Music Reviews

Critic Ken Tucker reviews new music by the British punk band The Mekons and the American country-rock band The Mavericks. Both groups have recorded new songs that were inspired by recent news events.

Maxwell creates an atmosphere of free-floating sensuality on his new album. Critic Ken Tucker says the record is "dreamy and roomy enough to accommodate a wide array of emotions."

Much of the music on Cray's new album stems from a year he spent teaching at the University of Nevada in Reno. Critic Kevin Whitehead says Outside In is a reminder of the power of open spaces.

Will Hermes reviews a second album by The Avalanches that was 16 years in the making called Wildflower.

The young singer-songwriter has described herself as "half-Japanese, half-American, but not fully either." Critic Ken Tucker says her fourth album, Puberty 2, has an impressively wide range of sounds.

Betty Davis was already gaining attention as Betty Mabry in the late 1960s when she met Miles Davis. He produced legendary sessions for her that have never been released — until now.