Mazzy, 808 Top the List

D isappointed in the latest releases by the Cowboy Junkies and Soul II Soul, two of the most acclaimed acts of the late ‘80s? Try the new albums by Mazzy Star and 808 State, respectively. The collections highlight this edition of the $25 Guide, a blueprint to keeping up with what’s exciting in pop music on a budget of $25 a month (or $40 for compact disc enthusiasts).

May

Ice Cube’s “AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted” (Priority)--More consistent and ambitious than N.W.A’s explosive, pioneering “Straight Outta Compton” album last year, “Most Wanted” leads us on a tour of the projects that is often as ugly and threatening as life in a combat zone. The images and language are sometimes offensive, but beneath Ice Cube’s rage, there is the sense of an artist struggling to understand himself and his community.

Madonna’s 12-inch single of “Vogue” (Sire/Warner Bros.) and the Stone Roses’ 12-inch single of “Fool’s Gold” (Silvertone/RCA)--Madonna invites us to “strike a pose” in this marvelous play on narcissism, which seems to be the first aphrodisiac of the ‘90s. The Stone Roses move from the psychedelic, Byrds territory of last year’s debut album to a funkier, groove-minded approach.

Pretenders’ “Packed!” (Sire/Warner Bros.)--When Chrissie Hynde comes up with a melody as undeniably seductive as 1983’s “Back on the Chain Gang,” you can hardly blame her for using it again, which she does in the opening track here. But “Packed!” isn’t just a retread. Rock’s most arresting female star of the ‘80s starts off a new decade in fine form.

June

808 State’s “Utd. State 90” (Tommy Boy)--If the Stone Roses are the most promising rockers in Manchester’s high-energy, dance-rock uprising, this techno-conscious outfit stands as the most invigorating sample of the city’s dance-crazed element. For traditionalists, think of “90” as a classy, hyperactive update of Kraftwerk, while modernists may prefer to view “90” as the album that Soul II Soul should have made after last year’s silky “Keep on Movin’.”

Mazzy Star’s “She Hangs Brightly” (Rough Trade)--This bluesy blend of urban anxiety and country-accented canyon innocence is, in many ways, the eloquent, melancholy album that the Cowboy Junkies should have given us after “The Trinity Session”: slightly more energy and a bit more tension.

World Party’s “Goodbye Jumbo” (Chrysalis)--Karl Wallinger is listed on the back cover as writing, producing and recording this album, but he needs to share credit with a whole era: the ‘60s. Traces of both musical influences (starting with the Beatles and the Stones) and sociological ties (clear-eyed cynicism mixed with flower-power naivete) abound in this bountiful exploration of questions of devotion and duty.