Bon Iver s/t (Jagjaguwar)

Bon Iver’s follow up to their debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, expands on his minimalist sound.

Jill Scott The Light of the Sun (Warner Bros.)

A record of the rocky road to empowerment.

Simple Plan Get Your Heart On! (Atlantic)

These pop punk songs only take themselves half-seriously, with names like “You Suck at Love” and cheeky lyrics that compare a new relationship to being “stuck like two pieces of Velcro.”

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alpocalypse (Volcano)

Alpocalypse fits the Yankovic album template splendidly, offering a great gut busters-to-groaners ratio, and featuring one of the best pop-in-a-polka-style medleys in the man’s catalog, “Polka Face.”

Dave Alvin Eleven Eleven (Yep Roc)

Americana

LMFAO Sorry for Party Rocking (Interscope)

Dance-Pop

OK Go 180/365 (Paracadute)

Alternative/Indie Rock

Pitbull Planet Pit (RCA)

Pop-Rap

Saigon The Greatest Story Never Told (Suburban Noize) (Released earlier this year)

It took a long time for the Entourage cast member to move from what some figured was a fictional character to debut-releasing rapper. It was worth the wait. Great production work compliments diverse lyricism from the Brooklyn MC.