Shawn ColvinWhole New You – It's been four years since Shawn Colvin's breakthrough album, the brilliant A Few Small Repairs. During that time, she fixed a bunch of personal stuff — got married, had a child and such. Whole New You reflects the singer/songwriter's new stability, and one result seems clear: For Colvin, bitterness, the emotional center of Repairs, makes for better music than bliss. Replacing the bile of Sunny Came Home and Get Out of This House is the breezy lift of the title track (you have the right/ to shake the loneliness and shine the light) and the gushy love ode Nothing Like You.

Not everything is sunshine and roses on the new one, but Colvin writes of alienation and pain from something of a distance, which takes much of the visceral punch out of the material. In many respects, Whole New You is a perfectly fine album; it's just missing perhaps the key ingredient that makes for a great singer/songwriter statement: true inspiration.

Otherwise, the disc brims with warm melodies and is anchored by Colvin's extraordinarily intimate voice. Funny thing about singers. Some can hit all the notes and emote like hell, but still leave you cold; others can sound like they're barely trying and get deep in your bones. It's a purely subjective response. I turn a chilly shoulder to the likes of Sarah MacLachlan and Jewel, but dissolve at the first tones of a Bonnie Raitt or Colvin. As such, Shawn Colvin will probably never make a bad album to these ears, but Whole New You doesn't quite measure up to her best work. (Columbia)

—Eric Snider

Of Montreal Coquelicot Asleep In The Poppies:

A Variety of Whimsical Verse – Genius is often misunderstood. And trying to understand this psychedelic quirk-pop concept album from Of Montreal (actually from Athens, Ga., US of A) would be an exercise in futility. Most will find the Willy Wonka-esque world of Coquelicot inaccessible, irritating or simply too goofy to warrant repeat listens. There is, however, something new to discover upon each spin, and it gets more easily digestible as you go. The overblown artistic machinations of Coquelicot include songs about pee-pee icicles, Turkish moths, wax museums, and an 18-minute piano solo titled The Hopeless Opus or the Great Battle of the Unfriendly Ridiculous, a musical interpretation of the fold-out poster included with the album, or vice versa. All of this does not, however, make it a bad piece of music. The superb production and imaginative musicianship that went into this record is evident, ranging from zippy-trippy pop to charming slower numbers. A bad album? No. Genius? Hmmm. Perhaps more than anything, Of Montreal are just talented musicians with too much time, too many drugs and too many people telling them that they might be Sergeant Giants Lonely Hearts Club Beach Boy Band, giving them the notion that Coquelicot was a good idea. Or maybe the world just isn't ready for the hallucinogenic beauty of the group's aural circus. (Kindercore, www.kindercore.com)

—Ryan Rayhill

Modern Jazz QuartetEuropean Concert Recorded in Scandinavia in April 1960, this reissue finds the tux-clad sophisticates at the peak of their powers. MJQ brought a chamber-like elegance to jazz that played well with the upscale set, yet their music, especially in concert, had a subtle spunk and just enough blues flavor to infuse it with plenty of understated soul. The program includes their usual concert repertoire of the time — Django, Vendome, Bag's Groove, La Ronde and 11 others over nearly 80 minutes — and the ensemble is exquisitely simpatico throughout. John Lewis' spare piano work and Milt Jackson's shimmering vibes provide engaging contrast, gliding over the supple rhythm work of drummer Connie Kay and bassist Percy Heath. (Label M, www.LabelM.com)

—Eric Snider