American Prences
Other People

Of all the Little Rock, Ark., acts that have been largely overlooked by national media for two decades now, five-piece American Princes are likely to be, for good reason, the frontrunners in towing that local scene to a wider audience. Earning accolades with their label debut Less and Less in ’06, their fifth full-length, Other People, captures fully formed talents as they continue to reach new peaks. Able to bear their influences lightly and steer clear of a quick pigeonhole, the Princes hover between the anthemic post-punk of “Kid Incinerator,” Clash-tinged staccato of “Son of California” that twists into a soulful church rocker, and jangly Cure pop of “Gravel.” Each of Other People’s tracks cites only the best of ’80s college rock without having to bow to it, skirting any campy elitism and simply kicking ass. —DA

FOR FANS OF:
Constantines – Tournament of Hearts
Tears for Fears – Songs From the Big Chair
Lucero – Rebels, Rogues & Sworn Brothers

Dave Barnes
Me and You and the World

Now that TV is being proclaimed by some as the new radio, Dave Barnes may be an episode or two away from the big leagues. While “Until You,” the first single from his latest album, would make a fine Casey Kasem long-distance dedication, it’d work even better on the tube, scoring a Grey’s Anatomy breakup or teen-drama prom scene.

FOR FANS OF:
John Mayer – Room for Squares
Maroon 5 – Songs About Jane
Edwin McCain – Misguided Roses

Blind Melon
For My Friends

Blind Melon lost frontman Shannon Hoon to a heroin overdose in October 1995 and sought a suitable replacement for several years before giving up hope—until they discovered Travis Warren, a young Texan with a voice that eerily recalls Hoon’s and a lyrical sensibility that nicely fits the group’s neo-hippie mindset. But For My Friends, the first Blind Melon studio album in 13 years, also points out just how much Glen Graham’s skittering drums, Brad Smith’s spidery bass, and the Allmans-tinged twin guitars of Christopher Thorn and Rogers Stevens also defined the band’s sound. It remains to be seen if Blind Melon’s considerable cult following takes Friends to heart, but it’s at the very least an honorable continuation of a story whose apparent ending had seemed all too abrupt. —CN

FOR FANS OF:
The Black Crowes – Warpaint
Counting Crows – Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings
Smashing Pumpkins – Zeitgeist

Brian Jonestown Massacre
My Bloody Underground

Not only did Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Anton Newcombe seem every inch the tortured artiste in the 2004 documentary Dig!, he seemed to believe quite firmly in the infallibility of his own genius. It’s that sort of dangerous self-regard that leads to 10-minute drone-rock songs and shambling white-boy piano instrumentals, both of which are featured on his band’s latest.

FOR FANS OF:
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Take Them On, On Your Own
Spacemen 3 – The Perfect Prescription
The Dandy Warhols – 13 Tales From Urban Bohemia

Hayes Carll
Trouble in Mind

“I’m wild as a turkey under a Christmas moon / I’m as empty as my wallet on a Sunday afternoon.” That adroit couplet sums up Hayes Carll’s insurgent stance, now in full bloom on his pointedly titled third album. Carll’s devil-may-care spit and swagger is especially evident on such offerings as “Drunken Poet’s Dream,” “Don’t Let Me Fall,” “Willing to Love Again” and “Wild as a Turkey,” which boasts the aforementioned assertion. Carll connects that edgy, outlaw attitude to feisty melodies, an ornery drawl and ramshackle arrangements that evoke a Sunday-morning hangover after a particularly rowdy Saturday night. Suffice it to say, Trouble in Mind will prove mighty worrisome for those who insist on political correctness. Proof lies in “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up,” a tirade on the need to avoid aging, and “She Left Me for Jesus,” a frustrated lament about his girlfriend’s newfound faith. Both bode equal-opportunity offense. —LZ

FOR FANS OF:
Steve Earle – Copperhead Road
Ryan Adams – Love Is Hell
Ray Wylie Hubbard – Dangerous Spirits

The Cat Empire
So Many Nights

This album couldn’t have been created by anyone other than Australia’s the Cat Empire—and that’s a compliment. Album No. 5 for the sextet is as quirky as they come, running all over the map with invigorating merengue and Cuban rhythms, no doubt some stylistic residue from their Havana-based Two Shoes sessions. Despite the Latin rhythm injection, the 15 songs on So Many Nights reveal a band that’s testing itself by stretching beyond its limits, often with mixed results.

Felix Riebl isn’t the strongest of vocalists, sometimes reminiscent of a funky Ray Davies on the title track and “Fishies,” but the collective band, led by keyboardist Ollie McGill and invoking the turntable scratching of Jamshid Khadiwala, compensate with technical chemistry. Still, the real stars here are the Empire Horns and the Empire Strings, who inject enough pizzazz into the driving “Til the Ocean Takes Us All,” the epic, arpeggiated “Lonely Moon” and the spicy hidden track “Wanted to Write a Love Song” to warrant additional brownie points.

The songs themselves are slightly awkward little creatures, dealing with romance in terms that are, at times, baffling. “So Many Nights” might have to do with a matador. Then again, it might not. Such is the Cat Empire’s allure: They always keep you guessing. —NK

FOR FANS OF:
Skyhooks – Ego Is Not a Dirty Word
Split Enz – Mental Notes
The Mavericks – Trampoline

Colour Revolt
Plunder, Beg, and Curse

After one listen to Plunder, Beg, and Curse, these young Mississippians could be pegged as Muse wannabes. They have the vibe and groove but don’t pack quite the Earth-shattering power and presence perfected by the British alt-rock trio. Fortunately, one can hear that they’re far from mere imitators.

Colour Revolt may opt for a British spelling and Jesse Coppenbarger’s vocals are reminiscent of Muse’s Matt Bellamy at times, but the jagged yet sweeping guitars, melancholy lyrics and vocal tenor push the record into a place all its own. And truly, pitting most bands against the U.K. rock giants will result in unfair comparisons.

It’s not a perfect album—the aforementioned vocal/guitar tandem tends to drown out the rest of the mix, and the sparseness that permeates through some songs (such as “What Will Come of Us?”) can drag, but it’s an incredibly promising full-length debut from the five-piece. —RP

FOR FANS OF:
Muse – Black Holes and Revelations
Brand New – The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me
The Appleseed Cast – Peregrine

Def Leppard
Songs From the Sparkle Lounge

The success of their twin 1980s blockbusters Pyromania and Hysteria—10 times and 12 times platinum, respectively—made Def Leppard one of the world’s biggest rock bands, but it also upset their natural artistic trajectory. Ever since, they’ve been replicating the trademark pop-metal sound of their best-selling work (1992’s Adrenalize, 1999’s Euphoria) or purposefully veering away from it (1996’s Slang, 2002’s X) with varying degrees of success. But the 2006 covers set Yeah! seems to have hit this band’s reset button: Songs From the Sparkle Lounge is their most natural, least self-conscious album in ages. The sound is stripped down (by Leppard standards, anyway) with plenty of growling guitars, a notable lack of crossover-bait balladry and a fat-free running time of just over 39 minutes. The Lep is in full roar once again. —CN

FOR FANS OF:
Cheap Trick – Rockford
Queensrÿche – Take Cover
Paul Stanley – Live to Win

Gavin DeGraw
Gavin DeGraw

Gavin DeGraw may growl out of the gate on his sophomore album—2003’s Chariot introduced him to the masses—but blazing guitars and pounding drums can’t camouflage the fact that this new rock attitude still flaunts the Gavin of old in terms of composition. One part Billy Joel, one part Randy Newman, the South Fallsberg, N.Y., singer-songwriter knows how to employ the hooks (“Cop Stop,” “I Have You to Thank”), the high-density, in-your-face arrangements (“In Love With a Girl,” “Medicate the Kids”) and a general zeal that at times overwhelms—especially with his megaphone-volume singing. While subtlety is in short supply, there’s no reason to believe the piano-pounding DeGraw won’t reach his intended targets—mainstream radio and an elevation in live-venue stature—with this album. Whether or not there are any lasting statements worthy of immortality regarding the topics of romance and breakups is up to the listener to decide. —NK

FOR FANS OF:
Billy Joel – 52nd Street
Randy Newman – Guilty: 30 Years of Randy Newman
Elton John – To Be Continued ...

Kris Delmhorst
Shotgun Singer

On her fifth studio album, Kris Delmhorst takes up residence at the intersection of folk and alt-rock, fusing her angelic vocals and poetic lyrics with an array of guitars, keyboards, percussion and found sounds that provides a shifting set of musical textures. On the atmospheric “Heavens Hold the Sun,” against a din of banging percussion and stray noises, Delmhorst leaves the listener with the impression that the singer’s undying devotion is actually closer to unhinged obsession. Likewise on the ethereal “If Not for Love,” ghostly voices dance in and out of the mix. “Riverwide” places a swampy guitar against various noises and voices, which eventually overtake the singer in a harrowing soundscape.

But Delmhorst is more than just a cacophony advocate. “1000 Reasons” is a melodic pop gem that holds up against anything Liz Phair or Sheryl Crow has issued in recent years, and “Birds of Belfast” is a lovely post-breakup song of disarming simplicity: “Who are you without your sadness? / Who am I without my shame? / When did all the birds of Belfast learn to sing your name?” In the end, Shotgun Singer is a tour de force of singing, writing and production that gains in richness with each repetition. —BC

FOR FANS OF:
Feist – The Reminder
Laura Veirs – Year of Meteors
Suzanne Vega – 99.9F°

Flight of the Conchords
Flight of the Conchords

Accessible for fans of their HBO comedy series and neo-phlights alike, the Conchords’ full-length debut showcases their skills as song craftsmen, with most tracks serving as perfect three-minute encapsulations of a particular genre, with one hilarious twist. Witness the airy, ’60s French pop chanson as sung by people who only took one semester of the language in high school (“Foux du Fafa”), the Barry White-esque serenade to a passionless sexual relationship (“Business Time”) or “The Most Beautiful Girl (In the Room),” an R&B-style come-on song, authentic except for its utter lack of hyperbole. (Sample lyric: “You’re so beautiful you could be a part-time model / But you’d probably still have to keep your normal job.”)

If there’s any complaint, it’s that the album (produced by Mickey Petralia of Beck’s Midnite Vultures) could have used one or two of the live tracks that enlivened the duo’s 2007 Grammy-winning EP. The New Zealanders’ comic timing tends to be enhanced with an audience to play off of. —JA

FOR FANS OF:
Tenacious D – Tenacious D
Spinal Tap – This Is Spinal Tap
Various Artists – A Mighty Wind soundtrack

The Gibson Brothers
Iron & Diamonds

“It’s all been done before,” Eric Gibson sings on “Picker’s Blues,” and insofar as he’s talking about the music that he and his brother, Leigh, have made their lives’ work, he may be right. The Gibsons, after all, deal in traditional bluegrass and country, and as devout revivalists they face the thankless task of selling ancient America in an Internet age.

It’s a burden the upstate New Yorkers are glad to bear. On their latest album, the siblings find warmth in old sounds, singing back-roads harmonies over the rolling pluck, jangle and thud of acoustic instruments. While savvier marketers would update this music or play it for novelty, the Gibsons know that tunes like “One Step Closer to the Grave,” with its talk of salvation and sin, demand classic treatment. In their loving, skillful hands, nostalgia becomes living history. —KP
 
FOR FANS OF:
The Grascals – Long List of Heartaches
The Louvin Brothers – When I Stop Dreaming: The Best of the Louvin Brothers
Blue Highway – Through the Window of a Train

John Hiatt
Same Old Man

Never mind its humble billing—Same Old Man affirms Hiatt’s irrefutable prowess as one of America’s best contemporary songwriters, as manifest in his agile combination of evocative sentiment, subtle humor and melodies that blaze their way into the consciousness effortlessly and effusively. The one-two punch of the album’s initial entries—the swaggering and obviously autobiographical “Old Days,” the tattered, heartfelt ballad “Love You Again”—are by themselves well worth the cost of admission. Yet given the lingering reassurance of the title track, the bottleneck shuffle of “Ride My Pony” and the killer chorus of “Cherry Red,” it’s clear, even 30 years on, Hiatt’s creative arc maintains its upward movement. His weathered vocals provide nuance—a hint of subversion in “On With You,” yearning and skewered sentiment on “Our Time”—while the frayed arrangements reinforce his soulful stance, an approach that’s unflinchingly honest and consistently affecting. More of the Same is a good thing. —LZ

FOR FANS OF:
Warren Zevon – The Wind
Van Morrison – Tupelo Honey
Richard Thompson – Amnesia

The Hooters
Time Stand Still

Although some may consider them an ’80s anachronism, today’s Hooters sound as vibrant as ever, giving credence both to their new album’s title and their prolific prowess. With chief songwriters Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman still at the helm, the album retains the energetic delivery that made hits like “And We Danced” and “All You Zombies” such welcome radio fare. A surprisingly subdued cover of Don Henley’s “Boys of Summer” aside, the set is buoyant, owing to the rousing strum of Bazilian’s mandolin and mandola and the exuberant refrains that turn “I’m Alive,” “Until I Find You Again,” “Where the Wind May Blow” and the title track into anthems stoked by optimism. Admittedly, this unabashed allegiance to their pop precepts seems a scarce commodity nowadays, but the Hooters may just bring that back in vogue. —LZ

FOR FANS OF:
Matchbox 20 – Mad Season
Train – Drops of Jupiter
Poi Dog Pondering – Volo Volo

Griffin House
Flying Upside Down

With his fifth full-length set of songs, singer-songwriter Griffin House—who alternates between label and DIY releases—shows the promise of impending pop stardom. It’s not that House reinvents the genre—if anything, his songs sound like the radio-ready fodder that cluttered the airwaves up until the late ’80s. Whether it’s the love-struck conjecture of “Let Me In,” the breezy sway of “Hangin’ On (Tom’s Song)” or the resplendent themes of “Good for You” and “Waiting for the Rain to Come Down,” House’s lithe melodies come across like instant ear candy. Despite a generally downcast disposition—especially evident on “It’s Happening Again,” a moving lament about his forebears’ wartime experiences—the hollow-eyed affirmation of “When the Time Is Right” and the gentle caress of “The Guy That Says Goodbye to You Is Out of His Mind” provide an affable embrace. That allows Flying Upside Down to skirt any real hint of turbulence. —LZ

FOR FANS OF:
Jason Collett – Motor Motel Love Songs
Josh Ritter – Hello Starling
Josh Rouse – Dressed Up Like Nebraska

Scarlett Johansson
Anywhere I Lay My Head

Lay down your pitchforks: Actress Scarlett Johansson’s cautiously anticipated album of Tom Waits covers, Anywhere I Lay My Head, ain’t half bad. You’re not the only one surprised. The idea of a sexy young starlet tackling the “Cookie Monster from Hell” caterwauls of Waits’ idiosyncratic catalog already has two strikes against it. However, inspired production from TV on the Radio’s David Sitek and Johansson’s smoky alto ensure Waits’ essence isn’t “lost in translation.” (Sorry ... couldn’t resist.)

Unlike a phoned-in Lindsay Lohan vanity project, Anywhere I Lay My Head feels almost inspired (for a covers album) on tracks like “Town With No Cheer” and “Fannin’ Street,” which guests cred-booster David Bowie. Wisely, each song drastically alters—rather than mimics—Waits’ work with bold experimentation the man himself might approve of. Scar Jo even takes baby steps toward an album of her own material on Anywhere’s one original song (the pretty, but irritatingly named, “Song for Jo”).

If her follow-up album is half as good as this one, Johansson and band have finally raised the bar for actor-slash-rockers. Apologies to Keanu, Paris and Jared Leto. —CW

FOR FANS OF:
Tom Waits – Alice
The Pretenders – The Pretenders
TV on the Radio – Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes

The Last Shadow Puppet
The Age of the Understatement

The Age of the Understatement combines everything great about rock circa 1965 and replaces the era’s banal poetry with the frankness expected of angry young men. The orchestral pop is Bacharach with rougher edges, the British rock vocals date back to John Lennon, and the mix of guitar and organ recalls the great instrumental surf bands. Lennon aside though, none of those artists was bold enough to put out a cold-titled tune like “I Don’t Like You Any More.”

The record comes from Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys and Miles Kane of the Rascals (not to be confused with the ’60s band). The Monkeys, of course, are a ferocious act and were hyped tirelessly by the English press. Yet the Last Shadow Puppets have arrived without fanfare and convey something more than just rock ’n’ roll glory. Those contrasts give the side project a different brand of command over listeners. If the Monkeys represent the criminal who scares people by screaming and waving his gun around, the Puppets are the Old West outlaw who instills fear without saying a word or reaching for his pistol. —DS

 
FOR FANS OF:
The Beau Brummels – Triangle
Cousteau – Cousteau
Amy Winehouse – Back to Black

Lyrics Born
Everywhere at Once
It’s been five years since Japanese-Italian-American rapper Lyrics Born hit the studio. Looking to complement his arsenal of styles (including staccato rapping, gravelly conversational rhyming and nasally singing) with a fresh sound, the producer/performer has taken a different tack on Everywhere at Once, employing a live backing band. While the results are mixed, the figurehead of underground West Coast hip-hop delivers an official TKO.

The live support brings the funk with a tight R&B groove that gels perfectly with Born’s breadth of styles (“I Like It, I Love It,” “Is It the Skin I’m In”), though some tracks suffer from a cheesy ’90s vibe. Fortunately, those cuts are few and far enough between that Born’s clean—though not glaringly glossy—production and guest collaborators shine brightly. —RP

FOR FANS OF:
Blackalicious – Nia
Jurassic 5 – Feedback
Outkast – Stankonia

Kathy Mattea
Coal

Anyone looking for Kathy Mattea to return to the sprightly sound of her ’80s hits like “18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses” will just have to wait. The West Virginia native has been planning this album of coal-mining songs since she was 19, and the 2006 Sago mine disaster provided the impetus to bring it to life. She opens with Jean Ritchie’s bouncy “The L&N Don’t Stop Here Anymore” but quickly downshifts into bleaker material, with Patty Loveless and producer Marty Stuart joining in on Ritchie’s dirge-like waltz “Blue Diamond Mines.” There, and on tracks like Darrell Scott’s mournful “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive,” Mattea conveys the pain of the coal miner’s life and the looming threat of death that goes with it. But these are Mattea’s roots, after all, and the heart-rending “Coming of the Roads” explores the love/hate relationship with the hometown she left behind. In addition, Mattea’s sweet take on Utah Phillips’ “Green Rolling Hills” ranks among her most beautiful performances. At the other end of the emotional spectrum, her spine-tingling, a cappella version of Hazel Dickens’ “Black Lung” is positively soul-stirring. It makes you wish that country radio didn’t discard singers like Mattea before the peak of their powers—just when they’re capable of making emotionally mature musical statements like Coal. —BC

FOR FANS OF:
Patty Loveless – Mountain Soul
Emmylou Harris – Roses in the Snow
Laurie Lewis – Earth & Sky: Songs of Laurie Lewis

James McMurtry
Just Us Kids

Emboldened by his state-of-the-union diatribe “We Can’t Make It Here” on 2005’s Childish Things, James McMurtry has built his ninth album around a handful of bitter political screeds which make that tune sound like a party invitation. On the thumping “God Bless America” he sneers, “Republicans don’t cut and run / Tell me, ain’t you proud of what we’ve done?” And Bush 43 takes it on the chin in the next tune: “You’re the man, show ’em what you’re made of / You’re no longer Daddy’s boy / You’re the man that they’re all afraid of / But you’re only Cheney’s toy.” Even more incendiary is the jangly “Ruins of the Realm,” in which McMurtry suggests that all empires—be they Roman, British, American or Aryan—tend to suffer the same fate. But Just Us Kids reminds us that “all politics is local”; McMurtry tells stories of how the current state of affairs affects individuals, like the aging baby boomers in the wry title tune and the denizens of a dying city in “Hurricane Party.” To be sure, McMurtry has always had a limited vocal range and seems allergic to writing a bridge. But that’s like griping about The Last Supper because it has no women. McMurtry remains one of our most accomplished—and criminally overlooked—storytellers, and this is an important, angry addition to his impressive career. —BC

FOR FANS OF:
Warren Zevon – Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School
Bruce Springsteen – Devils & Dust
Tom Russell – Wounded Heart of America

Hilary McRae
Through These Walls

Forget that she’s only 21 and the album cover pictures her as a vapid pop poser. A Berklee College of Music grad, a superb singer and songwriter, and a multi-instrumental wunderkind—she plays piano, drums, guitar, bass and sax—Hilary McRae knows how to flex her musical muscle. This impressive debut offers obvious reverence to various female forebears—Carole King, Laura Nyro and Carly Simon among them—but her horn-stoked arrangements, sturdy rhythms and soulful sway have her holding her own. That’s especially evident on “Every Day (When Will You Be Mine),” “Consider Me Gone,” “Like You Never Loved Me” and “Better Off Alone,” songs emitting a brassy confidence that belies her tender years. Old-school precepts and a signing to Hear Music (home to Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor) give her an elite status while immediately affirming she’s a credible contender. —LZ

FOR FANS OF:
Carole King – Tapestry
Carly Simon – No Secrets
Laura Nyro – Gonna Take a Miracle

Peter Morén
The Last Tycoon

Taking temporary leave of the pop principles that won his band Peter Bjorn and John its critical kudos, lead singer Peter Morén imbues his unassuming solo album with pure folk finesse. Opting for a homegrown approach that emphasizes willowy melodies and scant, organic instrumentation, it shares little in common with the Swedish trio’s more ebullient offerings. Mostly it holds to a soothing pastiche, although the dark mystique of “Le Petit Coeur” and the jazzy spiral of “Tell Me in Time” stop its slide into shoegazing terrain. The fact that the album takes its title from an Elia Kazan film of the same name—which itself was an adaptation of an unfinished novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald—might suggest a heady diversion, but it’s actually an easy listen. This Tycoon disregards stinginess and allows Morén to share his personal perspectives. —LZ

FOR FANS OF:
José González – In Our Nature
Iron & Wine – Our Endless Numbered Days
Richard Buckner – Devotion + Doubt

P.O.D.
When Angels and Serpents Dance

Christian rappers/nü-metallers P.O.D. have seen their fair share of success over the past 17 years and across a plethora of albums, though When Angels and Serpents Dance could be their most mainstream yet. Pushing a more hard-rock vibe, with occasional rap verses, ballads and even a reggae swagger on one track, their latest album offers little of interest.

The lyrics range from bland (“Rise Against”) to nonsensical (“Shine With Me”), while their rockin’-est track, “Addicted,” is also the album’s first. Vying for cred with guest spots by Mike Muir (singer for L.A. punk legends Suicidal Tendencies) and Page Hamilton (singer/guitarist for metal troop Helmet) does little to elevate the mediocre record—Muir’s manic verse on “Kaliforn-Eye-A” gets buried deep within the mellow tune, and Hamilton’s metallic howl finds little room to breathe in “God Forbid.” P.O.D. fans will surely find something to enjoy on Dance, but newcomers should sit this one out. —RP

FOR FANS OF:
Papa Roach – Lovehatetragedy
Linkin Park – Minutes to Midnight
Pillar – Where Do We Go From Here

Portishead
Third

Definitively Portishead to the last drop, their long-awaited follow-up to ’97’s self-titled sophomore effort, succinctly titled Third, is chock full of Beth Gibbons’ downtrodden vocals that have become her beloved trademark, broodingly cinematic beats from Geoff Barrow and oblique guitar rants from Adrian Utley. In contrast to the dominant boîte swing of their earlier work, Third dwells in the bare underbelly of the melodies, far from the raucous brass blasts of fan favorite “All Mine,” and more in tune with the bleak noir of that album’s ensuing track, “Undenied.” Hardly a thorough gut-wrencher, though, Portishead saunter through the lazy ukulele interlude of “Deep Water” only to dovetail into the gritty break beats of “Machine Gun,” further solidifying the group’s stake in hoisting trip-hop to the surface as they did a decade ago. —DA

FOR FANS OF:
Tricky – Maxinquaye
Massive Attack – Blue Lines
Burial – Untrue

Tyler Ramsey
A Long Dream About Swimming Across the Sea

Don’t be fooled by the presence of Battle Cat from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe on the cover of Tyler Ramsey’s debut album—this is no quirky collection of pop culture-laced ditties. Instead, the Asheville, N.C., native—a recently added guitarist to Band of Horses, who’s also served as their opening act—has assembled a quiet, meandering set of tunes that owes more to the folk styles of his home state’s western mountainous area than a Barenaked Ladies songbook.

The six-minute opener “A Long Dream” places the listener in a lifeboat seemingly adrift in the Atlantic, but there’s no fear of predators or powerful storms—these songs adeptly navigate calm waters. And though Ramsey flexes his Sufjan Stevens muscle on the adventurous “Once in Your Life” and tosses in a cover of Jackson Browne’s “These Days” for good measure, his delicate finger-picking and sparse, atmospheric instrumentation assure his Dream is a singular vision. —JT

FOR FANS OF:
Varnaline – Songs in a Northern Key
Band of Horses – Everything All the Time
Elliott Smith – XO

South
You Are Here

It’s been four albums since the cool British export South blasted off and started playing disciplined rock for a target audience of deserted astronauts. And although the band amounts to a damn sweet reward for those forgotten adventurers, You Are Here may instill an annoyed brand of curiosity within people back on Earth. After all this time, singer Joel Cadbury is still floating in an unknown galaxy, refusing to find his bearings or explain what it’s really like out there amid the stars. The music behind his voice provides plenty of options. Some tracks hint at a gloomy place, while the wild, white-man funk of “She’s Half Crazy” could hail from a planet where aliens bow to statues of David Byrne. Yet Cadbury usually prefers a nearly whispered delivery, capturing listeners’ interest but not clarifying his emotions. The album’s potential dares us to become masochistic toward these marooned Londoners. We are tickled by them when, in all honesty, we wish they would come at us with greater force and grip tightly around the throat. —DS

FOR FANS OF:
Interpol – Our Love to Admire
Radiohead – Hail to the Thief
Talking Heads – Remain in Light

Keith Sweat
Just Me

To sample what Keith Sweat is peddling on his new album, Just Me, one needs only to skip ahead to “Just Wanna Sex You” with the lyrics “I’m an addict when it comes to makin’ love / I need it 24/7 that’s for sure / Like the Energizer Bunny I keep goin’ and goin’ and goin’ and goin’.” Anyone would need a new battery to keep up the pace Sweat details in the 12 cuts about love, seduction, orgasm and body inventory delivered in a slow and soulful groove.

“Tell me what it is that makes you so genuine when you take your clothes off, Suga / Well, you’re so damn fine” he sings on the first single “Suga Suga Suga” (with guest Paisley Bettis). Fans of sexual braggadocio as delivered by the “new jack” hitmaker won’t be disappointed. It’s music fit for a hot (wink-wink) night. —TG

FOR FANS OF:
Freddie Jackson – Transitions
Kenny Lattimore – Uncovered
Usher – Confessions

Was (Not Was)
Boo!

Boo!, the first release in nearly two decades from the proudly odd pros Was (Not Was), is like a highly anticipated party that gets erased from your memory within 24 hours, regardless of how much alcohol was in your system. The evening starts out promisingly enough. “Semi-Interesting Week” coaxes the daring early birds onto the dance floor. “It’s a Miracle” lowers the volume and sets a cool tone for relaxed, mature conversation. Some impressive guests, including Booker T. Jones, Wayne Kramer and Kris Kristofferson, show up, share a laugh or two and pat everyone on the back. Still, by the time the band becomes a little too buzzed and starts asking strangers, “What would you do if I read your name to a vulture?”, you wonder if you’ve missed out on a private joke and feel slightly annoyed that everybody else is having so much more fun. —DS

FOR FANS OF:
Delbert McClinton – Plain From the Heart
Tom Tom Club – Close to the Bone
Wild Cherry – Wild Cherry

Jim White
Transnormal Skiperoo
“Transnormal” is right. Although it’s a made-up word, it fits Jim White nonetheless: The enigmatic artist has always transcended normality on oddball Southern Gothic songs.

White roams on Transnormal Skiperoo over a colorful, if strange, inner landscape. He sings in his laid-back tenor about freeing himself from mental prison on “Jailbird,” searching for something larger than himself on “Blindly We Go” (over a sweet acoustic slide-guitar line) and recounting a mental breakdown on “Take Me Away.”

Members of Ollabelle fill out his hazy visions with earthy accents. Producers Joe Pernice and Michael Deming manage to clean up the swirling sonics of White’s previous albums without losing the woozy atmosphere—it’s still trippy, just more defined. —ED

FOR FANS OF:
The Handsome Family – Through the Trees
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – The Boatman’s Call
Scud Mountain Boys – Massachusetts