Various Guidance Records: Hi Fidelity House Imprint One (Guidance/FusionIII)

If you aren't an In Beat-shopping DJ, you might not know about Guidance, the most current of "classic" labels out of Chicago. If you go to clubs, though, you will be familiar with the totally new breed of house that Guidance presses: Kevin Yost's wiggly saxorama "Natural High," Project:pm's computer-voice soul anthem "When the Voices Come" (heavenly!) and Atlanta's Wamdue Kids at their most basement vibey on "Echoes and Instruments." If "The Whistle Song" is your idea of perfect house, here's an album full of like-minded beauties. 8.5/10 (Mireille Silcott)

Mya Self-titled (Universal)

Eighteen-year-old Mya Harrison comes correct on her self-titled debut. Chock-full of phat beats and fresh harmonies, Mya's sweet but credible vocals slide over enticing mid-tempo grooves. The material is par for the course: love lost, love found, etc... But as far as contemporary urban sets go, this one does better than average. And Mya gets points for best song for a woman scorned: "If You Died I Wouldn't Cry Cause You Never Loved Me Anyway." 8/10 (Gerard Dee)

Thelonious Monk Live at the It Club--Complete (Columbia/Sony)

Monk, a pianist of great originality and a true composer in the jazz idiom, died in 1982 at the age of 64 after almost eight years of inactivity. This double CD captures more than two and a half hours of one of his classic quartets as it sounded in L.A. in 1964. All but three items are Monk's. Three are released for the first time and eleven have restored solos. Recommended! 10/10 (Len Dobbin)