SAVOY BROWN Voodoo Moon savoybrown.com How long can one man live with the blues? It’s been 45 years for Kim Simmonds, leader of this British institution, and on these nine new originals, the guitarist and sometime singer brings the requisite hot licks and bad-mojo lyrics. Something about this stuff must do the body good.  Read More →

CORREATOWN Pleiades okcorreatown.com Correatown mastermind Angela Correa was made for Los Angeles. She’s shown showbiz savvy, having landed songs in films and on television. More importantly, the Yuba City, Calif., native has mastered the hazy ’60s pop, Laurel Canyon folk and cool-kid indie that have long been the soundtrack of her adopted hometown.  Read More →

EMILY O’HALLORAN Morphine and Cupcakes emilyohalloran.com A pretty young blonde with the voice of a wizened roadhouse belter, O’Halloran figures “Nashville is where it’s at,” as she sings two songs in. The Aussie newcomer promptly lands in a Hollywood noir version of the Music City, where she savors the feeling of being done wrong.  Read More →

AMY WINEHOUSE  Lioness: Hidden Treasures  [Island] We know the drill here, right? After endless posthumous releases from Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, 2Pac and countless others, the pattern is set: A singer-songwriter in his or her 20s dies, and somehow a few spare tracks can always be found in the vaults to justify one more new piece of product. Lioness is with us less than six months after British songbird Amy Winehouse’s premature... 

THE ROOTS Undun [Def Jam] The latest from hip-hop’s hippest band is a concept album that tells the fictional—although all too believable—story of Redford Stephens, a low-level street hustler who makes all the wrong choices on his way to an early end. That’s not giving anything away: The Roots tell this story in reverse, rewinding Stephens’ life through songs carefully constructed to avoid glorifying his brief and unfortunate time in the... 

KATE BUSH 50 Words for Snow [Fish People/Anti] This is Bush’s first recording of all new music since the double-disc Aerial in 2005, although earlier in 2011 she released Director’s Cut, which included slightly reworked versions of some previously released songs. Not so much a holiday album as a soft, meditative and lush rumination on winter, 50 Words for Snow will remind listeners of a time when musical artists were more intent on creating unified... 

THE BLACK KEYS El Camino [Nonesuch Records] Prior to its release, Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney proclaimed El Camino the first “all rock ’n’ roll album” of the duo’s decade-long career. Point taken, but the Keys have hardly forsaken the retro-soul vibe that’s underpinned previous discs. Kicking off with the raging, surf-guitar-driven “Lonely Boy” (think the Cramps with a touch of Memphis R&B), Carney and guitarist Dan Auerbach... 

DRAKE Take Care [Young Money] Every movie about fame has a scene in which the rising star ducks out of the party and stares through the penthouse window, weighing what they’ve gained against what they’ve given up. Stretch that moment into an entire album and you get Take Care, the sophomore effort from Canadian hip-hop phenom Drake. With his confessional lyrics and sing-rap-chat vocal style, Drake follows in the footsteps of Kanye West. While... 

DAVID NAIL The Sound of a Million Dreams [Universal Nashville] With his third album, 32-year-old David Nail proves that he is a cut above contemporaries whose songs often rely on a slapdash collection of tired, countrier-than-thou stereotypes. Nail shows a knack for songcraft, most notably on “Catherine,” a tune written for his wife. But his supple, soulful tenor elevates the album’s outside material, too, as he tackles everything from frenetic... 

RICH ROBINSON Through a Crooked Sun [Circle Sound/Thirty Tigers] This second solo album from Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson finds him drawing from the usual sources—the Stones and Faces, in particular—but more dominant are some old-school rock influences that rarely surface in the Crowes’ music. The strummy “I Don’t Hear the Sound of You” evokes the breezy shimmer of the Hollies, but mostly Robinson works in darker colors. “Follow... 

GORILLAZ The Singles Collection 2001–2011 [Virgin] Straight out of the cage, Gorillaz promised to be more than merely a high-concept art project. The “cartoon” rock band formed by Blur frontman Damon Albarn and animator Jamie Hewlett broke through in 2001 with “Clint Eastwood,” a heavy helping of spaghetti-western dub and meaty old-school hip-hop. Albarn sang with quintessentially British melancholy, but he couldn’t help but dream of the... 

NILS LOFGREN Old School [Vision Music] Among his fine work in Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, stewardship of Grin and work alongside Neil Young on classics like Tonight’s the Night, Nils Lofgren once simultaneously enjoyed a prolific solo career. But as his day job as an E Streeter has taken up increasingly more of his time, devotees have been left hoping he’d step out more on his own—and Old School should satisfy those Lofgren loyalists.... 

THE DECEMBERISTS Long Live the King [Capitol] Even as they fail to hold together in one piece quite like this year’s full-length The King Is Dead, most of the songs on this six-track EP strike a fine balance between frontman Colin Meloy’s literary depth and some easily accessible tunes. The real keeper here is “Foregone,” on which Meloy’s love poetry is driven forward by a homey steel-guitar lick. Also on the simpler side are the Prince-ly... 

R.E.M. Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage 1982-2011 [Warner Bros.] With R.E.M.’s demise last fall the timing is perfect for this double-disc, chronologically arranged retrospective that makes a valiant, if lopsided, attempt to put the group’s three-decade run into perspective. Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage is the first R.E.M. compendium that surveys the full breadth of that career, from the mumbly, jangly early innovations... 

KELLY CLARKSON Stronger [RCA] Unlike most American Idol alumni, Kelly Clarkson has always set herself apart by generally placing artistry over histrionics. The pattern continues on her latest pop-rock collection, on which she wisely lends her impressive pipes to address purely emotional matters of the heart. On the opening “Mr. Know It All” she reminds us why she’s the queen of the kiss-off with a gritty delivery reminiscent of Melissa Etheridge... 

RYAN ADAMS Ashes & Fire [Pax-Am/Capitol] Ryan Adams recently took a two-year break from releasing new music, an eternity for a prolific singer and songwriter who put out 10 albums in the preceding eight years. Apparently refreshed, Adams returns with 11 songs that are among the best he’s written. That’s saying something given the sheer volume of Adams’ catalog, but he’s rarely equaled the poignant feeling of these tunes. His vivid lyrics... 

PATRICK STUMP Soul Punk [Island] If ever you needed proof that Fall Out Boy was primarily a vehicle for bass player Pete Wentz, one listen to the solo debut from lead singer Patrick Stump should convince you. Largely eschewing FOB’s driving power-pop, Stump lets his funk flag fly right away on the opening “Explode,” its propulsive electro-pop resembling some of his outside work with Cobra Starship or the Roots. Likewise, “This City” shows... 

REID PALEY AND BLACK FRANCIS Paley & Francis [Sonic Unyon Records] “I’ll bring down my foot on your daisy chain/I’ll have a drink from your jugular vein…” Given Black Francis’ reputation as a dark character, those lyrical musings from opening entry “Curse” would seem to affirm his ability to shock the heck out of his listeners. Joining forces with frequent collaborator Reid Paley, the former Frank Black (born Charles Thompson)... 

DARYL HALL Laughing Down Crying [Verve Forecast] When Daryl Hall tackles a solo project, it’s always interesting to hear how far he’ll stray from the sounds that made him and partner John Oates staples of pop radio. Hall’s fifth solo disc hews pretty closely to those styles. With production help from Greg Bieck (Jennifer Lopez, Destiny’s Child) and guitarist Paul Pesco, Laughing is an update, not a departure, despite the loping Americana beat... 

ANDREA BALESTRA Fine Arts Avenue myspace.com/andreabalestra Talent and training will get you far, as this Berklee-educated guitarist can attest, but it takes taste and restraint to make an instrumental album as simultaneously eclectic and enjoyable as Fine Arts Avenue. From funky wah-wah workouts to simmering jazz explorations, Balestra demonstrates the upside of virtuosity.  Read More →

SLEEP OVER Forever sleepoverforever.com Existing in some nebulous nether region between New Wave and New Age, the music of Austin synth sorceress Stefanie Franciotti is at turns soothing and frightening. It’s as though Enya has gone Goth and recreated from memory the score from a horror flick she saw as a child.  Read More →

COMMON Catching up with the rapper, actor, author, poet and unlikely magnet for controversy. LOU REED How one of rock’s fiercest iconoclasts found common ground with the mighty Metallica. PETER GABRIEL Finding fresh new blood in familiar favorites with the help of a symphony orchestra. RAY MANZAREK The legendary Doors’ keyboardist extraordinaire isn’t finished lighting new fires just yet. JAM & LEWIS Behind the board with one of the greatest...