GNARLS BARKLEY
St. Elsewhere
(Warner)

A month or two after conquering the British charts, the duo of Atlanta rapper-singer Cee-Lo (Goodie Mob) and producer Danger Mouse (of the infamous Jay-Z/Beatles mashup) set their sights on Japan with the release of this album and an appearance at the Fuji Rock Festival. Cee-Lo’s channeling of soul singer Al Green and Danger Mouse’s effortless funk have already generated a No. 1 UK hit for Gnarls Barkley in the form of “Crazy.” The rest of the album, from the manic beats of “Transformer” to the drum and guitar-driven “Just a Thought,” is every bit as fun. St. Elsewhere probably won’t go down in the annals of music history, but it may just take the title of best booty-shaking summer soundtrack, 2006. DG

PRIMAL SCREAM
Riot City Blues
(Columbia/Sony Music Japan International)

With guitarists Robert Young and Kevin Shields gone, so, too, it seems are what were sometimes called the UK band’s “experimental” (if rave-rock can be that anymore) ambitions. In place of the electronic beats and atmospheric foreboding of XTRMNTR, etc., we’re firmly back in the whisky-bottle garage-rock land of 1994’s Give Out But Don’t Give Up. Rather than good or bad, let’s just say that some people will like the return to jangly guitars, and others, the majority perhaps, won’t. Those who attempt to take frontman Bobby Gillespie seriously on songs like “Country Girl” and “Dolls (Come on Baby Let’s Have a Good Time)” will hate it. Others who perceive it as a deliberate squeezing of rock cliches may enjoy all the rollicking tempos and lyrics about drugs, sex, death, and oh, did I say drugs and sex? DG

PE’Z
Nihon no Jazz—Samurai Spirit
(World Apart/Roadrunner)

Leaving Japan for the first time to tour Europe and North America gave hip young instrumental jazz trumpeter and bandleader Wataru “BMW” Ohyama a new taste for home. He realized that to differentiate his band from all the excellent Western jazz combos, Pe’z needed to do something different. The result is a collection of nostalgic covers of Japanese pop songs and classics mostly from the ’60s and ’70s. Compared to the quintet’s hard-swinging previous work, Nihon no Jazz has a sweeter, more delicate feel, typified by lighthearted frolics like “Dontaku” and “Omocha no Cha Cha Cha,” a classic children’s song with a charming Japonesque chorus. Verdict: a useful point of entry for those looking to explore Japanese standards. DG

RYTHEM
Mugen Fuakutorii
(Sony Music Associated)

Pop duo Rythem typify the J-Pop scene: two girls on piano and guitar who make melodic jingles that won’t register on most people’s “best newcomers” list but that are nevertheless, well, pleasant. Having come through an audition with Sony, the 22-year-old songwriters were deemed agreeable enough to be heard on the anime show Tottoko Hamutaro and the NHK drama Teruteru Kazoku, an impressive start for two plucky newcomers. Sometimes good music becomes so by simply being inoffensive enough to barely register, subconsciously brightening your surroundings without you knowing it. Tracks like “Song for You” and “Dear Friend” speak volumes merely by their titles. Robert Poole

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