‘shine’

‘shine’

Martina McBride (RCA/Sony)

Grade: A

The CD cover of Martina McBride’s “Shine” shows the country star posing against a modern art canvas, merging with the paint so that it’s hard to distinguish between her body and the brash brushstrokes behind her.

Her 10th album attempts something similar, as McBride modernizes her sound with aggressive guitars and color-splashed arrangements. But the Kansas native proves she’s too dynamic as an interpreter to sink into the background or let the rock-influenced instrumentation overwhelm her.

It’s not just her famed vocal power that lifts these new songs, although the power ballads (“What Do I Have to Do,” “Lies”) show she can soar with as much force as any singer of her era. It’s also her ability to imbue sensitivity (“I Just Call You Mine”) or sass (“You’re Not Leaving Me”) into a story line that makes her such a one-of-a-kind presence on the radio.

McBride’s decision to work for the first time with producer Dann Huff — the man behind the hits of Rascal Flatts and Keith Urban — indicates her desire to update her music. But her talent remains timeless because of more enduring qualities, such as emotional nuance and the way she inhabits the mood of a song.

— Michael McCall, Associated Press

‘the hazards of love’

The Decemberists (Capitol)

Grade: C

The Decemberists’ leader, Colin Meloy, has always given his English major’s vocabulary and fondness for narrative free rein, often to delightful effect in stories of French legionnaires, chimney sweeps, and seafarers. The band dabbled in prog-rock indulgence on their 2004 EP “The Tain,” but “The Hazards of Love” goes further: It explores the connection between folk-rock and heavy metal that reared its hairy head in Britain 40 or so years ago. Think Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant and the Led Zeppelin of “Stairway to Heaven” or “The Battle of Evermore.”

We get a 17-track fairy tale of a maiden impregnated by a forest creature, told in several voices (guests include members of My Brightest Diamond and Lavender Diamond); we get acoustic finger-picking interrupted by trudging, thunderous power chords; we get harpsichords, string quartets and children’s choruses.

The Decemberists released several EPs last year with self-contained and topical tunes such as “Valerie Plame,” so here’s hoping the extravagance of “Hazards” is a temporary diversion.

— Steve Klinge, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘Mama, I’m Swollen’

Cursive (Saddle Creek)

Grade: B

Indie rock is full of young men grappling with adulthood. Cursive’s sixth album digs hungrily into the theme, even examining it through the lens of Pinocchio (“Donkeys”) and human evolution (“Caveman”). The fact that it’s more light of touch than not is a tribute to front man Tim Kasher’s casual roaring of urgent, wordy lyrics, not to mention a band that itself has grown up and now embraces jittery pop and cozy orchestration over angular post-punk anthems. That said, the opening “In the Now” will shake awake anyone who expects “Mama, I’m Swollen” to be as harmless as Kasher’s other longtime band, the Good Life. It’s a throttling introduction to an album that soars when Kasher avoids cheesy sentiments and simply unburdens his tormented soul.

— Doug Wallen, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘Blending Times’

Ravi Coltrane (Savoy)

Grade: A

For tenor saxophonist Ravi Coltrane, it’s all about the improvisation. The second son of Alice and John Coltrane, Ravi, now 43, is fierce about finding his way in real time.

Here on the follow-up to 2005’s “In Flux,” Coltrane assembles a set that alternates between band originals and tunes he calls “improvisations.” Even the lone standard, Thelonious Monk’s “Epistrophy,” comes with a more freely imagined vamp. Coltrane has been reluctant to capitalize on his huge legacy, focusing instead on his development with groups ranging from the acidic collective M-Base and its founder, alto saxophonist Steve Coleman, to trumpeter Ralph Alessi and the Saxophone Summit band.

This quartet outing includes some sheets-of-sound moments worthy of Dad, yet it’s also highly melodic at times. The Venezuelan-born pianist Luis Perdomo is a welcome presence, providing a palette of lines from funk to Latin to modernist derring-do.

Bassist Drew Gress and drummer E.J. Strickland backstop the risk-taking.

An improvisation called “Before With After” is nicely cosmic, while the opening “Shine” is a handsome ditty. Bassist Charlie Haden, who makes a cameo with harpist Brandee Younger, provides some sweet moments on his “For Turiya.”

— Karl Stark, Philadelphia Inquirer

‘for all i care’

The Bad Plus (Heads Up)

Grade: B

Red flags tend to go up whenever a jazz ensemble, even one known for its pop enthusiasm, recruits a vocalist for a recording session. But indie rocker Wendy Lewis’ contributions to the Bad Plus’s latest CD prove more compatible than calculated.

True to form, the trio overhauls familiar tunes with fitful rhythms and a dissonant attack on “For All I Care.” Yet with Lewis on board, the album’s focus swings wide open. A dense and disjointed version of Nirvana’s “Lithium” kicks things off, followed by an odd assortment of pop and rock tunes. At her best, Lewis adds a haunting dimension to the band’s offbeat reworkings of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb,” Wilco’s “Radio Cure” and the Bee Gees’ “How Deep Is Your Love.” Elsewhere, pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson and drummer David King can be found out on a classical limb, saluting Stravinsky, Babbitt and Ligeti with wit and honed interplay.

— Mike Joyce, Washington Post