North Wales’ The Joy Formidable seems to have the knack for kicking off new years with panache. In January 2011, they released The Big Roar to considerable acclaim. In 2013, Wolf’s Law made its way into the public consciousness.

By creating his Southern-infused jazz sounds, guitarist Joey Stuckey plumbs the depths of genre-splicing on Mixture. His first full-length jazz record, this is an opportunity to dig in to another side

Guitarist, composer and educator Dan Phillips has taken his game to a lot of different places, honing his skills in New York, Chicago, Tokyo, and Bangkok. His experience has served him well

Leave it to a pair of twins from Canada to provoke listeners in such joyful fashion. With Heartthrob, a contagious chunk of pure pop bliss, Tegan and Sara Quin have taken apart the apparatus

With Escapement, London-based composer and performer Poppy Ackroyd provides a moving, immersive experience using little more than the bare necessities.

In all the time I’ve spent drifting through the veritable sea of jazz vocalists, my ears have always perked up whenever a singer is able to express some sense of truth.

Originally from the Northeast coast of Australia and now calling Texas her home, singer-songwriter Lisa Richards uncorks a bottle of confidence and darkness on Beating of the Sun.

With another year gone, the time for lists is upon us. I’ve already toiled over my list of favorite metal albums and my list of pop/rock/whatever albums, so the unenviable task now falls to identifying 2012′s favorite jazz records.

It took some doing, but I’ve finally completed the sacrifices necessary to appease the Dark Lord. With the fiery strength He gave me, I was able to narrow down a list

Narrowing down the wealth of pop and rock albums from 2012 into a set of 10 favorites is an onerous chore that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. It is a fate worse than death; a grueling salvo of nepotism