

Album cover for Changes

Changes

Daptone
R&B

Retro-soul vocalist is in great, powerful form on this third album, which finds him covering Black Sabbath on the title track.

— Mark Deming

Album cover for Gore

Gore

Reprise / Warner Bros.

The veteran alt-metal quintet refuses to rest on the laurels of legacy with an enthralling juxtaposition of the pretty and the pummeling.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Album cover for Psychic Lovers

Psychic Lovers

Captured Tracks

Anders Rhedin's breezy, bittersweet debut album showcases his alchemical gift for transforming '80s cheese into something genuine.

— Heather Phares

Album cover for The Wilderness

The Wilderness

Temporary Residence

Following several years' worth of film scores, the Texan instrumental quartet's sixth proper album is both experimental and immediate.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Dreamless

Dreamless

Nuclear Blast

This San Francisco quintet ambitiously weave ambience, prog, and extreme metal into an inglorious whole.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Next Thing

Next Thing

Bayonet Records

As enchanting and candid as her debut, the prolific lo-fi songwriter's second studio LP finds her transitioning into her twenties.

— Marcy Donelson

Album cover for Outer Heaven

Outer Heaven

Carpark Records

The Toronto post-punk outfit's excellent second outing feels like pure creative growth.

— Timothy Monger

Album cover for Lovers and Leavers

Lovers and Leavers

Hwy 87 Records / Relativity Entertainment

The Texas songwriter turns his gaze inward on his fifth album, and delivers his finest to date.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Spark

Spark

Telarc

The fourth album by the pianist's Trio Project is its most creative, musically diverse, accessible, and sophisticated.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for The Diary of J Dilla

The Diary of J Dilla

Pay Jay
Rap

Fourteen years after it was shelved, the material intended for James Yancey's MCA album finally reaches the public in complete, often rowdy form.

— Andy Kellman

Album cover for Felder

Felder

Thrill Jockey

A fluid, amorphous album of open-ended audio experiments from the Mouse on Mars co-founder.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Warp

Warp

ECM

The pianist pairs his piano with field recordings and other sounds in curious and fascinating miniatures.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Ride Along!
JOY

Ride Along!

Tee Pee / Teepee Records

Second album from these San Diego stoners is tighter and more ambitious, and doesn't let up on the rock action.

— Mark Deming

Album cover for Singing Saw

Singing Saw

Dead Oceans

The singer/songwriter's third album benefits from the expansive production by Yellowbird's Sam Cohen.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for Midnight Machines

Midnight Machines

Warner Bros.

The Canadian singer follows up her Juno Award-winning Little Machines with a gorgeously crafted acoustic album.

— Matt Collar

Album cover for Junk
M83

Junk

Mute

The follow-up to Hurry Up, We're Dreaming is a love letter to '80s schmaltz that delivers genuine poignancy.

— Heather Phares

Album cover for Adventure

Adventure

Damnably

The Japanese bubblegum-punk vets celebrate their 35th anniversary with an irresistibly fun and rollicking collection inspired by '70s rock.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Album cover for Starwalker

Starwalker

Bang / Prototyp / Starwalker Music

The duo's first full-length delivers charming galactic pop that borrows from, and lives up to, its members' work in Air and Bang Gang.

— Heather Phares

Album cover for Lost Time

Lost Time

Hardly Art

Fun and tough pop-punk record (heavy on the punk) from the Seattle quartet.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for 1983-1988

1983-1988

Stones Throw
Rap

The electro pharaoh's crucial 12" and early album material, ardently assembled by the Stones Throw label.

— Andy Kellman

Album cover for Love Streams

Love Streams

4AD

Incorporating vocal arrangements for the first time, the Canadian experimental artist's 4AD debut is one of his most accessible works to date.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Graphic

Graphic

Crucial Blast / Holodeck Records

The Austin-based darkwave trio take their sound in a heavier direction, resulting in their best and most ambitious work yet.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Helter Seltzer

Helter Seltzer

100% Records

An infectious, sonically adventurous mix of '80s and '90s influences with production from Katy Perry touring keyboardist Max Hart.

— Matt Collar

Album cover for Weezer [White Album]

Weezer [White Album]

Atlantic / Crush Music

A good-time record that finds the perfect middle ground between the sensibility of the Blue Album and the sound of Pinkerton.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Album cover for Nocturnal Koreans

Nocturnal Koreans

Pink Flag

Recorded at the same time as 2015's equally strong self-titled album, this set is much more than a collection of leftovers.

— Heather Phares

Album cover for Amen & Goodbye

Amen & Goodbye

Mute

Still offering their trademark musical stew of sounds and styles, the band's fourth studio LP leans into group harmonies, psych-pop, and new wave.

— Marcy Donelson