DINOSAUR JR. I Bet on Sky [Jagjaguwar] It sounds like a funny thing to say about a band whose catalog includes the songs “Puke + Cry” and “Pointless,” but Dinosaur Jr. has taken a moony romantic turn on recent albums. Sure, it’s an awkward, mumbling kind of romance, paired with churning bursts of guitar sludge, but the group’s latest is way more tender than the howling odes to alienation found on earlier albums. Instead of pushing people... 

NEIL SEDAKA The Show Goes On [Eagle Rock] At a time when U.S. record companies dismissed Neil Sedaka as an aging teenybopper, England couldn’t get enough of him. This live set, recorded in 2006 at London’s Royal Albert Hall, is a tribute to both Sedaka’s long career and the willingness of his British fans to accept him as more than a sugary oldies act. His classic hits about the junior prom and turning 16 are here, but so are 1970s-era piano-man... 

MARISSA NADLER The Sister [Box of Cedar] Marissa Nadler’s sixth album is a melancholic companion to the self-titled effort she released last year. This time out, the arrangements are more ethereal, and the songs are tinged with a greater degree of sadness, particularly where her voice is concerned. Her woeful vocals are filled with sincerity and lacking in self-pity, and while her spritely voice and fingerpicked guitar remain focal points, Nadler... 

MUMFORD & SONS Babel [Glassnote] Returning after a multiplatinum, Grammy-nominated breakout album is no easy task, but with Babel, Mumford & Sons fight valiantly against the sophomore slump. The raucous title track gets things off to a strong start, as the U.K. foursome’s tight harmonies and foot-stomping arrangement support frontman Marcus Mumford’s defiant, snarling vocals. Other tunes benefit from a similar formula—Mumford’s anguished... 

BLOC PARTY  Four [Frenchkiss] Following 2008’s Intimacy, Bloc Party faced an uncertain future. After hinting at a breakup and surviving a hiatus, the London post-punk outfit returns with its simply titled fourth album. Alongside producer Alex Newport (the Mars Volta, At the Drive-In), the group refocuses on guitars, ditching the dance influences of their previous two albums. Amid ferocious rock riffs, Bloc Party has found room to explore the kinds... 

 BOX SET  THE ENGLISH BEAT  The Complete Beat  [Shout! Factory] The English Beat holds exalted status among fans who continue to cherish the late ’70s British ska revival. During its all-too-brief career, the multi-ethnic ensemble churned out three brilliant albums that set the standard for their peers. The group hit the pavement running in 1979 with a flurry of frenetic, punk-tinged ska hits that were as sophisticated as they were fun. By... 

LAETITIA SADIER Silencio [Drag City] Just as her longtime band, the sadly kaput Stereolab, developed a singular signature sound informed by myriad disparate influences, Laetitia Sadier has settled into her own crypto-sophisticated groove. On her second solo album, the French-born poli-sci seductress works her usual magic, singing snazzy jazz-pop, lounge and psych-rock songs about the perils of modern living. Only this Nico-like chanteuse could coo... 

YEASAYER Fragrant World [Secretly Canadian] Brooklyn synth-poppers Yeasayer have always explored the quirky potential of keyboards. With its self-produced third album, the band drifts away from pop and focuses on the mechanical sounds of its instruments. If 2009’s Odd Blood was a reinterpretation of radio-friendly early-’90s pop, Fragrant World has a much more abstract feel. The songs have dense, lush arrangements, complete with thick programming... 

BILLY JOE SHAVER Live at Billy Bob’s Texas [Smith Music Group] This live CD/DVD, Shaver’s first release since 2007, thoroughly reaffirms his outlaw credentials. His best-known songs—“I’ve Been to Georgia on a Fast Train,” “Honky Tonk Heroes” and “Old Five and Dimers Like Me”—speak convincingly of his roughneck lifestyle, while “Wacko From Waco,” one of the two new tunes, addresses the infamous 2007 shooting incident that... 

REISSUE THE WHO  Quadrophenia: The Criterion Edition    [Criterion] Forget Tommy, that convoluted pinball fantasia that for some reason stands as the better known, better loved of the Who’s two rock operas. The real masterpiece is Quadrophenia, a brilliant 1973 album whose equally excellent 1979 film adaptation has finally been given the Criterion treatment. Set in 1964 or ’65 at the height of Britain’s mod craze, the story centers on Jimmy,... 

JERRY DOUGLAS Traveler [eOne] Jerry Douglas became the best-known Dobro player in the world by taking his instrument to places it had never been. Traveler is his most mainstream release to date, but it remains a bold step forward. The album’s guests range from the not-so-surprising Alison Krauss and Union Station, Keb’ Mo’ and Marc Cohn to the more inspired likes of Mumford & Sons, Paul Simon, Dr. John and Eric Clapton. Slowhand’s fervid... 

CITIZEN COPE One Lovely Day [Rainwater] It’s difficult to get used to a carefree Citizen Cope. That’s not to say he’s moved away from his acoustic-based, R&B-jazz-reggae-rock sound. His voice still has the kinds of subtle yet intriguing inflections one might hear in a passionate conversation, but listening to songs like “Something to Believe In,” with its upbeat tempo and cheery lyrics, is disorienting at first. It’s much peppier... 

BETTYE LAVETTE Thankful N’ Thoughtful [Anti-] Bettye LaVette’s delicious rasp and emotional delivery make her a top-notch interpreter of songs. It’s a formula that’s worked since 2005’s I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise, and here, she turns in another tour de force covers record. The Detroit native makes these songs her own, occasionally altering lyrics to fit her experiences. On the Pogues’ “Dirty Old Town,” she references the Dodge... 

KIX BROOKS New to This Town [Arista Nashville] After 20 years as one-half of the country duo Brooks & Dunn, Kix Brooks goes solo with this schizophrenic set of midtempo Tex-Mex tunes and pop-tinged ballads. Brooks wrote nine of the 12 songs, and throughout, he examines the life of the modern-day cowboy. There are songs about whiskey and hotheaded women (“Moonshine Road,” “Tattoo”), along with the freedoms and costs of traveling America’s... 

RYAN SHAW Real Love thisisryanshaw.com Sharp suit, buttery voice, record label that abbreviates as D-Tone: These elements will ring familiar to fans of neo-soul music. For sure, Ryan Shaw shares much in common with the good folks at Daptone, the Brooklyn imprint renowned for reviving the look and sound of the ’60s and ’70s. Throughout his second album, Shaw digs deep into the Motown and Al Green grooves he heard growing up in Georgia, and while... 

GUANTANAMO BAYWATCH Chest Crawl guantanamobaywatch.com Surf rock didn’t need Quentin Tarantino to make it sound badass. Long before Pulp Fiction, the genre’s best instrumentals paddled into pretty dark water, suggesting after-hours intrigue down at the shrimp shack. On its second album, the Portland trio Guantanamo Baywatch offers a particularly trashy take on this venerable ’60s sound, ripping trebly Ventures guitar runs with violent garage... 

ALBERT CASTIGLIA Living the Dream albertcastiglia.com On “The Man,” the kind of smirking anti-Wall Street screed every good bluesman is required to record these days, Castiglia sings about how gin or reefer might dull his pain. Said substances have been known to work, but so has music. “Freddie’s Boogie,” his cooking cover of the Freddie King instrumental, reveals a guy too focused on his guitar—here an instrument of joyful showboating—to... 

GEORGE MARINELLI Believe georgemarinelli.com As a sideman for the likes of Bruce Hornsby and Bonnie Raitt, Marinelli has learned to fold folk, blues, jazz, rock and light reggae into instantly likeable pop songs. With this latest disc, he does all the playing and producing, writes or co-writes every track, and even handles the graphic design. It’s essentially all Marinelli, and yet Believe never screams egotist or control freak. The lyrics are as... 

THE ROCKETBOYS Build Anyway therocketboys.com For those familiar with this Austin band’s backstory, Build Anyway will play like a concept album about the sextet-turned-trio’s promising start, subsequent hiatus and triumphant—singer Brandon Kinder hopes—comeback. Then again, “Marching to the Palace” and “These Are Hard Times” could just be about girls. Either way, Kinder and his two remaining bandmates turn bad feelings into big music,... 

LYNN TAYLOR BarFly lynntaylor.com About a decade ago, Taylor quit the band Felix Wiley to focus on his family and landscaping business. By 2009, he’d started writing and performing again, and it’s fortunate he did. His solo debut is steeped in early rock ’n’ roll, R&B and mostly shuffling, summery country. Taylor is older and wiser, prone to singing sweet and insightful songs about his wife (“Stay With Me”) and kids (“Decatur Street”),... 

ROYAL SOUTHERN BROTHERHOOD Royal Southern Brotherhood royalsouthernbrotherhood.com No one is going to argue with the name. This super group features a Neville (percussionist Cyril) and an Allman (Devon, son of Gregg)—kingly names in Dixie circles—as well as celebrated blues guitarist Mike Zito and the ace rhythm section of bassist Charlie Wooton and drummer Yonrico Scott. What do they get for their shared pedigree and stockpile of talent? For... 

HAROULA ROSE So Easy haroularose.com Sometimes love is hard, like on “Only Friends,” the confused “Are we or aren’t we?” tune that leads off this excellent five-song EP. Other times it’s “So Easy,” as the Chicago-born, L.A.-based Rose sings on the title track, barely containing her joy amid an airy ’60s-pop backing. Either way, this singer and guitarist radiates hope and light, even on “Slow Dancing,” a moody (by this disc’s... 

A CITY ON A LAKE A City on a Lake acityonalake.com Written for a certain kind of 30-something—the type that spent the early ’00s in college listening to Coldplay, Death Cab for Cutie and maybe even John Mayer’s Room for Squares—this solo project from Brooklyn producer and multi-instrumentalist Alex Wong is an album about holding on. On “The Fighter” he likens himself to a bloodied boxer, and if that metaphor suggests a toughness and bravado... 

THE BLAKES Art of Losses theblakesband.com This Seattle trio cut its latest in the wilds of Maine, where the idea was to unplug from the modern world. Off went the internet, and on a handful of tracks, so did the guitar effects—more or less. “Black Carnation” and “Paralysis” are runaway rockers reminiscent of Dylan or the Kinks, and both give the impression of a band bashing away in a barn. Elsewhere, the Blakes try throbbing New Wave (“Narwhal”)... 

TORA FISHER Spilling Over officialtora.com It’s a familiar archetype, the angsty young female singer-songwriter, but more than most this native New Yorker has earned the right to write about pain, confusion, disappointment and the love that hopefully makes it all worthwhile. At 13, Fisher was the sole survivor of a plane crash that killed her father and stepmother, and if that’s not fodder enough for an album—or a lifetime—of soul-searching... 

EXRAY’S Trust a Robot exraysvision.com Do androids dream of electric pop? If they do, they might imagine a group like Exray’s, two San Francisco dudes who use drum machines, keyboards and guitars to create wonderfully low-key robo-funk tunes. Much of their third album moves at a plodding clip reminiscent of Trio’s “Da Da Da,” while the synths and muffled vocals place Beck at the helm of OMD’s Dazzle Ships. After instrumental opener “Something... 

CINEMA CINEMA Manic Children & the Slow Aggression cinemacinemaband.com These Brooklyn cousins hit the studio looking to rage, and famed hardcore producer Don Zientara wisely let them. Over 80 challenging minutes, the drum-and-guitar duo unspools 13 sharp, tangled barbwire tracks. Is it cerebral bar rock or Hüsker Dü-grade avant-punk? There’s ample time to ponder.  Read More →

STUART DAVIS Music for Mortals stuartdavis.com The “punk monk” tag is cute but limiting. Sometimes, Davis rocks like vintage Joe Jackson; other times, he’s more like Bob Dylan, Sting, Peter Gabriel or even ho-hum ’90s hitmakers Live. Regardless, this Buddhist singer-songwriter-comic thinks deep, plays hard and coats spiritual questioning with plenty of sugar.  Read More →

PRETEEN ZENITH Rubble Guts & BB Eye preteenzenith.com This side project of Polyphonic Spree main man Tim DeLaughter and buddy Philip E. Karnats is what you’d expect—whimsical, wide-eyed, way-out psychedelic rock—and yet somehow not. Erykah Badu guests on “Damage Control”—maybe the most uplifting indie song since the Flaming Lips battled pink robots.  Read More →

MARK BATES Night Songs markbatesmusic.com This West Virginia native sees ghosts wherever he looks. Rather than get freaked out, the country-leaning rocker sits with these phantoms—exes, relatives and notions of simple living no longer feasible in our world—and works through their unfinished business. His conversations yield some remarkable songs.  Read More →

TIDELANDS We’ve Got a Map tidelandsmusic.com “En garde, touché, let’s fight with our words and guitars, it makes no mind,” sings Gabriel Montana Leis. He forgot strings, Moog, flugelhorn and whatever else he and partner Mie Araki use on these sweeping indie-prog jams. Political but never pushy, the songs offer sweet reassurance and even a little sex.  Read More →

JIMMY FALLON Blow Your Pants Off  [Warner Bros.] When he released his first album, 2002’s The Bathroom Wall, Jimmy Fallon was a  Saturday Night Live cast member best known for co-hosting the Weekend Update segment and occasionally pulling out his acoustic guitar to parody popular songs. After leaving SNL, Fallon took over from Conan O’Brien as the host of Late Night and promptly made the show his own—in part thanks to his winning musical... 

GUIDED BY VOICES Class Clown Spots a UFO [Guided by Voices Inc.] You’d think Robert Pollard had something to prove. Although the singer and songwriter kept plenty busy on his own during (and after) Guided by Voices’ 2004-2010 hiatus, he seems to have barely dipped into his always-towering stockpile of songs. The band’s latest is the second of three albums planned for release this year, and it’s trademark GBV: 21 songs in 39 minutes, from fragmentary... 

ZAC BROWN BAND Uncaged [Southern Ground] The third release from these Southern jammers turned country-radio darlings is more board shorts and flip-flops than Wranglers and boots. Uncaged is a freewheeling summer soundtrack that draws more from Jimmy Buffett than George Strait. It’s also the seven-piece band’s most cohesive, and arguably best, record to date. A few new faces have been added to the mix, including Jason Mraz, who co-wrote the beachy... 

LIARS WIXIW [Mute] For what it’s worth, the title of Liars’ latest is pronounced “wish you,” and the band members say the fact that its unique spelling is a palindrome was somehow a source of comfort to them. Never mind—that explanation is about as oblique as the music on this follow-up to 2010’s Sisterworld, 11 songs steeped in synthesizer textures and atmospherics. Liars have previously played with keyboards and electronics, alternating... 

PATTI SMITH Banga [Columbia] The first lady of ’70s bohemian New York City makes another remarkable comeback with her 11th studio album. Her first collection of original songs since wowing literary circles with her 2010’s National Book Award-winning memoir Just Kids sees Smith’s mastery of language in full bloom. Though passionate as ever, the now 65-year-old Smith has largely stepped back from the howls and growls of her early days in favor... 

LITTLE FEAT Rooster Blues [Rounder] When Little Feat reconvened nearly a decade after the 1979 death of seemingly irreplaceable co-founder Lowell George, few predicted the band would be going strong nearly a quarter-century later. Now comes another enormous challenge, as drummer Gabe Ford takes on the daunting task of occupying the drum throne of the great Richie Hayward, who died in 2009. That leaves keyboardist and vocalist Bill Payne as the only... 

KELLY HOGAN  I Like to Keep Myself in Pain [Anti-] Before Georgia-born Kelly Hogan became Neko Case’s reliable onstage vocal foil a few years back, she had a budding career as a frontwoman in her own right. She picks up the reins again on her first solo album in more than a decade, showing exquisite taste on 13 songs written by the likes of Andrew Bird, M. Ward and Vic Chesnutt. Backed by a band that includes keyboard legend Booker T. Jones, Hogan... 

RAVI COLTRANE Spirit Fiction [Blue Note] Ravi Coltrane wasn’t quite 2 when his legendary father, John Coltrane, died in 1967. From the start of his career as a saxophonist and composer in the ’80s, the younger Coltrane sought to discover his own voice. He began recording as a leader in the late ’90s, and each successive recording has further established him as a significant artist—but Spirit Fiction is his tour de force. Produced by Coltrane... 

BODEANS American Made [Free & Alive] BoDeans’ latest is the first album in the band’s nearly three-decade career without co-founder Sammy Llanas, who departed abruptly last year. Remaining original member Kurt Neumann here joins longtime keyboardist Michael Ramos and a few fresh faces to deliver a nonetheless familiar set of heartland rock. Neumann’s husky timbre, workingman’s tales and rootsy hooks have always suggested a Midwestern Springsteen,... 

SOPHIE B. HAWKINS The Crossing [Lightyear] Sophie B. Hawkins, best known for the 1992 sleeper hit “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover” and 1995’s adult-contemporary staple “As I Lay Me Down,” has completed her transformation from young spunky performer to cool, assured vet with The Crossing. Hawkins pulls triple duty on her first album in eight years, acting as producer, engineer and multi-instrumentalist while recording entirely in her home studio.... 

PAUL SIMON  Graceland: 25th Anniversary    [Sony Legacy] Perhaps the rhythmic experiments on Paul Simon’s 1986 album Graceland should have come as no surprise. He had always known a striking backbeat when he heard one, reaching back as far as “Cecilia,” “Mother and Child Reunion” and “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover.” But when Simon fell for the joyful sounds of South Africa and sought to incorporate them into his own music, he soon discovered... 

BOBBY WOMACK The Bravest Man in the Universe [XL] Soul legend Bobby Womack has always tried to adapt with the times. On his first mainstream effort since the mid-1990s Womack takes another bold step forward, embracing programmed beats and electronic vibes as a new setting for his ageless voice. Co-produced by Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn, much of the album is rooted in that act’s sonic territory. But the electronic bent not only spares Womack... 

MAPS & ATLASES Beware and Be Grateful [Barusk] On their second full-length set, the members of Chicago-based band Maps & Atlases again take an approach that frequently defies easy categorization. It’s a collision of styles and genres that combine pulsating tempos with quirky off-kilter pop. “Old Ash” and “Silver Self” recall the intoxicating essence of Paul Simon’s Graceland, with each song incorporating the infectious shuffle... 

BLUES TRAVELER Suzie Cracks the Whip [429 Records] After more than two decades on the jam-band circuit, Blues Traveler doesn’t stray from a comfortable formula on its first album in four years. Though lacking anything as indelible as 1990s favorites like “Run-Around” and “But Anyway,” Suzie Cracks the Whip is another respectable installment in the group’s catalogue. Frontman John Popper’s high-pitched vocals and stretched-out harmonica... 

ERIC HUTCHINSON Moving Up Living Down [Warner Bros.] On his major-label debut, Eric Hutchinson’s upbeat, effusive melodies are underscored with reggae-ish rhythms, finding a niche that falls somewhere between Billy Joel, Bob Marley and Stevie Wonder. The Washington, D.C., native has taken a winding path to nationwide prominence, having been briefly signed to Madonna’s Maverick imprint before self-releasing 2008’s Sounds Like This. The album... 

NENEH CHERRY & THE THING The Cherry Thing smalltownsupersound.com Most artists never quite reach the free-jazz-meets-pop stage of their careers—but then, most don’t have the pedigree of Neneh Cherry. Born in Sweden, this stepdaughter of jazz trumpeter Don Cherry came up in London’s post-punk scene doing stints with groups like the Slits before emerging as a singing, rapping pop star in the late ’80s. Since her 1988 smash “Buffalo Stance,”... 

CHARM CITY DEVILS Sins charmcitydevils.com These Baltimore hard rockers are protégés of Mötley Crüe’s Nikki Sixx, and their second album updates that band’s bruising glam-blues boogie for the nü-metal era. Nowadays it’s cool for dudes to sing about their feelings, and frontman John Allen opens up about everyman struggles, singing lines like, “You should have believed in me when I needed you” in the opening “Spite.” If it’s hard... 

WAYNE KRANTZ Howie 61 waynekrantz.com Among other things—lots of other things, actually—Howie 61 is a taking-stock record. On “I’d Like to Thank My Body,” this New York City jazz-fusion guitarist gives props to his brain and vascular system, rating his earthly frame a “more or less acceptable container for living” over an elastic funk beat. If that doesn’t prove there’s plenty of life left in this chameleonic player, Krantz takes... 

BRYAN DUNN Sweetheart of the Music Hall bryandunnmusic.net One perk of songwriting is imagining your way out of everyday life. This New York-based roots rocker hangs with Romeo, Juliet, Heathcliff and Superman on the opening “New Mercedes” alone. Elsewhere Dunn gets mixed up in murder plots (“Adeline”), prepares for the reaper (“6 Black Horses”), and romanticizes the Lower East Side scene that nurtured his talent (“Sweetheart of the...