Editors' Choice for August 2024

Transmissions
Hoagiemouth Records
Following two exploratory covers albums, Lee returns to his original work with a rustically cozy yet still musically daring 11th LP.
- Matt Collar
And Then Again
Blue Note
The pianist and his trio play an engaging evening of standards captured at the Village Vanguard in N.Y.C.
- Matt Collar
The Boy Who Ran the Paisley Hotel
Slumberland
The sophomore album from this one-man jangle pop machine matches energetic melodic songwriting with more robust production.
- Fred Thomas
Cellophane Memories
Sacred Bones
The singer/songwriter and director reinvent his surreally sensuous pop with mesmerizing songs that seem to stop time in its tracks.
- Heather Phares
Sun Glories
Western Vinyl Records
Returning to electric guitar while continuing his pedal steel explorations, the artist delivers some of his most dynamic, masterful work.
- Paul Simpson
Troubadour
Drag City
The 1976 debut LP from the folksinger and master of the hammered dulcimer and psaltery.
- Paul Simpson
Roll With Me
Stony Plain
The guitar giant completes an album 20 years in the making as his final Stony Plain outing.
- Thom Jurek
Beneath the Neon Glow
Cooking Vinyl
Using her road band in the studio, the singer/songwriter digs into writing roots hooks across genres, with an excellent production sensibility.
- Thom Jurek
Chrome Dawns
Cherry Red
Comprehensive collection that gathers the full studio output and two Peel Sessions from this funky, chaotic band of 1980s Scottish post-punk.
- Fred Thomas
Romance
XL / XL Recordings
An evolution in the band's sound that sands off some of the rough edges, revealing new and interesting textures underneath.
- Liam Martin
From Me to You: Definitive Collection 1977-2000
Robinsongs
This five-disc package from the U.K.'s Robinsongs offers tracks from the pianist's Epic, Elektra, and Warner Bros. solo albums and in the Clarke/Duke Project.
- Thom Jurek
Disaster Trick
Run for Cover Records
While still anchored to slowcore tradition, the Boston group's fifth album is their noisiest, most high-contrast yet.
- Marcy Donelson
Sibelius, Prokofiev 1: Violin Concertos
Decca
Performances of major concertos with the charisma and command of performers from classical music's golden ages.
- James Manheim
Ritual
Domino
A patiently evolving suite that gradually works its way towards spiritual transcendence.
- Paul Simpson
Monteverdi: L'Orfeo
Château de Versailles
Intense, highly ornamented production of Monteverdi's first opera captures the excitement that must have accompanied the work at its premiere.
- James Manheim
The French Album
Orchid Classics
An embarrassment of riches in this album of French sacred choral music.
- James Manheim
Baila Mi Son
Mr. Bongo
The vibrant self-titled debut from the genre-bending Cuban band showcasing their Afro-Cuban funk, Latin pop, and psych-rock sound.
- Matt Collar
Imaginal Disk
Mom + Pop Music
Utilizing a blend of analog and electronic instruments, including cloudy strings and astral horns, the group craft a 3-D stereogram of psychedelic dance-pop.
- Matt Collar
No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin
Blue Note
Joined by an ensemble including co-producer Chris Bruce, the genre-blurring musician delivers an impassioned tribute to the titular writer/activist on his centennial.
- Andy Kellman
Milton + Esperanza
Concord
The Brazilian icon looks back on his career on this warm collaboration with the Grammy-winning singer and bassist.
- Matt Collar
Sorcs 80
Castle Face
Forsaking guitars but sounding punkier than ever, the band unleash an angry, angst-filled, and 100% alive set of songs that ranks with their best ever.
- Tim Sendra
Schubert: Ländler
PentaTone Classics
A unique rapid traversal of many triple-meter dances of Schubert, all slightly different.
- James Manheim
Debussy: Images
PentaTone Classics
A wonderful Debussy program, precise and restrained yet lively.
- James Manheim
Stars in the Southern Sky
Omnivore
This handsome three-disc set offers a beautifully mastered version of 1975's Honky Tonk Man with 34 unissued live tracks from the same era.
- Thom Jurek
Meditations on Love
Susannasonata
The singer/songwriter reinvents her music with shifting, sophisticated songs that bring the heart's shadowy realms into the light.
- Heather Phares
Schubert: String Quartet in G major D887; String Quartet in B flat major D112
Hyperion
Impressively bleak Schubert from a veteran but always fresh ensemble.
- James Manheim
The Bed I Made
Father/Daughter Records
Sounding exactly as warm, sweet, and moving as they did decades earlier, the duo add maturity and grace to their minimal indie pop sound.
- Tim Sendra
The Bird of a Thousand Voices
Believe Recordings / Naïve
The Armenian composer and keyboardist offers a kaleidoscopic masterwork that cuts across and joins classical, pop, metal, and prog.
- Thom Jurek
Smoke & Fiction
X
Fat Possum Records
L.A.'s finest punk band sound both raucous and thoughtful as they look to the past on their farewell album.
- Mark Deming