Editors' Choice for January 2012

Album cover for Les Voyages de l'Âme

Les Voyages de l'Âme

E1 Entertainment / Plastic Head / Prophecy / Prophecy Productions / SPKR / Weltnetz

Les Voyages de l'Âme, from French "blackgazers" Alcest, synthesizes the sounds found on their previous two albums with great success.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Tank Full of Blues

Tank Full of Blues

ADA / Blue Horizon

Tank Full of Blues showcases Dion as songwriter and guitar slinger in a set full of swagger, grit, and humor.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Hospitality

Hospitality

Merge

Indie pop trio Hospitality's first album delivers a nice combo of sophisticated wit, musical surprises, and emotional punch.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for Feel the Sound

Feel the Sound

Merge

With their fifth album in a 16-year career, Imperial Teen become an institution of clean, hooky pop and pristine production values.

— Fred Thomas

Album cover for Sound Travels

Sound Travels

Entertainment One

Jack DeJohnette offers a varied, compelling listen to his large musical world view on the jazz-based Sound Travels.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Soul

Soul

ADA / HighNote Records

Jeremy Pelt's Soul showcases his longstanding quintet in an excellent program of 21st century blues and ballads.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for U&I

U&I

Warp

Iranian producer Leila's collaboration with Mt. Sims is equally brash and invigorating.

— Heather Phares

Album cover for Old Ideas

Old Ideas

Sony Music Distribution

Leonard Cohen's Old Ideas is brimming with fine songs on his favorite heady subjects, and reflects a healthy, self-effacing humor.

— Thom Jurek

Album cover for Strange Weekend

Strange Weekend

Secretly Canadian

Porcelain Raft may be saddled with an awful name, but their debut album is a dreamy, hazy, yet emotionally powerful set of bedroom/basement-crafted indie pop.

— Tim Sendra

Album cover for Pop Ambient 2012
Various Artists

Pop Ambient 2012

Kompakt

Kompakt's 12th compilation dedicated to beat-less soundscapes features Superpitcher, Triola, Simon Scott, and labelhead Wolfgang Voigt.

— Andy Kellman