Editors' Choice for July 2009

The score commissioned by the Wexner Center for the Arts to accompany a retrospective of the outsider artist Disfarmer's work.

— Thom Jurek

A deluxe 20-track compilation which gathers various Billy 'the Kid" singles from Sun, Vee-Jay and Chess.

— Richard Mortifoglio

Double-disc career retrospective emphasizes Blur's early psychedelic grind along with their post-Brit-pop indie makeover.

— Dave Shim

Bo Diddley's flights of fancy sit next to big, booming rockers on a wild and woolly 54-track compilation displaying both his vision and mad genius.

— Rovi Staff

Finds the band continuing in the vein of their first effort; this is rustic, cerebral, ramshackle music.

— Margaret Reges

This long-overdue compilation is good enough to earn Carlton's place in the pantheon of cult soul greats.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Third in an '00s trilogy for electronic wizard.

— Jason Thurston

Another winner in a catalog full of them.

— Thom Jurek

These are all good, relaxed, unplugged readings, but the chief attraction of VH1 STORYTELLERS is, appropriately enough, those stories Bowie tells.

— Stephen Thomas Erlewine

A crazily warped version of modern R&B jams filtered through '80s dance music, '00s hip-hop, and Jamaican dancehall.

— Dave Shim

After a 13-year absence from Memphis, Elvis Presley returned to cut what was certainly his greatest album.

— Bruce Eder

THE EMITT RHODES RECORDINGS 1969-1973 is essential to any fan of late-'60s/early-'70s pop music.

— Tim Sendra

4-CD 131-track deluxe box is the second and final collection of George Jones's complete Musicor output.

— Richard Mortifoglio

Rich and resonant, it's hard not to listen with not a small degree of wonder.

Sounds like it's made of stray Sigur Ros moments the group spent tuning orchestras, warming up vocal choirs or checking levels.

— Dave Shim

This 2009 Wounded Bird two-fer combines 1975's WHO'S TO BLESS & WHO'S TO BLAME with the singer-songerwriter's final 1981 album for Monument

— Thom Jurek

Reissue of what is considered to be Greene's best album is essential listening for your next visit to the Ponderosa.

— Dave Shim

BLACKSUMMERS'NIGHT is all devotion, regret, and heartache,

— Andy Kellman

A gorgeous, succinct set of hypnotic and improvisational electronic music.

— Andy Kellman

Consolidates the group's old strengths and confirms Jay Farrar is still an artist worth caring about 20 years after Uncle Tupelo's first album.

— Dave Shim

SONGS FOR TUESDAYS is an album anyone with a fondness for spiky, catchy, and super fun indie pop should own.

— Tim Sendra

Fabled hip-hop producer returns with more mature manner and many star guest turns.

— Jason Thurston

Isn't so much concerned with living up to expectations as about defying them

— Paula Carino

Hones their pop instincts, putting the focus on hooks and melodies.

— Dave Shim

Career-spanning compilation that offers highlights from the American Recordings album and one track each from their independent efforts.

— Pemberton Roach

A curious but thoroughly compelling country rock album that sounds casual and epochal at once.

— Dave Shim

GORGEOUS JOHNNY may be almost too well crafted for the band's traditional-leaning fans, but its highlights are hard to resist.

— Andrew Leahey

While the Chicago label Quill only lasted a bit less than two years, their output was impressive stuff from an eclectic variety of acts.

— Mark Deming