This Canadian trio follows a line of protest music combining reggae and punk that began with The Clash and runs through acts like Asian Dub Foundation. Street Gospels sets the tempo with the reggae-tinged Madchester rave-up “Until We Burn in the Sun.” Singer Jay Malinowski has a sweet voice that sugarcoats his broadsides against what are mostly the usual targets, while bassist Eon Sinclair and drummer Pat Pengelli work from a shifting template of reggae, dub, punk and soul. The message is revolutionary; the music isn’t; but it’s all done with expertise and aplomb. DG

If you were a successful Japanese record producer, how would you spend your first million? Judging from this solo album by Satori Shiraishi, he’s chosen to distribute his lucre to, one, a cabal of spot-on studio musicians; and, two, the Hawaiian tourism industry. Happydom is a harmless confection of pop, rock, blues and reggae, all of it smiled upon by gentle Hawaiian breezes. In songs like “Sunshine” and “Gentle Smile,” Shiraishi is in a pretty good state of mind, and the gratefulness becomes infectious. If he can leap the language barrier, Shiraishi might go down well with fans of American good-vibes guys like Jack Johnson and G. Love. DG

Finally, the five MCs and one DJ from Nagoya have gotten it right. While previous albums built Nobody Knows a sizeable fanbase, their experiments in fusion never quite clicked, and the sound of MCs was often overwhelming. But catchy tracks like “Boy’s are Runnin’” show that the group has packed its finest collection of songs yet, and layered it with rock and electronica that will allow them to hit the clubs as much as speak to the streets. Packing touches of funk, reggae and jazz into the mix creates an ebb and flow in a multidimensional album that never oversteps the mark and, in doing so, sets a new standard for Japanese hip-hop. Robert Poole

MIA might want to write the US government a thank you note for saving her new album. By being denied a visa, the singer was unable to go to the US to work with producer Timbaland, and thus become the next Nelly Furtado. So she took her tracks on a globetrotting tour and ended up with what may be the year’s most entertaining album. I was seemingly the lone listener who did not jump on the MIA bandwagon after 2005’s Arular, but Kala proves both stunning and strong. Its only downer is the Timbaland track “Come Around,” which serves as a reminder of the disappointment this album could have been—and how glad we should be that it went the other way. Trevor L. LaClair

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