Troubadour, the follow-up album to K’naan’s highly acclaimed The Dusty Foot Philosopher was recorded at Bob Marley’s original Tuff Gong studio in Kingston, Jamaica. Having established his ghetto bona fides, the Canadian immigrant embarks on a conscious party, playing with US hard rock (If Rap Gets Jealous with Metallica’s guitarist Kirk Hammett), radio-friendly pop (Bang Bang with Maroon 5 vocalist Adam Levine), and Jamaican reggae (I Come Prepared with Damien Marley). There’s a realistic thrust behind K’Naan’s endless invocations of conflict.

"I wasn’t ever looking for street cred/ But these streets bred me to be street sav," he raps on the opening track, which bears the abbreviated title T.I.A. (for This Is Africa). The standout America features K’Naan rapping in Somali over a funky African guitar loop, with Mos Def and Chali 2na’s baritone flows weaving through the track like lyrical molasses on the plight of the African Diaspora. Later on, Fire in Freetown shifts the hip-hop flow into a sleepy love joint resting on a reggae rhythm accented by a Somali hook, jazzy horns, and crisp percussion. It would be easy to brand K’naan with the ‘political rapper’ tag. But that’d be both easy and disingenuous. K’naanlyrics lie in stark contrast to emcees that use their medium as a pulpit to promote their beliefs. "My job is to write just what I see/ So a visual stenographer is who I be," he rhymes in I Come Prepared.

Best track: If Rap Gets Jealous
Worst track: Fatima
Rating ***

The iconic singer/songwriter has been lauded and subsequently covered by artists as diverse as`A0Spiritualized`A0and`A0Beck, not to mention Eric Clapton, whose famous renditions of Cocaine and After Midnight gave Cale the mainstream thump he enjoys even today. The classic Cale sound - sly, understated vocals buoyed by some tasty, judicious blues guitar licks and a shuffling boogie - is in full flower on the latest outing Roll On. The 12 songs are exceptionally fragile, with the guitars and vocals barely above a whisper. Cale's voice, still entirely nonchalant at 70, is scarcely pushed enough to be present in the mix. Themes of mortality and loss infuse Former Me, Bring Down the Curtain, Old Friend, and the elegiac Leaving in the Morning. Cale not only plays guitar and sings here, but on almost all of these cuts he does double and triple duty on drums, bass, and even Rhodes piano. Where the Sun Don’t Shine begins with some haunting synth loops and heavy guitars, with an elementary snare and hi-hat progression. His syncopated words all slide right down the spine of the blues with lyrics worthy of Louis Jordan. Other standouts include the acoustic electric boogie Strange Days, with five-string banjo and mandolin work from the artist; the space grooves of Fonda-Lina that feels like it was taken from a movie soundtrack, the multi dimensional Down To Memphis, and the popping roots rock of the title track with Slowhand and Keltner.

Best track: Roll On
Worst track: Cherry Street
Rating ***

Diane’s voice is the most important instrument on`A0To Be Still. There is a warmth and stillness, capable of bringing peace to even the most troubled of souls. The guest musicians, Rondi Soule on swing violin, Matt Bauer on bluegrass banjo, Pete Grant on slide guitar, and the sweet harmonies of Alina Hardin and Mariee Sioux, signify rural America, but a couple of tracks also make links with late1960s British folk. The album's first single, White As Diamonds, best showcases her expanded musical ambitions and the record's pristine sound (co-produced with her bluegrass musician father in his studio). The best track of the album, Take Us Back, uses soft violin playing that strokes and comforts the softest part of you. However, a lot of the songs on the album just mesh into one long medley making them sounding too similar at times. Age Old Blue, a duet with Michael Hurley, is a calming listen as it yearns for simpler times.`A0As the album progresses, the music and theme becomes heavier both in theme and accompaniment. Dry Grass And Shadows, a feast of slide guitars and hammering drums, bursts into life when Alela’s voice slurs up at the end of each line. Harvest sounds road-tested for a Neil Young’s b-side track, while My Brambles, punctured through with cello and tambourine, recalls the darker side of Dory Previn. The bittersweet The Alder Trees opens with a gorgeous, plaintive fiddle motif, echoed by Diane's startling, soaring voice. Other highlights include Lady Divine and Tatted Lace. This is a record that makes listeners nostalgic for a place and time they've never visited: Alela Diane will move you, if you allow her.

Best track: Take Us Back
Worst track: The Ocean
Rating **

Album of the month
India.Arie — Testimony Vol.2, Love & Politics(Republic)

India.Arie has been a powerhouse vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter from day one. When she first hit the scene back in 2001, she drew well-deserved comparisons to Stevie Wonder for the undeniable optimism that reflects in her songs. Nearly three years after the release of her third studio album, Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship, the neo-soul singer-songwriter has chosen to blend attraction with today’s politics. The upbeat Yellow, featuring the velvety tones of Terrell Carter (from the Tyler Perry plays), equates the color spectrum to the ups and downs in a relationship: "There are times you make me see red, and then you shine your white. I get all pink inside...together me and you are purple, because we are so royal."

On the love side, silky ballads such as Chocolate High incorporates an old-school Motown sweetness with strings and gorgeous interplay between the singer and her backing vocalists. One of the most tender and heartfelt songs on the album is He Heals Me.`A0The song is about finding love and friendship with someone who makes you feel good about yourself. Psalms 23 is about not letting the challenges we face keep us down.`A0Inspired by the Biblical Psalm of David, Arie creates a song about walking in faith despite life’s ever-present hurdles. Acoustic syncopation accompanies her global view of poverty and survival in the flamenco-tinged Pearls and Ghetto, which features the notable singer from the Ivory Coast, Dobet Gnahore. On the other end of the relationship spectrum is Long Goodbye, an acoustically oriented song that may be musically simpler, but whose themes of holding onto a lost love are complex and revealing. Love And Politics isn’t music to fall in love to, it’s music made to celebrate a love already found.

Best track: Psalms 23
Worst track: River Rise

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