MAVIS STAPLES One True Vine  [Anti-] Like Bettye LaVette and the late Solomon Burke, gospel-soul singer Mavis Staples’ career has seen a resurgence in recent years thanks to a fruitful collaboration with Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy. But Staples never feels the need to compromise her roots or reverence to mine commercial appeal. Instead, she tows the line between unwavering faith and a tireless quest for redemption, and while the majority of these songs... 

BETTYE LAVETTE Thankful N’ Thoughtful [Anti-] Bettye LaVette’s delicious rasp and emotional delivery make her a top-notch interpreter of songs. It’s a formula that’s worked since 2005’s I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise, and here, she turns in another tour de force covers record. The Detroit native makes these songs her own, occasionally altering lyrics to fit her experiences. On the Pogues’ “Dirty Old Town,” she references the Dodge... 

KELLY HOGAN  I Like to Keep Myself in Pain [Anti-] Before Georgia-born Kelly Hogan became Neko Case’s reliable onstage vocal foil a few years back, she had a budding career as a frontwoman in her own right. She picks up the reins again on her first solo album in more than a decade, showing exquisite taste on 13 songs written by the likes of Andrew Bird, M. Ward and Vic Chesnutt. Backed by a band that includes keyboard legend Booker T. Jones, Hogan... 

JOLIE HOLLAND + THE GRAND CHANDELIERS Pint of Blood [Anti-] A pint is the usual amount extracted when you donate blood. Is that what the title of Jolie Holland’s fifth CD references? Or is it a different sort of bloodletting—perhaps the sort that shows up in “Remember” (“It brings a smile to my lips/When I think of your fist narrowing in on and cracking his ribs”)? Hard to say: Her title is as elliptical as her lyrics, and her singular... 

ROKY ERICKSON WITH OKKERVIL RIVER True Love Cast Out All Evil [Anti-] Roky Erickson’s mid-1960s singles with the 13th Floor Elevators—and even his mid-’70s solo singles—are garage-rock classics, not so much for the writing as for the amazing vocals. He was one of those rare rock ’n’ roll singers who could be melodic even as he was wildly yelping. But after 45 years of hard living, that voice is gone. What remains is the legend—and the... 

DR. DOG Shame, Shame [Anti-] Dr. Dog, to borrow a line from Brian Wilson, just wasn’t made for these times. The Philly quintet has always been nostalgic, taking its cues from the Beach Boys, Beatles and Band—and on its sixth album, the group once again bows to its heroes. That said, Shame, Shame is no psychedelic love-in. The songs are deceptively cheery, their ’60s touchstones stoking a buzz their lyrics seek to kill. On such songs as “Stranger”...