That's a Wrap-Up

Corey Harris
Downhome Sophisticate
(Rounder)
Some may suspect that Corey Harris was included on this list because he spent many of his formative years in Denver. But in truth, he'd be here if he'd grown up in Des Moines or Tijuana or Beirut. Downhome Sophisticate is well-named, in that Harris's music embraces the primitive side of the blues even as it displays a lyrical and thematic erudition that would seem contradictory if it weren't so natural and effortless. The slide guitar work on "Don't Let the Devil Ride" and elsewhere is utterly combustible, and songs like "Santoro" manage to address contemporary issues in the context of the folk tradition. It's a neat trick that no one does better than Harris. -- Roberts

Alvin Youngblood Hart
Down in the Alley
(Memphis International)
Veering from his normally progressive bent, Hart pares away the excess on this acoustic outing, using only a haunting guitar and an elemental voice to conjure the spirit of past masters. The bare-bones arrangement illuminates such traditional numbers as "Motherless Child" and Leadbelly's "Alberta." Down in the Alley is an unfiltered look at a vital living bluesman, as well as an ageless tribute to those who paved his way. -- Peterson

Musiq
Juslisen (Just Listen)
(Def Soul)
At its best, neo-soul doesn't simply give R&B conventions the high-tone gloss a modern studio can provide; it also infuses them with a contemporary sensibility that makes their trademark musical flourishes and emotional scenarios resonate with listeners who wouldn't know Mustang Sally from a Ford Focus. Musiq accomplishes these goals largely because of his ambidextrous voice, which is equally effective on deliberately paced romantic opuses like "Dontchange" and the cool but funky "Caughtup." But his lyrics have deepened, too, making "Halfcrazy," in which platonic affection turns into horizontal action with complicated results, much more than a straight-forward sequel to "Just Friends," one of Musiq's first hits. Don't take my word for it: Just listen. -- Roberts

Asie Payton
Just Do Me Right
(Fat Possum)
The phrase "an untimely death" is among the English language's hoariest cliches, since only a bare handful of demises can be said to have happened at the ideal moment. (One could argue that even Hitler's death wasn't timely; the world wouldn't have missed him had he keeled over twenty years before he did.) Still, Payton's timing was particularly bad, since a fatal heart attack in 1997 prevented him from taking full advantage of his discovery by Fat Possum. But at least the label went to the trouble of assembling Just Do Me Right, a collection of rough, sometimes homemade recordings whose lack of polish actually adds to their impact. For blues lovers, this disc has arrived right on time. -- Roberts

Joe Louis Walker
In the Morning
(Telarc)
Featuring guitar work by former Saturday Night Live axman G.E. Smith, Joe Louis Walker's latest brings the blues back home. Born to migrant workers on Christmas in 1949, Walker has led a storied existence that includes a time living with legendary blues guitarist Mike Bloomfield as part of San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury scene. Walker blends electric and acoustic, soul, gospel and funk to create an album that should appeal to blues purists and progressives alike. -- Hutchinson

Various Artists
Standing in the Shadows of Motown
(Hip-O)
It took a whole lot of souls to create Motown. As director Paul Justman posited in his documentary Standing in the Shadows of Motown, studio musicians of the era were as important as the songwriters who sculpted the music and the singers who performed it. This live recording serves to further Justman's argument by pairing the oft-overlooked but ubiquitous backing band, the Funk Brothers, with contemporary arbiters of R&B. The experiment is largely a success (though Ben Harper's "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" sounds more like karaoke than Gaye pride). Meshell Ndegeocello's outrageously sensual reading of Smokey Robinson's "You Really Got a Hold on Me" makes us wish, for a moment, that she would stop making mixed tapes and play with the Brothers permanently. And though the spotlight often defers to the singer in question, the band is tight, explosive and more familiar than we initially realize. -- Bond

COLLECTIONS/BOXED SETS

Beat Happening
Crashing Through
(K)
Before neo-garage, lo-fi or even grunge, Beat Happening ruled the Northwest underground rock scene by being the most humble band in the world. Sounding something like the Cramps covering the Shaggs, the coed trio confronted punk-rock audiences throughout the '80s with a baffling mix of doe-eyed innocence and dark sexuality. Were the players amateurs? Poseurs? Pretentious? Fey? Maybe a little bit of each, but their songs -- raw garage-pop anthems with depth and soul -- speak for themselves. All five of Beat Happening's studio albums, included on Crashing Through along with a huge booklet and two bonus discs full of videos, live material, singles and compilation tracks, testify to the power of modesty -- not to mention a hundred or so brilliant pop songs. -- Heller

David Bowie
All Saints: Collected Instrumentals 1977-1999
(Virgin)
All Saints illustrates why David Bowie inspired so many bands. The three decades' worth of instrumental output assembled here ranges from ambient dirges to tone poems to dance-club hits that never were. The '70s-era work shows off the creative success of Bowie's collaboration with Brian Eno, while much of the material from the '90s anticipates mainstream electronica by a number of years. Even Moby should kiss the Duke's ring. -- Kelly Lemieux