For awhile there, the erstwhile indie savoir was exiled in the mainstream. Now Phair is on Dave Matthews' ATO, and the label is doing a much-deserved reissue of her classic 1993 LP. If you never got all the fuss, you can read new essays that explain it--or just sample Phair's brassy cool.

Filed in: Pop/Rock

No serious fan of East Coast instrumental hip-hop should skip the Virginia rhymer's latest. Starring production from ?uestlove and sagacious rhymes from guest scholars Talib Kweli, Common, and Black Thought, it's a release of fierce intelligence and soulful rhythm.

Filed in: Underground Rap

Alienation, desperation, adulation--to listen to a Graduate song is to hear emo's favorite themes played out in no uncertain terms. But the band shouldn't be classified with the genre's whiny types. Thick synth washes and red-meat guitars dominate the mix.

Filed in: Emo

Authentic early '60s soul and beat music is on the decks when ultra-contemporary English R& B singer Hunter is in the house. He's so cool and smooth you might mistake him for the real deal--and he is: 21st century soul-style!

Filed in: R&B

In Mike Rosenberg's project, the old-soul lyric melancholy of David Gray meets a more spry guitar pop. The effect is enchanting in its weird time warp: this is the sound of young Britain quite energetically understanding its parents' problems, a once-in-a-blue-moon round of empathy.

Filed in: Adult Alternative Pop/Rock