Brad Webber

Lisa Loeb Firecracker (Geffen) (star) (star) (star) 1/2 Lisa Loeb has grown by leaps and bounds since recording the coffeeshop-troubadour "Tails" more than two years ago with her late band,...

Loreena McKennitt The Book of Secrets (Warner) (star) (star) (star) 1/2 Stratford, Ontario, the home base of Loreena McKennitt, is far from the Emerald Isle, but that doesn't make the...

Li'l Brian & The Zydeco Travelers Z-Funk (Work) (star) (star) (star) 1/2 This Houston quintet pushes the zydeco envelope -- you've never heard hip-hop until you've heard it with a...

Erasure Cowboy (Maverick) (star) (star) (star) Erasure puts Andy Bell's spiraling vocals and Vince Clarke's effervescent synthesizers to fine use with "Cowboy," perhaps the British dance duo's best record since...

Beau Soleil L'Amour Ou La Folie (Rhino) (star) (star) (star) Two decades old and still bubbling like a cauldron of gumbo, this six-man Louisiana outfit pays homage to time-tested Acadian...

Big Head Todd & The Monsters Beautiful World (Revolution) (star) (star) (star) Singer Todd Mohr and his Monsters -- bassist-vocalist Rob Squires and drummer-vocalist Brian Nevin -- can't be accused...

Bjork Telegram (Elektra) (star) (star) (star) Bjork Gudmundsdottir of Iceland, whose stratospheric voice is matched by her rollercoaster burps, giggles, growls and trills, wins reverent treatment by remixers on "Telegram."...

Various Artists Andean Legacy (Narada) (star) (star) (star) 1/2 The Andes runs as a spine along Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, and a legacy of musical influences -- mandolins, violins...

Martin Zellar & The Hardways Martin Zellar & The Hardways (Rykodisc) (star) (star) (star) 1/2 Minnesotan Martin Zellar mines the pathos of blue-collar life with his second recording after the...

Jason Falkner Jason Falkner Presents Author Unknown (Elektra) (star) (star) (star) "Jason Falkner Presents Author Unknown" harks to the days when albums were packed with great songs rather than one...