The Willowz : Talk in Circles

Garage rock, no wave, spazz-punk and psychedelic rock in a blender.

Headlights : The Enemies

Brief taste of dream pop from Champaign trio.

Tarantula A.D. : Book of Sand

Instrumental epics, timeless and placeless.

Manual : Azure Vista

Electro tunes for a fading sunset.

The Greenhornes : Sewed Soles

The party album to close out the year.

Adam Gnade : Run, Hide, Retreat, Surrender

Dreamy soundscapes and haunting narratives.

Old 97s : Alive and Wired

Two disc live set captures Texas barnstormers at their best.

Celso Fonseca : Rive Gauche Rio

First stop on the world tour: Brazil.

Frantic Mantis : Data Is Not Information

Sci-fi-core supergroup, with just the right amount of impending doom.

Neil Diamond : 12 Songs

Classic pop crooner becomes cool again.

Immaculate Machine : Ones and Zeroes

New Pornographer Kathryn Calder’s “other” band.

John Dufilho : John Dufilho

Deathray Davies frontman comes into his own with “debut” solo set.

Explosions in the Sky : How Strange, Innocence

Reissue of Texas instrumental rockers’ debut may be embarrassing for them, but a blessing for the rest of us.

Oneida : The Wedding

No “Chicken Dance” or “I Will Survive” to be found here.

Edith Frost : It’s a Game

The benefits of being “real.”