http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/22/arts/ ... ?th&emc=th
ELIZABETH COOK, 'THIS SIDE OF THE MOON' (Hog County/Emergent). On this lovable, old-fashioned country album, the arrangements are casual (many of these songs sound like demos), which suits this singer-songwriter just fine. Ms. Cook has a high, agile, Dolly Partonish voice, and in her ballads she chuckles where others might sob. In 2002 she released an album, "Hey Y'All," through Warner Brothers, and no doubt she's hoping she won't long remain eligible for lists like this one.
GIRLS ALOUD, 'CHEMISTRY' (Polydor U.K.). For some reason, mainstream British pop crosses the Atlantic less well than mainstream British rock. And so while Girls Aloud remains one of Britain's best-selling acts, many Americans have probably never heard of the group, which was formed - where else? - on reality TV. Still, listeners willing to pay a steep import price for "Chemistry," the group's third album, might be pleasantly surprised, even shocked. It's overstuffed and energetic and endlessly entertaining, full of spiky electronic beats and odes to boys who seem to be barely worth the trouble, if that.
KYLESA, 'TO WALK A MIDDLE COURSE' (Prosthetic). Lots of punk bands wind up on MTV's live-music show "TRL" these days; suffice it to say that this Savannah, Ga., group isn't likely to join them. Kylesa's songs are full of sudden tempo shifts, raw-throated lyrics and sludgy guitar parts borrowed from the slower end of the heavy-metal spectrum. "To Walk a Middle Course," the band's second full-length album, is not only engrossing but satisfying: the riffs alternately gallop and ooze, and soon the apocalyptic, stream-of-consciousness lyrics start to make a dreamy sort of sense.
MACEO, 'STRAIGHT OUT DA POT' (Big Cat/Tommy Boy). This Atlanta rapper scored a big regional hit this year with "Nextel Chirp," wherein he asked potential sales associates not to talk about the pharmaceutical business over the phone; no word yet on an endorsement deal. It comes from his engaging debut album, "Straight Out da Pot," where the inevitable hard-life laments are almost as good as exuberant club tracks like "Go Sit Down," also known as "Ho Sit Down." (And to think, some unchivalrous rappers make their female admirers stand around.)
PARAMORE, 'ALL WE KNOW IS FALLING' (Fueled by Ramen). The fine line between teen-pop and pop-punk got a little finer with the release of "All We Know Is Falling" by Paramore, a sugary Warped Tour band led by an impressive singer (and, one imagines, a potential star) named Hayley Williams, who will turn 17 next week. One of the best songs, "Whoa," is as infectious as it is self-referential: Ms. Williams declares, "And we've got everybody singing/ Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." If she's bragging, she's got a right.
RACHEL STEVENS, 'COME AND GET IT' (Polydor U.K.). More British pop. Ms. Stevens is an alumna of the group S Club 7; her clever second solo album, "Come and Get It," wasn't a hit in Britain, but there's no reason (besides, once again, sticker shock) beat-savvy Americans shouldn't adopt it. "I Said Never Again (but Here We Are)" is a perfectly lightweight electro-rock concoction. And in "Some Girls," produced by Richard X, Ms. Stevens's voice somehow melts into the icy beat.
SUPERPITCHER, 'TODAY' (Kompakt). Americans ignore the house and techno music that Europe loves, and that seems fine. Every country gets the dance music it deserves; if we get "Laffy Taffy" ... well, we must be doing something right. Luckily this immersive CD, on the reliable Kompakt label, doesn't demand a dance floor: you can read or write or even sleep to it. Compiled by the German producer Superpitcher, who has a knack for combining the wispy with the severe, "Today" consists of 11 interwoven minimalist tracks, full of meticulous but unobtrusive details; pay as much - or as little - attention as you want.
WITHERED, 'MEMENTO MORI' (Lifeforce). Like the jam-band fans they probably loathe, heavy-metal fans have created their own self-contained musical world, big enough to support bands as extreme as this one. The members create a furious churning sound, and they're clearly obsessed with the link between tone and texture: the dry reverberation of words roared or belched, the hum and crunch of an overdriven guitar.
YO GOTTI, 'NORTH MEMPHIS SURVIVOR' (mixtape release). After a strong but underappreciated 2003 CD, "Life" (TVT), this Memphis rapper returns with a revelatory new greatest-hits mixtape. The disc, compiled by DJ Infamous and Sir Swift, gathers songs and freestyles that show off his ruthless sensibility and squelchy voice. Sucking on the words as if they were Jolly Ranchers, he declares, "My peeps gotta eat, I ain't got time to wait/ You got peanuts on your menu, I'm digesting steak."
YOUNG BLEED, 'RISE THRU DA RANKS: FROM EARNER TUGH CAPO' (West Coast Mafia). Despite a string of first-rate albums, including one for Master P's No Limit Records, this lackadaisical Baton Rouge, La., rapper remains one of Southern hip-hop's best-kept secrets. "Rise Thru da Ranks" is perhaps too hospitable to its many guests, but Bleed's mumbly, unpredictable rhymes are as transfixing as ever: it's a thrill to hear someone spit hard rhymes so softly.
eter, aka 
usty 
halk