Neil Young & Crazy Horse Americana  [Reprise] The stories adults tell children are often sanitized. In the original version (spoiler alert!), Little Red Riding Hood gets eaten by the big, bad wolf after being tricked into cannibalizing her grandmother. The jealous villain who orders Snow White’s murder isn’t her stepmother, but her mother. The same is true of the folk songs we learned as kids, many of which have origins far darker or more... 

JOHN MAYER Born and Raised [Columbia] On his fifth album, John Mayer continues his slow shift away from the pop-rock mainstream and back into the singer-songwriter territory of his early days. The mostly mellow tone evinces some country leanings, with his gentle fingerpicked guitar, pedal steel and even some ’60s folk harmonica. But there are a couple of low-key classic-rock jams with quiet, rambling electric guitar leads and subtle Hammond organ... 

SANTIGOLD Master of My Make-Believe [Atlantic] Four years is an eternity in pop music, yet Santigold sounds as distinctive on her second album as she did on her first, 2008’s Santogold. (Born Santi White, she changed her stage name slightly in 2009 to avoid legal entanglements.) Like her debut, Master of My Make-Believe is a mix of styles, blending elements of new wave, dub reggae and electro-rock into a compelling hybrid, with writing and production... 

BEACH HOUSE Bloom [Sub Pop] On their first three albums, Beach House architects Alex Scally and Victoria Legrand built one of the more recognizable sounds in modern indie rock. With the fourth, they don’t change things up so much as they focus and improve them. As always, the songs mix drum-machine beats with the dizzying slo-mo whoosh of keyboard, echo-rich guitar and Legrand’s stately, often unintelligible vocals. It’s a recipe for gloriously... 

THE CULT Choice of Weapon [Cooking Vinyl] It’s been more than 20 years since the Cult achieved platinum success with Electric and Sonic Temple, records that appeared to establish the band as goth-metal’s reigning power. Unable to sustain the momentum, the group ultimately disbanded in the mid-’90s, with frontman Ian Astbury going on to gain notice as the fill-in for Jim Morrison in touring configurations of the Doors. The group’s latest album... 

SHAWN COLVIN All Fall Down [Nonesuch] Procuring master guitarist and Nashville alt-country staple Buddy Miller as producer ensures authenticity in the Americana world—just ask Robert Plant, who tapped him for 2010’s Band of Joy—but Shawn Colvin needs no such thing for her first new album in six years. Her history with Miller is very different. She sang in his band early on and later toured with him, Emmylou Harris and Patty Griffin as Three... 

SIGUR RÓS Valtari [XL] Sigur Rós’ indefinite hiatus certainly didn’t last long. A mere two years after the Icelandic quartet publicly questioned its own future (and frontman Jónsi released a solo album), they have returned with a sixth studio album. Clocking in just shy of an hour, Valtari is in many ways a more subdued affair than previous efforts. Tones are soft, and anything remotely raw is muted into a subtle buzzing in the background.... 

ALABAMA SHAKES  Boys & Girls [ATO] Alabama Shakes plays in a pocket deep enough to lose your keys in. It’s like a protective bubble for the quintet, which has managed to ignore inflated industry expectations to record this fierce, compelling debut LP. Although the band insists it’s not a retro-soul act, Boys & Girls is drenched in guitar, organ, round bass and edge-of-the-beat drums. What truly elevates Alabama Shakes, though, is Brittany... 

 DVD/BLU-RAY  GEORGE HARRISON  Living in the Material World   [UMe] From the relatively tender age of 20 until the day he died from lung cancer in 2001 at age 58, the world’s eyes were locked on George Harrison. At the same time, he was looking at the world—from the early days of Beatlemania, through his worldwide journeys in search of spiritual enlightenment and musical enjoyment, Harrison was rarely without a camera in hand. His personal... 

JOEY RAMONE …Ya Know? [BMG Rights Management] Joey Ramone embodied rock ’n’ roll at its most joyous and elemental, from the mid-’70s—when he and his fellow Ramones basically invented punk—to his death in 2001. The lovably gawky frontman bleated fast and catchy songs about loving pop culture and living the life of a weirdo outsider. His second posthumous solo album revisits these ideas, and if “Rock ’N’ Roll Is the Answer”... 

PAUL THORN What the Hell Is Goin’ On? [Perpetual Obscurity]  Its title comes from one of the songs contained in this set of covers, but Paul Thorn has earned such a reputation for his own singular, sometimes autobiographical material that its existence might well provoke the titular question from fans. What’s going on, according to Thorn himself, is simply an effort to paint beyond his usual palette. The results turn out to be as idiosyncratic... 

MARTY STUART AND HIS FABULOUS SUPERLATIVES Nashville, Vol. 1: Tear the Woodpile Down [Sugar Hill] Over the course of his four decades in Nashville, Marty Stuart has transformed from 13-year-old bluegrass prodigy to radio hit-maker and finally elder statesman. He’s one of the genre’s protectors now, amassing a museum’s worth of memorabilia, hosting his own TV variety show and championing a sound that’s all but vanished from mainstream country.... 

REISSUE PANTERA   Vulgar Display of Power (Deluxe Edition)   [Rhino] Few albums in rock history have boasted a cover that so perfectly matched the contents. Pantera’s groove-metal landmark Vulgar Display of Power is indeed a musical blow to the head—and the fist that delivers it was never more tightly clenched than in 1992. Singer Phil Anselmo, guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, bass player Rex Brown and drummer Vinnie Paul Abbott together... 

LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III Older Than My Old Man Now [2nd Story Sound] Wainwright’s latest finds the singer, songwriter and satirist typically wry and reflective, contemplating mortality and musing about life’s tangled trajectory. Mirth and melancholy are present in equal measure, from the humor infused in “My Meds” (“If the side effects don’t kill me, meds might save my life”) and “I Remember Sex” (a brassy duet with the wacky Dame... 

VIOLENS True [Slumberland] Two prevailing indie trends of the day come together on Violens’ second album—with sexy, sexy results. The guitars are crisp, cool and prismatic; set against bouncing bass and snappy beats, they recall the finest U.K. jangle bands of the ’80s. But mastermind Jorge Elbrecht paints from memory, and memories are unreliable. His songs are abstractions, and thus the album’s leadoff single and not-quite-title-cut “Totally... 

EVE 6 Speak in Gold [Fearless]  It’s been a while since the members of Eve 6 were rocking Gen-X radios with hits like “Inside Out” and “Promise,” but the band’s first new album in nine years proves they never surrendered their knack for creating hard-driving pop songs. In fact, they’ve gotten even better at it—tracks like “Victoria” and “Situation Infatuation” could pass for a sped-up Fountains of Wayne minus a little wit.... 

THE WACO BROTHERS AND PAUL BURCH Great Chicago Fire [Bloodshot] Great Chicago Fire comes to us, so the story goes, as the serendipitous result of Paul Burch and members of the Wacos knocking back margaritas together at an industry gathering. What they’ve whipped up brings together the characteristic Waco Brothers strum und twang with Burch’s melodic classicism. The jointness of this joint undertaking doesn’t extend to songwriting (with one... 

JACK WHITE Blunderbuss [Third Man/XL/Columbia] You knew someone as restlessly prolific as Jack White would get around to it eventually. After six albums with the White Stripes, two each with the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather, collaborations with everyone from Loretta Lynn to Conan O’Brien and innumerable moves as producer and record-label entrepreneur, the pride of Detroit (and more recently of Nashville) has finally released a solo album. White... 

SPECTRUM ROAD Spectrum Road [Palmetto] “Supergroup” is a term that was long ago diluted, but every once in a while the stars align and the word regains its meaning. Spectrum Road is incontestably a supergroup: Cream bassist Jack Bruce; Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid; keyboardist John Medeski of Medeski Martin & Wood; and drummer Cindy Blackman, who has backed husband Carlos Santana, Lenny Kravitz and others. Spectrum Road—and the quartet’s... 

THE TING TINGS Sounds from Nowheresville [Columbia] In the first 10 seconds of “Hang It Up,” the leadoff single from their sophomore album, the Ting Tings swipe the opening chord from Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and an almost equally recognizable beat from Jay-Z. This British electro-pop duo may have 99 problems, but absorbing and expressing their influences ain’t one. Opener “Silence” is a gift to New Wave geeks—a three-minute... 

DELTA SPIRIT Delta Spirit [Rounder] It’s fitting that Delta Spirit’s third full-length album is self-titled. The band reinvents itself here, channeling the raucous energy and sound of its live performances. Lineup changes—guitarist Sean Walker has been replaced by Will McLaren—and a cross-country relocation from Long Beach, Calif., to Brooklyn has erased the rootsy folk leanings of previous releases, leaving tightly crafted rock in their... 

DR. JOHN Locked Down [Nonesuch Records] Few could blame Dr. John (aka Mac Rebennack) if he opted to coast on his towering reputation in New Orleans music. But this new album proves he has no such intentions. Spearheaded by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach—who produced and co-wrote the material—Locked Down sounds like a 21st century version of the R&B gumbo Dr. John served up at the turn of the ’70s. The opening title track sets the tone.... 

THE SHINS Port of Morrow [Aural Apothecary] Following the Shins’ 2007 album Wincing the Night Away, leader James Mercer stretched in new directions—collaborating with Danger Mouse in Broken Bells, doing soundtracks and even trying a little acting. He’s come back home on Port of Morrow, the Shins’ fourth record, and his wistful pop sensibility remains very much intact. Perhaps the biggest difference here is the immediacy of his lyrics, which... 

GARBAGE Not Your Kind of People [Stunvolume] Garbage’s first album in seven years proves the long hiatus has done nothing to diminish the band’s chemistry. All the ingredients of the group’s post-grunge sound—techno-tinged abrasiveness, deadly pop hooks, Shirley Manson’s brainy sex appeal—are sharper than ever. Typical is “Blood for Poppies,” which churns with buzz-saw guitars, a sing-along melody and Manson’s effortless way of... 

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now [Bloodshot Records] On his fourth album, Justin Townes Earle’s lonesome croon is a cool salve for the downhearted. A musical drifter, he’s  stepped away from traditional country to explore the sultry arrangements of Muscle Shoals. The album begins with “Am I That Lonely Tonight?” a solemn dirge that references his famous father, Steve. Going forward, Earle shuffles... 

PHIL COLLINS  Live at Montreux 2004   [Eagle Eye Media] When Phil Collins announced his retirement from music in March 2011, it was no surprise—but it was a sadly muted way to end the diverse and surprising career of a madly underrated talent. Beginning as drummer extraordinaire for Genesis in 1970, Collins eventually led the group to crossover success as its unlikely lead singer. He spent the 1980s balancing work with that band, his own massive... 

ANOUSHKA SHANKAR Traveller [Deutsche Gammophon] It’s no longer enough to say that sitarist  and composer Anoushka Shankar is keeping alive the legacy of her iconic father, Ravi Shankar. With two decades of experience on the instrument and several albums that explore diverse aspects of her artistry—from traditional solo Indian classical to experimental full-band works that integrate Indian elements with cutting-edge electronica—Shankar is... 

MARGOT & THE NUCLEAR SO AND SO’S Rot Gut, Domestic [Mariel] After conflicts with their label and some soul-searching, Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s have chosen the path of self-sufficiency with their fourth album, Rot Gut, Domestic, which was fan-funded through PledgeMusic. Musically, the band has taken its freedom as an opportunity to crank up the amps, and the album opens with several tracks of lumbering, heavy riffs reminiscent... 

FLYING COLORS Flying Colors [Mascot] Flying Colors spotlights five veteran musicians with unbeatable progressive pedigrees—guitarist Steve Morse (Dixie Dregs, Deep Purple), drummer Mike Portnoy (who recently exited Dream Theater), bassist Dave LaRue (a frequent collaborator of Morse and Portnoy), keyboardist Neal Morse (formerly of Spock’s Beard) and singer Casey McPherson (Texas’ Alpha Rev). Think Toto—top-flight players who don’t look... 

ROBIN TROWER   Farther On Up the Road: The Chrysalis Years 1977-1983  [Chrysalis/EMI] Unlikely as it may now seem, boys and girls, there was a day when Rod Stewart deferred the spotlight to guitarist Jeff Beck—for at least a couple of albums in the late 1960s, it was Beck’s name who graced the cover of the albums they made together. The notion of the superstar lead guitarist to whom the singer played sidekick survived into the ’70s, at least... 

BRENDAN BENSON What Kind of World [Readymade] On What Kind of World, Jack White’s Raconteurs partner Brendan Benson puts on his solo-artist hat and taps suitably homemade ’70s vibes ranging from rock-star riffing to AM-gold smoothness. For every electric guitar solo, there’s a piano ballad to counter. There is a little genre-shifting in the songs’ accents; the horns on “No One Else but You” sound as if they might segue into a chorus of... 

FAIRPORT CONVENTION By Popular Request [Matty Grooves]  Fairport Convention walks a musical tightrope between pleasing recent converts and serving the diehard fans that still champion the days when its earlier lineups pioneered British folk-rock. Consider By Popular Request something akin to a perfect balancing act, a 45th anniversary celebration that reconsiders classic songs without adulterating them. It’d be easy to credit the fresh energy... 

LUKE ROBERTS The Iron Gates at Throop and Newport [Thrill Jockey] After writing most of his first album (last year’s Big Bells and Dime Songs) on borrowed guitars, Luke Roberts finally got an instrument of his own—a Collings 0002H, to be precise. The sudden luxury allowed him more time to work on songs for this follow-up. Extra time aside, Roberts’ latest retains the arid feel of his debut, and the songs sound well-worn and timeless. His voice... 

HANK WILLIAMS III Long Gone Daddy [Curb] The latest from  Hank III comes with a mess of backstory. First, the family stuff: This skinny country warbler is the grandson of genre godhead Hank Williams and son of fellow hornets’-nest swatter Hank Jr. Then there’s the label drama. Hank III has publicly warred with Curb Records and did not participate in assembling this collection, which comprises four previously released tunes and six outtakes.... 

LYLE LOVETT  Release Me [Lost Highway/Curb] Release Me marks the end of Lyle Lovett’s career-long run with Curb Records—he first signed with the label in 1985, at age 28. While its hodgepodge of holiday songs, covers, duets, ballads, rockers, swing, bluegrass and even an instrumental initially smacks of randomness, it also points toward the open-minded eclecticism that has sustained Lovett throughout his career. He has never been a conventional... 

GUIDED BY VOICES Let’s Go Eat the Factory [Guided by Voices] This is Guided by Voices’ 16th studio album, but it might as well be their 160th. It’s also their first since 2004, but thanks to comically prolific bandleader Robert Pollard, who spent the interim years releasing solo records and leading various similar-sounding bands, it’s as if they never really went away. The twist here is that Let’s Go marks the reunion of the beloved... 

LEONARD COHEN Old Ideas [Columbia]  It’s a funny thing to say about a septuagenarian, but Leonard Cohen has really grown into his voice. What was always a distinctive instrument has deepened on his new album into a resonant purr capable of insinuating itself into the deepest part of you. Old Ideas is only the 12th studio album in a musical career stretching back to 1967, but Cohen chooses his words with considerable care. He’s become more... 

INGRID MICHAELSON Human Again [Mom+Pop]  “I’ve got to say goodbye to the pieces of me that have already died,” sings Ingrid Michaelson on the moody new single “Ghost.” Eschewing the lighthearted sound of her earlier albums, Michaelson has indeed made her most mature and expansive work to date with the deeply personal Human Again. Her albums have become progressively slicker as she’s transformed from coffee-shop singer-songwriter to... 

JOE COCKER Hard Knocks [429 Records] Joe Cocker’s latest marks a 180-degree turn from his rough-and-ready previous record, 2007’s Hymn for My Soul. Produced by Matt Serletic, best known for his work with Matchbox Twenty, Hard Knocks is spit-shined and glossy to a fault. Comprised mostly of pop-flavored R&B, the album emits an ’80s vibe, and often brings to mind Robert Palmer’s broad-strokes discs of that era. Typical is “Stay the... 

HUGH MASEKELA Jabulani [Razor & Tie] As far as most Americans are concerned, Hugh Masekela was a one-hit wonder who scored a fluke pop chart-topper in 1968 with his jazzy take on the grooving “Grazing in the Grass,” and hasn’t done much since. In truth, the South African trumpeter, flugelhornist and vocalist has been recording and performing steadily for some five decades now—and if his public profile isn’t as high as it once was,... 

DIERKS BENTLEY Home [Capitol Nashville] Contemporary country success is often about establishing a persona and then reiterating it at every turn. Become the “I’m from the country” guy, the “I love America” guy, the “I love to party” guy or the “I’m free to party in the country ’cause I live in America” guy and hammer that home. Dierks Bentley is a big-tent, big-idea exception to all that. He’s comfortable on stages with... 

SHARON VAN ETTEN Tramp [Jagjaguwar] It’s not like she carried her stuff around in a bindle, but Sharon Van Etten did do some couch surfing while recording her third album. Fortunately, the fluctuations of her life outside the studio only seemed to underpin her consistency inside it. Tramp is a masterful collection that broadens the gripping sound of Van Etten’s understated 2010 album Epic. Produced by the National’s Aaron Dessner, these songs... 

THE DOORS  L.A. Woman: 40th Anniversary Edition  [Elektra/Rhino] Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek idly runs through the chords of his band’s evocative new number, “Riders on the Storm,” a brooding meditation on the inherent madness of humanity, as drummer John Densmore quietly gets a feel for the groove. As Jim Morrison steps up to the mic to prepare for a take, Manzarek’s pattern triggers an unexpected synapse in the young singer and poet’s... 

CRAIG FINN Clear Heart Full Eyes [Vagrant] After five albums with Brooklyn indie rockers the Hold Steady, frontman Craig Finn has made his first foray into solo territory. While Clear Heart Full Eyes is a down-tempo, alt-country departure from Finn’s usual classic-rock oeuvre, this is no throwaway acoustic cop-out. In lieu of electric guitar we find pedal steel warbling to fill in the negative space. The album’s production sounds thin and almost... 

SNOW PATROL Fallen Empires [Interscope] Despite considerable success in the U.K. and Ireland, Snow Patrol’s popularity in America lags behind fellow Brit-rockers like Coldplay. But while Coldplay’s albums have come to feel increasingly hollow in their grandiosity, Snow Patrol’s latest continues to hone the cinematic, downhearted sound that has yielded a string of platinum albums abroad. The band experiments a little here with pounding drums... 

CANDI STATON Who’s Hurting Now? [Honest Jon’s] Candi Staton earned the title “first lady of Southern soul” for the sides she recorded 40 years ago before turning to disco and then forsaking the secular for gospel music. Her sublime 2006 comeback record, His Hands, begged for a follow-up. Who’s Hurting Now? came out overseas in 2009, but label and licensing complications prevented its release stateside until now. Better late than never—it’s... 

TODD RUNDGREN Todd [S’More Entertainment] Last year Todd Rundgren delighted fans by performing a series of shows featuring three of his most beloved albums—1973’s A Wizard, A True Star, 1974’s Todd and 1981’s Healing—in their entirety. This DVD captures a run-through of Todd staged in September at the historic Keswick Theater in Rundgren’s hometown of Philadelphia, and it sizzles with the same progressive spirit the original double-LP... 

RHETT MILLER The Interpreter: Live at Largo [Maximum Sunshine]  Covers albums and live records both tend to be mixed bags, so it follows that making a quality album of live covers would be difficult. Rhett Miller, however, is largely successful on The Interpreter, an intimate collection recorded over two nights in 2008 at Largo, before the Los Angeles club changed locations (there are also two studio bonus tracks). Miller plays solo for much of... 

MITCH RYDER The Promise [Michigan Broadcasting Corporation] Detroit’s Mitch Ryder lays down old-school grooves with a vengeance on his first American album in nearly 30 years, singing the blue-collar blues over catchy bass and guitar riffs. Ryder lets out the Motor City funk on numbers such as “The Way We Were” and “Junkie Love,” aided by producer and fellow Detroiter Don Was. Ryder addresses the personal and political with equal ease.... 

THE BIG PINK Future This [4AD] Hyping this follow-up to their stunner of a debut, A Brief History of Love, U.K. duo Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell have talked a lot about the influence of pop and hip-hop. Indeed, synths and samples here fill space once reserved for fuzz guitar and live drums, but the Big Pink was never a traditional rock band. Like its predecessor, Future This points back to 1991, when groups like EMF, Jesus Jones and most notably...