DEAR AS FOLK ELIZA CARTHY POSSESSES A MUSICAL PEDIGREE, BUT HER SOUND IS ALL HER OWN.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer

As the pop world explodes into more and more hybrids and hyphenations, with each arcane offshoot more dissonant than the last, it's refreshing to come across music that sounds like today but has age-old roots.

Singer-songwriter and fiddler Eliza Carthy is that rare artist able to transcend strong influences, in this case traditional English folk music, while creating a kind of electronica-dance-tinged pop with personal lyrics that sometimes recall the ribald and sometimes ominous imagery of Celtic ballads.

Needless to say, she sounds nothing like Fairport Convention or Steeleye Span.

But Carthy has a rich heritage to draw from. The daughter of U.K. folk luminaries and husband-and-wife duo Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson, Carthy grew up immersed in British folk's delicate string-plucked melodies.

Born in 1975, during one of a series of periodic folk revivals, Carthy joined the family business early, singing with her parents' group, Waterson:Carthy, and collaborating with fiddler Nancy Kerr on a number of projects focusing on British and Celtic song.

``I was used to hearing the mysterious old songs - murder ballads, for example, with very descriptive images,'' Carthy said. ``I wanted to bring that feeling to my own material.''

She does that in 10 captivating tracks on her new album, ``Angels & Cigarettes'' (Warner Bros.), a moody synthesis of jazzy, ambient arrangements and unusually absorbing originals, delivered in a sturdy alto voice that occasionally brings to mind Sandy Denny with a dance beat.

``This is high-quality, innovative music,'' said Peter Standish, vice president of U.S. marketing at the label. ``She's a great writer and musician. I know that's been said before about people, but it's the truth with Eliza. She blends different genres for a very fresh, identifiable sound.''

Carthy drew notice on these shores last year when she toured and sang with Joan Baez to rave reviews. The New York Times, for instance, lauded her ``rich, smoky voice'' and hints of ``torchy country singing.''

In 1998, Carthy's adventurous double album, ``Red Rice,'' earned a prestigious Mercury Music Prize nomination for its melting pot of trip-hop, reggae and electric folk sounds. Coincidentally, her husky-voiced mom had received a nomination for her own self-titled solo effort, ``Norma Waterson,'' two years earlier.

``We went in and just tried a lot of things,'' Carthy, 25, explained in a no-nonsense Yorkshire accent by phone from London. ``I think I was trying to remain true to the spirit of the music I love while adding these other ingredients that might not seem like they fit at first.''

Carthy, who was scheduled to appear Friday night at the Getty Center and will perform tonight at the Viper Room, was accompanied at the ``Angels & Cigarettes'' sessions by a pool of musicians that included her singer- guitarist father, Martin Carthy, longtime Brian Wilson collaborator Van Dyke Parks, pedal steel whiz BJ Cole, and a 25-piece string section.

``I wanted the songs to be about what I'd done and where I'd been,'' she said. ``There's a mood I tried to capture - of being from no one place in particular.''

Despite Carthy's sense of displacement, she doesn't need a passport stamp to show that she hails from one of Britain's most musically accomplished clans.

Consider: The elder Carthy taught ``Scarborough Fair'' to Paul Simon; he was a member of pioneering British folk-rock band Steeleye Span; he influenced guitarists Richard Thompson and Martin Simpson; and he married into the harmonizing Waterson family.

``I remember my parents sitting around having a sing with friends like Richard (Thompson),'' said Eliza, whose look includes body piercings and brightly colored hair. ``I probably learned to respect and love the original folk songs really early on, from having heard them so often around the house. There's an entire world of incredible, rich songs of this kind.''

Utilizing striking stylistic diversity, standout tracks on ``Angels & Cigarettes'' such as the bawdy ``The Company of Men'' conjure old and new with ``a melody that could make Kate Bush swoon and lyrics that could make Liz Phair blush.'' ``Beautiful,'' as one fan posted on Amazon.com.

So far, some radio stations including Santa Monica's KCRW-FM (89.9) are supporting Carthy. It is hoped that other outlets will soon follow suit.

``It's the kind of music where, once you get it exposed, it stands apart from most things out there,'' Standish said. ``It's all about getting it heard.''

ELIZA CARTHY

Where: Viper Room, 8852 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood.

When: 9 tonight.

Admission: $10.

Information: [phone].

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Folk singer Eliza Carthy will perform tonight at the Viper Room.