MUSIC | RATINGS FOR SELECTED RELEASES

'TRAMPIN' '
Patti Smith
(Columbia)
sss "They're robbing the cradle of civilization," howls Patti Smith on "Radio Baghdad," an antiwar history lesson on "Trampin'," her first album of new material in four years. At more than 12 minutes, it's an epic rant designed to recall the title track of her classic 1976 album, "Radio Ethiopia," which, like "Trampin'," features guitarist Lenny Kaye and drummer Jay Dee Daugherty.
Unfortunately, the rambling current track lacks the visceral punch of its predecessor, as does the album's other lengthy homily, the nine-minute "Gandhi."
She's preaching to the choir, but choir members can find some rewards here. "Embrace all that you fear/for joy will conquer all despair," she sings in "My Blakean Year." Throughout "Trampin'," Smith seeks reasons for redemptive optimism in a frustrating political climate, and finds them in tender, quiet lullabies ("Cartwheels," "Trespasses"), easygoing love songs ("Mother Rose," "Peaceable Kingdom"), and compact blasts of rock- and-roll ("Jubilee," "Stride of the Mind").
On "Trampin'," Smith has settled comfortably -- perhaps too much so, for an artist whose best work has been challenging and provocative -- into the role of the elder with wisdom to impart.
'THE KINNITYSESSIONS'
Lunasa
(Compass)
sss Traditional Irish music is as exciting and fresh as ever in the hands of this talented quintet. This is the group's fifth album, done live before an audience at Ireland's Kinnity Castle, then refined in a studio. The multi-textured rhythms soar, then often change pace while keeping the intricate melodies flowing and interesting, as the instruments -- double-bass, guitar, pipes, flute and fiddle -- get a workout.
'WISHBONES'
Slaid Cleaves
(Philo)
sss The latest entry in the Austin, Texas-based singer/songwriter stable that includes Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Guy Clark and even the late, great Townes Van Zandt, comes from Maine and has a name that sounds like it belongs to an Irish folksinger.
But Slaid Cleaves is the real deal, a songwriter with a touch for classic-sounding lines like, "You'll never see those blue skies through young eyes again," and a strong second disc.
Cleaves populates "Wishbones" with a combination of story songs about boxers and broken-down losers and tunes that are weary with life on the road. His voice is smooth and well-worn without sounding laconic or tired, and the arrangements swing like old-fashioned country music.
"Horses and Divorces" belongs on country radio circa 1965, with some sweet slide guitar work, clever lyrics and effective yodeling. "New Year's Day" is a wonderfully upbeat, honest epitaph for a dead friend, and "Drinkin' Days" is a great song about knowing when to quit.
These are the kinds of songs country radio should be playing around the clock: finely wrought tracks that capture the humanity of their singer and reflect a little of it back to the rest of us.
'STILL WRITING IN MYDIARY: 2ND ENTRY'
Petey Pablo
(Jive)
ss North Carolina's reigning rap king, Petey Pablo, is out with a new album, "Still Writing In My Diary: 2nd Entry," a continuation of his homegrown flavor.
He's comfortable on most tracks spinning tales about his hard-earned success and humble beginnings. Oddly though, while downplaying the need for glittery riches on one track, he brags about riding on dubs in another.
Petey Pablo's diary is rough around the edges and a little thin on substance as he launches into "Jam Y'All," an energetic track where like he resurrects a simple request of his listeners: take your shirts off and wave them around in the air. He asked the same in his previous hit "Raise Up," but this song's got a better beat.
While "Freek-A-Leek" is bound to be the album's biggest hit -- a song simply and solely about sex -- Petey Pablo should brood over life a little harder and expand his lyric horizons. Rap is commonly simplistic, but even Timbaland-fueled beats can't save this music from getting a little redundant.
'THE GREATEST SOUL CLASSICS'
"American Idol" season 3 cast
(RCA)
s "American Idol" viewers were in an uproar recently when the three most promising contestants -- notably, the three divas -- all wound up in the bottom facing the ax. Gospel-influenced Jennifer Hudson was cut.
Judging by their work in the studio on the ghastly "Greatest Soul Classics," maybe America wasn't as clueless as observers thought. Soul does not mean screeching or oversinging, but that's precisely what La Toya London, Hudson and, especially, the nasal Fantasia Barrino, wind up doing mercilessly to oldies by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, Gladys Knight & amp; the Pips and Aretha Franklin.
The divas aren't alone in the awfulness here. The guys, with the exception of one, are feckless, too. The love object of Jon Peter Lewis' "My Girl" would put out a restraining order before falling for his alleged charms after hearing his tone-deaf rendition of the Temptations hit.
The only contestants to rise above the generic production and take the album's title ("Soul") seriously are George Huff, who has the requisite gravel and guts to take on Billy Paul's decidedly adult tale of infidelity, "Me and Mrs. Jones," and 16-year-old Diana DeGarmo who shows class and sass and has a bright future.