SOUND CHECK.

Buena Vista Social Club/``Buena Vista Social Club''

Produced by and featuring session great/musical explorer Ry Cooder, this collection brings together the cream of Cuban musicianship in the service of stirring world music. There's a low-key, atmospheric feel to the proceedings, suggesting this flowing, melodic and syncopated acoustic music was recorded live in a small Havana studio over just a few days. Among the stars of the record is 77-year-old pianist Ruben Gonzalez, whose mambo and cha-cha-cha-infused playing brings the music to another level. A lovely disc. Four Stars

?13- Fred Shuster

Afro-Cuban All Stars/``A Toda Cuba le Gusta''

A 13-piece dream band comprising four generations of Cuban musicians, the Afro-Cuban All Stars boasts six of the island's most loved singers of the '50s. The music is diverse; the album's 10 old and new songs reflect a range of styles and home-grown rhythms. This is what Ricky Ricardo's Copacabana band might have sounded like on a particularly hot night. Four Stars

?13- Fred Shuster

Forest for the Trees/``Forest for the Trees''

This collage of hip-hop beats and exotic instrumentation by Silver Lake auteur and Beck collaborator Carl Stephenson seems unaffected by commercial considerations. A typical song weaves together a dance beat, sitar, Indian recitation, bagpipes and rock guitar. Strangely, it works - and even stranger still, the album, which was five years in the making, has spawned an MTV and KROQ hit in the ultra-catchy ``Dream.'' Stephenson doesn't write in the usual verse-chorus-bridge format; instead, he messes around with song forms. A highly unusual album that's both experimental and enjoyable. What more could you want? Three and One Half Stars

?13- Fred Shuster

Cornershop/``When I Was Born for the 7th Time''

British-based Asian-Indian quartet Cornershop has been an indie favorite across the pond for years. On this album for David Byrne's world music label, the group gets it right with rich musical textures, strong material and a wry sense of humor. Some standouts include ``When the Light Appears Boy,'' with some vocals from Alan Ginsberg; ``Brimful of Asha,'' which has hit written all over it; and a clever cover of the Beatles' ``Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)'' with Punjabi vocals from Cornershop leader Tjinder Singh. Three Stars

?13- Fred Shuster

Tower of Power/``Rhythm & Business''

Twenty years down the line, and Oakland's Tower of Power has never lost the ability to turn up the heat on slippery funk grooves and soulful ballads. The 10-piece band's latest effort contains dance-floor fillers and slow tunes fueled by one of the tightest horn sections around. Rhythm and taking care of business indeed. Three Stars

?13- Fred Shuster

Various/``One Step Up/Two Steps Back: The Songs of Bruce Springsteen''

This 28-song, double-CD set has asked of its artists a daunting task: Take a Springsteen song and give it a different arrangement. For optimum enjoyment, though, it's best not to compare these takes to the originals because while some work, others do not. Highlights include ``Downbound Train'' by the Smithereens and ``Don't Look Back'' by the Knack. While this album may be a must for all Bruce fans, it begs the question that if the new tracks are too close to the original, what's the point? Three Stars

?13- Stuart Levine

Master P/``Ghetto D''

The work of Master P represents much the same quandary that accompanied the originators of the sound: How to defend such slamming grooves when the rhymes are so blatantly misogynistic, homophobic, drug-hyping and ultra-violent? You listen closely and go beyond the image. Master P, a New Orleans transplant to Los Angeles, does nothing if not rap from his heart on ``Ghetto D.'' It's heavy drama throughout, with both guns and blunts a-blazin', but it's not fair to say P is faking it, merely carrying the ``gangsta''-rap torch left so recently unattended. His rhymes may be about living and dying in the projects, but they can also reflect finding the bright side of ghetto life when there seems to be no way out. Through 19 tracks - thankfully without asinine intros or skits - it gets a bit redundant. Still, Master P is an outsider with potential who's just now getting a major taste of power. Two and One Half Stars

?13- Ben Wener

Orange County Register

Rolling Stones/``Bridges to Babylon''

What's lacking from the new Stones album is a killer riff or a sing-along anthem to give the disc a foundation. The first single, ``Anybody Seen My Baby,'' doesn't cut it: a languid, midtempo tune with a chorus borrowed from k.d. lang's ``Constant Craving'' (lang and Ben Mink are given a co-writing credit). Mick Jagger's embrace of show-biz affectation leaves Keith Richards as the band's heart and soul. His reggae-flavored ``You Don't Have to Mean It'' and his pair of album-ending ballads, ``Thief in the Night'' and ``How Can I Stop,'' are disarmingly melodic, his raspy delivery making him seem almost vulnerable. It sounds like the former rock outlaw is turning into rock's version of burned-out jazz crooner Chet Baker. But the main reason to listen is that no white rock band plays the rhythm of the blues like the Stones. Even on these mostly midtempo tracks, the Stones' core - Richards, guitarist Ronnie Wood, drummer Charlie Watts - massages the groove, luxuriates in the space between the notes, defines the pulse as much by what they don't play as by what they do. Three Stars

?13- Greg Kot

Chicago Tribune

Busta Rhymes/``When Disaster Strikes''

You know Busta Rhymes as the colorfully dressed, constantly moving human cartoon from numerous MTV power rotations. In the ingratiating clips for ``Wooh Hah! (Got You All in Check)'' from his previous album, ``The Coming,'' and ``Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See'' from the current set, he resembles a man who's just gulped a handful of pep pills. Throughout his new release, which features progressive, quaking beats (thumping tracks of simple electro-funk; sweet, sticky soul; or intricate jazz), the hip-hop dynamo's raw, liquid voice sounds by turns tender and forceful. Identifying himself by such lofty labels as the ``eighth wonder of the world,'' he gives listeners what they need to get the party started and keep it going. Lava lyrics flow from his mouth, and the catchy tracks burn themselves into the listener's mind. Three Stars

?13- Billboard

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7 Photos

Photo: (1) Compay Segundo, left, and Ry Cooder get together for ``Buena Vista Social Club.''

(2--7) no caption (CD covers)