Nicholas Payton Dear Louis (Verve/Universal) A brassy, foot-tapping centennial salute to "Satchmo" that should keep you smiling. Dr. John and Dianne Reeves are bonuses. 8.5 (LD)

My Morning Jacket At Dawn (Darla) The love child of Neil Young and Will Oldham? Gram Parsons jamming with Galaxie 500? Deliriously sappy and in this case, that's a good thing! 8.5 (JC)

South From Here On In (MoWax/Select) Big, swirly, emotive Britpop from an unlikely source--the MoWaxiest moments are the recurrent, UNKLE-ish "Broken Head" bits. 7.5 (RB)

Bows Cassidy (Too Pure/Select) Multi-talent Luke Sutherland's sophomore album with Bows finds more lovely atmospheric electronica flirting with D&B, jazz, rock. 7 (LC)

Joy Division Les Bains Douches 18 December 1979 (NMC/Fusion III) Slightly dodgy recording of Paris and Holland shows just before the bitter end. The pair of unfamiliar tracks is a bonus. 6.5 (LC)

Amorphis Am Universum (Relapse) What the hell is Relapse thinking with this namby-pamby metal? 5 (JC)

Geri Halliwell Scream If You Wanna Go Faster (EMI) Newly-buffed Ginge manages two catchy tunes amidst shameless fluff. Handy tags like "Sexy" and "For the Mind" dictate intended effects of each track. Trash. 3 (LC)

Full length reviews...