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Joan Armatrading
What's Inside
RCA Victor

Joan Armatrading is one of those rare artists who manages to reinvent herself to suit the latest pop-music trend and still maintain her own identity. She did folk music in the '70s and dance music in the '80s, and on her latest release, she fuses these styles with funk and blues. The result is an intriguingly fresh sound. Armatrading lets her rhythm section--Manu Katche on drums and either Darryl Jones or Tony Levin on bass--carry a lot of the weight, adding her sparse, clean guitar parts as much for flavor as for melody. For the most part, her vocals are still dark and resonant, but on some tracks, she explores the high end of her range, where she sounds oddly like the man who won't be Prince. (Anne Gelhaus)


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Doug E. Fresh
Play
Gee Street

Those who witnessed Def Jam '87 or Summer Jam '95 know that Doug E. Fresh is better at blowin' up live sets than on wax ("The Show" and "La-Di-Da-Di," notwithstanding). His first two albums, Oh My God! and The World's Greatest Entertainer, were overflowing with enough filler material to stuff a beanbag. Fresh's latest, Play, is in the same mode, with two or three good songs padded out with empty boasts and Doug E.'s crazy beat-box skills. "Where's the Party At" finds him flowing seamlessly through various old-school beats. "I-Ight" is a jam worthy of unleashing on a Friday-night party, and "The Original Old School" revives DJ Hollywood, Lovebug Starski, the Furious Five and the Cold Crush Crew. I give Doug E. respect as a showman who knows what a live rap show ought to be, but he should go the Belafonte route: specialize on the live performance and leave the wax alone. (Todd S. Inoue)


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Lloyd Cole
Love Story
Ryko

Is every song Lloyd Cole writes about getting girls, losing girls or dumping girls? If he ever tires of music, he could probably step into a career as a marriage counselor. Or a divorce lawyer. Let's hope he doesn't, because his exploration of relationships is funny, insightful and only occasionally mawkish. In the past, Cole has shown a tendency to infuse his work with a little too much lyrical creativity--literary references to Truman Capote and Grace Kelly are too precious for pop songs. Thankfully, he shows some restraint this time around without abandoning cleverness. He hits the mark on "Let's Get Lost" when he sings, "Penny walked in with that 'Love in Vain' look/Said every last man should be hanging from a meat hook." Obviously, not all of Cole's love stories (which are detailed on his Web site at http://www.best.com/ ~drumz/Cole/) have happy endings. (Gordon Young)


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Letters to Cleo
Wholesale Meats and Fish
Giant

Letters to Cleo, commonly known for its quick-fire and infectious single "Here and Now," offers more than one chart climber. The 12-track album buzzes with more ferocious catchiness. From the already popular "Awake" to slower, creeping "Laudanum," the band adopts a sunny, cheerful tone even when the topic is an acid trip or the ruination of a romantic relationship. Kay Hanley is a convincing female vocalist, without the angry ranting of an Alanis Morissette. Drummer Stacy Jones taps out consistent beats with the determination of a postal clerk through extreme weather conditions. The lyrics sometimes fall way short: "Do What You Want, Yeah" exactly and unvaryingly reiterates its title for three minutes. (Bernice Yeung)

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