New Albums: Ludacris; Jesse Malin; Mountain Goats

Ludacris

Ludaversal

(DTP/Def Jam ***1/2)

nolead ends Whether as Chris Bridges or as his nom de rap, Ludacris, the emcee-turned-actor has spent the latter half of this decade honing his cinematic skills, notably in the Fast and Furious series. This can't hide the fact that, earlier in the 2000s, he was an avatar in pushing Atlanta (the city and the aesthetic) in the Dirty South's rise to hip-hop prominence. With a voice like a hot slide trombone, a patented punctuated flow, and a friendly, lyrical braggadocio, Ludacris has carved out his own brand of pop-hop.

With producer David Banner providing double-time rhythms, title track "Ludaversal" announces the rapper's rude intentions and deep commitment: "They say Luda don't want it no more/ Nah, I'm as hungry as the first day." Sure, there are a lot of "I'm back" bits and typical rap gloats and boasts, but Ludacris still manages to go deep and ruminate. The rope-a-dopey pulse of "Ocean Skies" gives way to a personal story of familial addictions. "Grass Is Always Greener" and "Charge It to the Rap Game" find Luda dealing seriously with leeches in the media and his family. Luckily, Luda still sounds like the rubber-band man throughout.

- A.D. Amorosi

nolead begins Jesse Malin
nolead ends nolead begins New York Before the War
nolead ends nolead begins (One Little Indian ***)

nolead ends It was more than a decade ago that Jesse Malin made the transition from punk and glam rocker to urban troubadour with The Fine Art of Self-Destruction, winning the admiration of Bruce Springsteen, among many others.

Malin has always been a rocker at heart, however. And at his best on his first album in nearly five years, the New York native and former D Generation front man melds his scruffy street-poet aesthetic with the power and the glory of the big beat. If that sounds like the M.O. of a certain New Jerseyan, Malin puts his own Manhattan-centric stamp on the template - and "Turn Up the Mains" is closer to the Stones than Springsteen anyway.

On "Bent Up," Malin sings of a character who's "all messed up on rock-and-roll." But with this sweepingly ambitious set (which also has some fine quieter moments, such as the soul-tinged "She Don't Love Me Now"), Malin taps into what's most inspiring and redemptive about the music.

- Nick Cristiano

nolead begins The Mountain Goats
nolead ends nolead begins Beat the Champ
nolead ends nolead begins (Merge ***)

nolead ends Like a good short-story writer, the Mountain Goats' John Darnielle possesses a sharp eye for characters in crisis. He often builds albums from concepts: Bible verses (The Life of the World to Come), an unraveling marriage (Tallahassee) or his own troubled childhood (The Sunset Tree). His narrators grapple with frustration or anger, but his songs convey hope and affirmation.

On Beat the Champ, Darnielle turns his attention to early '80s professional wrestlers from Texas and the fans who followed them (himself included). It's an album full of thwarted ambitions and narrow idealism, of faded heroes and heroic fantasies, of violence and blood. With bassist Peter Hughes and drummer Jon Wurster, Darnielle constructs gently orchestrated ballads ("Southwestern Territory"), frenetic acoustic punk ("Choked Out"), and jazzy piano tunes ("Fire Editorial"). Typical of the Mountain Goats, who will play a sold-out show at Union Transfer on April 13, the songs are intimate, empathetic, and, by turns, urgent or tender.

- Steve Klinge

Reba McEntire, Love Somebody; Calexico, Edge of the Sun; Charles Lloyd, Wild Man Dance; Lila Downs, Balas y ChocolateEndText