Ken Tucker

Whether glossy and heartfelt (Clarkson's Wrapped in Red) or earnest and playful (Lowe's Quality Street: A Seasonal Selection for All the Family), these albums can help conjure a holiday mood in the month before Christmas.

Ken Tucker calls the country singer-songwriter's new 12 Stories a "modestly amazing album." Every song is striking, textured and finely detailed.

The singer-songwriter's new album sounds like a collection of songs that could have been sung a hundred years ago, or written and recorded just a few weeks ago. She's joined on the album by her ex-husband, Richard Thompson, and their three children.

Musical duo The Blow, in which the singing of Khaela Maricich meets the mixing of Melissa Dyne, has just released a new eponymous collection. Critic Ken Tucker says the electro-pop on the album is self-aware, sexy and smart — and, while informed by the art world, never dips into "art-rock" territory.

On Three Chords and the Truth, bluegrass musician James King picks from the canon of country music to rearrange its songs as bluegrass. On The Bluegrass Album, country star Alan Jackson has recorded his first collection of bluegrass music — some classics, some originals.

Can the highly publicized band turn its hype into hits? Ken Tucker wants to join the fan club.

Prism features one of the loudest bands of the bassist's career. The pleasures of the groove here are complex and deep — it's not just about moving feet.
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Schneider's Burden of Proof is frequently beautiful, often morose, downcast album. You get the sense that, when he sings about not connecting with someone he loves, he's also singing about not connecting with a bigger audience.

Frequently on her new album Timekeeper, Schwartz sounds like a throwback to another era. Her singing sometimes possesses the spirit of a more lighthearted Laura Nyro, and she has a heathy fondness for The Beatles.

The singer's new album is a work of great, accomplished craft about the pointlessness of crafting anything you care about, because the world is just going to ruin it on you.