Editors' Choice for January 2019

Vaughan Williams' A Sea Symphony and A Lark Ascending receive stirring performances on this 2018 recording from Onyx.

— Blair Sanderson

Nearly four years after Soul Sphere, the Chicago outfit simultaneously go back to basics and push the envelope.

— Thom Jurek

The band's debut album showcases their speedy punk-pop songs, but also successfully delves into more experimental areas.

— Tim Sendra

The group's second album features more short, sharp pop tunes played with ever more confidence and power.

— Tim Sendra

The final volume in Delphian's European Music Archaeology Project offers fragments and reconstructions of ancient Greek music.

— Blair Sanderson

Cody Johnson makes the leap to the majors with a casually assured, proudly traditional record.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Requiem and other sacred works of Portuguese composer Manuel Cardoso are performed by the eight-member vocal ensemble, Cupertinos.

— Blair Sanderson

The band's fascinating eighth album examines impermanence, inhumanity, and death with songs that sound deceptively life-affirming.

— Heather Phares

The band's second album creates a wistful, quiet mood unbroken by drums and buoyed by lilting melodies.

— Tim Sendra

A very strong cast in Handel's increasingly popular 1738 tragicomic opera.

— James Manheim

Revelatory, arresting historical-instrument performances of major Debussy orchestral works.

— James Manheim

Magisterial Brahms from a giant of American pianism.

— James Manheim

Historical instruments are deployed in Mozart's duo sonatas with the goal of realizing a chamber music atmosphere.

— James Manheim

For Harmonia Mundi's Stradivari series, the Heisser & Jude duo perform Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique on a 1928 Pleyel vis-à-vis piano.

— Blair Sanderson

A richly atmospheric set featuring the saxophonist's trio with pianist Marilyn Crispell and drummer Carmen Castaldi.

— Matt Collar

Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations compare dance suites by Jean-Féry Rebel and Georg Philipp Telemann on this 2018 AliaVox release.

— Blair Sanderson

Canadian cellist/composer Julia Kent crafts cerebral yet accessible pieces for dance productions on her fifth solo album.

— Paul Simpson

Sixth album from Real Estate collaborator is his strongest, offering a densely layered but clearly arranged microcosm of insular sonics.

— Fred Thomas

A barbed ode to the joys of being a weird recluse.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Mexican psychedelic band's fifth full album sees them becoming both wildly experimental and laser-focused.

— Tim Sendra

The Manchester duo deliver a cathartic, emotionally raw sophomore album that's as moving as it is artful.

— Matt Collar

The Portland songman's surprise ninth outing is a concept album of colorful tales culled from his career in the music industry.

— Timothy Monger

The singer/songwriter's debut album is filled with polished production and heartfelt performances.

Mark Stewart's revolutionary first album outside of the Pop Group is paired with an equally scorching set of previously unheard material.

— Paul Simpson

Heartbreaking journey that finds the pop singer processing his father's death to devastating yet hopeful effect.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Japan's iconic post-rockers celebrate 20 years with a new drummer and electronics on their powerful, emotionally wrenching tenth album.

— Thom Jurek

Gutsy performances of passionate, somewhat neglected works from the first decades of the 20th century.

— James Manheim

The hooky, well-balanced 11th studio album from the California rap-rock stalwarts.

— Matt Collar

The Brooklyn band deliver a second album of kaleidoscopic art rock with sonic and emotional heft.

— Marcy Donelson

With the help of Rancid vet Tim Armstrong, the U.K. punk focuses his madcap energy on this fun sonic blast.

— Neil Z. Yeung

Feral Roots showcases the band's versatility in both songcraft and execution, a feat all the more impressive by their recording live in the studio.

— James Christopher Monger

For the first time, the North Carolinian composes her elegant experimental folk from electric guitar (and DAW) instead of 12-string acoustic.

— Marcy Donelson

Van Etten expands her horizons on this darkly comforting album.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Eva Moolchan's clever fusion of hip-hop and indie rock sounds bigger, trippier, and richer on her third effort.

— Mark Deming

On his sophomore Matador outing, the guitarist shifts his focus to a more direct, vocal-centric method of songwriting and delivers a gem.

— Thom Jurek

The former Beta Band mastermind offers a more organic and collaborative full-band approach on his excellent fourth outing.

— Timothy Monger

François-Xavier Roth and Les Siècles present period performances of Berlioz's Harold en Italie and Les Nuits d'Été.

— Blair Sanderson

Guitarist/composer Juha Raivio penned these grief-laden songs to make sense of his life partner's death. The band illumines them with shadowy grandeur.

— Thom Jurek

The upbeat 11th studio album from the California outfit features a guest spot from M83's Kaela Sinclair.

— Matt Collar

The Long Island emo icons celebrate their first two decades together on this career-spanning collection which also includes two new cuts.

— Timothy Monger

Dripping in nostalgia but strong enough to escape its inevitable pull, the Canadian group's debut sparkles and shines like a gem.

— Tim Sendra

The L.A. Punk All-Star lineup of Chris D.'s band returns after 37 years, and sounds as tough and evocative as ever.

— Mark Deming

The choir of Hampton Court Palace returns with music by one of its former members.

— James Manheim

Three-disc set collects the original album, EP tracks, demos, lost songs, and the band's (semi)-lost 1994 album.

— Tim Sendra

Revitalized by new members and more confessional songwriting, the band delivers some of its most vital music in years.

— Heather Phares

Saint-Saëns gems from a newly energized Utah Symphony.

— James Manheim

On their first recording in five years, the Essex electronica duo enlist Anna Domino and Iain Ballamy to assist in their atmospheric interior travelog.

— Thom Jurek

Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra present works by Rimsky-Korsakov and Stravinsky in phenomenal recorded sound.

— Blair Sanderson

Vladimir Ashkenazy plays Book I of Debussy's Préludes in a 2017 studio recording, and Book II in a live recital recording from 1971.

— Blair Sanderson

With this double album, songwriter Tim Presley sheds the lo-fi murk of his older recordings and lays bare his strange, melancholic psychedelia.

— Fred Thomas

The guitarist imbues his artistry with a breezy West Coast feel on this articulate full-band outing.

— Timothy Monger