Doug Taylor

Johnny AdamsThe Great Johnny Adams Blues Album (Rounder)Sessions from a dozen albums the New Orleans belter made in the ’80s and ’90s were cherry-picked to emphasize his bluesy side. Adams died in 1998, known more as an interpreter than a writer. His strengths are emotion and phrasing, and the pedigree of his backup. “Imitation of […]

The Real Tuesday WeldI, Lucifer(Six Degrees)Once you get past the lengthy handle, the Real Tuesday Weld conveys languid London cabaret cool, finding fertile ground in the breakup. A Glen Duncan novel serves as inspiration for Stephen Coates’ breezy tunes. In his world, honesty trumps romance through titles like “(Still) Terminally Ambivalent Over You.” With its […]

Watermelon Slim & the WorkersWatermelon Slim & the Workers(Northern Blues)Watermelon Slim is Bill Homans, 56, a Vietnam vet who spent years growing melons and driving a truck before he got his blues in gear. He’s more reminiscent of Muddy Waters than anyone else alive. He plays a searing slide guitar and his harmonica wails like […]

Lady SovereignPublic Warning(Island/Def Jam)Young, small and ferocious Lady Sovereign justifies the hype as much with her ease among the beats as with what rolls out of her mouth. Fashion trash-talk lights up “Tango,” where a fake tan makes you a pumpkin and black hair dye risks comparison to “the Vicar of Dibley, what, on crack.” […]

Elizabeth ShepherdBesides(Do Right Music)In the wake of a breathtaking debut, Shepherd delivers a set of surplus for those who can’t get enough, and remixes for hipsters who found the first album’s jazz too old-school. The four new songs show no dip in quality. The only choice is to be amazed at how well her bluesy […]

Various Six Feet Under: Everything Ends EMI About to finish its fifth, final season, the genuinely groundbreaking series offers up a collection of incidental music with little in common but a sense of how valued life becomes when death is in the room. Caesars’ cover of Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper” feels less […]

Various, XXXMusic from Thinking XXX (Ryko)Photographer Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’ portraits of porn stars (both naked and clothed) were deemed worthy of a documentary. This is the soundtrack to the documentary, mostly a clinical throbbing trying to pass itself off as hot. There are a few robotically rousing dance numbers by Felix da Housecat, Xlover, Ladytron and […]

Amp FiddlerWaltz of a Ghetto Fly(PIAS/Beggars)If Sly Stone were to emerge from his fog with some of the songs here, people would gasp in delight. Al Green may want to investigate singing a few others. Miles Davis atmospherics get goosed by a bassline that Prince might dream up. Aside from anointing such elements as his […]

VariousClassic Labor Songs(Smithsonian Folkways)Paul Robeson starts with “Joe Hill,” both the ultimate appetizer and a chance to check your bass component. “We Shall Not Be Moved,” “Bread and Roses” and “Solidarity Forever” are among the songs people are more likely to have heard in person than on record. They all have a story and, as […]

Andre 3000Whole FoodsThink DifferentlyThis album smells like a pile of fragments and retreads until Andre’s Outkast cohort Big Boi joins him near the disc’s conclusion. The eight-minute “Liberation,” also featuring Cee-lo and Erykah Badu, builds like a spiritual, with cascading harmonies and moody piano. The catchiest meld of rapping and singing is “Long Way to […]

Mariah CareyThe Emancipation of Mimi(Island)After enduring backlash and breakdown, Carey is back to selling boatloads of records. She still inserts the odd disconcertingly high note, designed to amaze the listener (or send a secret message to his dog). Despite hip-hop collaborators like Snoop, Twista and Nelly, this is mostly candy in an R&B package. Carey’s […]