These are short notes/reviews based on streaming records from Rhapsody. They are snap judgments based on one or two plays, accumulated since my last post along these lines, back on September 27. Past reviews and more information are available here.

John Fogerty: The Blue Ridge Rangers Ride Again (2009, Verve Forecast): Like the first Blue Ridge Rangers album 36 years ago, a set of country-ish covers. Seemed overly obvious to me at first, but maybe even fans don't know "Paradise" and "Never Ending Song of Love" as well as I do. Got harder after that, taking a while for me to pick up on Buck Owens and John Denver and Ray Price, and most of the rest I merely recognized as having heard somewhere -- excepting, of course, the Everly Brothers closer. Unlike the first ride gets help this time. Has nothing to prove either, other than that he can still cash a check. B+(**)

Miranda Lambert: Revolution (2009, Sony Nashville): Crazy Ex-Girlfriend was every rock critic's country album of the decade, setting up expectations here that will have to be sorted out. First pass the three songs I was most taken by turned out to be 3 of 4 she didn't write or co-write: "The House That Built Me" was built from touching detail; "Time to Get a Gun" was anthemized in ways that Fred Eaglesmith never could pull off. I had forgotten about Eaglesmith's song, but had no doubt about John Prine's "That's the Way That the World Goes 'Round". Still, she didn't cover it; she snatched it so ferociously you know she knew she had to prove her mettle. It's the best thing I've heard all year. Second time through her songs got a notch better. A-

Terri Clark: The Long Way Home (2009, TLC/Capitol): Most of this sounds routinely neotrad, sometimes driving a point -- one I noticed was "Poor Girls Dream," including a bit of lyric: "If you got a million you want two/if you got nothing, any little thing will do." B+(*)

Syran Mbenza & Ensemble Rumba Kongo: Immortal Franco: Africa's Unrivalled Guitar Legend (2009, Riverboat): Mbenza as a long history as a guitarist in Congo bands, especially with the rumba group Kékélé. He's reasonably well positioned to spin a Franco tribute, although I don't have enough details about this album -- an endemic problem trying to work off Rhapsody -- or enough general expertise to see just how it works. My guess is that his approach is to do as Franco would do, which is to cut an album that would fit neatly on a shelf full of Franco albums. That much he's done. Still, don't expect a lot of flashy guitar, either here or on Franco's numerous albums. A-

Clara Moreno: Miss Balanco (2009, Far Out): Like Bebel Gilberto, a second generation bossa nova singer: Moreno's mom is Joyce Silveira Palhano de Jesus, or just Joyce. Mostly fits the classic mold, but she has a little grit in her voice, and the band is a little jumpier than the old days norm -- both good moves. B+(***)

Márcio Local: Says Don Day Don Dree Don Don (2009, Luaka Bop): Subtitle, or alternate title depending on how you parse the album cover, "Adventures in Samba Soul." There seems to be a whole "samba soul" genre, generic compilations and all, with some added funk beats and a snort of hip hop. B+(**)

Doom: Born Like This (2009, Lex): I gather Daniel Dumile has dropped the MF. He's never had much respect for his brand name anyway, sloughing some albums off as Viktor Vaughn, working collaborations like Madvillain and Danger Doom. Hard to follow, as indeed are his albums. The fuzzy underground undertow is a plus, and when I catch some rhyme it's likely to be witty. Just not catchy enough. B+(***)

Tom Zé: Danç-Êh-Sá (2006, Tratore): After three perfectly good multi-artist compilations, David Byrne turned his Brazil Classics series over for two volumes by Zé, one old and one not so old, both beyond my ken, but after sort of liking them the first time around, Christgau returned to them in the course of revising his CG book and fell in love. I don't know whether my view would change with prolonged exposure: they're around here somewhere and someday I may give them another trial. Since then Zé's idiosyncrasies have become more immediate and less ponderable, which for me at least works better. This one is choppy in weird and rather wonderful ways. A-

Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara: Tell No Lies (2008-09 [2009], Real World): British guitarist with a severe case of blues hooks up with Gambian griot producing a raw Saharan sound both exotic and familiar. B+(**)

Ahilea: Cafe Svetlana (2009, Essay): Macedonian DJ Ahilea Durcovski, based in Vienna fuses Balkan beats with mild mannered electronica, the sort of stuff that succeeds because it seems to try too hard. B+(***)

Goran Bregovic: Alkohol (2009, Wrasse): Still referred to as Serbo-Croatian, as if the splintering wars of the Yugoslav dissolution hadn't happened. Indeed, he's less limited and less specific than his ethnicity, borrowing from Roma and other sources. Most of his catalog consists of film scores, and he evidently does big business in weddings and funerals, but this live album lets him tear loose of programmatic constraints. A-

Seprewa Kasa (2008, Riverboat): Group from Ghana with an Osibisa guitarist and dueling seprewas -- a stringed instrument likened to a kora, pictured on the cover. Vocals too, that distinctive tenor originally packaged with palm wine. A rather light combination, not a lot of range, very beguiling. B+(***)

Daby Balde: Le Marigot Club Dakar (2009, Riverboat): Senegalese, fula not mbalax, which gives it a soft folkie base, but live may sharpen it up a bit, with bits of horn and backing vocals beyond the strings-and-percussion. His earlier Introducing album was an enchanting find; this is more or less in that vein. B+(**)

Condo Fucks: Fuckbook (2008 [2009], Matador): Yo La Tengo spinoff, kind of like Sonic Youth turning into Ciccone Youth except less ambitious. Mostly surf trash from the 1960s, including garage bouncebacks from the Troggs and the later but similarly inspired Richard Hell ("The Kid With the Replaceable Head"). B+(**)

Marshall Crenshaw: Jaggedland (2009, 429): He will always sound the same, and will always make or break on setting his hooks consistently. He does that more consistently than I've heard him since, oh, 1991's Life's Too Short. Wonderful when he does. Ordinary otherwise. B+(***)

Michael Chapman: Time Past Time Passing (2008, Electric Ragtime): English guitarist, b. 1941, singer-songwriter, may have started in jazz but mostly plays folk clubs. This appears to be a solo recording, just guitar and voice on most but not all pieces. Guitar has a definitive flow, much like John Fahey. Voice and sometimes guitar reminds me of Dave Alvin at times. This is the first I've heard of 30+ albums, and the only one on Rhapsody, so I have no way of comparison. Seems like a significant figure. A-

Yo La Tengo: Popular Songs (2009, Matador): Figured this for a covers album, but they're all originals -- don't know the band well enough to tell if old or new, but I figure they're operating in some zone of irony. Sounds typical for the most part -- maybe they're taking the title as permit not to have to prove anything. Still, the closing 15:54 "And the Glitter Is Gone" is a soaring/crashing guitar instrumental, plenty rousing. B+(***)

Rosanne Cash: The List (2009, Manhattan): Twelve covers, list selected by dad, all classic, none particularly his songs (although I'm sure he's nailed a few). A few are joined for duets, but the guests don't add much. She sings as strong and clear as ever, even on something like "She's Got You" where the standards are high. And she brings some little changes here and there: "I'm Movin' On," for instance, trades velocity for torque. A pretty great interpretive singer. A-

Speech Debelle: Speech Therapy (2009, Big Dada): Anglo rapper, originally from Jamaica, recording in Australia, flows easy with much of the beat coming off the precise English accent, but gradually sneaks up on you, especially the self-help "Finish This Album" and the peaceful closing title track. B+(***)

The Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies) (2009, Interscope): Too scattered to sort out in two quick plays, but so bumptious it followed me all over the house when I wandered around, one pop hook after another settling into my brain. Don't know if this will prove a great album, but it certainly is a fun one. A-

Jay-Z: The Blueprint 3 (2009, Roc Nation): Hard and loud, mostly full of shit, as if he's really as good as he thinks. Turning it down helped, and there's probably more there if you pay attention to the little things rather than the big ones. B+(**)

Raekwon: Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, Pt. II (2009, Ice H2O): Wu-Tanger, recycling his first title, from 1995 with only a couple of releases in between. I never was someone who could keep them all straight -- as far as I could tell group and solo albums were pretty much interchangeable (except maybe for Ol' Dirty Bastard), but this guy [Corey Woods] is deeper into the corporate sound than most. Lots of guest spots. Lots of crime shit, mostly sound like like fiction. I'm not sure I approve, except when they wed samples to bullshit like "Kiss the Ring." Other than that, best thing here is "Ason Jones," recycling the Dirty one once more. B+(***)

Cage: Depart From Me (2009, Definitive Jux): Rapper, formerly a member of a group called Smut Peddlers (album title: Porn Again). Lyrics have some promise, but I find the music a little heavy handed, almost metal. Someone described this as "Atmosphere-meets-Eminem," but that's mostly potential. B

Michael Hurley: Ida Con Snock (2009, Gnommonsong): Venerable folkie, cut his first album around 1970, a couple of pretty good ones later that decade plus a masterpiece when Peter Stampfel and the then Unholy Modal Rounders joined in. Since then he's knocked out a sly, understated, underachieving album every couple of years, of which this is about average. B+(**)

P.O.S.: Never Better (2009, Rhymesayers Entertainment): AMG describes as "rock-rap"; Christgau corrects, "punk-rap." Someone named Stefon Leron Alexander. I'm not fast enough to catch the words, but the music has a sharp edge to it, beatwise, the rap adding to the rhythm. B+(**)

The Mountain Goats: Life of the World to Come (2009, 4AD): The song titles refer to Bible verses, although not so simply as to quote them. Can't say much about textual analysis, except that John Darnielle's renderings are much closer to the real world, and in that are somewhat complex. Could go higher. Seems like a record you have to live with a bit -- two or three plays aren't definitive. B+(***)

Loudon Wainwright III: High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project (2008-09 [2009], 2nd Story Sound, 2CD): The North Carolina Rambler's brief career spanned 1925-30, his life 1892-1931, collected on three CDs on County, a 4-CD JSP set, and a 3-CD Columbia/Legacy box with some other stuff slipped in. I made it a point to pick up every old time country CD I ran across used, and found County's compilations especially useful, but Poole stood out compared to virtually everyone else I ran into -- on a par with the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, whose reputations preceded them, and Gid Tanner and His Skillet Lickers. Poole never wrote a song, but by the time he was done he owned a bunch of them, and held his own on the rest. I still favor the originals, but can't begrudge Wainwright's project. He doesn't have the twang, but he does have the dog-eared take and lots of hindsight and a few friends to work with. He works a few originals in, but they're hard to pick out on the fly. A-

White Denim: Fits (2009, Downtown): Austin, TX group, broke their first album in England. This is the second. Christgau describes them as a "commercially perverse Austin shred-fusion tercet." I don't know what that means. AMG treats them as psychedelica ("spazzy blues-based Nuggets rock, before falling into an abyss of prog-on-peyote scales"), which makes a bit more sense. They start in a muddy incoherent void, from which semi-interesting beats and falsetto voices eventually emerge, which they usually manage to thrash. I mostly find them annoying, a problem I've had with too-clever rockers going back as far as Zappa. B-

Modest Mouse: No One's First and You're Next (2009, Epic): EP, 8 tracks, more than 30 minutes, that used to qualify for an LP. First couple of songs capture their classic sound, but they wander a bit after that -- bright shiny metal, a bit of thrash, some opera. B+(*)

Wonderlick: Topless at the Arco Arena (2009, Rock Ridge): Starts with three adolescent fantasies, two ordinary ones about teen lust, the third much scarier for its past tense: "We Run the World." Band members had a smart/funny 1990s group called Too Much Joy, disbanded so they could make a living in the business world, which they don't exactly rule but have done well in. They later consider their holdings, but they're also a bit subversive; e.g., their one cover, "Janie Jones," which they slow down so you can hear all the words, even the ones they made up. B+(**)

Note: Additional records were sampled on Rhapsody and noted in Jazz Prospecting and/or Recycled Goods. For them, see the file here. The records above are listed in the order written on the blog, but are alphabetized by artist name in the archive.