After the critical and commercial success of Live in London, which was issued in 2009, Leonard Cohen and Sony decided to follow it up with a second volume. Whereas the aforementioned date was the complete record of a single evening at one venue in 2008, Songs from the Road is a DVD/CD package that documents his world tour during that year through 2009. It features the same band performing 12 well-known songs from throughout the songwriter's career in various locations around the globe. The DVD also includes an intimate 20-minute backstage interview. This was a historic tour for Cohen, who began it at age 73, playing 84 shows and selling over 700,000 tickets. Recorded in high definition, the set was also made available on Blu-ray. In addition to the other two formats, the audio portion was made available as a 180-gram vinyl LP as well.

The story of Back to Black is one in which celebrity and the potential of commercial success threaten to ruin Amy Winehouse, since the same insouciance and playfulness that made her sound so special when she debuted could easily have been whitewashed right out of existence for this breakout record. (That fact may help to explain why fans were so scared by press allegations that Winehouse had deliberately lost weight in order to present a slimmer appearance.) Although Back to Black does see her deserting jazz and wholly embracing contemporary R&B, all the best parts of her musical character emerge intact, and actually, are all the better for the transformation from jazz vocalist to soul siren. With producer Salaam Remi returning from Frank, plus the welcome addition of Mark Ronson (fresh off successes producing for Christina Aguilera and Robbie Williams), Back to Black has a similar sound to Frank but much more flair and spark to it. Winehouse was inspired by girl group soul of the '60s, and fortunately Ronson and Remi are two of the most facile and organic R&B producers active. (They certainly know how to evoke the era too; Remi's "Tears Dry on Their Own" is a sparkling homage to the Motown chestnut "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," and Ronson summons a host of Brill Building touchstones on his tracks.) As before, Winehouse writes all of the songs from her experiences, most of which involve the occasionally riotous and often bittersweet vagaries of love. Also in similar fashion to Frank, her eye for details and her way of relating them are delightful. She states her case against "Rehab" on the knockout first single with some great lines: "They tried to make me go to rehab I won't go, I'd rather be at home with Ray" (Charles, that is). As often as not, though, the songs on Back to Black are universal, songs that anyone, even Joss Stone, could take to the top of the charts, such as "Love Is a Losing Game" or the title song ("We only said good bye with words, I died a hundred times/You go back to her, and I go back to black"). [The 2007 Canadian edition pares the track list down to ten songs, omitting the bonus remix.] ~ John Bush

Recording information: Art Kitchen; Bradley's Barn, Mt. Julien, TN; Conway Recording Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Glenwood Place Studios, Burbank, CA; Mushroom Studios, Vancouver, BC; Placebo Sound, Vancouver, BC; Serious Sound, New York, NY; Sony Studios, New York, NY; Sunset Sound Studio, Hollywood, CA; The Hut; The Jungle Room; Vancouver Studios, Vancouver, BC.
Photographer: Raymond Meeks.
Since 2006's Reintarnation chronicled k.d. lang's alt-country beginnings, there was a need for a compilation that focused on her smoky prime, the recordings from Ing'nue on, the recordings that turned her into a crossover star. Recollection, available as either a double-disc or a deluxe set that expands that pair with a disc of live recordings and a DVD of music videos, does just that, painting a portrait of lang the modern-day torch singer. In doing so, it repeats a little of Reintarnation, but even those tunes don't quite possess the wild, almost campy retro-swing of lang's early years. Nothing about Recollection is camp: this is all smooth and assured, accentuating lang's nuance if not her range, and if this winds up being a little too streamlined, at least it offers a better overall introduction to lang's music than her previous compilation. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

It's hard to believe that an artist as talented as Etta James would ever enter a slump, but her career did stall after a long reign as a '50's pop princess. In order to get back on top of the game she had to reinvent her sound for the 1961 recording, At Last! A triumphant return, Etta went on to enjoy new levels of success as one of the premier queens of soul. In tender moments, her voice delicately graces the sweeping string arrangements of love songs like "A Sunday Kind of Love" and the title track. She also reveals a powerful blues flavour with upbeat numbers like "If I Can't Have You" - a duet with Harvey Fuqua. Solid from start to finish, it's obvious why this album got Etta James' career back on track.

If a series of unfortunate comparisons (like the ones to follow) cause listeners to equate British vocalist Amy Winehouse with Macy Gray, it's only natural. Both come on like a hybrid of Billie Holiday and Lauryn Hill who's had a tipple and then attempted one more late-night set at a supper club than they should have. Despite her boozy persona and loose-limbed delivery, though, Winehouse is an excellent vocalist possessing both power and subtlety, the latter an increasingly rare commodity among contemporary female vocalists (whether jazz or R&B). What lifts her above Macy Gray is the fact that her music and her career haven't been marketed within an inch of their life. Instead of Gray's stale studio accompaniments, Winehouse has talented musicians playing loose charts behind her with room for a few solos. Instead of a series of vocal mellifluities programmed to digital perfection, Winehouse's record has the feeling of being allowed to grow on its own -- without being meddled with and fussed over (and losing its soul in the process). Simply hearing Winehouse vamp for a few minutes over some Brazilian guitar lines on "You Sent Me Flying" is a rare and immense pleasure. Also, like Nellie McKay (but unlike nearly all of her contemporaries), Winehouse songs like "Fuck Me Pumps," "Take the Box," and "I Heard Love Is Blind" cast a cool, critical gaze over the music scene, over the dating scene, and even over the singer herself. With "In My Bed," she even proves she can do a commercial R&B production, and a club version of "Moody's Mood for Love" not only solidifies her jazz credentials but proves she can survive in the age of Massive Attack. [A German version of the CD was released in 2007.] ~ John Bush

To the Sea, the fifth studio album from surfer/songwriter Jack Johnson, features 13 new tracks, all of which are destined to become the official summer 2010 soundtrack for collegiate volleyball games, post-graduation car wash fundraisers, and spontaneous beach blanket siestas everywhere.

Personnel: Duchess Nell Catchpole (violin, viola); Christopher Allan (cello); Nick Etwell (trumpet, flugelhorn); Pete Beachill (trombone).
Audio Mixer: Ruadhri Cushnan.
Recording information: Eastcote Studios, London.
Photographer: Max Knight .
Arranger: Mumford & Sons.
English folk outfit Mumford & Sons' full-length debut owes more than a cursory nod to bands like the Waterboys, the Pogues, and the Men They Couldn't Hang. The group's heady blend of biblical imagery, pastoral introspection, and raucous, pub-soaked heartache may be earnest to a fault, but when the wildly imperfect Sigh No More is firing on all cylinders, as is the case with stand-out cuts like "The Cave," "Winter Winds," and "Little Lion Man," it's hard not to get swept up in the rapture. Like their London underground folk scene contemporaries Noah & the Whale, Johnny Flynn, and Laura Marling, Mumford & Sons' take on British folk is far from traditional. There's a deep vein of 21st century Americana that runs through the album, suggesting a healthy diet of Fleet Foxes, Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Blitzen Trapper, and Marah. That melding of styles, along with some solid knob-twiddling from Arcade Fire/Coldplay producer Markus Dravs, helps to keep the record from completely sinking into the quicksand of its myriad slow numbers -- tracks like "I Gave You All," "Thistle & Weeds," and "After the Storm" are pretty and plain enough, but they neuter a band this spirited. Sigh No More is an impressive debut, but one that impresses more for its promise of the future than it does its wildly inconsistent place in the present. ~ James Christopher Monger

Audio Mixers: Michael Brauer; Peter Asher.
Recording information: The O2 Arena, London.

Whitney Houston's soaring version of Dolly Parton's "I Will Always Love You" kept the soundtrack to The Bodyguard nailed firmly to the top of the charts. However, the premier soul diva also uses the record to show that she can tackle more than just ballads with stirring gospel rousers like "Jesus Loves Me" and the rich Southern funk of "Queen of the Night." Additional tunes from Aaron Neville and Joe Cocker with Sass Jordan only further solidify this already impressive release.

Personnel: Leonard Cohen (vocals, arranger, various instruments); Anjani, Jennifer Warnes, Evelyine Hebey, Mayel Assouly, Elisabeth Valletti, Jude Johnstone (vocals); Jean-Philippe Rykiel, Jeff Fisher (arrangers, various instruments); Michel Robidoux (arranger, keyboards, drums); Roscoe Beck (arranger); Bob Stanley (guitar); Sneaky Pete Kleinow (steel guitar); John Bilezikjian (oud); Raffi Hakopian (violin); Richard Baudet (saxophone); Larry Cohen (keyboards); Peter Kisilenko (bass); Vinnie Colaiuta, Tom Brechtlein (drums); Lenny Castro (percussion). Producers: Leonard Cohen (tracks 1, 6, 8); Leonard Cohen, Roscoe Beck (track 2); Leonard Cohen, Michel Robidoux (tracks 3-4); Gean-Michel Reusser, Leonard Cohen, Roscoe Beck (track 5); Roscoe Beck (track 7). Engineers: Ian Terry (tracks 1-2, 6); Roger Guerin, Leanne Ungar (tracks 3-4); Jean-Jacques Peruchon, Leanne Ungar, Kevin Beauchamp (track 5); Billy Youdelman (track 7); Ian Terry, Francois Deschamps (track 8). Recorded at Studio Tempo and DMS Studios, Montreal, Canada; Rock Steady, Los Angeles, California; Studio Montmartre, Paris, France; Soundworks, New York, New York. The lyrics to "Take This Waltz" are based on Federico Garcia Lorca's poem "Little Viennese Waltz." Contemporary music's poet laureate, Leonard Cohen performs in a universe of pessimism, cynicism, spirituality and profound romance, all stirred with a dash of wit. On I'M YOUR MAN, his acid words burn deep to the soul. Cohen's poetry deals with powerful demons--"You loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I just might win/You know the way to stop me, but you don't have the discipline/How many nights I've prayed for this: to let my work begin." He is obsessed with religion--"Everybody knows what you've been through/From the bloody cross on top of calvary to the beach at Malibu"--and has a love/hate relationship with himself--"My friends are gone and my hair is grey/I ache in places where I used to play." Often, existential dilemmas rear their complex heads ("They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom"), but it is eroticism that truly drives Leonard Cohen--"I'd drive howl at your beauty like a dog in heat/I'd claw at your heart and I'd tear at your sheet/I'd say `please, please, I'm your man.'" Oh yes, there's music also. Cohen's deep, gruff vocals are offset by female singers, and by moody, textured instrumentation ranging from rock and jazz to classical and folk. Yet it is the language that is the true star of I'M YOUR MAN.

Personnel: Jewel (vocals, acoustic guitar); Jonathan Yudkin (various instruments, guitar, charango, celtic harp, mandolin, violin, viola, cello, flute, bass instrument); Ken Halford (acoustic guitar); Jason Freese (accordion, piano, Mellotron, triangle); Jonathan Ahrens (upright bass).
Audio Mixer: Chris Rowe.
Audio Remasterer: Hank Williams.
Arranger: Jonathan Yudkin.
Though marketed as a children's album in conjunction with toy maker Fisher Price, LULLABIES could more accurately be described as a children-themed, adult-directed singer-songwriter album. Composed largely of gentle, lyrically direct, folky originals with a few standards thrown in ("Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"), the album most recalls Jewel's multi-platinum debut PIECES OF YOU. For longtime followers of the Alaska native's frequent genre-jumping, this comes as a welcome development--Jewel always shone brightest when equipped with a simple song and a sparse arrangement. Here her soothing singing wraps the listener like a warm blanket, making LULLABIES a perfect bedtime record for weary heads of all ages.