New Musical Frontiers And A Galaxy Of Shining Guest Stars

Magnetic Fields leader Stephin Merritt opens his latest songbook to his rotating "super-group," the 6ths, made up of vocalists ranging from frontwomen of the Mekons and Cibo Matto to '80s icons Gary Numan and Bob Mould. Melanie's melody of tipsy self-torture stands out like Bette Davis as Baby Jane. But Odetta delivers the biggest star power in Waltzing Me All the Way Home," a new standard of heartbreaking tenderness tinged with regret.

Nicholas Messing

ST. GERMAIN

Tourist (Blue Note)

St. Germain (the nom de guerre of one Ludovic Navarre) melds funky beats, loops, samples, and--hold your breath--real live musicians into an edgy musical caper that finally puts the burn into acid jazz. Hot and complex piano, guitar, horn, and percussion gorgeously shatter seemingly complacent grooves. Standout: the stunning opener, "Rose Rouge," one of only two vocal tracks, which sounds like a lost Dave Brubeck--Nina Simone session.

Anita Sarko

EMMYLOU HARRIS

Red Dirt Girl (Nonesuch)

Harris's latest record is a supple beauty, crafted from her own songs and given pop punch by Luscious Jackson's Jill Cunniff, Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa on harmony. Harris's own silvery voice cuts across the boundaries of rock, folk, bluegrass, and country. Shania and Faith may be billed as country's crossover queens, but Emmylou built the bridge.

Alison Powell

RADIOHEAD

Kid A (Capitol)

Not only is this the most eagerly awaited album of the year, it's also the one most likely to flummox expectations. A soaringly beautiful affair, by turns hypnotic and desolate, it finds singer Thom Yorke so distant and buried under the band's sonic dreamscape that on "How to Disappear Completely," he sings, "I'm not here, this isn't happening"--a phrase that could have been the album's title. Edward Helmore

POE

Haunted (Fishkin Entertainment/Atlantic)

Coming mere months after the publication of brother Mark Danielewski's House of Leaves, Poe's second album--a companion piece of sorts--uses her eccentric brand of jazzy pop to explore the novel's hidden passageways. The album's ambitious construction provides depth even as it distracts from its riveting Rumours-style pop. But Poe's voice--a lusher incarnation of Chrissie Hynde's mesquite tones--tips the balance in the album's favor.

Maya Singer

WILLIE NELSON

Milk Cow Blues (Island Records)

There's little that distinguishes Nelson's all-blues CD from the other theme park, star-studded collaborations littering the marketplace, except for his obvious enthusiasm, very fine guitar work, and ability to step sideways in the presence of Dr. John, B.B. King, Jonny Lang, and others without ever diminishing his own presence. Gracious, good-natured, almost effortless, Nelson's blues are hardly blues at all.

Henry Cabot Beck

GURU

Guru's Jazzmatazz: StreetSoul (Virgin)

No one has been as successful at infusing hiphop with jazz as Guru, the GangStarr MC who's got the blend down to a street science. On the third installment of his Jazzmatazz collective, he gathers an eclectic group of old-school cats such as Herbie Hancock and Isaac Hayes with new-school players like Macy Gray for a funkalicious feast.

Nichole Beattie-Rapaport

RONI SIZE/REPRAZENT

In The Mode (Island Records)

Junglist Roni Size performs CPR on what was thought to be an electronica casualty: drum 'n' bass. He first turned the genre on its head with his 1997 debut, New Forms, and he's done it again here. With help from Method Man and Rage Against the Machine's Zack De La Rocha, Size forges surprising new links between hip-hop and club formulas.

Matt Diehl