New Recordings

Loud

(Island Def Jam ***)

nolead ends The last time we heard Rihanna, the Barbados-born vocalist had moved from the ebullience of youthful song (OK, she's currently 22) and indigenous vibes into the starker electro and scarred sexuality of Rated R. Coming off emotional and physical wounds famously inflicted by her then-beau, R was all about how sweet revenge could be and how chilly it would sound.

Way past that mess, Rihanna still borrows R's icy command, so perfect for her voice's stilted lilt, on Loud tunes such as "S&M." Beyond that drama, Rihanna seems to let go more than ever on this flirty new record. Loud brings her back to the West Indian flavor of her start (the raga-riffic "Man Down") and the sass of young-adult sensuality (the deal-breaking ballad "Fading") without eschewing innocence, romance, and silliness as she did on R. The giddy "Cheers (Drink to That)" and the synth-fizzy "Only Girl (In the World)" are rivaled only by the clubby "What's My Name?" for absolute zeal - all with Rihanna's loose voice following its bliss.

- A.D. Amorosi

nolead begins Kid Cudi
nolead ends nolead begins Man on the Moon II:
The Legend of Mr. Rager
nolead ends nolead begins (GOOD Music/Universal Motown ***)

nolead ends Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi has issues: women, self-confidence, self-medication. But his biggest issue might be that he shares too much about his issues. Cudi's 2009 debut was a fascinating turn for hip-hop, if a bit hard to actually listen to. Man on the Moon II feels the same way: admirable from afar, but jeez, is this stuff depressing up close. When Cudi tells us not to play one of his songs ("Don't Play This Song") if we don't want to hear him on drugs - like a parent telling a child to look away - it smacks of an Intervention episode. But bright spots light the way ("Mojo So Dope"), and the addition of Mary J. Blige on two tracks is comforting. Cudi's musically adventurous side is still on a hot streak, too, with no soundtrack too weird to support the recesses of his tortured mind.

- Michael Pollock

nolead begins Röyksopp
nolead ends nolead begins Senior
nolead ends nolead begins (Astralwerks **1/2)

nolead ends Melody A.M., the 2001 debut from Sweden's Röyksopp, mixed airy club hits ("Epie," "Poor Leno") with down-tempo set pieces. Last year's Junior, their third album, was all frothy, peppy, and poppy, with guest vocals from Robyn, Lykke Li, and other Scandinavian pop divas. The new Senior is Junior's dark doppelgänger: an album of chilled-out instrumentals (with a few wordless coos and sighs).

A few of the pieces work as independent constructions (the House-meets-dub of "The Drug," the swirling, sweeping, crescendo of "The Fear"), but Senior works best as dreamy background music, as a nighttime reverie or as a soundtrack to an imaginary film. It succeeds on its own terms: Part of the point of down-tempo music like this is to disappear into the ether. But without any breezy songs, it's comparatively faceless and undercooked.

- Steve Klinge

nolead begins Matt & Kim
nolead ends nolead begins Sidewalks
nolead ends nolead begins (Fader ***)

nolead ends A cute keyboard-and-drums couple from Brooklyn, Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino typified indie at the turn of the decade. They couldn't have been more annoying when they debuted, but with indie slowing to a hazy crawl meant to evoke summer, the unforced sunniness and forthright tunes on their third album resemble an OK pop band. Sure, Johnson still yelps, and Schifino's stop-start pounding never touches a groove. But their jingles are varying for the better: "Red Paint" alternates between arcade synth and wafting flute, closer "Ice Melts" utilizes funky synth-horns, and several hooks come from fake strings. They've always been catchy, but those of us annoyed by them may even want to hear these again. As the indelible "Good for Great" illustrates: "We sing along / But the notes are wrong."

- Dan Weiss

Bullets in the Gun

(Show Dog/Universal ***1/2)

nolead ends His blustery exploitation of 9/11 and the Dixie Chicks controversy sometimes obscured the fact that Toby Keith can be a very good country singer and songwriter. In recent years, his output has been uneven, but on Bullets in the Gun, the good ol' boy is, indeed, very good. It just may be his best album.

The lead-off title track is a headlong, outlaws-on-the-lam saga reminiscent of Robert Earl Keen's "The Road Goes on Forever," and "Drive It on Home" is a rocking trucking song. But Keith really excels here on ballads and mid-tempo numbers that delve into matters of the heart, whether it's the straight-up ache of "In a Couple of Days," the false bravado of "Think About You All the Time," or the battle-scarred resilience of "Ain't Breakin' Nothin'." And you know Keith is at the top of his game when he can pull off "Get Out of My Car." The singer plays a lecherous creep, but it's all tongue-in-cheek - and the joke ends up being on him.

The deluxe edition of the album contains four bonus live tracks that display Keith's excellent taste in influences as he covers Johnny Paycheck, Waylon Jennings, Roger Miller, and Gordon Lightfoot.

- Nick Cristiano

Sketches of Spain

(Sheffield Lab ***)

nolead ends A half century after the recording of Sketches of Spain, a double-disc legacy edition of Miles Davis' masterwork with arranger Gil Evans has arrived with outtakes, photos, and critical commentary. This month a curious collaboration also appears between trumpeter Lew Soloff and conductor Steve Richman of the Harmonie Ensemble New York, who essentially dare to reenact and slightly reimagine the original.

The old session can sound like a pile-up between band and orchestra. The new version pares down the orchestra. The effect is like taking dirt off a Michelangelo; Evans' work leaps out, and its melancholy Spanish core gets amped up, too.

Soloff, who played for years in the Gil Evans Orchestra, plays a lot of what Miles did because much of it was written down. Soloff also adds his own smears and elegant lines to these five tunes. Miles' tone is richer and his playing more hypnotic. There's something special that only he reaches. But Soloff acquits himself well, and the orchestra sounds a whole lot better.

- Karl Stark

Eric Whitacre Singers, the King's Singers, Pavao Quartet, and others, Whitacre conducting

(Decca ****)

nolead ends The music is so unfailingly pretty and inhabits such a specific harmonic world, you keep expecting the 40-year-old Eric Whitacre to peak, to start repeating himself or at least become tiresome with his predominantly contemplative manner. That doesn't happen in Whitacre's highest-profile recording yet. The disc is smartly arranged with a variety of performers - mostly a cappella chorus, though some pieces have instrumental accompaniment - and a mixture of greatest hits such as "I thank You God for this most amazing day" as well as the more recent "The Stolen Child," a narrative piece whose story is told by various combinations of solo voices popping out of the choir.

His wide-reaching choice of texts also gives the disc an arc, from the throaty tang of Five Hebrew Love Songs to the literary complexities of poet Charles Anthony Silvestri in "Leonardo Dreams of His Flying Machine." More encouraging, Whitacre's popular 2000 "Lux Aurumque" has a 2009 sequel "Nox Aurumque" showing how far the composer has progressed. Harmonies are more sophisticated, with ecstatic consonance spilling into dissonance, ending with an air of mystery that shows how eloquent ambiguity can be.

- David Patrick Stearns