$50 Guide

Lots of acts seem to have trouble these days living up to critical expectations, but the White Stripes and Lucinda Williams make it look easy on their new albums. They head this edition of Calendar’s guide to keeping up with the best in pop music on an album budget of $50 a month.

March

The White Stripes’ “Elephant” (V2).

From an indie Long Beach label to the toast of rock in a single bound, the Stripes move in this knockout collection from sexy, blues-driven explosions to the sweet innocence of neo-nursery rhymes. The Detroit duo’s ability to operate so effectively in these musical extremes (as well as numerous emotional stops in between) enables you to feel rock’s liberating power and its comforting grace.

50 Cent’s “Get Rich or Die Tryin’ ” (Shady/ Aftermath/Interscope).

Much of this New Yorker’s tough-guy talk might sound tired if it weren’t for two things. First, 50 Cent’s producers -- most notably Dr. Dre and Eminem -- frame the tracks in ways that allow us to feel the human dimension behind the stories. And beyond the thug-life bravado, 50 Cent shares his vulnerability in ways that remind you of the most personal side of Ice Cube and Tupac Shakur.

Ms. Dynamite’s “A Little Deeper” (Interscope).

It’s easy to mistake this for a return to form by Lauryn Hill, whose “MTV Unplugged No. 2.0” album last year featured little of the focus and authority of the Grammy-winning “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.” But Ms. Dynamite (Niomi Daley) has been winning awards herself in her native England, and “Deeper” demonstrates why. Just 21, she’s part social crusader (she’s anti-drugs, anti-materialism, anti-gangsta lifestyle), part hip-hop delight.

April

Various artists’ “Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony” soundtrack (ATO).

Vusi Mahlasela’s voice is so pure and commanding on Track 2 that you wonder whether you should have gotten an entire album by him rather than this sampler of protest music associated with South Africa’s struggle against apartheid. But virtually everything -- from the vocals of Miriam Makeba to those of South African prison singers -- contributes beautifully to the uplifting collection’s sense of commitment, purpose and celebration.

Lucinda Williams’ “World Without Tears” (Lost Highway).

Rather than become conservative now that she has found critical and commercial acceptance, the folk-flavored singer-songwriter continues to be even more daring in examining the reasons she isn’t able to heed the danger signs in troubled relationships. There are still eloquent pop and folk-country touches, but Williams makes her strongest embrace yet with rock ‘n’ roll.

The Libertines’ “Up the Bracket” (Rough Trade).

Even if you didn’t know that this British band’s debut was produced by Mick Jones, it would be hard to miss the Clash energy and rawness. The Libertines don’t have the Clash’s political interests, but they do share that band’s underdog, outcast sentiments -- and its love for a night at the pub. In “Death on the Stairs,” they also show more of the world-weary Velvets cool than the Strokes do.

-- Robert Hilburn