‘Blakroc’

‘Blakroc’

Blakroc (V2 Records)

Grade: B

Last year, blues-rock revivalists the Black Keys teamed with left-field hip-hop producer Danger Mouse for the sorely overlooked Attack & Release. That concept continues with “Blakroc,” a collaboration born out of the Keys’ friendship with Roc-a-Fella co-founder Dame Dash. Here, though, lead vocal duties have been turned over to a random helping of MCs — Mos Def, Q-Tip, Jim Jones, Jay-Z sound-a-like NOE, and M.O.P.’s Billy Danze among them — and R&B crooner Nicole Wray. All of it unlikely, sure, but what looks like a mess on paper is rather impressive on record. The drums are thick and the rhythms — driven by jarring guitars and organs — are warm and woozy, giving things a psychedelic feel. It’s a backdrop that fits well with lyrical warnings on sex, love, money and betrayal, themes owned by the blues long before rap gave them a fresh makeover.

— Michael Pollock, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘My World’

Justin Bieber (Island Def Jam)

Grade: B

Not many singers have performed on a thronged plaza for Today before they’ve even put out an album. But Bieber, a 15-year-old pop sensation from Canada, is updating the mold. He got signed after posting dozens of videos on YouTube as an adolescent, singing covers of R&B hits.

His first album, while skimpy at seven songs, has already produced four Top 40 hits. No surprise. “My World” is a catchy, well-executed treat. Particularly the frisky romps about puppy love such as “One Time.” Sure, Bieber is less convincing on a breakup ballad such as “Back to Earth.” But there’s no denying that this baby-faced soul boy has talent. And he’s cute. Let the young girls scream!

— David Hiltbrand, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘Sainthood’

Tegan and Sara (Sire)

Grade: B

Canadian twins Tegan and Sara Quin have made their bones in the Calgary music scene since 1998 as a punk-pastoral duo known for contagious, piano-based power pop and interesting haircuts. Before the prissiness of Feist or the roustabout ideal of Rilo Kiley, the Quin girls were hitting pop hard and moving on fast — stopping only at 2007’s The Con for spaciousness and texture — while looking great doing so.

Their return to the rapier-swift thing of its start makes “Sainthood” punchy and blunt with tracks such as “Northshore” showing off the sisters’ spunky indie-rock roots. If “Night Watch!” doesn’t curl your eyelashes, nothing will. “Sainthood” also clarifies the differences between the two singer-songwriters’ respective skill sets — a subtle distinction that first emerged on The Con. Tegan likes her tunes simple and sharp, a la the rip-snorting anthem “The Cure,” while Sara’s melodies, choruses and subject matter are slightly more elusive and open-ended — e.g., “Alligator.” Rather than concentrate on these slight differences, focus on the idiosyncratic beauty of their harmonies as they ripple through their most potent full-length yet.

— A.D. Amorosi, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘Til the Casket Drops’

The Clipse (Columbia)

Grade: C

The rap duo that brought you the 2002 trunk-thump anthem “Grindin’” has been doing a bit of that themselves since then, toiling in record label delays until finally getting around to their third album “’Til the Casket Drops.”

So is The Clipse back in full swing? Yes, and no.

There are a couple of radio-ready songs here worth putting on repeat. “I’m Good,” the first official single off the album, is smooth around the edges with the help of Pharrell. It’s breezier than most fare from The Clipse, and has a memorable hook that will keep the request lines buzzing into the new year.

And “Popular Demand [Popeyes]” has a great beat, over which the brotherly duo of Malice and Pusha rap about the comeback they feel is overdue.

But there’s a lot of filler here as well. “All Eyes On Me” is a dance track with a Miami club feel. But the melody fights with the beat for attention, and the results sound like something that needed more mixing, or perhaps less noise.

There’s an unpolished feel to “’Til the Casket Drops.” The talent is there, but it misses the mark and does little to cement The Clipse’s comeback as anything more than one last chance.

— Ron Harris, Associated Press