Kathleen Edwards

Voyageur

By Stephen M. Deusner

Kathleen Edwards co-produced her fourth album with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, jettisoning country rock in favor of gauzy production and a band that includes Vernon plus members of Megafaun, Francis & the Lights, and Peter Wolf Crier.

Cate Le Bon

CYRK

By Stuart Berman

The cool, disaffected Welsh avant-pop chanteuse's second album is more playful and irreverent than her debut, a 2009 collection released by collaborator/mentor Gruff Rhys of Super Furry Animals.

Lupe Fiasco

Friend of the People

By Jayson Greene

Lupe Fiasco's new mixtape samples Justice and M83 and shows a strong interest in aggressively macho dubstep. For about a third of it, you feel actively punished for paying attention.

Loincloth

Iron Balls of Steel

By Hank Shteamer

Over the course of a decade, the highly regarded ultra-technical instrumental-metal outfit Loincloth's discography totaled four songs. The N.C.-Va. trio's debut LP leaves room for a broader audience to hear what the fuss was all about.

Expensive Looks

Dark Matters

By Brian Howe

On this debut LP, the young New York City native Alec Feld-- whose voice wouldn't sound out of place on a Wolf Parade or Animal Collective anthem-- creates synth music with a sleepy grandeur.

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo OST

By Andrew Ryce

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross follow their award-winning score to David Fincher's The Social Network with this bleak three-hour The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack, a sprawling mass that exceeds the length of the film it was meant for.

T.I.

Fuck Da City Up

By David Drake

Fresh from his most recent dalliance with hard time, this mixtape-- featuring guest spots from Young Jeezy, Nelly, Dr. Dre, and others-- finds T.I. back in the scrappy mode of his early days.

Wiley

Evolve or Be Extinct

By Jess Harvell

It's arguable that even Wiley can't remember every track he's released in the past half-decade, but the grime godfather's new LP is one you should play closer attention to.

Cardinal

Hymns

By Joe Tangari

In 1994, Eric Matthews and Richard Davies released an influential chamber-pop album under the name Cardinal. Almost 20 years later, they've reunited for its follow-up.

Juicy J

Blue Dream & Lean

By Jordan Sargent

One half of Memphis' legendary Three 6 Mafia offers a continuation of his two collaborative mixtapes with Lex Luger, a druggy 28-track album featuring guest spots from A$AP Rocky, Spaceghostpurpp, and Kreayshawn, among others.

The Big Pink

Future This

By Ian Cohen

After the explosive and decadent A Brief History of Love, the Big Pink return with an album that aims for positivity and a deeper connection with their audience.

Raekwon

Unexpected Victory

By Paul Thompson

Armed with passable productions and an uneven roster of guest stars, the Wu-Tang dynamo's first full-length release since 2011's Shaolin vs. Wu-Tang LP rarely smacks of anything like victory. The sound's too lousy-- and the stakes too low-- to live up to his past glories.

Todd Terje

It's the Arps

By Andrew Gaerig

 

The Norwegian space disco producer follows last year's surprisingly sticky Ragysh EP with a refreshingly clean four-track EP composed with an ARP2600 analog synthesizer.

 

Ernest Gonzales

Natural Traits

By Andrew Ryce

The San Antonio producer, who records cinematic sorta-dance music as Mexicans With Guns, offers post-rock for the Flying Lotus generation on this new solo LP.

Jakob Olausson

Morning & Sunrise

By Matthew Murphy

The Swedish psych-folkie and beet farmer follows his brilliant 2005 debut Moonlight Farm with a more electric, more rock-inclined offering that finds him returning to the earlier record's evocative terrain without repeating himself.

Rick Ross

Rich Forever

By Jordan Sargent

Rick Ross' new mixtape, possibly his best full-length, finds the Teflon Don moving out of his comfort zone and entering a world where it feels like something is at stake.

Drexciya

Journey of the Deep Sea Dweller I

Best New Reissue
By Philip Sherburne

From 1992 until 2002, the mysterious electro outfit Drexciya created not only some of Detroit's most original, enduring electronic music, but one of techno's greatest myth systems. This compilation-- the first in a planned four-volume anthology-- serves as a crucial introduction.

Bebetune$

Inhale C-4 $$$$$

By Brandon Soderberg

Following the success of last year's polarizing Far Side Virtual, James Ferraro puts out a free, victory lap mixtape, one that finds him developing a mutant strain of mainstream rap and R&B.

Pinch

Fabriclive 61

By Andrew Ryce

Dubstep pioneer Rob Ellis' exciting entry in the Fabriclive series occupies a many-limbed vaguely house, vaguely techno hinterland: It's damaged, blackened, and foreboding, no matter what genre it might be interrogating.

Arrange

Five Years With the Sun EP

By Brian Howe

In the hushed tones of this brief collection, the young Fort Lauderdale electronic songwriter Malcom Lacey dramatizes the process of a gentle person grappling with dark thoughts.

Rivers Cuomo

Alone III: The Pinkerton Years

By Ian Cohen

Unlike the previous Alone iterations, Alone III: The Pinkerton Years feels like an actual Weezer album rather than Rivers Cuomo's yard sale. It's a bracing, imperfect reminder of a time when music was something Cuomo couldn't live without.

Oval

OvalDNA

Best New Reissue
By Andrew Ryce

This remarkably consistent, 25-track collection of bits and bytes from assorted past Oval eras flies by in an easygoing blur, rendering sounds in a fluid and volatile technicolor that's missing from even the project's classic records.

Vado

Slime Flu 2

By Jayson Greene

The goofy Harlem rapper and Cam'ron sidekick's new mixtape delivers what the original Slime Flu did-- high-speed, tightly realized, pugilistic goon rap-- to nearly as entertaining results.

Mars

Live at Artists Space

By Marc Masters

Feeding Tube teams with Mars bassist Mark Cunningham to offer the entirety of his no wave band's two-set performance from the 1978 Artists Space festival, the same event that led Brian Eno to compile his scene-defining compilation No New York.

Various Artists

Rush Hour Presents Amsterdam All Stars

By Andrew Gaerig

This set of 12 exclusive tracks, which offers a portrait of the current house music talent operating in or originating from Amsterdam, is filled with raucous, 4/4 shakers born in the 1980s in Chicago but possessing updated wardrobes.

Articles

Gil Scott-Heron: More Than a Revolution

Andrew Nosnitsky combines archived quotes from Gil Scott-Heron and original interviews with those who knew him to present a full picture of the late poet, novelist, singer, songwriter, pianist, satirist, and father of four.

Wipers
Underscore

Wipers

Nick Sylvester kicks off our new series Underscore, which surveys undervalued artists, scenes, and eras of the past. This inaugural edition focuses on the first three LPs from influential Portland punks Wipers.

Your Chemical Romance
Why We Fight

Your Chemical Romance

Nitsuh Abebe on understanding musical tastes across generation gaps and why the cohort that grew up liking (or loathing) emo acts like My Chemical Romance is so important.

Los Campesinos!
Interviews

Los Campesinos!

Over the last five years, this UK band has become one of indie rock's most consistent (and candid) attractions. With new album Hello Sadness in mind, we talk to leader Gareth about hating England and loving Drake.

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan
Rising

Yamantaka // Sonic Titan

This Canadian "Noh-wave" act makes widescreen psych inspired by everything from doom metal to comic books to Buddhist enlightenment to Chinese opera to meditation to anime to Kiss-style face paint.

Danny Brown
Guest Lists

Danny Brown

The magnetic Detroit rapper talks to us about Norwegian metal murderers, doing drugs with fans, Jack White, personalized vibrators, Sufjan Stevens, Korn, action figures, and why he really likes Wednesdays.

The Top 50 Albums of 2011
Staff Lists

The Top 50 Albums of 2011

Our annual list of the LPs that had us coming back time and time again throughout the year, including records by Bon Iver, Liturgy, Real Estate, and Frank Ocean, to name a few.

The Words of Others
Articles

The Words of Others

Author Dave Tompkins chronicles the adventures he's had while touring his acclaimed vocoder history How to Wreck a Nice Beach, like that time he introduced the National Security Agency to Cybotron.

Charlotte Gainsbourg
Interviews

Charlotte Gainsbourg

While the French actress/singer seems so casually put together, she couldn't find the nerve to play shows until just a couple years ago. Here, she talks about stage fright and her new live LP, Stage Whisper.

My Year in Mixes
Staff Lists

My Year in Mixes

From M.I.A. to Blood Diamonds to Elite Gymnastics to Clams Casino, Carrie Battan surveys the free mixes and podcasts that shaped her listening in 2011.

Family