* BUBBA SPARXXX “Deliverance” [ 1/2] Interscope Records
On his sophomore effort, hick-hop rapper Bubba Sparxxx again interpolates his formidable MC skills with backwoods instrumentations ranging from banjo to fiddles.
The jug this Georgia thug is imbibing from sets him apart from just about everyone else in rap save for Kid Rock.
With production from Missy Elliott’s ol’ pard, Timbaland, Sparxxx sounds solid and unique in a genre where imitation is the sincerest form of thievery.
While “Deliverance” has none of the spiritual messages that James Dickey laced into his monumental novel (which later became a film), there is more intellectual merit to this disc than you’d expect.
Songs like “Warrant” and “Jimmy Mathers” show that Sparxxx has a nimble tongue and a gift for raps that tell stories.
* DAVID BOWIE “Reality” [] Columbia/ISO Records
Be it stinging Spiders from Mars or the smooth moves of the Thin White Duke, David Bowie has never been all that concerned with reality.
That is, until the release of “Reality,” the artist’s search for truth that uses New York City as the backdrop.
On it, Bowie has traded in theatrical bombast for rock pizzazz on songs that scream to be played loudly in concert.
The disc opens with “New Killer Star,” a raging rocker that could easily have been inspired by the 9/11 terror strike on Manhattan. Another excellent exercise in truth-seeking is “Never Get Old,” in which Bowie lists the truths he knows over a bold funk bass line.
Although Bowie’s version of George Harrison’s “Try Some, Buy Some” is a pretty waltz, it feels – like his own “The Loneliest Guy” – out of place on what’s otherwise an aggressive rock album.
* THE BANGLES “Doll Revolution” [] Koch Records
With all of the original Bangles in place for their reunion album, “Doll Revolution,” the ’80s femme rockers sound great with vocal harmonies that make you believe that time can stand still.
The disc combines a cover of the great Elvis Costello song “Tear Off Your Own Head (It’s a Doll Revolution)” with a few newly minted tunes and solo material from the band’s individual players penned between the Bangles’ 1989 breakup and now. Most notable among them is “Ask Me No Questions.”
The package also features a 35-minute DVD with live concert and backstage footage.
* BILLY BOB THORNTON “The Edge of the World” [ 1/2] BBT Records
Influenced equally by Warren Zevon and Lynyrd Skynyrd, Billy Bob Thornton – sometime actor and singer – talks his way through a decent sophomore album called “The Edge of the World.”
Thornton is easily his best on this disc when he’s working at story-songs like his paranoia-powered cover of “Everybody’s Talking,” which resonates with the honesty of a man who’s lived his love life (with Angelina Jolie) on Page Six.
* ELVIS COSTELLO “North” [] Deutsche Grammophon
“North,” the latest from Elvis Costello, is a musically pretty disc that’s also pretty boring as it tells a boy-loses-girl, boy-finds-himself-and-rediscovers-love story.
Inspired by loss and propelled by mopey, moody music, “North” heads South because all of the songs sound alike. Die-hards will take umbrage and cite the subtleties within individual tunes, but after several spins it seems as if he’s lost his pop compass and drifted into the land of background music.
Be warned: This is a quiet strings ‘n’ things record that’s closer to easy listening than rock ‘n’ roll.
* SAM BUSH & DAVID GRISMAN “Hold On We’re Strummin’ ” [] Acoustic Disc
Sam Bush & David Grisman, Sam & Dave (“Hold On, We’re Comin’ “), and “Hold On We’re Strummin.’ ” Get it?
Got it. These two masters of the mandolin really give their little instruments a big workout. If you love acoustic, handmade music that lies in the no-man’s land between jazz and bluegrass this is it.
Listen for title track, penned by Isaac Hayes and made popular by the original Sam & Dave.