Aging rock and pop stars often seek a late-career safe harbor in country music, but 62-year-old Cyndi Lauper tackles the genre with characteristically daring eccentricity. Rather than dully respecting the vintage material she covers here, much of which dates back to the Fifties, she dotes on it, downplaying neither her… Source: RollingStone Link: Detour

Not everyone wants to hear Pitbull shout “Mr. Worldwide!” in the middle of a country album. But the genially party-crazed Cuban rapper sounds right at home on the chirpy, margarita-doused “Sun Don’t Let Me Down,” assembled by disco great turned superproducer Nile Rodgers and pop-country trackmaster busbee. The rest of… Source: RollingStone Link: Ripcord

British soul rarely sounds this turned up. UK chart-topper Katy B’s third album is an ambitious collaborative effort featuring some of the biggest and buzziest producers around. Effortlessly moving between genres, she makes sure to put an R&B stamp on each song, keeping all the opposing styles and approaches from veering into… Source: RollingStone Link: Honey

For more than four decades, beginning with 1975’s Discreet Music, Brian Eno’s solo works have presented a universe of sound frozen in slow motion, melting to reveal and revel in new layers of dreamlike impressions. Eno redefined minimalism with his 1978 LP Ambient 1: Music for Airports and on nearly… Source: RollingStone Link: The Ship

What does it mean for Beyoncé to drop a new surprise album on the world within days of a giant like Prince leaving us? It’s a welcome reminder that giants still walk among us. Lemonade is an entire album of emotional discord and marital meltdown, from the world’s most famous celebrity; it’s… Source: RollingStone Link: Lemonade

For their fourth album, Alex Ebert and his hippie-vibes collective shambled to New Orleans, fusing light psychedelia with lighter R&B and jazz touches for music that often goes down like acid-spiked gumbo. Songs are as gaping as the seven-minute dashiki-ragtime reverie “Hot Coals,” and as campfire-warm as “The Ballad of… Source: RollingStone Link: Person A

On “Rebirth,” a standout moment from his second album, ASAP Ferg makes his mission clear: “Now that you’re no longer a lord that’s trap, you have graduated to the Hood Pope.” The follow-up to his acclaimed 2013 debut Trap Lord sees the Harlem rapper open up with more honesty, humor… Source: RollingStone Link: Always Strive […]

Even in an absurdly abundant time for brilliant young indie bands, Parquet Courts approach their jittery art-punk guitar buzz with a playful sense of adventure that sets them way ahead of the pack. The Brooklyn-via-Texas dudes have built a fervent following in the past few years by indulging their whims…. Source: RollingStone Link: Human Performance

If you’ve been praying for Peter Wolf to drop a bluegrass remake of his J. Geils Band classic “Love Stinks” – congratulations. The man heard you. It’s just one of the welcome surprises on the Woofa Goofa’s superbly rugged new solo album, rambling through various strains of roots music, yet… Source: RollingStone Link: A Cure […]

Balancing old and new-school soul with Bruno Mars panache, this Danish singer’s debut is a fine argument for pop optimism. His string-buoyed hit “7 Years” collapses Joni Mitchell’s “The Circle Game” into the Beatles’ “When I’m Sixty-Four” for a life-journey meditation. “Drunk in the Morning” is a piano-and-brass-driven booty call… Source: RollingStone Link: Lukas Graham