Hank Williams III
Lovesick, Broke & Driftin'
The latest from hellbilly renegade Hank Williams III is the perfect soundtrack to get drunk by. Lovesick, Broke & Driftin' is a classic boozin' (and druggin' if you count the cannabis references) album on par with the best from Merle Haggard, David Allan Coe and George Jones.

For his 1999 debut, Hank III was under close watch by his label. They only allowed him to record four of his own songs (the album's highlights), and forbade him from taking the production reigns. For his '02 effort, Hank III has recorded all his own material save for an interesting cover of Springsteen's Atlantic City tacked on at the end. The young rebel produced the disc as well. Hank III's lonesome coyote yelp has never sounded finer. Whether ranting about the music industry in the revved up Trashville, or lamenting lost love in 5 Shots of Whiskey, the album is a honky-tonk gem throughout.

In the late 1960s, Gram Parsons realized a dream of playing country music with rock 'n' roll attitude. Following in Parsons' footsteps, Hank III blends the ethics of punk rock (his first musical love) with the heart-wrenching sincerity of hardcore country to explore the darker elements of life — depression, loneliness, anger — that fuel both genres. In doing so, the youngest Hank is on a path to offer Nashville its biggest kick in the pants since well, since his womanizing, whiskey-guzzling grandfather wreaked havoc on Music Row some 50 years ago (Curb, www.hankthree.com).
—Wade Tatangelo

Fred Anderson
On the Run: Live at the Velvet Lounge
(Delmark)
Dark Day
(UMS/Atavistic)
He's one of the linchpins of Chicago's storied avant-garde jazz scene. It wasn't that long ago that Anderson tended bar as well as gigged at the Velvet Lounge — and that was about the extent of his performing. He's undergone a career resurgence in the last half-decade or so. These two discs offer vibrant looks at a brilliant, often underheralded player, one who managed to temper the chaos of free-jazz with groove and lyricism. The Velvet Lounge disc, recorded in 2000, finds Anderson volleying with drummer Hamid Drake and bassist Tatsu Aoki in a freewheeling, open-ended set. The rhythm is pliant, sliding from free time to frenetic bop to spaced-out sections. Anderson's robust horn work mines a wealth of melodic invention. The double-disc Dark Day dates back to '79, and is a fascinating document of two shows just four days apart — the first during an AACM concert at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and then at the Verona Jazz Festival in Italy. Drake was also on hand for these shows, as were trumpeter Billy Brimfield and bassist Steve Palmore. This twofer is, on the whole, a bit more rambling and dissonant than the Velvet show, but for the time it was a relatively accessible outing, more apt to groove than degenerate into a free-for-all.
—Eric Snider
On the Run:
Dark Day:

Bats & Mice
Believe It Mammals
There's something about Richmond, Va., that just seems to breed bands that don't sound like anybody else. Bats & Mice is the latest in a distinguished line of forward-thinking, punk-reared bands (the group contains alumni from Sleepytime Trio, Four Hundred Years, Rah Bras, Milemarker and others), and certainly offers something different. Call it after-hours indie-rock — lushly layered vocals, abstract, almost jazzy passages and a talent for subdued dynamics lend Believe It Mammals a cumulous, after-the-climax feel. All potential rough edges have been softened, bathed in fuzzy tones, vague keyboard lines and an intriguing multi-singer game plan. Even when it gets loud, it never really gets, you know, loud.
(Lovitt, www.lovitt.com)
—Scott Harrell

Q-Tip
Kamaal the Abstract
For a guy with a squirrelly rap voice, virtually no singing chops and limited rhyme skills, Q-Tip has delivered a pretty seductive disc. He consistently flouts hip-hop convention by writing almost haiku-like lyrics and constructing songs that bank on heavily repeated choruses and extensive solos. Is it Q-Tip's jazz record? No, although long organ, keyboard, piano and horn improvs certainly add that dimension. Is it Q-Tip's nu-soul entry? Not really, although the flowing grooves and expert musicianship (by his band, Rose) show a kinship to that style. In the end, this is Q-Tip striving to establish a sound of his own, and, although still nascent in its development, Kamaal the Abstract is an engaging step in the right direction. (Arista)
—Eric Snider

Elmore James
Shake Your Money Maker:
The Best of the Fire Sessions
Elmore James holds a special place in the annals of rock 'n' roll history, serving (in part) as the electric bridge between the Delta blues of Robert Johnson and the blues-based rock of the Yardbirds and Rolling Stones. James' innovative renditions of Dust My Broom, and Standing at the Crossroads, as well as his own self-penned classic, Shake Your Moneymaker are simply monumental achievements. The Best of Fire Sessions includes versions of James' above-mentioned classics, plus 13 other choice tracks cut during his tenure at Fire Records. Whether backed by his own Mississippi band or veteran New York studio musicians, Elmore's aching, tormented growl and sizzling slide guitar shine with equal veracity on every song (Buddha, www.BuddhaRecords.com).
—Wade Tatangelo