Northern State

All City
(Sony)

This disc falls into my least-favorite category of music: The "if" genre.

If you think that music made by women is still a novelty... if you like Carmela Soprano's accent and wish that you could hear three women rap with it for an hour... if you think that most musicians spend too much time on the music and not enough time on sloganeering... if you think that the Beastie Boys peaked with their first EP, "Cookie Puss," in 1984... if you are a relative of a group member... then this is music that you will appreciate. I guess.



On a few songs, someone was smart enough to hire pros to help fill out the sound. Roots drummer ?love produces the best song, "Siren Song," but it still pales compared to the similar instant-credibility job he did for Joss Stone. Veteran Pete Rock adds his voice to "Time to Rhyme," proving that there's no substitute for experience. But then Har Mar Superstar shows up, and no one's happy.

Kasey Chambers

Wayward Angel
(EMI/Warner Brothers)

Kasey Chambers
With her first record, The Captain, Kasey Chambers appeared to be a welcome blast: a fresh, gutsy country singer. The Australian was endorsed by people who had once been in her place, including Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris. But she proved to be a sprinter instead of a long-distance runner.

By the second record, her band was playing softer and her lyrics (especially the single "Not Pretty Enough") traded depth for simplistic whining. Now, with Wayward Angel, the former New Dolly has become the New Jewel. It's tough to imagine any Hank Williams fan appreciating her, but there's a handful of WB teen dramas that could use her music for a pivotal prom scene.



Like those soaps, she has her formula down: a dash of country-western clichés (see the title song); some Alanis-friendly self-help that doesn't help anyone ("Stronger"); plus, well, some baby talk (the essential lyrics of "Paper Aeroplane" are "la da da").

Tift Merritt’s latest, Tambourine, shows that it’s possible to be pretty and also sing from the gut, and I wish that I had more space here so that I could tell you more about her record. This record is depressing, and not in the way that good country music is supposed to be. Lord willing, Chambers can grow back into Emmylou or a Sam Phillips-type singer/songwriter.