"Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)"
Simpson teams up with producer Timbaland on this fizzy '80s pop throwback from her upcoming third CD. Mindless, yes, but maddeningly catchy.
"If I Had Eyes"
Surfer dude Johnson has the cure for the winter blahs with this deceptively breezy slice of flip-flop pop from his next album, Sleep Through the Static, out Feb. 5.
"Small Town Southern Man"
Exuding the "gentle kindness" he sings about, Jackson wraps his warm baritone around this fiddle-laced tale from his next disc, Good Time, due March 4.
"Bleeding Love"
Lewis, winner of Britain's The X Factor, spent seven weeks atop the U.K. chart with this midtempo pop confection. Solid, but hardly smashing enough for all the fuss.
"We Weren't Crazy"
The first single from Gracin's upcoming second disc is a country-pop charmer, riding on a buoyant chorus and a feel-good story about love beating the odds.
"Sensual Seduction"
The Doggfather sings! Well, sort of. Using T-Pain-like processing on his vocals, Virtual Snoop croons about carnal delights. Nice try, but it's no "Gin and Juice."
Made of Bricks
ALT-POP
This 20-year-old British singer-songwriter got a big boost when she got a MySpace endorsement from Lily Allen. Her first album went on to debut at No. 1 on the U.K. chart after it was released last August. Just now arriving in the U.S., Made of Bricks is built upon the kind of whimsical, quirky pop and Brit-witty lyrics that fans of Allen would no doubt enjoy. On the sprightly highlight, "Foundations," she details the decay of a relationship: "My fingertips are holding on to the cracks in our foundation/ And I know that I should let go, but I can't." No such worries about Nash—she's a keeper.
Lupe Fiasco's The Cool
CRITIC'S CHOICE
RAP
Chicago can already claim two of the hottest emcees on the planet: Kanye West and Common. Add Lupe Fiasco to that stellar list. The rapper, who first impressed on West's single "Touch the Sky," enters rarefied air on his second album. With smart lyrics, savvy beats and an old-school social consciousness, he brings to mind a Q-Tip for the YouTube generation.
DOWNLOAD THIS: "Superstar," a soulful star turn
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RADIOHEAD In Rainbows
After being available for pay-what-you-want download from the band's Web site last fall, Radiohead's brilliant new album is finally out on CD for you old-schoolers. (You can also now download it from iTunes.)
MARY J. BLIGE Growing Pains
Three things you can count on: death, taxes and good Mary J. Blige albums. And from the killer dance groove "Just Fine" to the hauntingly melancholy "Fade Away," her latest is often better than good.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
With Johnny Depp warbling effectively in the title role, this soundtrack, in vivid fashion, plays like a grand night at the theater. Edward Sanders' choirboy croon on the heartwarming "Not While I'm Around" will melt you.
ALICE SMITH For Lovers, Dreamers & Me
Overlooked in the rash of big fall releases, the impressive debut from this neo-soul artist—a cross between Alicia Keys and Corinne Bailey Rae, with a bit of India.Arie for good measure—is worth seeking out.
Showing off the London home she renovated to make more eco-friendly, the singer explains why it is easy to be green
At KT Tunstall's London flat, most every item—from her vintage clothes to her guitars—has had a former life. "I love whiskey, and Talisker [a Scottish whiskey maker] read I was a fan," says the Scottish native, 32. "So they had a guitar made for me out of old whiskey barrels. My eco-guitar!" It's only natural for Tunstall, best known for her hit "Suddenly I See," to want a green home. At 17, she lived on a Vermont commune with a boyfriend and his mother, who built a home out of used logs. "Having new stuff was really uncool," she recalls. With the success of her first album and the recent release of her second, Drastic Fantastic, the singer could afford a McMansion, but she and drummer boyfriend Luke Bullen decided instead to refurbish their flat using solvent-free paint, recycled radiators, energy-efficient appliances and sheep's wool as insulation (which keeps homes cooler so there's less need for air conditioning). Except for the $27,600 solar panels, the eco-friendly features cost the same "as what you'd normally pay," she says. "I'm not out to preach, but global warming is the most important issue in our lives. It's not about changing the way you live in a radical way. Even small changes can make a difference."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
