Neil Young Tries on a New Hat

***1/2

NEIL YOUNG

“Are You Passionate?”

Reprise

Neil Young: Soul Man? He opens his new album (due in stores Tuesday) with a variation of the introduction to Booker T. & the MG’s “Time Is Tight,” raising the question: Is this just another side trip for the mercurial rocker, like his rockabilly or technoid incarnations of the past?

Perhaps, but in recent albums Young had become--of all things--predictable, flipping between rust-less garage rock with Crazy Horse and rustic, “Harvest”-style folk-rock. With backing by organist Booker T. Jones and MG’s bassist Donald “Duck” Dunn, “Are You Passionate?” proves no mere diversion but an inspired set in its own right.

On paper, Young’s craggy voice (he’s no Otis Redding) and raw guitar (he can’t match MG’s player Steve Cropper) seem at odds with subtle ‘60s funk. But as with all things Young, it’s feeling that counts. Even the most obvious stabs at old Stax blueprints skirt cheesy nostalgia, with the leader and his cohorts able to keep their distinct characteristics at the fore without stepping on each other.

The trick may be that he’s not afraid to be corny. As he sings in the closing “She’s a Healer,” “All I got is a broken heart and I don’t try to hide it when I play guitar.”

-- Steve Hochman

***

BONNIE RAITT

“Silver Lining”

Capitol

Raitt continues to explore common threads in music across cultures with her 16th album (in stores Tuesday). Yet “Silver Lining” is no academic exercise, but a varied collection incorporating her trademark Delta-influenced blues-rock, African styles, New Orleans boogie and modern adult-pop elements.

Co-produced, like 1998’s “Fundamental,” by Raitt and minimalist-ambience masters Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake, the album reflects her need to venture beyond the tried and true, at least musically. The lyrics tend toward her usual life ‘n’ love ruminations, by turns playful and reflective but ultimately upbeat. She sounds somber yet hopeful on the David Gray-penned title track, which puts her voice in an unusually stark setting with pulsing, looped beats and meandering piano before blossoming into a folk-pop swirl.

She also offers a version of Zimbabwean artist Oliver Mtukudzi’s gimme-strength ballad “Hear Me Lord,” and collaborates with Malian songwriter Habib Koite on the spare “Back Around,” a smoky karma’s-gonna-get-ya number with a rustic, country-blues feel.

Raitt’s longtime touring band moves nimbly in these different directions, and the addition of keyboardist Jon Cleary augments the funky N’Awlins-ism of such numbers as the vampy “Fool’s Game” and “Gnawin’ on It,” a slightly naughty celebration of long-term relationships. Adventurousness rocks, indeed.

Natalie Nichols

****

CABAS

“Cabas”

EMI Latin

He’s 23, curly-headed and baby-faced, looking pleased with himself on his debut album cover, his chocolate skin faintly glowing, wrists wrapped in indigenous beads and feathers. Inside, the music is as fresh and self-assured as his image.

Singer-songwriter-pianist Andres Cabas, who goes only by his punchy surname, is the newest rage in his native Colombia, a place already roiling with provocative talent. He’s edgier than Carlos Vives, more folkloric than Juanes and more socially insightful than Shakira. Drawing from centuries of multiethnic crosscurrents flowing through Barranquilla, his Caribbean coastal hometown, Cabas has produced a dramatically original and joyous work.

This is one of those seamlessly sequenced albums, an irresistible groove running through 15 melodic and rhythmically modulated tracks. It carries you along like a jungle river, startling at one turn, enchanting at the next, a delightful discovery the whole way. Cabas writes most of the tunes, an Afro-Caribbean cornucopia of cumbia, porro, raspon and chande rhythms.

He can be sharply satirical, as in “Himno a la mamita,” a hymn to empty-headed babes and the idiots who idolize them, and he can be realistically romantic in “Fiesta de Tambores,” an exuberant plea for a beautiful dancer to “fill me with your rhythm, fill me with faith.” He closes with “A veces soy feliz,” an irresistible affirmation of life in the face of his nation’s violence. There must be hope for any place that gives us music as vital as this. Agustin Gurza

***1/2

CORNERSHOP

“Handcream for a Generation”

Beggars Group

Madonna gave us “Music.” Now this London duo brings us “Music Plus 1.” This track from Cornershop’s fourth album (due Tuesday) may not be a deliberate comment on the Madonna hit, but its exuberant blend of stuttering dance beat, pulsating techno, squishy electro-funk, jangling guitar and noisy bits definitely moves pop another step forward.

Like Beck or Soul Coughing, Cornershop has always fused disparate elements, but “Handcream for a Generation” builds on the accomplishments of 1997’s “When I Was Born for the 7th Time,” where lead singer-songwriter and producer Tjinder Singh really took command of his impossibly eclectic style. He treats pop like some cosmic vending machine, casually selecting flavors of the past (soul man Otis Clay sings on the propulsive introduction, “Heavy Soup”) or present (New York turntablist Rob Swift co-produces two tracks) according to whim.

With a social conscience and a wicked sense of fun, Singh and guitarist Ben Ayres take a short-attention-span-friendly trip through ever-shifting soundscapes dotted with such Punjabi staples as sitar and tabla, along with squiggly electronica, vampy glam-rock, funk riffs, dub reggae, soul grooves and more. There’s even sprawling psychedelia on the 14-minute “Spectral Mornings,” featuring Oasis’ Noel Gallagher on guitar. Although these lush tracks may at any instant recall Booker T., the Velvet Underground, XTC, T. Rex or countless other acts, they’re indisputably Cornershop. And indescribably delicious. N.N.

**

GOO GOO DOLLS

“Gutterflowers”

Warner Bros.

What’s been on the Goo Goo Dolls’ minds since the trio’s hit album “Dizzy Up the Girl” was released in 1998? The answer may be in the title of this new set’s second song, “Think About Me.” Every song (eight written by guitarist John Rzeznik, four by bassist Robby Takac) is in the first person, prominently featuring the words “I” and “me.” Even Rzeznik’s titularly outward-reaching “What Do You Need?” is more about the singer’s feelings than about those of his romantic partner.

Yet for all the narcissism, the music on “Gutterflowers” (in stores Tuesday) is relatively anonymous, following tried-and-true formulas. That said, the Dolls’ approach has served as a template for such fellow middle-of-the-roaders as Matchbox Twenty and Train, and the group may be the best of the bunch. The guitar-based trio is more streamlined, less frilly than the others, although added keyboards and guitars almost undo that advantage in places.

While there are no innovations here, there are a few twists. “Sympathy” juxtaposes seething resentment with acoustic, melodic folksiness. “What Do You Need?” goes for the bigger, Bush-like rock sound. “Truth Is a Whisper” builds on a Police-like structure, though with more arena-rock gloss.

The familiarity of the music and themes, though, is also the appeal. There always has been and always will be a large market for this, and the Dolls deliver. S.H.

In Brief

*** Jaz-O & the Immobilarie Family Present, “Kingz Kounty,” Rancore. More than a decade after introducing Jay-Z to the rap world, the man formerly known as the Jaz returns as the brains behind this potent collection. The newly christened Jaz-O benefits from a commanding voice and imaginative lyrics that cover the gamut of rap street topics. Clever, punch-line-laced lyrics from Jaz-O’s supporting cast (including Jay-Z) and wicked production from Zukhits, DJ Premier and others make this album an underground gem.

Soren Baker

*** Face to Face, “How to Ruin Everything,” Vagrant. A decade into his tenure with Face to Face, leader Trever Keith still believes in the insurrectionary power of punk. On the veteran L.A. trio’s new album (in stores Tuesday), Keith’s voice rings out with righteous indignation at the injustices of consumerist America, while the band dutifully pounds away at the left-of-tuneful melodies. It’s nothing that hasn’t been done before, but Keith’s just smart enough to make his passion count for something other than modish, “down with the man” attitude.

Marc Weingarten

*** Tweet, “Southern Hummingbird,” the Goldmind Inc./Elektra. Having Missy Elliott and Timbaland in your musical corner pays dividends. Both help make the titillating “Oops (Oh My),” the first single from this longtime collaborator, into a rousing success. The rest of the Atlanta singer’s debut collection traverses less upbeat territory, as the heavenly voiced siren explores the pain of betrayal and heartbreak. S.B.

*

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.