Sage Francis - A Healthy Distrust

Sage Francis is the kind of wordsmith you feel more comfortable calling a poet or spoken-word artist than a Hip Hop MC. But Francis is all of those things. Remember when Hip Hop liner notes were worth reading for the lyrics and not just the monster shout-out list? The effusive Francis is one of the smartest and most complex writers in Hip Hop. After several self-released recordings and a full-length for Anticon, his debut for Epitaph (also the label's first Hip Hop release) is a head-spinning trip through the mind of a deeply intelligent, socially and politically aware "rapper" with an intensely clever wit and more great lines than many MCs come up with in a lifetime. The phrase "word play" is a gross understatement here. He is equally comfortable spitting humorous one-liners ("I'm just about dumb enough to hold up a sperm bank" from "Gunz Yo") as he is making shrewd social commentary ("If they could sell sanity in a bottle they'd be charging for compressed air/They're marketing health care/They demonized welfare/Middle class eliminated/The rich get richer 'til the poor get educated" from the wonderfully titled "Slow Down Ghandi"). Distrust should take you a while to get through, commanding repeated listens and rewinds every time you go, "Did he just say what I think he did?" It all wouldn't work as well without an equally interesting musical base for Francis to unwind over, but A Healthy Distrust is solidly creative and dynamic on that end, meshing imaginative beats, perfect sample choices and the occasional live instrumental contribution (Indie Rock hero Will Oldham contributes guitar and vocals to the fantastic "Sea Lion"). This is poetry in motion and the motion is avant-funky. Francis has been likened to Chuck D for his ability to encapsulate his social observations with a vicious preciseness and poetic acumen, but he has such a wicked sense of humor, Lenny Bruce is a more fitting comparison. (Mike Breen) Grade: A

Blue Merle - Burning In The Sun

· BLUE MERLE ­ BURNING IN THE SUN (ISLAND)

Blue Merle sounds like absolutely nothing else coming out of their Nashville environs, which is probably the quartet's greatest endorsement, considering the market's overproduced and slickly calculated Country cholesterol that's currently clogging the nation's ears. The nifty trick that Blue Merle accomplishes on their debut, Burning in the Sun, is in working on primarily acoustic instruments and nibbling at the edges of Bluegrass (the title track), Jazz ("Either Way It Goes") and Folk ("Part of Your History") while incorporating all of those styles into an unclassifiable whole. The band plays with a breezy Pop crispness ("Lucky to Know You") and a jammy abandon ("Boxcar Racer"), suggesting a hybrid that would play well for anyone with an affinity for Dave Matthews, The Samples and Sting's Jazz/Pop excursions. Purists might blanch at those particular name-checks, but Blue Merle is much more than the sum of any comparisons made about them and are clearly creating something beyond the constraints of genre tags. (Brian Baker) Grade: B

The Great Unknowns - Presenting The Great Unknowns

· THE GREAT UNKNOWNS ­ PRESENTING THE GREAT UNKNOWNS (DAEMON RECORDS)

Musically, Boston is still a happening town. You win a Super Bowl and a World Series, and people lose sight of the fact that you've also been home to bands ranging from Aerosmith and The Cars to Blake Babies and Letters to Cleo. Many of these bands' members came from other places in the U.S., and that is also the case with The Great Unknowns. Becky Warren came from well below the Mason-Dixon line with her bluesy voice and folksy songs. Rocked up a notch by her bandmates Andy Eggers, Altay Guvenich and Michael Palmer, this quartet offers unspectacular Wilco-esque AAA musings. The sound is quite inviting, especially on a track like "Round Hill," while "Forever" sounds a bit Cajun. Things get accessible on "1000 Miles From Tennessee," although it's not a sell-out of any kind. A nice collection of songs for a laidback weekend morning. (P.F. Wilson) Grade: B

By The End Of Tonight - A Tribute To Tigers

· BY THE END OF TONIGHT ­ A TRIBUTE TO TIGERS (TEMPORARY RESIDENCE)

Sometimes erupting with the crunch and bite of real Metal roots before peaking into floating melodies. Other times so soft the dual guitars sound like they're being plucked with flower petals. The catharsis of this album has all the emotional gravity of Jupiter piled into five sporadic pieces. Every song bleeds angst but escapes the confines of being just a self-indulgent tearjerker. The bombastic crescendos try their hardest to massage all the hearts aching with confusion without ever sounding cheesy but instead very genuine. A Tribute To Tigers is an unconventional Prog-Rock instrumental album, shooting off tangents meant to appeal to everyone's emotional rolodex. The absence of orthodox song structure can be disconcerting at first, but most genre leaps and layering additives feel like they have relevance without awkwardness. The lack of vocals can leave the songs open for interpretation, but it also gives a hint of vacancy at times. The sum total is a 30-minute tribute to the climactic, life-changing moments that force you to re-evaluate your tiny yet inescapably dramatic world. (Jacob Richardson) Grade: A