In Brief

*** Laurie Anderson, “The Ugly One With the Jewels and Other Stories,” Warner Bros. Anderson’s amusingly detailed, sometimes supernaturally tinged true tales on this live spoken-word album are mainly personal and world travel anecdotes, raised--through halting phrasing and portentous backing music--to the level of archetypal campfire stories. Turn out all the lights and see if her minimalist global ghost stories don’t raise some chuckles or hackles.

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (essential).