‘HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2’

‘HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2’

Various artists (Disney)

Grade: C+

The Disney music machine has been a monster operation in recent years. From the productive halls of Mickey Mouse headquarters has emerged a legion of the era’s pop heavyweights — figures such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake and Hilary Duff.

Few recent Disney projects, though, have scaled the heights achieved by “High School Musical,” the TV movie that spawned an array of related projects geared to teens and tweens. The accompanying soundtrack of squeaky clean dance-pop was the stealth smash of ’06: Quietly debuting on the bottom reaches of Billboard’s chart, it eventually found the No. 1 spot, moved more than 3 million copies and became the year’s top record.

In a kids’ entertainment industry teeming with releases, “High School Musical” — time-tested bubble gum with a modern feel — has been described by some parents as the one CD they can tolerate for extended stretches. So it may be a combination of dread and relief that greets the disc’s sequel, another 10-song batch of focus-grouped teen pop.

If the new album sounds a lot like the not-so-old one, there’s a reason for that. Striking while the iron is hot, “HSM2” enlists the same songwriting and production team to construct these peppy tracks. The cast, led by Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens, remains intact, as do the timeless teen themes: first crushes, summer breaks, the jocks-making-nice-with-the-geeks. There are touches of the hip-hop-tinged, midriff-baring dance sound that dominates today’s singles charts, but it has been run through a Disney processor that filters out the menace while preserving the energy.

Upbeat songs such as “What Time Is It?” and “Fabulous” are slathered with infectious melody, while the requisite ballads (“Everyday,” “You Are the Music in Me”) ensure that the tempo stays brisk enough to indulge seventh-grade attention spans. It’s all so polished — slick arrangements, shiny harmonies, vocals digitally buffed to perfection — the songs threaten to slip off the disc.

Absolutely nothing about “High School Musical 2” spells high art, but as far as chintzy, catchy pop goes, you might as well call the album a masterpiece. And it’s a sure bet that come year’s end, Disney accountants will be saying the same.

—Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press

‘SOME MADE HOPE’

Matt Nathanson (Vanguard)

Grade: B

There’s not much in the way of studio gimmicks or elaborate production techniques on this pop-rocker’s second major label effort, his sixth studio album overall. With his strong, passionate voice and heart-on-sleeve lyrics, Nathanson doesn’t need any special tricks to reach an audience.

Born in Massachusetts but nowadays a resident of San Francisco, Nathanson is quite the cut-up in concert, but on “Same Mad Hope,” he stays on the serious side with tunes that deal with love in all its crazy glory. Sometimes it’s love that smacks you upside the head (“Car Crash”) and sometimes it’s love that’s pure intoxication (“Come On Get Higher”), but Nathanson always delivers his songs with a level of irony-free sincerity that’s engagingly fresh and of the moment.

“Bullet Proof Weeks” and “All We Are” lean more to the quieter, folkier side and are both especially beautiful, with Nathanson’s tender vocals reminiscent of Ryan Adams and Dave Matthews.

—Martin Bandyke, Detroit Free Press

‘SUPERMOON’

Zap Mama (Heads Up
International)

Grade: A

Zap Mama is constantly exploring new identities. What started as an all-female a cappella project evolved through various personnel changes and Grammy nominations to include instrumental arrangements and more mainstream pop sensibilities and now is distilled to a one-woman collage of global sound produced by Congo-born and Belgium-bred vocalist Marie Daulne.

“Supermoon” is Zap Mama’s debut on the Heads Up International label, home to Hugh Masakela and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. This is “world music” in the truest sense of the word, with various languages and elements of European, American and African music melded seamlessly. Daulne weaves tightly quilted vocal harmonies using cloned choruses of her ethereal, Bjork-ish voice on tracks such as “Moonray.” On “Kwenda” she re-creates that trademark Zap Mama atmosphere of a laid-back global block party, complete with crowd interaction.

The title song of the album is right on track as well. “Supermoon” is a word Daulne uses to identify people who are truly themselves, amid a culture that glorifies celebrities with questionable and artificial lifestyles.

Daulne always includes a pygmy song on her albums; they sheltered her family during the Congolese rebellion. “Gati” is this album’s contribution, it starts out with a reggae vibe, then quickly shifts into pan-African funkiness with a vibe reminiscent of Paul Simon’s “Graceland” album. Zap Mama remains, through all of its incarnations, an unrivaled feast of international tonal delights.

—Aimee Maude Sims, Associated Press

‘VERSATILE HEART’

Linda Thompson

Grade: B+

There was a 17-year gap between Linda Thompson’s first album and the cheekily titled “Fashionably Late” in 2002, so the sterling “Versatile Heart” comes along sooner than might have been expected. Not that the uncluttered 13-track collection, which is bookended by a beautifully brittle acoustic guitar instrumental by Thompson’s chief collaborator, her son Teddy, sounds the slightest bit hurried.

Thompson is the most stately and soulful of British folk sirens. She works here alongside various family members and friends — her daughter Kami wrote one song, as did Rufus Wainwright (the stunner “Beauty”), whose sister Martha Wainwright also turns up. Thompson again distinguishes herself as a songwriter whose talents were hidden during her years with her ex-husband Richard. (He provided the “idea” for “Versatile’s” “Blue & Gold,” and is referred to in the notes as “a little known, but extremely useful guitarist.”) From the understatedly seething title cut to the country lament “Give Me a Sad Song” to “Go Home,” a clear-eyed kiss-off to a married man, “Versatile” is just that, as well as being warm and inviting.

Along with Teddy’s new album of country covers, “Up Front and Down Low,” this is another excellent addition to the Thompson family oeuvre.

—Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘UNDERGROUND KINGZ’

UGK (Jive)

Grade: B+

Formed in the late ‘80s, the Port Arthur, Texas, duo of Bun B and Pimp C finally release “Underground Kingz,” their much-delayed and anticipated double album. Surprisingly on sale for $7.99 at Amazon.com, the album is chock-full of lush, slow to mid-tempo Southern beats and UGK’s trademark Texas twang.

Steeped in funk and oozing with sexuality, it’s classic UGK. “Int’l Player’s Anthem (I Choose You)” enlists Outkast’s Andre 3000 to create a whimsical, poetic cut, layered in song yet ready to bump from even the most basic stereo system. Bun and Pimp deliver on “Swishas and Dosha” and the Jazze Pha collaboration, “Stop-N-Go.” “Like That” and several other tracks are steeped in the type of degrading sexist lingo for which rap is often knocked. Remove some of the unnecessary vulgarity, slash the 29 tracks in half and it’s a great album.

—Aine Ardron-Doley, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘LETTERS FROM SINNERS AND STRANGERS’

Eilen Jewell (Signature Sounds)

Grade: A

On her song “In the End,” Eilen (pronounced EEL-in) Jewell conveys a plaintive world-weariness that very much recalls Lucinda Williams. That old-soul quality pervades the rest of the 27-year-old singer and songwriter’s national debut; but the way she insinuates herself into classic country, folk and blues styles is very much her own, and makes this insistently low-key performer one of the freshest and most exciting new voices in Americana.

Jewell’s sultry soprano has an intimate, Billie Holiday air that’s perfect for the hillbilly jazz of “High Shelf Booze” and the humid atmospherics of “Too Hot to Sleep,” but also for the more twangified country of “Rich Man’s World” and “Blue Highway,” and the bluesy soul of the aforementioned “In the End.” Those are all Jewell originals that stand up well against songs by Dylan, Charlie Rich and Eric Andersen, making for a seamless connection between old and new, one that points up the invigorating timelessness of both.

—Nick Cristiano, Philadelphia Inquirer