ROBERT ELLIS Photographs [New West] He may be only 22, but Houston native Robert Ellis displays an impressive ability to channel influential elders while nimbly shifting his own style. The first five songs on his debut find him in singer-songwriter mode a la the early ’70s, with Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Paul Simon and the Laurel Canyon crowd serving as obvious reference points. Mellow acoustic ballads with occasional strings offer the impression... 

RANDY MONTANA Randy Montana [Mercury Nashville] Clean-cut newcomer Randy Montana establishes himself as a genuine heir to the George Strait tradition on his self-titled debut. The 25-year-old New York native, as soft-spoken and mild-mannered as his obvious role model, owns a warm baritone and a winning knack for finding songs with indelible hooks. Montana, who co-wrote eight of the 11 tracks, spends a large chunk of the album on songs that express... 

THE KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD BAND How I Go [Roadrunner] It’s been more than 15 years since a teenaged Kenny Wayne Shepherd burst onto the scene as a hotshot blues savior. In that time he’s continually proven himself as a guitarist and repeatedly shown his respect for tradition as well as a willingness to evolve beyond it. On most of How I Go Shepherd assuredly reaches for a bigger, slicker, harder rock sound. That’s clear from the first blazing... 

OLD 97’S The Grand Theatre Vol. 2 [New West] Like the Replacements before them, Old 97’s enjoy navigating that tricky line between brilliant songcraft and ramshackle execution. Following fast on the heels of its 2010 companion disc, Grand Theatre Vol. 2 picks up right where its predecessor left off. Opener “Brown Haired Daughter” sets the tone: Powered by hard-strummed acoustic guitars, a Crazy Horse-style solo and an exhilarating chorus,... 

ALKALINE TRIO Damnesia [Epitaph] Alkaline Trio has spent 15 years channeling heartbreak and righteous indignation into gut-punching pop-punk songs with the aid of electricity. On its eighth album the group unplugs and offers stripped-down versions of its best-loved tunes, as well as two new ones and a Violent Femmes cover. As longtime fans might have guessed, the Chicago band doesn’t need speed or distortion to get its material across. Singer and... 

GEORGE THOROGOOD AND THE DESTROYERS 2120 South Michigan Ave. [Capitol/EMI] George Thorogood has always acknowledged a heavy debt to Chess Records’ pioneering Chicago blues artists, but on 2120 South Michigan Ave. he and his Destroyers pay formal tribute to the trailblazing guitarists and songwriters who influenced him. An original, “Going Back,” kicks things off in spirited blues-boogie fashion, but it’s the Chess covers that shine brightest.... 

BURLAP TO CASHMERE Burlap to Cashmere [Essential/Jive] A breakout band on the contemporary Christian music scene thanks to their 1998 debut release Anybody Out There?, the folk-rockers in Burlap to Cashmere went on to win two Dove awards before going on hiatus in 2001. Drummer Theodore Pagano found unlikely acclaim as an interior designer, while guitarist John Philippidis was left in a month-long coma after a road-rage altercation in 2005. Philippidis... 

WILD FLAG Wild Flag [Merge] Between records and tours with their main bands—Sleater-Kinney, Helium and the Minders, among them—the members of supergroup Wild Flag have spent the last decade working together on various side projects, dabbling in everything from ’60s garage to ’90s alternative while always maintaining a punk-rock ethos. Given their curatorial passion for rock music, it’s fitting the ladies open Wild Flag’s debut with “Romance”... 

TOMMY KEENE Behind the Parade [Second Motion] You’d think that after 25 years of plying his trade, Tommy Keene might have run out of ideas—or worse, inspiration. After all, that’s an awfully long time to labor below the radar. But if Keene’s dismayed, there’s no evidence of it here. Behind the Parade is brimming with enthusiasm, as reflected in the earworm hooks and enticing melodies that have long since become his stock in trade. The muted... 

TORI AMOS Night of Hunters [Deutsche Grammophon] After a couple of missteps, Tori Amos gets back on track with Night of Hunters, a 14-song cycle that finds her adapting the music of classical composers to her own symbolism-packed mythical tale of a relationship gone sour. Throughout the course of her 11th studio effort—set to variations of works from Erik Satie, Frédéric Chopin and Claude Debussy, among others—Amos examines relationship recovery... 

O.A.R. King [Wind-up] O.A.R.’s seventh album showcases a self-assured band at the height of its creative powers. Frontman Marc Roberge and company offer up a healthy dose of kinetic reggae grooves, with bright splashes of horns and other colorations. Longtime fans will welcome the return of the Wanderer, the fictional narrator of their early work, on the opening title track. The bouncy acoustic opening of “Taking on the World Today” conveys... 

RICKY SKAGGS Country Hits Bluegrass Style [Skaggs Family] In the 1980s, Ricky Skaggs ruled the country music roost, scoring 19 Top 10 hits—a whopping 11 of them chart-toppers—as the masses fleetingly embraced country traditionalism. Once radio lost interest, the man who had earned his stripes as a youth playing behind legends like Ralph Stanley returned to his native bluegrass and has remained there ever since. Now the Kentucky native and mandolin... 

SONNY ROLLINS Road Shows, Vol. 2 [Doxy/Emarcy] Without a doubt the most buzzed-about jazz concert of 2010 in New York City was Sonny Rollins’ 80th birthday celebration, held last September at the Beacon Theatre. Road Shows, Vol. 2 offers four selections from that gig—only a fraction of it, unfortunately—and tosses in a couple more from a Tokyo show. Rollins’ chops have yet to diminish one iota, as he remains an imaginative player whose gift... 

PISTOL ANNIES Hell on Heels [Columbia Nashville] Miranda Lambert recently enlisted friends and fellow singer-songwriters Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley to form the old-school trio Pistol Annies, an opportunity to shake off her superstar status for a while and showcase the considerable talents of her lesser-known bandmates. True to Lambert’s spitfire image, the characters in Hell on Heels encompass several species of bad girl: In the title track... 

DREAM THEATER A Dramatic Turn of Events [Roadrunner] Legions of Dream Theater fans were dismayed when drummer (and founding member) Mike Portnoy and the band parted ways last year. Never fear—with new drummer Mike Mangini behind the kit, the veteran prog-metal ensemble sounds re-energized, engaged and focused on songwriting in ways not heard since 2002’s Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence. On the harder side of the ledger, songs such as “On the... 

BUTCH WALKER AND THE BLACK WIDOWS The Spade [Dangerbird] Butch Walker has been putting out catchy pop-punk records for years, yet he’s probably more famous as a producer and songwriter (his credits include Weezer, Pink and Avril Lavigne) than as a performer. The Spade is his most infectious effort yet, so if it fails to turn him into a breakout star you can blame it on the sorry fact that few artists suddenly make it on the radio after 40. Just... 

MATES OF STATE Mountaintops [Barsuk] Thirteen years and seven albums in, Mates of State—the married duo of keyboardist Kori Gardner and drummer Jason Hammel—still sound like lovestruck teens on their latest self-produced effort. Their voices volley back and forth among bouncing, bubbling synth lines, crashing cymbals and lyrics like “You’re a pot of gold and you’re sitting at the rainbow’s edge” (from the girl group–inspired “Total... 

STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS Mirror Traffic [Matador] If you’re wondering how much of an effect last year’s Pavement reunion had on singer and guitarist Stephen Malkmus’ ongoing solo career, the answer seems to be … well, some. The Beck-produced Mirror Traffic has a vaguely Pavement-ish anarchic feel and playful energy, veering from the punchy stop-start rhythm of the sarcastic political comment “Senator” to the languid “Long Hard Book.”... 

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM Seeds We Sow [Buckingham] Lindsey Buckingham’s music is annoyed by your vibrating phone. It is openly contemptuous of your shuffle mode. It spits at your Spotify. It stands uncomfortably close to you, demanding that you look it in the eye and pay attention. And if you’re willing to do that, you two will get along just fine. You can go ahead and prefer his classic Fleetwood Mac guitar tone over the style he employs on Seeds We... 

DVD MILES DAVIS Live at Montreux: Highlights 1973-1991 [Montreux Sounds/Eagle Eye Media] Let us now praise Claude Nobs. For founding the annual Montreux Jazz Festival, for sure—it’s one of the world’s most venerable and beloved music showcases. But also for having the foresight to document the sights and sounds from as many festival performances as possible, creating a tremendous archive from which a great many essential archival releases have... 

REISSUE R.E.M. Lifes Rich Pageant (25th Anniversary Edition) [I.R.S./Capitol] While the following year’s Document would be the group’s true commercial breakthrough, the stage for that momentous event had been set by its predecessor, 1986’s Lifes Rich Pageant. The indie-rock heroes signaled a willingness to meet the mainstream halfway—OK, at least a little bit of the way—by tapping John Mellencamp producer Don Gehman. Singer Michael Stipe’s... 

BOOK REVIEW SHORTCUTS TO SONGWRITING FOR FILM & TV Robin Frederick [TAXI Music Books] While Robin Frederick isn’t a household name, she certainly has the street cred to call herself an authority on music acquisition for film and television. Starting her career as a New Age artist in the early ’90s, she segued into a long and fruitful career as a writer and executive producer for countless kids’ TV shows and albums (working on such varied... 

DAVID BROMBERG Use Me [Appleseed] Since the start of his solo career nearly 40 years ago, eclectic singer and songwriter David Bromberg has been known for tapping tradition to borrow from the blues. Happily, Use Me—his second release since ending a long studio silence in 2007—finds him in a feisty mood, assured and as focused as ever. Given this edgy series of broadsides, he also brandishes an unusually brusque point of view, with songs such as... 

NICK 13 Nick 13 [Sugar Hill] Twelve years ago, Social Distortion frontman Mike Ness released his country-tinged first solo album—and thanks to Ness’ distinctive, SoCal-sunbaked voice, it still sounded a lot like Social Distortion. Nick 13, whose Berkeley-based psychobilly band Tiger Army is cut from the same cloth as Social D, gets a very different result on his own self-titled solo debut. A straightforward traditional effort co-produced by roots... 

SONDRE LERCHE Sondre Lerche [Mona] Sondre Lerche has undertaken several stylistic transitions in his relatively brief career, from chamber-pop wannabe and crooner of the occasional torch song to would-be rocker. With his latest album, an eponymous effort released independently, the native Norwegian finds a comfortable niche that accommodates all these incarnations. Whether it’s the casual stride that glides through “Ricochet,” “Living Dangerously”... 

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... 

JOE JACKSON TRIO Live Music – Europe 2010 [Razor & Tie] Joe Jackson should be an expert by now on how to make in-concert albums. This edition of Live Music is the sixth in the series for the sharp-tongued new-waver turned Cole Porter enthusiast, and it carefully highlights the strengths of his touring band while also tossing in a few surprises for fans who bought the first five. A plurality of the set list comes from 1982’s Night and Day,... 

FOSTER AND LLOYD It’s Already Tomorrow [Effin Ell] During their late-’80s heyday, Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd brought a literate, punkish attitude to country radio. Foster went on to a hit-laden solo career, Lloyd created a string of masterful power-pop albums and both remained busy as producers and songwriters for others. Their first new album together in more than two decades picks up right where they left off, with their Everly-esque harmonies... 

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS Join Us [Idlewild] Brooklyn indie-rock originators They Might Be Giants claim to once again be making music for adults, but when it comes to the “the two Johns”—founding frontmen and songwriters Flansburgh and Linnell—“grown-up” has always been a relative term. Were it not for a handful of PG-13 words and concepts, Join Us might appeal to young fans of Here Come the ABCs and Here Comes Science, two of four children’s... 

BLAKE SHELTON Red River Blue [Warner Bros.] Blake Shelton, known outside the mainstream country world as resident cornball on NBC’s The Voice, swarmed to the top of the charts recently with the hillbilly valentine “Honey Bee.” On Red River Blue, perhaps the most pop-sounding collection in his catalog, he works best when exposing the different shades of domestic partnerships. The harmonies of Nashville’s leading women (“I’m Sorry” with... 

GIACOMO GATES The Revolution Will Be Jazz: The Songs of Gil Scott-Heron [Savant] To be clear, The Revolution Will Be Jazz was not hurriedly assembled to capitalize on Gil Scott-Heron’s death on May 27—work on Giacomo Gates’ tribute to the jazz poet and spoken-word artist had already wrapped by that sad occasion. If the album does point some uninitiated listeners toward the visionary, often controversial work of Scott-Heron, then all the better.... 

SUZY BOGGUSS American Folk Songbook [Loyal Dutchess] Suzy Bogguss has tried out her gorgeous voice on a variety of genre projects lately. There was her 2003 Swing set, as well as a Christmas album. As the title of her new album suggests, she’s now taking on classic American folk songs—and it proves to a perfect pairing. Bogguss doesn’t gussy up these traditional tunes, which span the country from the “Erie Canal” to the “Red River Valley.”... 

DAVE STEWART The Blackbird Diaries [Surfdog/Weapons of Mass Entertainment] You have to wonder how Dave Stewart found time to make a new solo album. Between what might be the world’s busiest production schedule (recent clients include Stevie Nicks and Joss Stone), starting the band SuperHeavy with Stone, Mick Jagger, Damian Marley and A.R. Rahman, and writing music for the forthcoming theatrical adaptation of Ghost, it would seem his calendar is... 

THE VACCINES What Did You Expect From the Vaccines? [Columbia] By the sound of it, the Vaccines love a lot of Ramones songs—but if they had to pick a favorite, they might go with the Tom Waits cover “I Don’t Wanna Grow Up.” The title could be a motto for the Vaccines—four good-natured British 20-somethings wary of the adult world. “I’m perfectly aware of what I’m yet to know,” Justin Young sings on “Under Your Thumb,” putting... 

BUDDY GUY Buddy and the Juniors [Verve/Hip-O Select] “Why don’t we play some blues?” Buddy Guy proposes by way of kicking off this 1970 curiosity, now issued domestically on CD for the first time. It’s an unplugged session born of differences between Guy and his record label, which led to the label refusing to provide the budget for a full recording band. So guitarist Guy, his longtime partner Junior Wells on harp, and jazz pianist Junior... 

LIAM FINN FOMO [Yep Roc] You’re almost certainly wondering what FOMO means, so let’s clear that up: It’s an acronym that stands for “fear of missing out,” a common affliction of musicians who are always on the road. Liam Finn devotes his sophomore record to combating that feeling with a batch of pop songs buoyant enough to brighten the occasional dark spot. Finn, the son of Crowded House leader Neil Finn, delivers catchy melodies in a strong,... 

JIM LAUDERDALE Reason and Rhyme [Sugar Hill] Jim Lauderdale is the Pixar of Americana: Like the animation giant, he’s had such a winning streak of releases that one can’t help but look for chinks in the armor whenever he resurfaces with a new project (of which there have been many). Fortunately, Reason and Rhyme, his 20th full-length and fourth bluegrass album in as many years, won’t go down in history as his Cars 2-esque fall-off point. Collaborating... 

BRIAN ENO Drums Between the Bells [Warp] While he’s never limited himself to a single, easily defined sound, Brian Eno is known for minimalism and electronic texture—hallmarks of his work with such artists as U2, Coldplay and Talking Heads. In that sense, this collaboration with poet Rick Holland is a textbook move from rock’s foremost sonic architect. In keeping with Holland’s lyrics—musings on deep-sea mollusks, the infinite cosmos and... 

GILLIAN WELCH The Harrow & The Harvest [Acony] It’s been eight years since the release of Gillian Welch and partner David Rawlings’ last album, Soul Journey, but the darkly written, starkly sung songs on The Harrow & The Harvest are entirely worth the wait. Welch and Rawlings are the only players on this all-acoustic set, their voices often harmonizing in mournful modal fourths and Rawlings’ guitar winding its way around Welch’s studiously... 

BON IVER Bon Iver [JAGJAGUWAR] From obscure indie-folk singer to Kanye West’s secret weapon in a few short years—things have certainly changed for Justin Vernon. He recorded his debut album in a Wisconsin cabin and released it without fanfare under the Bon Iver banner, only to see it become one of the most talked-about records of 2008. Vernon toured hard, contributed to Yeezy’s 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and then got to work... 

BEYONCÉ 4 [Columbia] Of course Beyoncé can move your booty: She is, after all, the auteur behind radio mega-jams like “Crazy in Love” and “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).” But Beyoncé is more interested in moving your heart on her latest, a collection of songs that focuses on her smoldering side with little of the speaker-rattling sonic bombast of previous efforts. She’s coming from the heart on 4, delivering persuasive takes on heartache,... 

PRINCE: CHAOS, DISORDER, AND REVOLUTION By Jason Draper [Backbeat Books] Mercurial rock icon Prince is a difficult subject for biographers—privacy-obsessed and reluctant to be interviewed, when he does open his mouth he’s likely to throw you off the trail with a cryptic pronouncement. So author Jason Draper wisely sticks with a very nuts-and-bolts approach in Chaos, Disorder, and Revolution, an exhaustively researched volume that lays out... 

AMY SPEACE Land Like a Bird [Thirty Tigers] With Land Like a Bird, Nashville-based singer and songwriter Amy Speace has created a hypnotic set of songs that may be her best effort yet. She coos and croons through “Drive All Night,” “Galbraith Street” and “Ghost,” and assumes the role of nocturnal chanteuse on the alluring “It’s Too Late to Call It a Night.” There’s a decided sadness in Speace’s aching vocals and weary laments,... 

WILLIE NELSON & WYNTON MARSALIS FEATURING NORAH JONES Here We Go Again: Celebrating the Genius of Ray Charles [Blue Note] As the old showbiz saying goes, you can’t go wrong with good material. So with the timeless songbook of Ray Charles as a source, this live collaboration of three luminaries of jazz, pop and country is a thrill. Cut live at Lincoln Center in February 2009, the set kicks off with a spirited take on “Hallelujah I Love Her... 

THE RAVEONETTES Raven in the Grave [Vice] In 2008, garage-rock revivalists the Raveonettes got their hands on some synths and recorded two uncharacteristic EPs, Beauty Dies and Sometimes They Drop By. The Danish duo still drew from ’50s and ’60s rock, but rather than stomping on distortion pedals they summoned the woozy-cool textures of ’80s dream-pop and David Lynch film scores. They followed those samplers with 2009’s bubblegum palette-cleanser... 

STEVE MILLER BAND Let Your Hair Down [Roadrunner/Loud & Proud] Steve Miller has lately returned to the blues-based sound he pursued prior to the poppier material that made him a radio staple in the 1970s, while maintaining the distinctive style he’s boasted for the past 45 years. His effusive vocals, vibrant guitar solos, playful humor and producer Andy Johns’ supple arrangements serve him well here as Miller navigates the same strict parameters... 

THE KILLS Blood Pressures [Domino] After releasing their third album together, 2008’s Midnight Boom, Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince took a break from the Kills and found new foils for their outsized personalities. Mosshart spent the hiatus singing for Jack White’s voodoo-punk supergroup the Dead Weather, while Hince found himself a U.K. tabloid fixture by getting engaged to supermodel Kate Moss. While their lives have changed, the duo’s musical... 

BRIAN SETZER Setzer Goes Instru-MENTAL! [Surfdog] The most surprising thing about Brian Setzer’s first all-instrumental recording is that it’s taken him this long to try it. From his debut with the Stray Cats three decades ago, Setzer has consistently proven his six-string dexterity, applying his economical but vigorous playing primarily to rockabilly and neo-big-band swing. While the guitar is firmly front and center on this new set, Setzer’s... 

K.D. LANG AND THE SISS BOOM BANG Sing It Loud [Nonesuch] This is the first release that comes with an “and” after k.d. lang’s name since the Reclines shared billing on her first three records. The last of those, Absolute Torch and Twang, was also the last country album she made. So does the return of a band also signal a return to those roots? Not exactly, but Sing It Loud may be as close as she’s been since then. Siss Boom Bang contributes... 

EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY Take Care, Take Care, Take Care [Temporary Residence Ltd.] It’s been almost four years since Austin, Texas, post-rock instrumentalists Explosions in the Sky’s previous album. Their fifth and latest picks up as if no time had passed, continuing to showcase the band’s gift for crafting sweeping soundtracks for movies that have never been made. One almost wishes that the six tracks didn’t have such evocative titles (“Trembling...