Emotions that span an ocean

The Streets

“The Hardest Way to Make

an Easy Living” (Vice)

* * *

“UNDERSTATED is how we prefer to be / That’s why I’ve sold 3 million and you’ve never heard of me,” rhymes Mike “The Streets” Skinner in “Two Nations” -- his greeting to an American public that largely ignored his first two albums.

As a white British rapper, in the States he’s very aware of combating cultural credibility issues. But his third album may actually seem more incongruous than its predecessors because its main theme is the pain of fame -- which he doesn’t have in America. Even so, those who do get through the London accent and argot will appreciate pungent, witty confessions like “Hotel Expressionism” (hotel-room vandalism considered as an art form) and “Prangin’ Out” (cocaine-addled despair).

Further, two tracks evoke such universal emotions they surely transcend all oceanic barriers. “All Goes Out the Window” painfully admits to the ruinous on-the-road infidelities and lies that ruined his relationship with his longtime girlfriend. Then, best of all, “Never Went to Church” reflects on his father’s death. The hippest kid in England is just a lonely boy singing, “If you were still about I’d ask you what I’m supposed to do now / I just get a bit scared....”

Rap from different roots, but built to last.

Phil Sutcliffe

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Cool James makes warmth work well

LL Cool J

“Todd Smith” (Def Jam)

* * 1/2

EVEN though he used a hard-core persona, lively rhymes and aggressive production to become a rap superstar in the mid-1980s, LL Cool J has become the genre’s most enduring figure because of songs that focus on love, sex and relationships.

The streak continues on the Queens rapper’s 11th studio album, a solid collection that gets its title from LL’s middle and last names. (His first name is James, as in Ladies Love Cool James.) He details a steamy club encounter on the festive “Control Myself,” documents his hard-to-suppress player tendencies on “Freeze,” encourages women to persevere through personal drama on the slinky “Best Dress,” and crafts a quality song about the joy and excitement of his impending marriage on the lush “Down the Aisle.”

Perhaps tellingly, when LL teams with younger rappers, which worked well when he was paired with Method Man, Redman, DMX, Foxy Brown and others years ago, the album’s momentum suffers, as the bland boast-fest “What You Want” with Freeway and the rudimentary “It’s LL and Santana” with Juelz Santana lack the flair and polish of the rest of the collection. For more than a decade now, LL Cool J has been the master of the rap relationship song. When he remains in that zone on “Todd Smith,” the results are beyond satisfying.

Soren Baker

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‘Silver’ tinted with a bit of Pink Floyd

Secret Machines

“Ten Silver Drops” (Reprise)

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For some acts, each album is a major statement. For others, there’s an ongoing unfolding over the course of a career. With its second full release, this Texas-originated, New York-based trio plants itself among the latter -- a perfect place, since unfolding characterizes the music shaped by the brothers Curtis (Brandon on bass, keyboards and vocals; Ben on guitar and vocals) and drummer Josh Garza.

Though built around relatively more concise songs than 2004’s gloriously sprawling “Now Here Is Nowhere,” “Silver” still has a flowing, liquid feel. Comparisons to classic Pink Floyd remain valid, not just in the sweep of the music (though with more driving propulsion) but in the dominant themes of isolation and disorientation. The opening song is titled “Alone, Jealous and Stoned,” after all.

And the musical language has evolved, with such elements as the cascading guitars in the middle of “Stoned” and the way several songs smoothly shift gears from languid to exhilarating to becalmed, somehow capturing the emotions without Floyd’s calculated iciness.

And always at the center are Garza’s thundering drums, particularly on the galloping “All at Once (It’s Not Important)” and the thudding “Daddy’s in the Doldrums” -- though the recordings can’t come close to capturing the visceral effect of the live experience.

Yes, this is a continuation, not a breakthrough. But there’s plenty of time for that to unfold.

Steve Hochman

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Thinking about the body, politics

The Coup

“Pick a Bigger Weapon” (Epitaph)

* * 1/2

THE COUP frontman Boots Riley has had social and political reform -- with a Marxist bent -- on his platform since debuting in the early 1990s with the heavily political but equally funky albums “Kill My Landlord” and “Genocide & Juice.”

The Oakland duo’s fourth album gained unintended attention in 2001 when its original album cover featured Boots holding a detonating device as the World Trade Center exploded in the background. The album cover, designed before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, was changed to a more benign photo of a Molotov cocktail.

After a five-year musical hiatus, the Coup returns with its polarizing politics in tow and an interesting -- for them, at least -- side-focus: sex. “I Just Wanna Lay Around All Day in Bed With You” is a smoky invite, but even when Boots has lovemaking on his mind, his political goals are never too far away. “BabyLet’sHaveABabyBeforeBushDoSomethin’Crazy,” for instance, features the smooth vocals of Silk E, and on another song he places his sexual and political goals on an equal plane.

Boots’ voice is calmer and more laid-back than, say, the bombastic baritone of Public Enemy’s Chuck D, and the music backing him relies on soothing funk, which makes the Bush/Hussein indictment “Head (Of State)” and the piano-propelled “My Favorite Mutiny” feel more like party jams than political manifestos.

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.