Editors' Choice for March 2025
Deutsche Grammophon
A precise but sensitive performance of the works that defined the Nocturne genre, soon to be taken up by Chopin.
Down the Road
Reuniting after a 14-year hiatus, this band masterfully mine the catalog of modern and traditional songwriters on this powerful set.
Luaka Bop
Inviting and often-funky gospel soul from a Mississippi family group led by one of the main voices of the Staples Jr. Singers.
Leiter
The conclusion of her travelogue triptych, the sitarist enlisted sarod master Alam Khan and producer/drummer Sarathy Korwar to assist.
Sony Music / Sony Music Latin
The debut offering by the joined members of Bomba Estéreo and Rawayana is ecstatic, spiritual, and sensual.
Blue Note
The saxophonist and his quartet offer a bold reinterpretation of Keith Jarrett's 1974 album of the same title.
Concord Jazz
The Richmond, Virginia quintet offer an imaginary summer soundtrack for a trip up and down the Atlantic, from New York to Florida, the Caribbean, and Europe.
Matador
Incorporating industrial beats and dynamic arrangements, Haley Fohr charts a path between the club and the cosmos.
Sub Pop
The experimental noise-rap trio evoke cyberpunk as well as big beat, drum'n'bass, and electro on their most techno-shocked release.
Sacred Bones
Reunited with former bandmate Loke Rahbek, the duo dramatically reinvents itself with heartbroken hybrids of post-punk, dance, hip-hop, and ambient.
Cooking Vinyl
Released during the band's 40th year, this album shows that their creativity, discipline, and openness continue to provide the foundation for excellent work.
Doctor Bird
Compilation of tracks originally released as vinyl-only singles that showcases this British reggae producer's stylistic range, from dub to lovers rock to reggae disco-funk.
AED Records
A typically thoughtful, melodically rich, and inspiring album that stands with the guitar pop icon's best work.
Glassnote Entertainment Group
Eight years in the making, the former Walkmen frontman's rousing fourth album dares to be uplifting during difficult times.
Perfect Noise
Marvelous, little-known small religious works from Schütz's time, sung with great intensity by a newcomer.
Dead Oceans
MIchelle Zauner's literate, darkly pearlescent fourth album with her band Japanese Breakfast.
Southeastern Records
The singer and songwriter cuts a solo acoustic album that's spare, intimate, and quietly brilliant.
Don Giovanni
The New York singer/songwriter and comic artist continues focusing on the joys and disappointments of growing older.
Mexican Summer
The ambient composer uses organic instruments to sculpt both dense, immersive tracks and spare but no less captivating miniatures.
Aquarii
On the opening half of a projected double album, the pianist and his collaborators deliver an expansive, ear-opening investigation into spacious groove.
Geffen / Polydor
The Boygenius member's fourth solo LP and major-label debut is a tender, affectionate one about "it's complicated" relationships.
BIS
Splendidly transparent treatments of a key group of Bach organ works.
Blue Note
Organically hushed and soulful debut from the London singer and guitarist.
Drag City
The duo's third album expands their intimate sound just a little, while remaining as heartbreakingly subtle and emotionally impressionistic as ever.
Fire Records
The Los Angeles collective crafts an album that somehow successfully melds space-age jazz, no wave guitar, nervous grooves, and laid-back exotica.
Mute
The project's second album taps into the universal need for love and connection with sparkly, sensual disco-pop.
Matador
Equal parts tough and vulnerable, moving and witty, Mike Hadreas' seventh album continues the opening up of his music.
Sacred Bones
Chrystia Cabral's fourth proper album is her most guitar-driven, focusing on personal lyrics and direct emotional expression.
Fiction
The musician and producer makes an inspired return to prog on this two-suite set about viewing the earth and its people from space.
Numero Group
Numero Group expands the 1986 mini-album by a Scottish duo whose sound fell somewhere between coldwave, post-punk, and dream pop.
Ghostly International
Second album from Loraine James' ambient glitch side project, mainly created using analog equipment and field recordings.
Bella Union
The songwriter/guitarist's most literary album yet is a set of (mostly) character sketches underscored by atmospheric folk.