SOUND CHECK.

Dr. Dre/``Dr. Dre 2001'' (Aftermath/Interscope)

Dre's 1992 groundbreaking ``The Chronic'' introduced Snoop Dogg on the classic track ``Nuthin' but a G-Thang,'' pioneered the West Coast deep-funk production style and still stands as the blueprint for much of today's rap. On his oft-delayed new effort - rightfully billed as the sequel to ``The Chronic'' - Dre goes back to where it all started - catchy choruses, swaying funk grooves, lonesome keyboards, lush strings, syncopated bass and the lazy, familiar drawl that moved records by the millions.

Dre is reunited here with one-time protege Snoop on a number of tracks, including the slo-mo raveup ``Still D.R.E.,'' while his more recent find, Detroit rapper Eminem, takes the mic for the album's highlights, ``Forgot About Dre'' and ``What's the Difference.'' One of the few rap albums with shelf life. Three 1/2 stars.

- Fred Shuster

Sir Simon Rattle, Birmingham Contemporary Music Group/``Wonderful Town'' (EMI Classics)

Improving on perfection is a tall order. But in some ways it's achieved with this splendid recording of the classic 1953 musical about rube Midwestern sisters out to tame 1930s Manhattan. Kim Criswell, as older sibling Ruth, lays on the brass and sass as thickly as the role's originator, Rosalind Russell, without smothering the quick-witted lyrics. Her counterpart, Audra McDonald, perhaps America's most versatile young female vocalist, delivers playful, crystal-clear renditions of near-standards like ``A Little Bit in Love.'' Thomas Hampson, who owns one of the tenderest big male voices around, highlights a top-rank supporting cast that also includes Brent Barrett and Rodney Gilfry. Sir Simon Rattle's conducting makes the score quiver with humor and Jazz Age excitement on those big-shouldered, Gershwin-esque melodies. From a poignantly languorous ``Ohio'' to a comically red-hot ``Conga,'' this is a disc so good, you'll only wish you could see it fully mounted on stage.four stars

- Reed Johnson

Lori Carson/``Stars'' (Restless)

We've never been able to figure out why Carson remains criminally undernoticed, but this disc should only continue to build the case against the public's felony disinterest. The sometime Golden Palominos chanteuse here serves up another set of exquisitely wistful, sometimes edgy pop meditations on relationships. The opening track, ``16 Days,'' is a stunner, a delicate recounting of a lover's remorse and reunion to come. ``Take Your Time'' is a sweet, slightly upbeat song of patience and love, while ``Breathe'' wonders how a lover will do so when ``all the oxygen is used up,'' a mantric metaphor for much deeper stuff, set to droning strings and Miles-ian muted trumpet. ``Treasure'' closes this beautiful disc wonderfully, with much fabulous stuff in between. Three 1/2 stars.

- David Bloom

Shivaree/``I Oughta Give You a Shot in the Head for Making Me Live in This Dump''(Capitol/Odeon)

The Faulknerian title gives some sense of the white-trash sensibilities of Valley-born singer Ambrosia Parsley (she swears that's her birth name) and her band of solid rock/country/blues veterans. This is slow, slinky, sometimes dirgey stuff, front-porch funnies and swampy songs of lost souls. Minus the hilarious stories Parsley tells on stage, her coquettish voice here is closer to Margot Timmins of Cowboy Junkies or Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star, but with a ton of odd little production tricks. ``Arlington Girl,'' ``Goodnight Moon'' and ``Oh No'' are particular highlights. A shivaree, by the way, is a sort of cowboy clatter of a serenade, played on pots and pans. This sounds better and quieter than that, by a fair long ways, though it's equally charming. Three stars.

- D.B.

Guy Clark/``Cold Dog Soup'' (Sugar Hill)

While respect for growling singer-songwriter Clark is an article of faith in the church of alternative country, there are those of us who've waited mighty long for the low-key craftsman to cook up a collection as consistent as his out-of-print, 1981 masterpiece ``The South Coast of Texas.'' ``Cold Dog Soup'' is the closest he's come in two decades. Key selections include the satiric title howl (``Ain't no money in poetry, That's what sets the poet free, I've had all the freedom I can stand''), a warm and amusingly observed tribute to an Ozark fiddle player (``Sis Draper'') and another one of his exquisitely detailed anthems to Lone Star life (``Red River''). Some cutesy novelty songs - the self- explanatory ``Men Will Be Boys'' and, no kidding, a singing penny ditty - take little away from this satisfyingly solid album. And if you like this, you can can hear most of the majestic ``South Coast'' and other prime Clark cuts on the 1995 Philo compilation ``Craftsman.'' Three 1/2stars.

- Bob Strauss

Morton Feldman/``Crippled Symmetry'' (Bridge)

An American original, Feldman (1926-87) wrote music like nobody else: porous textures, luminescent surfaces, structures lasting literally for hours, dabs of sound as abstract as the paintings of Rothko, Pollock and the rest of the New York school.

At 85 minutes, ``Crippled Symmetry'' never wears out its welcome. Though the tonal palette seems limited - just three players perform on a variety of flutes, mallet instruments, piano and celeste - the variations of timbre, attack and color are breathtaking.

Lock into Feldman's world and you'll find music breathing with drama, wit and humanity. Three stars.

- Mark Stryke/Detroit Free Press

Alecia Elliott/``I'm Diggin' It'' (MCA Nashville)

Of the coming crop of cute, pedal pushers-wearing, bellybutton-showing teen-age country singers, Elliott - at least on the basis of this debut album - has a terrific future. At 16, Elliott has a distinctive, expressive voice that is poised to become more full-bodied as she matures. Additionally, she displays considerable writing potential. For proof, look no further than the lovely ballad ``I'm Waiting for You'' and the arch ``You Wanna What?'' And it doesn't hurt to have Tony Brown helping out in the studio. In this Shania- and Faith-driven era of grab-the-pop/country ring, Brown and Elliott are walking a tightrope between pop and country and, thus far, doing a good job. This is bright-sounding pop-flavored country, as opposed to the country-flavored pop that appears to be everywhere. While the songs are, without exception, first-rate efforts from front-line Nashville writers, Elliott's striking voice is best shown on ballads like ``I'm Waiting for You,'' ``Every Heart'' and ``Some Say I'm Running.'' Three stars.

- Billboard

Robert Pollard with Doug Gillard/``Speak Kindly of Your Volunteer Fire Department'' (Savoy)

Giving The Artist a run for his money as the hardest-working man in rock 'n' roll is Pollard, signalman of low-fi legends Guided By Voices.

Here, Pollard teams with multi-instrumentalist Gillard for the fourth volume of homegrown, demo-style recordings he's dubbed ``The Fading Captain Series.'' As with the previous installment, ``Kid Marine,'' ``Speak Kindly'' is heavily influenced by ``Happy Jack''-era Who. Yet Gillard fleshes out seat-of-the-pants soliloquies like ``Soft Smoke'' and postcard poems like ``Larger Massachusetts'' with deftly distorted guitars and psychedelic salutes that give even Pollard's most precious wordplay some '60s-style bravado.

This makes an especially astute companion piece to GBV's ``Do the Collapse,'' the band's most polished and produced album, and 1999's most overlooked pop album, period. Three stars.

- Terry Lawson/Detroit Free Press

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(1) no caption (singer Lori Carson at a microphone.)

(2 -- 4) no captions (album covers)