Jan Jarczyk Fall Songs (Justin Time/Fusion III) Improvised thoughts from an always interesting pianist--Poland's loss has been our gain! 9 (LD)

Marc Ribot Saints (Atlantic/Warner) Off the Cuban tip for a hot minute, this is solo Ribot at his most raw, sparse and cutting. 8 (RB)

Bad Wizard Free and Easy (Tee Pee) Kickin' biker rock that musta bin cooked up in ol' Lemmy's meth lab. 8 (JC)

DJ Spooky Tha Subliminal Kid Under the Influence (Six Degrees/Outside) A smooth mix CD that trips all over the map. Loose atmosphere wraps around frenetic breaks, scratched-up hip hop and downbeat trip hop. 8 (LC)

Various Gascd (Ram/Select) Compilation to aid the people who were arrested in the summit meetings. Gil Scott Heron, Bill Frisell, Jello Biafra, Propaghandi. You want this! 8 (JC)

Oysterhead The Grand Pecking Order (Elektra/Warner) Queer for jam bands? Rogue cop Copeland, Phishmonger Anastasio and prime mover Claypool--you do the math. 7 (RB)

Bitch and Animal Eternally Hard (Righteous Babe/Festival) Good-natured, minimal, lesbo-centric folk-rap duo from NYC. Bass, bongos, harmonies, "oh my goddess!" Get it? 7 (LC)

DJ Irene Global House Diva 2: Live in Ibiza (UC Music/Navarre) Fur Pants, "cyber hair," thong bikinis, 150 bpm NRG tech-trance, gabber tunes that sample "Poison"... stop the madness. 4 (KE)

Simple Minds Neon Lights (EMI) Underrated '80s Scots fail to aid their cause with tepid techno-rock covers of great songs (Bowie, Roxy, Velvets, Doors, Kraftwerk etc). You're dead, Jim. 4 (LC)

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