The Mix

Listen along to this post with our Top 12 Country Albums, June 2012 playlist.

With Memorial Day in our rear-view mirrors, the unofficial start of summer has arrived. It's hard to believe May has come and gone. Before you know it, it will be time to pack your bags for the CMA Music Fest in Nashville! But let's not get ahead of ourselves: Last month brought us some damn fine new music that shouldn't be forgotten. From icons (Carrie Underwood, Willie Nelson) to beloved mainstays (Marty Stuart) to soon-to-be favorites (Hurray for the Riff Raff, Wade Bowen), there's something for everyone in this edition of the Country Roundup.

1. Wade Bowen
The Given
Wade Bowen, a veteran of the Red Dirt circuit, has stepped a bit outside his Texas bubble with the release of The Given. Packed with slow-to-mid-tempo songs about love and heartbreak, the writing is smart and emotive: "All That's Left" touches on the indelible impressions lost loves leave on us, while "On My Way to Wonderful" celebrates finally finding the right partner. Picking up the pace, "Patch of Bad Weather" and the rockin' "Beat Me Down" are infectious jams that add a bit of fun-lovin' hell-raising to the mix. [Linda Ryan]

Listen along to this post with our Top 15 Rock Albums, June 2012 playlist.

The most high-profile release of the past several weeks is John Mayer's Born and Raised, a mellow and introspective trip through all those California canyons Jackson Browne and Neil Young used to roam in the early 1970s. It's arguably the most consistent and enjoyable album of the singer-songwriter's career. Having said that, it's denied the No. 1 slot in our latest Top 15 by several even better titles, including a pair of live albums: a digital reissue of Otis Redding's smoldering In Person at the Whiskey A Go Go and Tedeschi Trucks Band's new foray into modern Southern rock and blues Everybody's Talkin'. If you've yet to check out Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi's new large-ensemble project, then wake up and get listening, especially if you dig The Allman Brothers Band, Delaney & Bonnie and Little Feat.

Speaking of the intersection of blues, folk and rock, this Rock Roundup features two more records you need to check out. The first is Joe Bonamassa's Driving Towards the Daylight, which further cements his reputation as the Pat Travers/Robin Trower/Edgar Winter of the 21st century -- a guitarist, in other words, whose rock and blues chops flaunt equal parts potency and flamboyance. The second is more alternative in flavor: I Predict a Graceful Expulsion from Cold Specks, the alias for one Al Spx. She's a folk-rock singer from Canada (by way of London) who sounds like Odetta meets Laura Marling meets PJ Harvey. Translation: defiance meets forlorn meets gothic.

Listen along to this post with our Electronic/Dance Top 15, May 2012 playlist.

Summer's on its way, and, right on schedule, we're treated to a spate of new music that's perfectly attuned to top-down living. And not just "dance music," mind you: Santigold, Black Dice and Kindness have all plundered electronic music's playbook to come up with their own singular statements on 21st century pop. When I imagine my ideal summer day, I imagine listening to Santigold on the way to the festival, freaking out to Black Dice on a sun-baked lawn, and cooling off to Kindness and CFCF in the wee hours -- but that's just me. Listeners of the ravier persuasion might pick another stage, where The M Machine, signees to Skrillex's OWSLA label, are twisting up their own interpretation of dubstep-infused, electro-plated pop.

As for "proper" (and provocatively improper) house music, Dave Aju, Justin Martin, Vedomir, Amirali and Soul Clap all put their stamp on the elastic genre, taking us deep into the night. And for those that would prefer to shut out the sun and immerse themselves in chilly electronics, Portishead's Geoff Barrow and the analog pioneer Suzanne Ciani both offer material that goes head to head with any old A.C. unit.

For even more new music, check out our Electronic Roundup playlist above, featuring all those artists plus Squarepusher, Cobblestone Jazz, Girl Unit and more.

Listen along to this post with our May 2012 Rap Albums Sampler playlist.

The highlights among this month's roundup of rap albums include Killer Mike's fantastic collaboration with El-P, R.A.P. Music, as well as El's own Cancer 4 Cure. For better-known titles, there's Future's Pluto, which has gotten a surprising amount of critical acclaim (at least from those who fetishize regional rap trends), and E-40's mammoth three-disc set The Block Brochure. Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded and B.o.B's Strange Clouds typify rap fans' ongoing discomfort with the genre's increasing poppiness. All in all, it's a mixed lot with many pleasures and controversies to be had.

Listen along to this post with our Metal Roundup, May 2012 playlist.

Despite starting with the very metal letter "M," May is clearly not the most metal of months. It's just too darn sunny and flowery, a time of things coming back to life -- the very antithesis of metal, in a way. That said, we've still got 15 heavily metallic new slabs of sonic steel for you, from oldsters and youngsters, superstars and unknowns, uglies and pretties, punkers and proggers, hipster heroes and flyover faves, extreme experimenters and shameless seller-outers, mean men and gloomy guys, and party people and goth gals. Plus one band whose very sad singer died before their new album came out, and one former Max Factored anti-PRMC agitator crooning Broadway tunes. Can't get more metal than that!

1. Accept
Stalingrad
Even with balls-to-the-wall Udo long gone, when metal's most homoerotic band opens with "Hung, Drawn and Quartered," mentally inserting "like a horse" is a given -- especially since such an animal presumably assists the "crowd-pleasing dissection" for "sins of the flesh." That one and the subsequent Luftwaffe-soaring Eastern Front-battle title cut have rousing power melodies, too. Also wunderbar: "Revolution," a rant against the rich getting richer, rhymed fast as a shark; and "The Galley," where rugged thugs paddle a big boat, shout "row!" together, get chained up, and encounter mermaids. [Chuck Eddy]

Listen along to this post with our Top of Pop, Spring 2012 playlist.

A country album in the No. 1 slot, followed by an adult-alt singer-songwriter with the soul of an opera queen, a club diva who sidetracks her debut in all kinds of non-clubby directions, and a retro-tinged neo-soul songstress. This is the state of pop today. Or at least the state of pop's top albums this spring. But lest we think pop has spurned the disco ball or something, the other half of this roundup has four albums firmly planted on the dancefloor: Madonna, The Wanted, Nicki Minaj and Adam Lambert are all very interested in getting you to shake it. So get started by digging into the wild, wonderful world that is pop in the spring of 2012.

1. Carrie Underwood
Blown Away
There's a fiery, vengeful, frankly pretty awesome Pat Benatar vibe at the onset of Carrie Underwood's fourth album, wherein crap dudes are verbally lambasted ("Good Girl"), sucked up in tornadoes ("Blown Away") and offed by their two-timed wives ("Two Black Cadillacs"). Sweet ballads and generally gentler/countrier fare dominate thereafter -- "Thank God for Hometowns" is humble and lovely -- but still, when the honky-tonk rave-up "Cupid's Got a Shotgun" comes along, Underwood grabs a Kevlar vest, loads up and starts firing back. Hit her with your best shot, but hers is better. [Rob Harvilla]

Listen along to this post with our Latin's Top 10+, Spring 2012 playlist.

The subtitle of this edition of the Latin Roundup -- where we count down the top albums of the last couple months -- ought to be "Big Dogs and Oddballs," or maybe "Ballers and Underdogs," or ... well, something with dogs and balls, anyway. The point is, half of this spring's top 10 albums include some of the game's biggest players and most beloved heavyweights: Prince Royce, Don Omar, Ednita Nazario, Vicente Fernandez, even a certain beloved icon named Selena. But the other half hail from the other end of the spectrum: up-and-comers like El Bebeto (last seen guesting on 3BallMTY's smash "Inténtalo") and Tribal Factory Monterrey (also part of 3Ball's universe), and alt-leaning acts like Sistema Bomb, who electro-funk up traditional music. In fact, there was so much good stuff, we had to crank this Top 10 up to 11. Enjoy!

Listen along to this post with our Top 15 Rock Albums, May 2012 playlist.

It should come as no surprise to any and all rock fans that Jack White's Blunderbuss is the No. 1 album in this month's Top 15. Brash and wildly talented, White is far and away America's preeminent rock star. Even if he isn't the most popular in terms of sales and plays, he's the most rawk, ya dig?

The last several weeks have also seen the release of several wonderful reissues. The Pearl Sessions, an expanded edition of Janis Joplin's finest moment in the studio, is a must-hear for fans of rock's Woodstock era. Another keeper is the digital version of Tejas, one of ZZ Top's mid-'70s gems. Though not as searing as Tres Hombres or Degüello, it's a fine record nonetheless, featuring some seriously groove-heavy jams, like "Arrested for Driving While Blind" and "Avalon Hideaway."

Possibly because it's spring, rock's lighter side has recently produced a string of high-profile titles as well, from Jack Johnson & Friends' Best of Kokua Festival to Jason Mraz's Love Is a Four Letter Word to Train's California 37. All of these will make appropriate beach soundtracks when the temperatures really begin to spike.

For all you lovers of roots rock, don't sleep on two titles appearing in the Top 15: Hiss Golden Messenger's Poor Moon and an expanded version of Wooden Wand's Briarwood. Though both sit left of the dial, they are truly excellent examples of modern folk rock and Americana.

Last but certainly not least, the lead single from Rush's upcoming Clockwork Angels (due June 6) is now out. It's called "Headlong Flight," and it is AWESOME. Crank it.

The best classical recordings of spring 2012 are appropriately refreshing, including a collection of choral works from young Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo, a century-spanning collection of French song from American soprano Renée Fleming, and bright new performances from a roster of rising soloists, including pianists Li Yundi and Benjamin Grosvenor, and trumpeter Alison Balsom. The two most important recordings here include a first compilation of short sacred choral works by Alan Hovhaness, and Yuja Wang's immaculate collection of encores.

1. Yuja Wang
Fantasia
Though she's on top of the classical world, at times it seems that the murmurs about 25-year-old pianist Yuja Wang's concert attire might drown out the praise for her playing. Her three previous records are formidable, including a Grammy-nominated debut and impressive treatises on Stravinski and Rachmaninov. Fantasia is a collection of miniatures drawn largely from encores and thus lacks much of a thematic center. Even so, the energetic crowd-pleasers -- Dukas' L'apprenti sorcier, a blistering Chopin waltz and a small set of Scriabin -- boast enough bombast to warrant a close listen.

Listen along to this post with our Top 15 Indie Albums, May 2012 playlist.

Our latest roundup of new indie releases gathers an eclectic cast of characters. Santigold leads the way with her industrial-dub-punk sass, followed by Jack White, who has finally gone solo to release some of his most brutal retro rock to date. We've also got debuts from singer-songwriter Daughn Gibson (who creates an intriguing brew of traditional country and glitchy electronic music), Georgia's Reptar (think Vampire Weekend meets Foster the People), and the Jack White-approved Alabama Shakes (rollicking garage-soul rock). And what's a month without a Danger Mouse mention? The prolific artist produced L.A. duo Electric Guest's first offering of funky stoned-out soul. Check these out and more below.

Our last Christian/gospel update was in February, back when we were still in the icy clutches of winter. Now, the temps are rising almost too fast for comfort. Fortunately, whatever is happening outside our windows, we have plenty of new music to make it all bearable: there's rock, metal, worship, soul and some genre-straddling pop. Join us as we welcome back Big Daddy Weave (via their first studio project in three years), celebrate new releases by favorites Dave Barnes and Christy Nockels, and meet newcomer Moriah Peters. We suggest you check our 10 favorite spring releases now, because before you know it, summer will be here, and we'll have another batch of new, not-to-be-missed music.

Listen along to this post with our Top 10 R&B, May 2012 playlist.

This is our first roundup of R&B albums for 2012, even though we've already completed one-third of the year. As we've seen in the past, the world of soul music moves at its own glacial pace, with a release slate much smaller than that of other genres like hip-hop. Soul artists may speak (or sing, rather) less often than others, but when they do, the impact is impressive. New work from Melanie Fiona and Monica debuted in the Top 10 of the album charts, while jazz pianist Robert Glasper's all-star neo-soul "experiment" Black Radio is one of this year's surprise success stories. So here's a rundown of R&B albums issued during the past four months.

Listen along to this post with our Electronic Top 10, April 2012 playlist.

The only unifying thread in this month's crop of outstanding electronic-music releases is that there is no unifying thread -- often, even within a single album. Take Battles' Dross Glop, for instance: handing their music over to a diverse crew of remixers (Gui Boratto, Gang Gang Dance, The Boredom's Yamantaka EYE), the knotty post-rockers unspool in a dozen directions at once. Also on Warp Records, Clark hammers his signature IDM sound into a flexible sheet that extends to Krautrock and warped '60s pop. Morphology is definitely on DVA's mind, as he twists and turns in the interstices between opposing forces, while King Britt and Slugabed both bend funk's established forms to their own idiosyncratic designs. To really show how far "electronic" music's energies can travel, Trevor Jackson and Belle and Sebastian both offer compilations that seesaw between the past and the future.

Listen along to this post with our The Top of World, Spring 2012 playlist.

You know those friends of yours who say they don't like world music? Well, this World Roundup is for them. It's a cliché, of course, but if there isn't something here for everyone, we'll eat our headphones. We start things off with the thick, weighty, Afro-funk- and dub-laced sophomore effort from Nigerian-German soul singer Nneka -- and things just get more diverse from there. There's indie-rock-fueled African pop and roots, flamenco filtered through Hindustani classical, circus-y psychedelic samba, centuries-old Persian classical styles played on a newly invented instrument, über-hip kuduro beats built of vintage Angolan samples. Oh yeah, and there's also this amazing, sprawling collection of rare cuts and beloved classics from the soundtrack to a new biodoc about some guy named Bob Marley. Dig in!

1. Nneka
Soul Is Heavy
Nneka could not have picked a more perfect title for her second album. Her soul sounds heavy -- with emotion, with personal and political heartbreak -- whether she's crooning a love song through a dubby waterfall or social critique over a Latin rock groove ("V.I.P"). But beyond her lyrics, Nneka's soul is heavy, each cut masterfully constructed and delivered with both gravitas and vibrancy. This is R&B rebuilt, its structures reconceived (see the unresolved "Restless" or the unexpected textures that come from bits of Afrobeat, hip-hop, jazz) and its foundation weighted with passion. [Rachel Devitt]

Listen along to this post with our Top 10 Country Albums, April 2012 playlist.

April showers are slowly but surely giving way to summer breezes, marking the passing of time. Once again, it's time to introduce you to -- or remind you about -- some killer new country releases. As usual, it's a wildly diverse bunch.

Leading the way is Lionel Richie's chart-topping Tuskegee, which features duets from some of country's biggest hit-makers, including Blake Shelton, Jason Aldean and Rascal Flatts. According to Billboard, only Mr. Richie and the über-cool Ray Charles have managed to top both the R&B and country charts during their careers. Impressive, no? And since we've mentioned Rascal Flatts, let's point out that their new album, Changed, is also in the mix here, as is the dark and fabulously creepy soundtrack to The Hunger Games.

Beyond that, we have bluegrass, alt country, singer-songwriters and Americana artists vying for your attention -- something here is bound to catch your fancy.

Listen along to this post with our Top 15 Metal Albums, April 2012 playlist.

So even more than usual, the handful of new Only Part-Metal and Only Sometimes Metal and Not as Metal as They Used to Be albums included in the Metal Roundup below (a third of the 15, at most) are more than balanced by a few that are So Metal That They're Not Even a "Kind" of Metal; i.e., they're Just Plain Metal, period. Which might be a trend in its own right -- who needs fancy subgenres anymore, anyway?

Hence, the title of one of the list's best albums: Long Live Heavy Metal, by 3 Inches of Blood, who are infinitely more likeable now than back when they were a trendy metalcore band. Which reminds me of an (uncredited, as far as I can tell) meme that's been floating around the worldwide spiderweb lately, which involves distinguishing metal subgenres thus: "POWER METAL -- The protagonist arrives riding a white unicorn, escapes from the dragon, saves the princess and makes love to her in an enchanted forest." "DOOM METAL -- The protagonist arrives, sees the size of the dragon and thinks he could never beat him, then he gets depressed and commits suicide. The dragon eats his body and the princess as dessert. That's the end of the sad story." "NU METAL -- The protagonist arrives in a rundown Honda Civic and attempts to fight the dragon, but he burns to death when his moronic baggy clothes catch fire." And so on. A few of the other style definitions contain language too vulgar for a family music-streaming service, and a couple are outright offensive in their violence to the princess herself. But Google if necessary.

Listen along to this post with our Top 15 Rock Albums, April 2012 playlist.

This month's Top 15 is packed with great music. But the two records sitting at the very top, Dr. John's Locked Down and Alabama Shakes' Boys & Girls, contain some of the very best rock and soul you'll hear all year, especially if you're a fan of the classic stuff from the 1960s and '70s. Reviving the sweat-soaked cries and howls unique to vintage Southern soul, Shakes lead singer Brittany Howard can count among her most ardent admirers Jack White. Dude has good taste.

Of course, don't sleep on any of these other albums, either. The All-American Rejects' Kids in the Street is a slyly crafted stab at power pop that will have you making all kinds of fervid comparisons to "Blue Album"-era Weezer and early Green Day. The foxy Lzzy Hale and the rest of Halestorm return with The Strange Case Of..., easily the group's most metal-oriented album to date. Speaking of the heavy stuff, there's a triple shot of post-grunge: My Darkest Days, Shinedown and Atom Smash all dropped new titles full of big riffs and even bigger hooks. Last but not least, all you Elvis Costello fans will be stoked when you hear the pub-rock legend's new live album. It totally smokes.

Now get exploring...

Listen along to this post with our Electronic Top 10, April 2012 playlist.

This month, reflecting the hodgepodge that is the world of electronic dance music, we take in a whole heap of beats in a whole mess of delivery systems, from albums to EPs to one-track singles.

Topping off the list is the British dubstep artist Rusko. That a dubstep artist makes it all the way to recording a full album is a rarity; that he or she makes it to a follow-up is rarer still. Rusko has not only done that, he has come up with a crowd-pleasing collection of anthems that plays to the big tent without losing its sense of roots. Burial's new EP, meanwhile, finds the shadow-dwelling London producer doing exactly what he does best, and fans of his moody, murky beats aren't going to mind at all.

Other highlights include the techno showdown between former bandmates Vince Clarke and Martin Gore, and spooky electronics from Berlin's Monolake. Read on, and check out our March/April Electronic Roundup playlist for even more new music.

Listen along to this post with our Top 15 Indie Albums, March 2012 playlist.

As springtime kicks into gear, we take a look at the most recent indie releases, and as usual, it's quite the mixed bag of goods. Leading the pack are two heavy-hitters by post-hardcore bands The Men and Ceremony. Then there's the Sub Pop debut from arty hip-hopper Spoek Mathambo; a wild, schizophrenic set from Jam frontman Paul Weller; more weirdo electro-prog rock by The Mars Volta; post-club grooves from Miike Snow; and notable EPs from the understated (and underrated) London experimental-folk trio Daughter and Grizzly Bear's Daniel Rossen. There's also new material from mainstays like The Shins, Magnetic Fields and Andrew Bird. Enjoy.

1. The Men
Open Your Heart
Perhaps the first truly great capital-R Rock album of 2012, Open Your Heart is a monument to Brooklyn post-hardcore squall and swoon, blending feral fuzz-guitar detonations ("I'm an animal!" "He's an animal!") into quieter, more pastoral country-fried comedowns. Fans who thrilled to the vivid ferocity of 2011's Leave Home might be puzzled by the slow-burn calm of (yes!) "Country Song" or "Candy," but the thrilling title track and Daydream Nation-style grandiosity of closer "Ex-Dreams" balance it all out splendidly. Plus you can use the record's first 12 seconds to sell a ton of Camaros. [Rob Harvilla]

Listen along with our March 2012 Rap Albums Sampler playlist.

This roundup of the latest rap releases collects various hip-hop cultural memes. There's radio-ready pop-rap (via Chiddy Bang, K'naan, and Kid Cudi's side project WZRD); lo-fi, Southern-influenced swag (Odd Future); actual Southern rap (Yo Gotti); major-label-funded, teen-baiting mall-rap (Tyga and Diggy); exotic international rap (Chilean rapper Ana Tijoux); and unclassifiable alternative pop in which rap is a key element (South African vocalist Spoek Mathambo). In short, it's a grab bag that requires an expansive view of the genre's possibilities to enjoy it all.

Listen along with our Top 15 Metal Albums, March 2012 playlist.

Confession time: I have spent much of the past metal month obsessed with offerings from one hard-rocking little record label -- namely, Small Stone Recordings out of Detroit. Small Stone put out some darn good albums back at the millennium's turn (Novadriver's Void in 2001, for instance), but I'd fallen way the heck behind on their catalog. Which explains why 4 of the 15 albums below (by Freedom Hawk, Gideon Smith and the Dixie Damned, Tia Carrera, and Dixie Witch) are Small Stone albums that technically saw release in 2011, not 2012. Still -- they're all new to you, right? As, I'd wager, is Wounded Lion's IVXLCDM, issued in very late 2011 on a different indie-hipster imprint (In the Red) and admittedly stretching the "metal" definition a tad -- but in a really cool way, y'know?

Still, hey, I've got standards! At least I didn't include the other Small Stone albums that I've enjoyed catching up with this year, those from 2010 (The Brought Low's Third Record, Solace's A.D.), 2009 (Los Natas' El Nuevo Orden De La Libertad, Luder's Sonoluminescence, Sun Gods in Exile's Black Light White Lines, Valis' Dark Matter), 2008 (Dozer's Beyond Colossal, Giant Brain's Thorn of Thrones, Shame Club's Come On) and 2007 (Obiat's Eye Tree Pi). Almost all of those are available on Rhapsody, though, and I heartily recommend them (unlike sundry other albums on the label that leave too much of a constipated grunge-grunt aftertaste), so I encourage you to check them out at your own pace.

Or, if you prefer to be 100 percent timely, instead check out the metal albums below that actually "dropped" (as the kids say) in the past month or so -- a few of which are every bit as good, and a couple of which have songs with nobody singing! There are many ways to be heavy, Young Grasshopper. Go with yours.

Listen along to this post with our Top 10 Rock Albums, March 2012 playlist.

Apologies up front to the many Springsteen fanatics reading this month's Rock Roundup, but Wrecking Ball, an excellent album in its own right, is denied the top slot by Heartless Bastards. If you're unfamiliar with the Austin-by-way-of-Cincinnati outfit, do yourself a favor and check out Arrow, a Crazy Horse-stained amalgam of hard-riffing roots rock, folk balladry and even a little glam. Erika Wennerstrom -- singing of the open road, the minutest details of intimacy/insecurity and an inchoate longing that's stubborn in its persistence -- is one of modern rock 'n' roll's most unique vocalists. The ways in which she moans, groans and turns loping vowels into brief explosions of the infinite are filled with just so much passion and mystery, really. Springsteen probably totally digs her.

Several other new titles can be spotted in the Top 10, including How About I Be Me (And You Be You)?, Sinead O'Connor's most impressive collection in years; The Fray's arena-ready Scars & Stories; and Howlin Rain's ode to the myriad excesses of 1970s "freedom rock," The Russian Wilds.

The remaining slots are dedicated to the many high-profile reissues and anthologies released in recent weeks. Pink Floyd dropped the "Experience Edition" of The Wall, which contains over 25 demos and outtakes. John Popper and his fellow Blues Travelers have a new anthology celebrating their 25th anniversary of jam-band shenanigans. Plus, there are key digital releases of Sparks' art-rock-meets-disco-opus No. 1 in Heaven and the first two ZZ Top albums, both of which totally rock -- of course.

Listen along to this post with our Top 10 Country Albums, March 2012 playlist.

I'm back in town after a quick trip to Nashville, and as always, I ate too much, drank too much and saw some amazing music (not necessarily in that order)! You can't ask for much more than that. Trust me when I say there are some fantastic newcomers (Kacey Musgraves, Jon Pardi, Brent Anderson) out there that make me happy to be a part of the country music world. But that's down the line. Right now, there are plenty of new releases to keep us ticking along through March. Read on to discover the Top 10 country releases from the past month or so: Lyle Lovett, The Grascals, Craig Morgan and Neal McCoy are fine places to start - and that doesn't cover even half of what we've got in this edition of our Country Roundup. It's all here, waiting to be discovered.

Listen along to this post with our Top 10 Latin Albums, March 2012 playlist.

Oh boy, do we love seasons like this in Latin music. Just look at this Top 10 lineup: Afro-Peruvian club cuts, Chilean hip-hop, regional Mexican of both the OG and next-gen varieties, merengue taken to a spiritual level, Sgt. Peppery alt rock and, of course, Marco Antonio Solis doing his usual swoon-worthy thing. It's almost enough to shock us out of the winter doldrums. Dig in!

1. Novalima
Karimba
Four albums in and Novalima have finessed their always-fascinating project into a sound that's both tradition-steeped and novel. Karimba's first half delves more deeply into the group's Afro-Peruvian folk touchstones than ever, expertly spinning through a festejo here, pulsing with classic "toro mata" rhythms there ("Revolucion") -- even as it hipsterizes them with a sleek, clubby sheen. But beginning with "Zarambe," things get downright experimental as donkey-jaw rattles fade into shivering beats, cajón thumps meet dub bass, and the world goes avant-ambient-trippy on "Luna Ciega."

Listen along with our Pop's Top 10, March 2012 playlist.

Sometimes the pop landscape this time of year mirrors the actual landscape: bleak. Dull. Cold. Empty. And, well, this year isn't really much of an exception. But smart pop fans are adaptable and omnivorous, aren't we? So we've responded to the delays and the dearth and the disappointment the way pop fans always do: by broadening our horizons and expanding our listening habits to include K-pop girl groups and Internet ingénues, beachy Hawaiian songstresses and a whole lot of indie pop. (Filling the niche carved out by Foster the People, both fun. and Gotye are charting high.) Fallow season? What fallow season?! We're ready to dance, and think, and party with this winter's Top 10 albums.

Listen along to this post with our Top Indie Releases, Jan.-Feb. 2012 playlist.

So far women are ruling the indie world in 2012, from Sleigh Bells' Alexis Krauss and her tattooed metal-cheerleader charm to Sharon Van Etten and her unabashed lovesick fury to electro-experimenters Grimes and Frankie Rose, sister folkies First Aid Kit, and the enigmatic Lana Del Rey. Alongside the girls' club are solid debuts and sophomore efforts from bands like U.K. duo Big Deal (if you like the xx, you must hear these guys), global psych-pop trio Young Magic, poignant troubadour Perfume Genius and the Queen-loving fun. The ol' vets -- like Shearwater, Guided by Voices and Lambchop -- are also getting their say, and proving why they're still very much relevant.

Listen along to this post with our Electronic Roundup: February 2012 playlist.

This month's Top 10 electronic albums mostly avoid the dancefloor, but not entirely. Barcelona's John Talabot has whipped up a woozy whirl through club music's outskirts with his debut album -- even though it works just as well as indie pop, if you prefer -- while Ital's Planet Mu debut views house music through the prism of post-punk and gauzy, industrial electronics. (Or something. It's a trip.) Inhabiting more downbeat grounds, France's Air soundtrack a silent film from 1902, and Ghostly artist Mux Mool extends his perspective on abstract hip-hop.

On the outer limits, the improvising trio Tetras explores the boundaries of free jazz and drone, while Harmonious Thelonious delivers his third album of African music-box overdrive, and the electro producer Andrea Parker reworks Daphne Oram's decades-old tapes. Fans of Autechre, Monolake and Marcel Dettmann, meanwhile, will all be thrilled by Rrose's 2011 collaboration with Bob Ostertag for the Sandwell District label, which only recently saw a welcome digital release.

And then there's Grimes: Her debut album of chirpy electro-pop may not be to everyone's tastes, but it's certainly a different kind of album -- and, in my own experience, a grower.

For good measure, we've included links to 10 recent EPs from the fringes of electronic dance music.

Listen along to this post with our Christian/Gospel Roundup - Winter 2012 playlist.

The new year is barely underway, but we already have some great Christian and gospel releases to show for it, from modern rock and worship to sophomore projects and promising newcomer debuts; solo ladies take up four of the 10 slots here. Read on to find out more about our favorite Christian and gospel releases of 2012 so far.

1. Audrey Assad
Heart
Her 2010 debut landed on many year-end "best of" lists (including ours), and this February release is a quirky Valentine that continues to showcase Audrey Assad's heady songwriting and spiritual depth. Heart finds her returning to some familiar collaborators like producer Marshall Altman, as well as songwriters Brooke Fraser, Natasha Bedingfield, Matt Maher, Derek Webb and Marc Broussard. "Sparrow" is a beautiful reworking of the old hymn "His Eye Is on the Sparrow," featuring a fresh, new melody. Overall, this is a courageously raw record that lets listeners inside. [Wendy Lee Nentwig]

Listen along with our Classical Roundup, Early 2012 playlist.

Maybe it's all about starting at the beginning. The new year offers several exciting views of the Baroque period, during which the foundations of Western orchestral music were first built. For this edition of the Classical Roundup, there are dedicated Baroque collections from some of music's brightest young female stars -- Met soprano Danielle de Niese and violinist Nicola Benedetti, along with Lara St. John and Xuefei Yang -- and from Italian violin master Giuliano Carmignola, whose Haydn violin concertos are exhilarating and absolutely definitive (if you have time for only one, start there). The set is rounded out by a New Year's Day concert and a few excellent selections of contemporary chamber music.

Listen along with our Metal Roundup, February 2012 playlist.

Given pseudoscientific doomsday theories of galactic alignment and geomagnetic reversal and Nibiru collision and all, metal can certainly look forward to an eventful 2012. What's more metal than the End of the World, right? Unless it's the Return to Darkness, as typified by the recent phenomenon of cities like Highland Park, Mich., and Rockford, Ill., extinguishing thousands of streetlights to save money at a time of fiscal crisis, and scores of other municipalities now considering the same option.

Here's Virginia Tech history professor A. Roger Ekirch -- who in 2005 published a book called At Day's Close: Night in Times Past -- in a recent New York Times streetlight switch-off essay: "Before the Industrial Revolution, darkness conjured the worst properties in man, nature and the cosmos -- brigands, witches, and rapacious beasts were thought to lurk everywhere." How metal is that??

That said, here's to 2012! Here are 15 albums with which metal has kicked open its year's door so far. (Well OK, we cheated: two, including the class valedictorian in our No. 1 spot, technically came out in the waning weeks of 2011, but who's counting?) And OK, one of the best albums comes from some old-fart Californians reunited in proper form for the first time in nearly three decades, and one of the others is from some even older-fart Germans who've been around in some form or other since the mid-'60s -- and who spend their 2012 platter re-recording their oldies and covering other people's. Nevertheless, rest assured that there is sufficient rapacious darkness from vastly younger and more frightening creatures further down below. Dig in, and let the countdown to Armageddon begin.

Senior Year, 1999: Country's Year of the Woman

Listen along with our Top 15 Rock Albums, February 2012 playlist.

Full disclosure: This latest Rock Roundup creeps oh so slightly into the waning weeks of 2011. It's a minor indiscretion when weighed against the number of killer albums dropped over the last month and a half. Now, I know what you're saying: "Good new music this time of year?" Valid skepticism for sure. The December-to-February stretch is traditionally a kind of Phantom Zone, during which most labels and artists fall particularly silent in terms of new product, as well as live performances and touring.

But 2012 has proven to be different. We've already received excellent albums from a pair of icons: Leonard Cohen and Van Halen. Though Cohen titled his record Old Ideas, his finely honed skills as a songwriter and singer feel fresh and vital. Van Halen sound equally potent. A Different Kind of Truth, the group's first album with Diamond Dave on vocals since 1984, contains some seriously hard boogie.

Another key release comes in the form of the Mark Lanegan Band's Blues Funeral. Funny thing, the grunge icon and his raspy croak sound older than Cohen and Van Halen combined, but that's always been his m.o.: moody hard rock and rickety folk from a guy who sounds like one of them ancient souls passing from body to body through the millennia. Blues Funeral is cool because it finds him incorporating touches of electronica, an aesthetic he previously explored on the Soulsavers' 2007 collaborative effort It's Not How Far You Fall, It's the Way You Land.

The last month or so has also seen the release of several notable reissues and archival collections. Alex Chilton's Free Again is a gem of a document, containing as it does a slew of recordings the young artist made in and around 1970, when The Box Tops were just about kaput but before he had met Chris Bell and subsequently formed the immortal Big Star. Another couple of treats are the expanded editions of The Doors' L.A. Woman (totally rocking) and Elvis Country (arguably the last truly great record of Presley's career). A loose concept album from 1971, the latter is a stunning panorama of the Southern music experience: country, gospel, soul, rockabilly, bluegrass, blues and so on.

Listen along with our World's Top Ten, Winter 2012 playlist.

You know that holiday season/beginning-of-the-year lull in new music everyone always talks about? Well, forget about it. The world of world music has been busy the last couple months, churning out a ton of new releases that are both high profile and highly interesting. We've got some stragglers who snuck out in late 2011 and ended up being some of the year's best releases, like Sia Tolno's vibrant Afropop effort and the Hawaiian folk-drenched soundtrack to George Clooney's Oscar-nominated film The Descendants. We also stretched back a bit further into 2011 to pinpoint some things you might have missed, like Buraka Som Sistema's über-hip global club cuts and Sevara Nazarkhan's intimate neo-traditionalism.

But we didn't even need to look backward: 2012 has already been offering up a wealth of riches, from flamenco punks Rodrigo y Gabriela's excursion into Cuban big band to Novalima's sleekly innovative reworkings of Afro-Peruvian traditional music. If you've got the winter blues, we've got the cure for what ails you right here. Dig in!

Listen along to this post with our Jazz Roundup: January 2012 playlist.

The first jazz releases of 2012 have kicked the year off in remarkable fashion. Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt offers a dusky collection of ballads and blues. There's more trumpet with a Wynton Marsalis compilation that focuses on his life as a composer, along with Jimmy Owens' clear-eyed look at the works of Thelonious Monk. The set continues with some disarming efforts by an international trio of rock-, fusion- and avant-oriented pianists: U.K. crossover sensation Neil Cowley, Italian experimentalist Stefano Battaglia and Spanish newcomer Juan Galiardo. Last but certainly not least is the long-awaited follow-up to Hank Jones and Charlie Haden's 1995 record Steal Away. The new Come Sunday is a set of ethereal, elegant, deeply spiritual duets.

1. Charlie Haden & Hank Jones
Come Sunday
Haden and Jones recorded their first duet album in 1995: the sublime, deeply personal Steal Away, a collection of hymns, spirituals and folk tunes. The same concept and elegantly understated playing is behind this, their immaculate follow-up, recorded just before Jones' death in 2010. Though Jones was 91, his treatment of these simple songs is loving, powerful and lyrical. On Sunday standards like "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?" and "Down by the Riverside," there is a deeply spiritual connection not only between the players, but also between two deeply spiritual men and their maker. [Nate Cavalieri]

Listen along with our Top Country Albums, January 2012 playlist.

One month into the new year, and we're already pleasantly surprised by the number of country (and country-ish) releases. The list below includes an exciting and eclectic mix of big names, well-respected singer-songwriters, and some new artists who are doing something that might vaguely resemble country in a parallel universe, maybe. Not a bad January! A new release from Tim McGraw is good news whenever it comes. And how impressive is that Kellie Pickler album? I mean, who knew?! And did you know there are two Swedish sisters out there putting their own spin on country? It's all here, waiting to be discovered; the playlist above combines highlights from these releases with a few new singles.

1. The Little Willies
For the Good Times
This clutch of covers -- songs originally done by such icons as Willie, Loretta and Kristofferson -- has been given a modern yet old-timey face-lift. Track by track, heartache is reflected in ultra-sharp harmonies that resonate across twanging guitars and shuffling beats. Led by Norah Jones, The Little Willies transform "Diesel Smoke, Dangerous Curves" -- a somewhat gimmicky blue-collar trucking song, originally sung by Burl Ives -- into a gritty slice of country noir that feels dangerous indeed. Other highlights include the slow-waltzing "I Worship You," the stunning "Lovesick Blues" and the cat-fight throw-down "Fist City." [Linda Ryan]

Listen along with this post via our Electronic Roundup: January 2012 playlist.

Not to toot Rhapsody's own horn too loudly, but we've officially cracked the 14-million-track mark, which is kind of a lot of music. More importantly, it's a lot of good music, including some pretty obscure stuff. I'm constantly amazed by some of the things I find in our catalog: tiny, underground labels specializing in weirdo synth noise or basement-grade techno, or dance-music mutations so new and amorphous that they don't even have names yet.

Since that's precisely the kind of music that floats my boat, this month's Electronic Roundup is heavy on fringe fare, like the cosmic fantasias of the artist known as No UFO's (initially released as a limited-edition cassette), or the flickering bass-and-beats miniatures by Bristol's El Kid. You'll also find an essential anthology of the Detroit Afrofuturist duo Drexciya (compiled by a Rotterdam label -- globalization ain't all bad), previously unreleased jungle experiments by Luke Vibert, and the return of the multifaceted Matthew Dear. And, just for good measure, a new EP from Skrillex, about whom the only thing fringe may be his notorious haircut.

When it comes to releasing new music, reggae is unusual. Artists in rock, hip-hop and so forth usually release singles or albums that feature original musical compositions -- their own rhythms, melodies and songs. But with reggae, you've gotta dive into the compilation section to get the most up-to-date selection of reggae releases classified as "riddims."

Riddim is the Jamaican patois term for "rhythm"; it simply refers to a song's instrumental accompaniment. Riddim compilations are produced by bands or independent production houses, and feature a dozen or so vocal tracks by different artists, all over the same instrumental. Same song, different singer. The resulting mix of well-established stars and unknown up-and-comers presents a great opportunity for producers and fans to reconnect with old favorites and discover a few new ones.

Many artists will lend their vocals to tracks on riddim compilations for years but only release a few full-length albums in their careers. Digitally crate-digging for these riddims is music discovery at its finest, so search for your favorite star and see what kind of gems you can find. Within roots reggae and dancehall, hundreds of riddims are released every year; here are some of my favorites from 2011.

Listen to our accompanying playlist:

Reggae Riddim Roundup 2011

This month's roundup is largely concerned with unfinished business from 2011, except for Yo Gotti's much-delayed Live from the Kitchen, which drops this week.

December is usually a weird month in hip-hop: most critics and fans have already begun compiling their best-of-year lists, but rap artists often release new albums anyway in a bid for last-minute Christmas shoppers and kids spending their gift cards after the holidays. It didn't help that this year's slate included The Roots' undun, a complex mood piece narrated from the perspective of a dying gangster recounting his life. Meanwhile, Common dropped The Dreamer, The Believer. Superficially, it returned to his past themes of humanism and spiritual uplift, even including a Maya Angelou cameo. But in reality, he spent much of his time shoring up his street credentials with threats of physical beatdowns, while admiring "b*tches" and attacking "fruity rappers" like Drake. Some critics loved these albums, while others (including myself) are skeptical. Yet neither is well suited to a cursory listen or two, especially in the midst of year-end reviewing and list-making.

The sounds of 2011 linger for now, but soon they'll be cast aside for 2012's release slate and a new round of debates. In the meantime, here's a breakdown of recent hip-hop.

Top 10 R&B Albums, November/December 2011

R&B albums often dominate at the end of the year, commanding a huge Christmas-presents-buying audience. And 2011 has been no exception, as Rihanna, Mary J. Blige, T-Pain, Robin Thicke and many others issued new discs. Here's a roundup of the Top 10 R&B releases for November and December.

Listen to my accompanying playlist:

December 2011 R&B Albums Sampler

1. Robin Thicke
Love After War
If Robin Thicke had lived during the Rat Pack era, he would have killed it on the supper-club circuit. He exudes smoothness on much of Love After War, from the power-to-the-people neo soul of "The New Generation" to the brash '70s-inspired soul of "I'm an Animal." In spite of those up-tempo numbers, his specialty remains silky ballads, and he offers plenty here, including the title track, "Boring" and the bossa nova-inflected "Lovely Lady." Even rascally Lil Wayne sounds kittenish on "Pretty Lil' Heart." Thicke isn't breaking any new ground here, but why would you want him to? [Mosi Reeves]

2. Betty Wright & The Roots
Betty Wright: The Movie
Betty Wright may collaborate with Lil Wayne and Joss Stone on Betty Wright: The Movie, but she proudly identifies as a mature woman, not a girl living a second childhood. She hearkens to her late '80s hit "No Pain, No Gain" with hard truths, from giving her girlfriends relationship advice on "In the Middle of the Game (Don't Change the Play)" to advising a nephew in the streets to find a "Real Woman." Questlove produced the album, but don't expect lush avant-neo-soul typical of The Roots. He's in Wright's territory, and that means gritty, gospel-inflected old-school soul. [M.R.]

We gather now to praise a year that had something for everyone, whether you craved Eric Church's country-rock rapture, James Blake's atmospheric electronics, Jay-Z and Kanye West's thrilling megalomania, Ximena Sariñana's trailblazing alt-pop, Foster the People's indie-dance anthems or Adele's, well, you know, total dominance. From global coups to Christian hymns, challenging jazz to blazing metal, here are the records that rocked our world this year, however you chose to define "rock."

Be sure to also check out our Top 50 Songs of 2011.

50. tUnE-yArDs
w h o k i l l
Merrill Garbus treats every instrument, including her voice, like a treasure she eagerly excavated from a junkyard--one man's drums, sax and ukulele are another woman's means to experiment. The core of tUnE-yArDs, Garbus is nearly impossible to pinpoint: Her influences run from hip-hop to funk to R&B to free jazz to Nina Simone. One minute she's yelling out intriguing philosophies, the next she's sweetly chirping like a bird at sunrise, the next she's a "don't take sh*t from you" kind of woman. She articulates it all with a keen pop sense even as beats tumble, horns rumble and chaos erupts. [Stephanie Benson]

49. Mary Mary
Something Big
No release by this talented sister act could be called understated, but Mary Mary's Something Big truly lives up to its name. Erica and Tina are both married now with six kids between them, but the Grammy-winners are at the top of their game, seeming ageless on their sixth studio disc. "Walking" features a bit of urban edge and the tight harmonies that can only happen between siblings, while "Homecoming Glory" offers up a gorgeous picture of Heaven. The title track reminds us who God is and offers a perfect example of how these larger-than-life ladies quietly shine wherever they are. [Wendy Lee Nentwig]

Christmas came early in Latin music this year! The last month or so has provided us with an inordinate number of bright, shiny, exciting new gifts for our ears via stellar new releases from pop divas like Laura Pausini and Paulina Rubio, regional stars like Alacranes Musical and Lucero, up-and-coming game-changers like 3BallMty, and, oh yeah, this little mega-star you may have heard of named Romeo Santos. We're breaking down the top 10 in our latest Latin Roundup, so dig in and start celebrating!

Click here for a playlist:

Latin Roundup December 2011

1. Laura Pausini
Inédito
The kind of music Pausini makes--climactic, heart-on-sleeve pop-rock--is usually either loved or hated. Except when she makes it, there's no hate: It's so well-crafted and impeccably sung, you can't help but fall hard. Charming details dance about: a flute on "Jamás abandoné," the country-ish slide guitar on "Lo que tú me das." But the most important detail is Pausini's voice, which shimmers, soars, belts and holds her own in duets (even with herself). As has become her habit, she recorded Inédito in Italian and Spanish, but there's plenty to grab onto, whatever your language.

"It's intriguing that so many of the best metal albums this year were the ones with no metal in them, by which I mean no guitars." I wrote that eight years ago, at the end of 2003, apparently impressed by certain gothic and/or ambient and/or keyboard-obsessed bands (whom I can no longer identify offhand) who'd taken their heaviness in a rather unexpected direction, to say the least. What I wrote then is certainly not true of metal albums now: my three favorite albums below are absolutely committed to overweight guitar riffs, as metal has been since the very dawn of time. Further down the list, though, there's still plenty of evidence of bands moving their music way beyond the genre's high-volume constrictions and into a territory that -- on entire albums in some cases and just a few tracks in others -- might make sense as relaxing background music on certain underworld elevators. So: a new age or an old one? Your choice.

Listen now:

Metal Roundup, November 2011

1. The Gates of Slumber
The Wretch
This is the sort of Brobdingnagian power-plod you never imagined could come from Indianapolis: super-sized melodies set to wobbling walrus-blubber doom riffs straight out of Saint Vitus, with downcast vocal howls sometimes stumbling into La Brea Tar Pits of reverb or making way for strange Moog-y electronic breaks. Gates of Slumber have no problem going the hard-charging NWOBHM route ("Coven of Cain"), but more often prefer to keep things depressive and nocturnal, as in the 10-ton suicide note "Day of Farewell" and "Iron & Fire," an even heftier album closer that lasts almost 13 minutes. [Chuck Eddy]

We all love our holiday traditions, including our favorite seasonal songs, whether you're a classicist or a "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"-ist. This year, why not add a global dimension to your holiday listening traditions by embracing some international music customs? We've assembled an extensive guide to the best international and Latin holiday albums, including Christmas-, Hanukkah- and solstice-friendly music from Ireland, Cuba, Jamaica, Eastern Europe and more. So start listening and find some new ways to (musically) say Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Nollaig Shona Dhaoibh! Ah Freilichen Chanukah! Happy holidays!

Listen now:

International and Latin Holiday Albums Roundup

1. The Chieftains
The Bells of Dublin
This 1991 album still stands as an unlikely holiday classic -- unlikely because only a handful of the usual suspects make it on here. Yes, you'll hear "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "O Holy Night" and a healthy heap of other traditional tunes, but the bulk of The Bells of Dublin plumbs deep into the season, featuring Breton and French carols alongside the odd, Elvis Costello-sung "St. Stephen's Day Murders." The sprawling album commences with the chiming bells of Dublin's Christchurch Cathedral, and they appear throughout. Jackson Browne, Rickie Lee Jones, Marianne Faithfull and many others guest. [Sarah Bardeen]

Can you smell it in the air? It's that time again. Christmas is coming, ready or not, and while there's still hope this is the year you'll successfully avoid Grandma's probing inquiries about your still-single status and Uncle Carl's awkward full-frontal hugs, holiday music is a Christmastime inevitability. At the mall or the doctor's office, in grocery stores and elevators, on TV and the radio, from the computers of overly cheery coworkers and the mouths of misguided carolers, you can't escape it. Don't even try. The best you can hope for is to exercise some control over the seasonal sounds you consume. It's in that spirit that we present a host of brand-new holiday releases. Read on and find out which ones are worth adding to this year's holiday playlist.

Or, click here to listen to our

Holiday New Music Mix - 2011 playlist

1. Justin Bieber
Under the Mistletoe
The Biebster + holidays? Why didn't someone think of this sooner?! The boy wonder knows how to get you in a festive mood. And we do mean mood: things get downright naughty on "Christmas Eve." The classics are craftily reworked (Santa comes to town with hip-hop swagger; the drummer boy goes clubbing), and the originals are finely tuned to show off Bieber's surprising range, from dubby coffee-shop pop to soulful country. Plus, a bunch of fabulous guests stop by, including Usher, Boyz II Men and, yes, Mariah Carey. Mistletoe is no Mimi holiday album, but it's one heck of a holiday party. [Rachel Devitt]

Christian artists were born (or should we say born again?) to create Christmas music. After all, "Christ" is right there in the name of the holiday! It's not surprising that a genre that delivers spiritually themed music all year long goes into overdrive around the holidays. From the outside looking in, it could seem like overkill (the sheer volume practically guarantees at least a few lukewarm covers), but when it comes to marking the birth of a baby they see as a savior, the faithful take this stuff seriously. Here's our take on a half-dozen of the most high-profile new Christmas collections, with details on everything from guest stars to don't-miss tracks.

Listen now:

New Christian Christmas Mix - 2011

1. Matthew West
The Heart of Christmas
The pop purveyor with a great big heart kicks off his first seasonal disc with a bang, belting out the uptempo "Come On, Christmas." Even if you're a little low on Christmas spirit, you'll find it hard not to get caught up in his enthusiasm for the ho-ho holiday. Not content to just deliver covers, West mixes six classics with the same number of original tunes and adds a bit of a Rat Pack vibe. While he has no problem holding his own, West's musical guests are nothing to throw a candy cane at: Vince Gill, Amy Grant and Mandisa each join him for a duet, taking this album from "merry and bright" to "instant classic."

Well, pop fans, it looks like Christmas came early for us this year. Or, to put it another (more accurate) way, your favorite pop stars hustled to get their big albums out in time for the holidays -- but before the end-of-the-year dead zone in which no album survives. Many beloved boldface names here: Rihanna! Kelly Clarkson! Drake! Bieber! The Muppets! In fact, so many great albums came out in the last month, we couldn't find a way to limit it to just 10. So here are pop's Top 11 albums of the last month -- plus honorable mentions!

For a sampling of each album, check out our

Pop Roundup November-December 2011 playlist.

1. Rihanna
Talk That Talk
With love-drunk lyrics and throbbing club beats, much of Talk sounds like Rihanna recorded it while joyously spinning in circles. Don't worry: she's still a naughty girl, too -- more than ever. But in place of Loud's themes of strength in submission, Riri climbs on top this time, making demands, acting the aggressor, even requesting you suck her "Cockiness." Her "Red Lipstick" marks her claim on hip-hop masculinity, rather than on a man, but even her self-presentation as a "Birthday Cake" feels like a finger-snapping command. Talk is a sexy, confident play on notions of power. [Rachel Devitt]

It's nearing the end of the year, and there's no shortage of rappers trying to squeeze in an album for holiday shoppers. The big releases this month come from Drake, Wale, Gym Class Heroes and, surprisingly, Mac Miller. December brings The Roots, Common, and Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa. However, there are plenty of lower-profile albums worth a listen, too; so many, in fact, that I couldn't squeeze them in. I compiled a list of them at the end of this roundup.

Click here to listen to a playlist:

November 2011 Hot Rap Singles

1. Drake
Take Care
For Take Care, Drake re-ups the lush R&B romanticism of 2010's Thank Me Later, albeit with a twist. "I know I exaggerated things/ But now I got it like that," he says on "Headlines," where he threatens to sic his bodyguards on haters. (What happened to Gang Starr's "Suckas Need Bodyguards"?) Big cars, pliant women and deliciously ambient beats from Boi-1da and Noah "40" Shebib inspire this tastefully appointed exercise in debauchery. But Drake's not too famous to beg the girls on "Marvin's Room" and the title track, even if it sounds more like a booty call than true love. [Mosi Reeves]

This Classical Roundup has a decidedly American bent: Leonard Bernstein and Hilary Hahn bring life to Ives, Mikhail Simonyan plays Barber, and Leonard Pennario rolls though Gottschalk. To round things out, and for a touch of international diversity, Matt Haimovitz takes on Arcade Fire (they're Canadian!) and The Anonymous 4 offer law-breaking 13th-century French songs. All that and more are waiting below. Enjoy.

For a sampling of every album mentioned below, go straight to our

Classical Roundup: Fall 2011 playlist.

1. Hilary Hahn
Charles Ives: Four Sonatas
Fierce and dexterous, austere and blithe, Hilary Hahn's range makes her the perfect interpreter of Charles Ives' distinctly American violin sonatas, and this collaboration with pianist Valentina Lisitsa hits the mark. Ives' fundamental mood swings are handled brilliantly by the duo, which skates between savagely difficult technical passages and sentimental folk melodies (listen for the shattered rearrangement of "Turkey in the Straw" in the second movement of the second sonata).

As 2011 starts to wind down, we're highlighting some of the last remaining releases of the year. It's a mix of luscious dream pop from the likes of M83, Atlas Sound and newcomers Blouse, alongside creepy electro-pop from none other than the filmmaker weirdo David Lynch, symphonic rock from former Oasis man Noel Gallagher, bold romantic pop from Florence + the Machine and My Brightest Diamond, and even a new Twilight soundtrack for the tween in us all. There are also some tasty singles and EPs from Mazzy Star (!), Kurt Vile, moody post-punkers The Soft Moon and downtempo Grecians Keep Shelly in Athens.

For a sampling of every album mentioned below, go straight to our

Indie Roundup, November 2011 playlist.

1. M83
Hurry Up, We're Dreaming
This is the kind of music that'll have you holding up a jukebox for your true love. M83's sixth album runs like a relentless reverie set in an '80s cinematic wonderland where synths wiggle, wobble and billow to hair-raising levels. The two discs are meant to act like siblings, and each parallel track does seem to share threads of DNA: the horn blasts of "Midnight City" and "New Map," the acoustic strums of "Wait" and "Splendor," the seductive female purrs of "Reunion" and "OK Pal." Plus there are the ambient interludes, which come as welcome flashes of serenity amid such cathartic intensity. [Stephanie Benson]

Synthesizer freaks will be stoked this month, whether it's for the cosmic frequencies that Emeralds' Steve Hauschildt harnesses on his new album for Kranky, or the Day-Glo arpeggios and cartoon trance of Rustie's audacious debut album for Warp. Oneohtrix Point Never's Daniel Lopatin actually moves away from the supersaturated synths of his previous work, but his new record's cryptic vignettes are still a treat for fans of well-tempered analog sound. And the dark drones of Sandwell District's glowering Feed Forward, finally given a digital release, insert coldwave keyboards into techno at its most austere.

We also highlight new albums from Tycho, The Juan MacLean and more; to hear tracks from all those records, listen to our

Electronic Roundup, November 2011 playlist.

There are all sorts of milestones in this month's Jazz Roundup. The biggest deal comes from Wynton Marsalis, whose 50th birthday was celebrated with a pair of records that show the trumpeter's paramount cultural clout. How many other musicians' labels issue a birthday retrospective? How many people get to jam with Clapton to celebrate half a century? There's also the final take from iconic vocalist Etta James and the realization of Christian McBride's long dream to lead a big band. Those three are joined by James Carter's organ trio and some torch-y vocals from L.A. pretty boy Michael Feinstein.

For highlights, check out my

Jazz Roundup: November 2011 playlist.

1. James Carter Organ Trio
At the Crossroads
Although label troubles hindered James Carter's rise through the late '90s, the Detroit saxophonist has slowly put things back together. His second record of 2011, this gritty homage to the then-and-now of jazz in the Motor City, opens with a blistering take on "Oh Gee" and explores blues roots in a funky, gutsy, post-bop landscape. Although there are notable guest appearances -- including that of guitarist Bruce Edwards -- the standout track is from the hand of drummer Leonard King, Jr., who complements Carter's shrieking, virtuosic choruses on "Lettuce Toss Yo' Salad." [Nate Cavalieri]