Editors' Choice for February 2025
Playground / Playground Music
The Swedish multi-instrumentalist creates soft, golden hour instrumentals that heavily evoke his band Dina Ögon.
Wharf Cat Records
Gathering remastered versions of the cult favorite band's early demos for official release, this time capsule also captures the feel of the era.
On U Sounds / On-U Sound
Four prime dub albums originally issued by On-U Sound, plus Adrian Sherwood's freshly recorded rework of material from the same era.
Verve
Ebullient live album with the legendary singer backed by the Duke Ellington Orchestra.
Trouble in Mind
Rejoined by founding member Jonathan Van Herik, the trio explores dualities with dazzling clarity and charred distortion.
GBV
On their 41st studio album, this indie rock superpower scatters their approaches of songwriting, production, and arrangement so very little repeats.
Matador
The band's near-perfect second album dispenses with noise in favor of space and restraint while adding more hooks and tenderness along the way.
hermine
Whispery vocals, delicate classical guitar, and impressionistic chamber accompaniment etch the transportive sequel to Windswept Adan.
Anti-
The prolific saxophonist and his trio of longtime collaborators channel the inspirations of writer Amiri Baraka and pioneer trumpeter Don Cherry.
Edition
With drummer Brian Blade and saxophonist Chris Potter, the bassist delivers one of his most intimate, forward-thinking albums.
BIS
Splendid performance realizes in full the links between Ligeti and Bartók at his most progressive.
Mexican Summer
The longtime Sun Ra Arkestra leader releases his first solo album at the age of 100.
Secretly Canadian
Lovingly enveloping third album from the Spillage Village member.
Far Out Recordings
The Brazilian composer embraces the ghosts of '70s MPB and samba while extending the tradition into jazz, soul, and psychedelia.
Domino
While just as sunny and dreamlike as earlier work, live band instrumentation makes this Animal Collective member's solo album sound uncharacteristically friendly and carefree.
ATO
The Drive-By Truckers' frontman looks back to his youth in a powerfully reflective and artful song cycle.
Fire Records
The Dutch post-punk weirdos surprisingly pivot to an atmospheric goth/dream pop sound.
Incienso
Stirring ambient techno from the unpredictable Bay Area producer, his first LP for the label co-founded by Anthony Naples.
Domino / Weird World
Another set of emotionally powerful sketches of British life from the lo-fi freak-folk prodigy.
Harmonia Mundi
This album showcasing historical instruments functions equally well as a celebration of Paris and an inventive mix of works.
Omnivore
A 20-track sampler that sums up the catalog of these one-of-a-kind art-damaged alt-country outliers.
Fire Records
Late New Zealand songwriter returns to unfinished songs he began writing decades earlier in this full-circle farewell album.
Slumberland
A collection of early non-LP singles that range from C86-inspired noise pop to more subtle dream pop with New Order and Cure influences.
Various Artists
Edsel
Another five-disc overview of the dance music that soundtracked the U.K.'s gay clubs in the 1980s.
Various Artists
Numero / Numero Group
This 16-song compilation focuses on obscure female country artists who aimed for commercial success but often landed in far stranger places.
Felte
Musically and emotionally heavier than their debut album, the band's sophomore effort offers transfixing post-punk with a formidable amount of empathy.
Thrill Jockey
A return to instrumental drone-based compositions, and some of the most comforting music in the project's discography.
Night Time Stories
Ten years in the making, the composer/trumpeter and her stellar cast juxtapose modern electric jazz and Bahraini folk sounds.