Homeboy Sandman Kool Herc: Fertile Crescent

Weird, knotty NYC rap mercifully avoids pandering to the so-called "NYC rap is back!" zeitgeist.

The Dillinger Escape Plan One of Us Is the Killer

Call their inspired gonzo thrash whatever you want; just don't expect them to give a shit.

Eve Lip Lock

Rejuvenated rap veteran flaunts her dance-floor fluency and overall baddest-bitchitude.

Pistol Annies Annie Up

Grits-and-sass country trio serve up the cleverest corn around

Iggy and the Stooges Ready to Die

Punk lifers contemplate mortality while urgently defying it

Phoenix Bankrupt!

Inscrutable indie-pop breakout stars get even better, and possible even more inscrutable.

Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats Mind Control

Plus: Ghost B.C.'s Infestissumam and Purson's The Circle and the Blue Door

Kid Cudi Indicud

Stoner-rap paragon makes a welcome transition from moping to raging.

Charli XCX True Romance

Sassy U.K. pop outsider crossbreeds Britney and Siouxsie — you know you love it

Major Lazer Free the Universe

More hybrid dance-floor greatness and/or ridiculousness from Team Diplo.

Ghostface Killah and Adrian Younge Twelve Reasons to Die

Slightly too long, slightly too rote cinematic fantasy proves revenge is best served on small plates.

Steffi Panorama Bar 05

Rapturous all-nighter DJ set mixes public revelry with private ecstasy.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs Mosquito

Post-post-punk heroes mix veteran wiliness with the vivacity (and relentless sexiness) of youth

Rilo Kiley RKives

Beloved pop tarts say goodbye with astounding b-sides in name only

Brad Paisley Wheelhouse

A ton of thoughtful, expert pop-country jams overshadowed by one viral disaster

James Blake Overgrown

Bipolar, maudlin electro-pop crooner balances terse austerity with bonkers RZA cameos.

Paramore Paramore

Pop-punk survivors turn their drama into grandiose, life-affirming gold

Tyler, The Creator Wolf

Controversial rapper now going door-to-door trying to shock people