Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

Outside of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” there is no single this summer as hot as the title track from this r&b star’s sixth studio album. Over a funky beat, Robin Thicke’s falsetto alternates with Pharrell’s squeals to create an irresistible sound. The song and a video featuring topless models have sparked criticism, to which Thicke has replied, “If my videos are sexist, then so are the paintings at the Louvre.” Questionable lyrics and video aside, the song is swaggering dance-pop at its best and has topped charts in 17 countries for good reason. While nothing else on the album quite matches the can’t-miss quality of “Blurred Lines,” Thicke, the American-born son of Canadian actor Alan Thick...

If the former Disney star wanted to distance herself from her bubblegum past, this will surely do it. Gomez’ solo debut, following three albums with her band the Scene, is her most musically adventurous release to date. Exotic sounds abound, from the Bollywood-themed vibe of “Come and Get It” and the reggae-tinged “Like a Champion” to the dubstep-lite offering “Slow Down.” The most grown-up track is the club-thumping “Beat,” in which the Hispanic pop star sings, “It’s a big, bad world/I like the lights in my hair and the beat in my face.” But Gomez, who turns 21 on July 22, still knows how to have fun. The album opens with the party anthem “Birthday,” which echoes Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback G...

Although his career was cut short by a tragic plane crash in 1967, Otis’ impact is still being felt. An emotional singer who brought gruff, syncopated whoops and hollers to aching ballads and ecstatic upbeat numbers alike, Redding epitomized soul music for many people and was a favorite of both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Hip-hop artists have long sampled his sound. Last year, Kanye and Jay-Z won a Grammy Award for their hit “Otis,” which highlighted his gritty vocals, and recently Justin Timberlake sang “(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay” at the White House, joined by President Obama and his wife Michelle. Now the imaginatively packaged 3-CD set, The Complete Stax/Volt Singles Collec...

Anyone who has seen Mulholland Drive or Twin Peaks knows that the celebrated filmmaker and TV director has a signature surrealist style that draws heavily on dreamlike imagery. His fans also know that music plays a major role in his work. “Sound is almost like a drug,” says the 67-year-old auteur. “It’s so pure that when it goes in your ears, it instantly does something to you.” Think of the effect of Isabella Rossellini singing Bobby Vinton’s sensuous song in Blue Velvet or Nicolas Cage crooning Elvis Presley’s “Love Me” in Wild at Heart. The Lynchian style has influenced the singer Lana Del Rey and bands like Canada’s You Say Party and England’s Bastille, both of which have released songs ...

Cole has paid tribute to her dad before. In 1991, she released Unforgettable…with Love, standards previously performed by her father, the legendary Nat King Cole, who died in 1965. Natalie took his recording of the title track and created a Grammy-winning duet. She did the same thing five years later with “When I Fall in Love.” Now Natalie has recorded an album that recalls her dad’s 1958 release Cole Español. Sumptuously recorded, her 13 tracks include such well-known Spanish songs as the Santana hit “Oye Como Va” and “Besame Mucho,” a duet with Andrea Bocelli. One of the best numbers is “Bachata Rosa” by Dominican star Juan Luis Guerra, who joins Natalie for a romantic rendition of his hit...

There’s a chance that hip hop’s most audacious innovator leaked his latest opus himself so he could focus on fatherhood. Appearing online the day before his girlfriend Kim Kardashian gave birth to their daughter, Kanye’s sixth studio album is a dark, experimental affair that finds the Grammy-winning rapper exorcizing demons while mixing dancehall, house and industrial music. Already controversial due to misogynistic lyrics and the ego-crazy “I Am a God,” the album is disturbing, inspiring and confounding all at once. Guests include Frank Ocean and Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and the catchiest songs are those produced by French electronic hitmakers Daft Punk, who turn “Black Skinhead” into a sur...

Rowland may be best known for Destiny’s Child, but those days are over. Her powerful fourth album announces that the r&b singer has fully arrived as a solo artist. The 12 songs are her most revealing and hardest hitting to date. Album opener “Freak,” an edgy number celebrating kinkiness, signals Rowland’s new maturity. The sultry “Kisses Down Low” turns up the heat in the bedroom, while the funky “Street Life” is an irresistible summer jam. But the two songs everyone’s talking about are “You Changed,” featuring Rowland's cousin Beyoncé and Michelle Williams, from Destiny’s Child, and “Dirty Laundry,” a bold confessional in which Rowland admits to having been in an abusive relationship th...

English audiences know her as the former lover of Hollywood’s Johnny Depp, with whom she has two children. But Paradis, who split with Johnny last June after a 14-year relationship, has enjoyed a long career as a model, actress and singer. The French beauty’s latest CD is a double album of 22 songs that take a philosophical look at romance. Says Paradis simply: “Love doesn’t always stay the same.”             Mostly sung in French, Paradis’ songs move freely between ballads and upbeat numbers like the disco-like “Love Song.” English tracks include “The Dark, It Comes,” a dark duet with Carl Barât of British rockers the Libertines, and th...

Living in the shadow of his famous Beatle father can’t be easy—which may be why Julian has released so few recordings. His first album in 15 years is filled with plenty of Beatlesque flourishes, especially on the piano ballad “Lookin’ 4 Luv” and the eastern-tinged “Someday,” a duet with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler.

A Broadway veteran, Morrison shows off his musical chops here, singing favorites like My Fair Lady’s “On the Street Where You Live” and South Pacific’s “Younger than Springtime.” On the funkier side, the Glee star teams up with Motown legend Smokey Robinson on “Ease on Down the Road” from The Wiz.