MEDIAEVAL BAEBES – “Mirabilis”

3 Stars

Nettwerk Records

THE Mediaeval Baebes give new meaning to the term “retro” when they chant the top hits from the 13th century on their new CD, “Mirabilis.” The all-female vocal octet uses varied styles to keep the music interesting. There’s the choral attack with all the girls singing at once, like on “Kilmeny,” the solo tunes like “Scarborough Fayre” featuring Katharine Blake, and leader-and-chorus songs like “Musa Venit Carmine.” These Brit Baebes have a knack at making the very old sound fresh and new.

Because the group sings in several languages, including Middle English and mediaeval Italian, you often don’t know the songs’ meanings, but there’s an inspiring spirituality here that conjures cathedrals and castles.

Download this: “Return of the Birds” (sung in Latin)

UNCLE EARL – “She Waits for Night”

3 1/2

Rounder Records

AT Telluride, the most important bluegrass festival in the U.S., an all-girl string band called Uncle Earl shook the Rocky Mountain resort town with a mix of catchy songs and musicianship that soared with velocity and virtuosity.

Like that career-making set, their new disc “She Waits for Night” is a mix of originals and old-time tunes that illustrate how this quintet is bound by tradition but not shacked to it. Just take the inclusion of the gospel a capella song “Divine.” Sandwiched between fiddles and bouncing banjo plucks it’s out of place – but the album would be less if it wasn’t there.

Same could be said of “Old Bunch of Keys,” a number whose percussion is provided by fancy, clogged footwork.

Download this: “Willie Taylor”

TONY IOMMI

“Fused”

4 Stars

Sanctuary Records

BLACK Sabbath’s guitar ace Tony Iommi and former Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes are back together banging heads on “Fused.”

This hard-rock masterpiece is everything you want out of metal: It’s heavy, bombastic and melodic. The advantage of a guitar/drums/bass power trio like this one is each man gets to shine in every song. Hughes, who doubles up on bass, is pure thunder at the bottom, and Kenny Aronoff’s beats illustrate why he’s so sought after as a session drummer. The 10 tunes revolve around Iommi’s trademark guitar riffs: the kind that propelled Black Sabbath down the stairway to hell. While you might want to download “I Go Insane,” be warned: It’s nine minutes long.

Download this (instead): “Dopamine”

FRANK BLACK – “Honeycomb”

4 Stars

Back Porch/EMI

CHIEF Pixie Frank Black has had a busy year between reuniting his ’80s punk band and recording his first solo record since 1996.

Forget the screaming vocals and crunch guitars of the Pixies. On “Honeycomb,” Black is back with a country/soul hybrid, and he’s fronting a sterling band with impressive blues and soul credentials that includes guitarist Steve Cropper and keyboardist Spooner Oldham. In all, there are 11 originals by Black that tap into his bright acoustic style. The best of the new is the hell-on-Earth song “I Burn Today,” sung with heartfelt inflections. Top covers on this disc are “Song of the Shrinp” snagged from Elvis Presley’s flick “Girls Girls Girls.”

Download this: “Song of the Shrimp”