Rodney Crowell, The Outsider (Sugar Hill/DMZ/Columbia). Once Rodney Crowell quit trying to produce hits and decided to make music that moved him, he's been unstoppable. His latest is even better than The Houston Kid and Fate's Right Hand, its two worthy predecessors. The rockers are harder, the ballads more pungent, and the lyrics sharp, smart and ornery. Rebel country rises again. -- Roberts
Schoolyard Heroes, Fantastic Wounds (Control Group/Tcg). Execs fashion the Heroes of equal parts Yeah Yeah Yeahs and System of a Down, with a My Chemical Romance garnish for presentation. Sort of. They're more like the well booze to those groups' top-shelf: potent, but similar only to the shitfaced. Ryann Donnelly apes Karen O while the band plays catch-up. Schoolyard Heroes? Maybe remedial school. -- Adam Cayton-Holland
Wilderness, Wilderness (Jagjaguwar). Since Joy Division has been jocked to death, it was only a matter of time before someone cloned Factory Records' lesser known mope dealer, Crispy Ambulance. The lush post-punk of Wilderness's debut shimmers with an ether-soaked atmosphere bracingly devoid of pouting or theatrics. Interpol without the zits? As great as that sounds, Wilderness is even better. Heller
Jermaine Dupri, Jermaine Dupri PresentsYoung, Fly & Flashy Vol.1 (Virgin). P. Diddy-and-modesty-free, Atlanta-based hit-makin' J Dupri prezents Bow Wow, J-Kwon and Young Capone, bustin' treblesome beats on the street, yo. Got bank? Hos? Ballin' wit ease? Stay fly, playa, or git on yo' knees. -- La Briola
Id and Sleeper, Displacement (Mush). It takes more than checking The Catcher in the Rye to push the parameters of hip-hop. Dog-paddling in the pool dug by cLOUDEAD and Sage Francis, Id and Sleeper's debut is a precocious exercise in edgy beats and heart-baring verse that manages to keep its head above water -- and that's about it. -- Heller
Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz, Crunk Juice: Chopped & Screwed, and Ying Yang Twins, United State of Atlanta: Chopped & Screwed (TVT). The marketing geniuses strike again. These two discs contain the same material as their original versions, but remixed by Michael "5000" Watts in the ultra-trendy screw style -- meaning they sound as if they're spinning at about three-quarters speed. Coming soon: the Chopped & Screwed-Up editions, which won't play at all. -- Roberts