Editors' Choice for August 2018

Album cover for Hunter

Hunter

Domino

The British artist's highly anticipated third record fulfills expectations with a resplendent and frank set of songs.

— Bekki Bemrose

Album cover for NTS Sessions

NTS Sessions

Warp

Sprawling, eight-hour set of material Autechre recorded for NTS Radio, ranging from intense hyper-glitch to tranquil yet abrasive drone.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Bird Streets

Bird Streets

Omnivore / Warner Music

A smartly written, warmly sung set from power pop stalwart John Brodeur in collaboration with Jason Falkner.

— Timothy Monger

Album cover for Love Yourself: Answer
BTS

Love Yourself: Answer

Big Hit

Third and final installment of the love-and-loss narrative arc finds the K-pop group at the top of its game.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Album cover for The Return

The Return

Goner Records

The second album from cosmic synthwave guru Bênní is altogether much clearer and more focused than his debut.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Care

Care

Polyvinyl

The indie stalwart pairs his deeply human reflections against a ruggedly synthetic backdrop on this strong, guitarless set.

— Timothy Monger

Album cover for Cosmic Cash

Cosmic Cash

Beyond Beyond Is Beyond

Debut album from this dazzlingly psychedelic indie group looks to the past for inspiration but refracts classic influences in a way so genuine it feels like a celebration.

— Fred Thomas

Album cover for All Good Wishes

All Good Wishes

E.L.K Records

The Welsh band's second album successfully adds a little melancholy to their sunny, vintage synth-driven pop sound.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for Qualm

Qualm

Ninja Tune

Electro producer Helena Hauff's second album is starker and more rhythmically focused than her first, but no less energetic.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Marauder

Marauder

Matador

On their sixth album, Interpol embrace their veteran status as well as their flaws, making for some of their richest and rawest music.

— Heather Phares

Album cover for Nasty Women

Nasty Women

Centaur Records

Joanna Goldstein presents piano music from the era of women's suffrage, ranging from atmospheric character pieces to ragtime.

— Blair Sanderson

Album cover for Inside Voice

Inside Voice

Secretly Canadian

On his full-length debut, the frequent Vulfpeck collaborator hits a winner with affectionate retro-pop-soul.

— Marcy Donelson

Album cover for Loved

Loved

Season of Mist

Seventh album from the Manitoba noise rock/metal titans sees them embracing their black and death metal influences.

— John D. Buchanan

Album cover for Time

Time

Brainfeeder

The humorous left-field pop dynamo joins Flying Lotus' Brainfeeder roster after work with Knower partner Genevieve Artadi, Seal, and Thundercat.

— Andy Kellman

Album cover for The Book of Longing

The Book of Longing

Sunnyside Communications

The Brazilian vocalist/composer pairs poems by Leonard Cohen and others with sparse accompaniment and her tender vocals in a work of striking originality.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Be the Cowboy

Be the Cowboy

Dead Oceans

The follow-up to Puberty 2 switches to a fictional perspective with equally compelling results.

— Marcy Donelson

Album cover for Maroon Cloud

Maroon Cloud

FPE

A diverse, major new work from the flutist-composer examines the numerous possibilities a developed imagination provides for personal and societal transformation.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Dance on the Blacktop

Dance on the Blacktop

Relapse Records

The band's third album makes melancholy and sonically powerful art out of leader Domenic Palermo's fragile health outlook.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for Old Rockhounds Never Die

Old Rockhounds Never Die

Memphis Industries

A beguiling and wonderfully challenging pastiche of experimental folk, modernist Americana, and field recordings from this D.C.-based singer/songwriter.

— Timothy Monger

Album cover for Parts

Parts

Joyful Noise

First full-length from this Chicago duo is smart and engaging while also full of lively musical twists and turns.

— Mark Deming

Album cover for Runaway

Runaway

Nettwerk

Brighton, England's Mike Rosenberg, aka Passenger, celebrates his American roots on this breezy, twangy album.

— Matt Collar

Album cover for Suffuse

Suffuse

Grapefruit

Veteran New Zealand guitarist invites several female vocalists to add extra dimensions to his ethereal soundscapes.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Pillar of Na

Pillar of Na

Anti- / Epitaph

On its fourth album, the outfit moves through through folk, psychedelia, and indie rock into a space uniquely its own.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for A to X

A to X

Chapter Music

(Slightly) more polished than on their debut, the Australian noise pop band also sounds tighter, poppier, and better this time out.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for Dissolvi

Dissolvi

Ghostly International

Hauschildt's fifth solo album is his most collaborative effort since the breakup of Emeralds, as well as his most techno-influenced.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for I'm Terry

I'm Terry

Upset the Rhythm

The group's third album is their most cohesive and mature, while still staying loose and brightly hooky.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for Move Through the Dawn

Move Through the Dawn

Ignition Records

The band's second post-hiatus album is slickly poppy guitar rock with production Jeff Lynne would be proud to claim as his.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for Go to School

Go to School

4AD

Presented as a musical following a truly weird storyline, the second album from these talented brothers is an over the top rock & roll spectacle.

— Fred Thomas

Album cover for Body

Body

Northern Spy

Here the Australian trio pares back some of the layers evident on its most recent albums to deliver a signature, typically engrossing work.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Dissolution

Dissolution

Kscope

With drummer Gavin Harrison integrated as a full member, the quartet delivers a powerful and imaginative meditation on the dark side of technology.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Smote Reverser

Smote Reverser

Castle Face

The band delve into proto metal and jazz rock while still delivering garage-psych noise and blown-out boogie rock as expected.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for Magus

Magus

Sacred Bones

Doom/sludge metal group Thou challenge concepts of ego and identity on their most sonically focused full-length to date.

— Paul Simpson

Album cover for Devotion

Devotion

Domino

Shifting from her early dance leanings to woozy R&B, the singer/songwriter's first album captures love's complexity with disarming originality.

— Heather Phares

Album cover for Bloom

Bloom

Capitol

The budding LGBT icon comes into his own on this brave and unapologetic set celebrating queer love.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Album cover for Helsinki Songs

Helsinki Songs

ECM

Leading his first conventional jazz quartet in two decades, the Norwegian saxophonist pays tribute to many sources of inspiration.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Songs You Make at Night

Songs You Make at Night

Full Time Hobby

Sounding renewed, positive, and playful, the original lineup of this U.K. folktronica collective reunites for the first time in over a decade.

— Fred Thomas

Album cover for Indigo

Indigo

Captured Tracks

Stepping back from the epic sound of Life of Pause, the band delivers a slick and lovely batch of '80s-influenced pop.

— Tim Sendra