Kris Delmhorst

Cars

(Signature Sounds)

Were The Cars an influential band, or symbolic of the vacuity of the post-punk, pre-grunge early 1980s? Should tribute albums be sweet-voiced faithful renditions, or raw, radical revamps? I’m a big Kris Delmhorst fan, but whether you’ll like her new album depends entirely upon how you answer those two questions. Delmhorst bounces the beat on “Shake It Up,” is off-kilter on “You Might Think,” and coy on “My Best Friend’s Girl,” though her gorgeous straight-up folk take of “Magic” gets my vote for best of show. She grew up listening to The Cars, which poses another conundrum. Some of the music of our youth is classic; some now embarrasses us like old photos of bad haircuts. So is this album a precious small jewel or the sort of inconsequential tchotchke you’d pick up at a sidewalk sale closeout? It depends.

—Rob Weir

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Patti Smith

Outside Society

(Arista/Columbia/Legacy)

There’s no new material on Outside Society, but this cross-section of Smith’s career to date can still prove revelatory, even if you know her music. That’s because its earliest tracks, starting with her iconic version of “Gloria,” bump up against later material to interesting effect. The early tracks reveal a singer who’s leaking bits and pieces of the distinctive and uncompromising style she’d later inhabit fully. Yelps and wobbly low notes punctuate music that might otherwise be more standard-issue ’70s rock, then Smith’s idiosyncracies more or less take over as she leads her weird choir in spoken-word excursions, moody anthems and well-delivered mayhem full of righteous politics and philosophy. If you don’t know Smith’s work, this is a good place to start, a ready-made play list spanning decades of work by a unique and important rock voice.

—James Heflin

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SBTRKT

SBTRKT

(Young Turks)

The debut by London DJ Aaron Jerome (aka SBTRKT) is a welcome respite from the typical electronica album. While most dance-ready discs favor a frenetic pace, many tracks here exhibit a more relaxed style. In fact, standout number “Hold On” could even substitute for some understated R&B slow jam featuring the vocals of crooner Sampha. The English singer also pops up on “Trials of the Past,” but his spotlight is stolen on “Wildfire” by Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano. Like elsewhere on the record, significant bass hums bring the low end to the song, allowing synthesizers and other electronic sounds to comment on the action like transmissions from a distant planet. When such flourishes work, they add depth and mystery. However, there’s no secret to the success of “Pharaohs,” starring Roses Gabor. Its clever synth-pop groove belongs on club playlists the world over.

—Michael Cimaomo