With Billy Childs’ ‘Map to the Treasure: Reimaging Laura Nyro,’ it looks like my best albums of 2014 list just got longer.

One day back in 1996, I was on my way to work and heard this terrific song … about a kid playing in the backyard? Refusing to wear a shirt? Huh?! You May Also Like: Joe Jackson’s Rain underscored a complete modern-era return to form