New Recordings

nolead begins Avril Lavigne
nolead ends nolead begins The Best Damn Thing
nolead ends nolead begins (RCA ***)

nolead ends There's the tired sexist joke about men loving it when women get angry. Ugh. But what about when a girl - a "Sk8er" girl - grows up to become that woman who's getting steamed?

Now we're talking about Avril Lavigne.

Within three albums she's matured into a piquantly nasty singer without becoming shrill or dully turning herself over to Janet-style lasciviousness. Or worse: Britney-like self-abuse.

Think the f-bomb has lost its power to shock? Hear it spit from Lavigne's mouth as she rowdily waltzes through the hand-clap rhythms and crabby guitars of "Girlfriend."

Sure, Avril appropriates Rancid-esque rage with a sugary power-pop coating on "Everything Back but You" and "I Can Do Better." But from the wintry discontent of her lyrics, this girl isn't sweet. Not on you, chum.

She may have a soft spot for cowriters/producers "Doctor" Luke Gottwald and Butch Walker, who help push Lavigne to Bic-lighting power-ballad heights on "When You're Gone."

But if Miss Thing is as bugged as she sounds throughout the rest of this record, I'd stay vigilant when she flicks her Bic.

- A.D. Amorosi

nolead begins Mavis Staples
nolead ends nolead begins We'll Never Turn Back
nolead ends nolead begins (Anti- ****)

nolead ends

Back in the '60s, Mavis Staples played a point role in the civil rights movement as a member of the Staple Singers. Here the gospel/soul singer revisits "freedom songs" of that era with the help of guitarist-producer Ry Cooder and his usual musical cast (as well as Ladysmith Black Mambazo on three cuts).

We'll Never Turn Back, however, is no mere exercise in nostalgia. Including a couple of originals and adding new lyrics to such familiar fare as "This Little Light of Mine" and "99 and 1/2," Staples forges a deep connection between then and now. The message is clear: "We need a change now more than ever," she implores on her self-penned "My Own Eyes." From moments of quiet resolve to those of preacherly urgency, she drives that message home with soul-stirring power, turning in one of the best and most impassioned performances of her long and great career.

- Nick Cristiano

nolead begins El-P
nolead ends nolead begins I'll Sleep When You're Dead
nolead ends nolead begins (Definitive Jux ***)

nolead ends El Producto never made his brand of eerily atmospheric hip-hop easy.

Funky breaks? El-P's got them. But rather than fill his densely textural walls of sound with sybaritism and singsong lightness, the MC/producer pumped 2002's Fantastic Damage full of weirdly fired-up political rants and bleak lyrical abstractions.

What the Diddy?

El-P couldn't even stick to rap's playbook, making 2004's High Water an avant-jazz excursion.

El-P may keep on the melodic tip for Sleep - the cool, brassy "EMG," the hard-stammering "Dear Sirs." But no one who samples Twin Peaks while invoking society's direst straits ("Tasmanian Pain Coaster") is looking to sell ringtones.

Finally. Thankfully.

Though he employs mouthpieces on Sleep (miserable Trent Reznor, annoying Cat Power, righteous kids from Mars Volta and TV on the Radio), El-P does it best by his lonesome or with his taut Def Jux crew. Yes, "The Overly Dramatic Truth" is as lame as its title. But with the rapper Cage, EL-P takes to doomsday on "Habeas Corpses" with a mordant romanticism to rival Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.

- A.D.A.

nolead begins Jack Ingram
nolead ends nolead begins This Is It
nolead ends nolead begins (Big Machine ***)

nolead ends With "Happy Happy (Country, Country)" on his 2005 live album, Jack Ingram deftly skewered mainstream country's propensity for fluff. Now part of the Nashville establishment himself, the Texan is not above churning out forgettable, radio-ready fodder - as he does here with "Lips of an Angel" and "Wherever You Are."

At his best, though, with songs like "Measure of a Man" and "Great Divide," Ingram delivers tough, grounded-in-

reality country-rock that doesn't sink under cliches. He's also adept at turning on the barroom swagger with Trent Sommar's "Love You" (which, like "Wherever You Are," first appeared as a studio track on the live album) and "Easy as 1, 2, 3 (Part II)," an original cowritten with Todd Snider.

- N.C

nolead begins The Bourbon Dynasty
nolead ends nolead begins The Bourbon Dynasty
nolead ends nolead begins (Night World ***1/2)

nolead ends Back in the '90s, an Atlanta band called the Vidalias put out some terrific country albums, among the best of so-called alternative country. The leader, Charles Walston, has since relocated to Washington, where he now fronts the Bourbon Dynasty, and the music is just as good, if not better.

Like the Vidalias, the Bourbon Dynasty is deeply rooted in traditional country sounds. But Walston keeps it fresh with an uncommonly high level of craft and soul, and vividly memorable writing. Listen to the way he incorporates horns into the mix this time. And the way his inherently melancholy voice perfectly suits the fatalistic streak that runs through such tunes as "The Habit of Doing Wrong" and "Satan Wore Satin." Not that he doesn't have a light touch - scan the bouncy "Girl at the Checkout Line" and the swamp-tinged "Low Tolerance for High Maintenance."

- N.C.

nolead begins Esbjörn Svensson Trio
nolead ends nolead begins Tuesday Wonderland
nolead ends nolead begins (Decca Label/Universal ***)

nolead ends The Swedish lads in the Esbjörn Svensson Trio, also known as E.S.T., give a reasonable take on the American art form. Their jazz is more aurora borealis than lightning; it comes in short melodic lines that can be easily perceived before they pass by.

The settings are clean and bright and often create hazy grooves that you can get lost in. And the soloing is less attention-grabbing than the ardent stuff hard-bop fans are accustomed to.

The earthiest moment comes on "Dolores in a Shoestand," which pianist Svensson builds into a clapping frenzy that is hands-down soulful. But the trio with bassist Dan Berglund and drummer Magnus Ostrom rarely lets the dog out so conspicuously. Instead they build gilded moments.

It's smooth, but not so formulaic as smooth jazz. The trio likes to change up chord patterns and make sharp turns within their well-ordered realm. The result is often pleasant, though it feels constricting over time.

- Karl Stark

In Stores Tuesday

Ryan Shaw, This Is Ryan Shaw; Greyboy Allstars, What Happened to Television?; The Noisettes, What's the Time Mr. Wolf;

Bucky Covington, Bucky Covington.

nolead begins Jim Miller/Tyrone Brown/
Randy Sutin
nolead ends nolead begins The Birdhouse Project: Free Bird
nolead ends nolead begins (Dreambox Media ***)

nolead ends Bassist Tyrone Brown starts off "Red Cross" hypnotically with a repeating note. Then vibraphonist Randy Sutin is on the Charlie Parker melody, sketching its arc as drummer Jim Miller lightly strikes the cymbal. The tune is sped up, tossed back and forth, and enhanced with some unexpected chromatic changes.

Like the Philly jazz scene, this CD comes with attitude. This trio gives the Parker songbook a going-over, borrowing the hard-swinging vibe but tweaking as the moment suits.

This feisty set marks the 100th recording of Dreambox, which under Miller and co-owner and singer Suzanne Cloud has documented the Philly scene for 20 years.

At times this set feels grinding. Yet the zeal is there. Brown, a veteran of Max Roach's group, gives a rock-solid, swinging bottom that really propels this set skyward. Miller keeps the flight in such Bird classics as "Au Privave," one of the most creative blues ever fashioned. And Sutin is up to the task, invoking the flash of spirit that gives meaning to the phrase "Bird Lives."

- K.S.

Astrid Varnay, Wolfgang Windgassen, Josef Greindl, Gré Brouwenstign, Bayreuth Festival Orchestra, Joseph Keilberth conducting.

(Testament ****)

nolead ends By now, most Wagnerites know about the reclamation of this 1955, early-stereo Ring cycle released here for the first time and are bracing themselves for reports of the inevitable letdowns that come with live Wagner. In the entire four-part cycle, that's happened just once with an out-of-sorts Rhine maiden in Das Rheingold. This installment is as strong as the others, with particularly luxurious casting: Small or thankless roles have great vocal personalities, like Gré Brouwenstign as Gutrune and Maria von Ilosvay as Waltraute.

The particular miracles of this final installment are headed by soprano Astrid Varnay: Though always well-realized theatrically, her Brunnhilde is in a vocal state of grace, with seamless ascents to high notes that radiate warmth and make astonishing theatrical effects. Conductor Joseph Keilberth seconds Varnay's revelations with a particularly precise sense of orchestral sound opening a door to deeper realms of expression. The brass show the recording's age, but who cares when the microphones take you so deep inside the Bayreuth strings?

With four, British-imported discs, the price hovers around a steep $80, but collectors should know the package is rich in production photographs, including one of the all-time-great diva photos: Varnay at her makeup table, looking sidelong at the mirror with the determined resolve of a true Wagnerian warrior.

- David Patrick Stearns

nolead begins Brahms
A German Requiem
nolead ends nolead begins Dorothea Roschmann, Thomas Quasthoff, Berlin Radio Choir, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Simon Rattle conducting.
nolead ends nolead begins (EMI ***)

nolead ends The combination of repertoire, soloists and conductor are enough to make your heart jump. Then about halfway into it, you realize this disc is mainly for those who loved Simon Rattle's collaboration with Krystian Zimerman on the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1. That means you'll either love Rattle's probing of the Brahms orchestration, or long for a less-tedious performance that simply gets on with it. Though it's nice to know how much each pulse can quiver, that Dorothea Roschmann can scale back her soprano effectively, and that Brahms can survive such comprehensive surgery, I'm in the latter category.

- D.P.S.