SOUND CHECK.

AVRIL LAVIGNE: "The Best Damn Thing" (RCA) - Three stars

With a title like "The Best Damn Thing," Canadian pop-punk dynamo Lavigne is asking for trouble. But compared to much pop product of the moment, her brash, dozen-track third album is a useful item to have around. At the ideal length of 40 minutes, its amusing cheerleader beats and layered girl-group vocals rarely bog down, while hook-driven tunes like "Girlfriend" (a remake of Toni Basil's pep rally "Mickey") and "I Can Do Better" aim directly at the tween within.

Lavigne varies the program with a few power ballads ("Keep Holding On" is the best of 'em) that won't make anyone yearn for more of the sappy stuff. Still, little can detract from the record's overall good mood.

-- Fred Shuster

COWBOY JUNKIES: "At the End of Paths Taken" (Zoe) - Three and one half stars

The latest from Canadian pop quartet the Cowboy Junkies marks another step in the band's creative evolution. Crafted with meticulous care, "Paths" is an aural treatise on family and the influence of time and destiny. Songbird Margo Timmins hasn't lost any of her winsome melancholy, and when backed by haunting string arrangements ("Follower 2") or dirty, fuzzed-out guitar ("Cutting Board Blues"), the results are ripe with subtext that demands repeat listening. Powerful yet subtle, this low-fi gem sparkles with jaded elan, one carefully measured note at a time.

-- Len Cutler

KOKO TAYLOR: "Old School" (Alligator) - Three and one half stars

Fully recovered from some serious medical conditions, Taylor virtually shouts down the house with this blistering collection of electric blues, her first album in seven years. Five original Taylor compositions, a pair of little-known Willie Dixon gems and Memphis Minnie's hilarious "Black Rat," among other choice cuts, give the most powerful voice in Chicago a lot to work with -- and work it she does.

-- Bob Strauss

VARIOUS: "A Tribute to Joni Mitchell" (Nonesuch) - Three stars

This collection succeeds in being more curiously interesting than memorable only because the artists involved have strong personalities themselves. Multi-instrumentalist Sufjan Stevens begins the album by taking Mitchell's tight radio hit "Free Man in Paris" and turning it into a strange sonic trip that makes the song almost unrecognizable. And speaking of strange, Bjork follows. Her starkly realized interpretation of "The Bojo Dance" is either arresting or irritating, depending on your mood. Caetano Veloso brings Brazilian drums to "Dreamland"; Cassandra Wilson an earthiness to "For the Roses." Prince offers up a soulful but odd take on "A Case of You." Others on the album -- Elvis Costello, Annie Lennox, Sarah McLachlan -- take slightly skewed versions of Mitchell songs that work, more or less, and Emmylou Harris and James Taylor go for the straightforward approach. In the end, you'll want to go back to the legend herself -- she'll have a new album in the fall.

-- Rob Lowman

BEBEL GILBERTO: "Momento" (Six Degrees) - Three stars

Gilberto isn't adventurous in her vocals or her songwriting. Nevertheless, she knows how to serve up a relaxed, seductive sound -- like a tropical drink for a lazy day in the sun. "Momento" takes us on an excursion that sways between electronica and more traditional bossa nova. (She is of Brazilian musical royalty -- her father is Joao Gilberto, her mother is the singer Miucha.) Even Cole Porter's urgent "Night and Day" becomes a dreamy, jazzy coo. Some of the tunes come off as too programmed; better are numbers like the stripped-down, infectious "Um Segundo," the lilting "Traquilo" or the graceful "Os Novos Yorkinos." Still, in the end, the overall effect is a pleasant buzz.

-- R.L.

VARIOUS: "World of Music -- A Selection of the Best Music Around the World by BBC DJ Charlie Gillett" (Rhino) - Four stars

There isn't a better person to introduce you to the delights of sounds from around the globe than renowned musicologist Gillett. This two-disc set -- available only at Borders -- includes 34 artists from 27 countries, and every cut is a joy. There are familiar names from world music like Malian vocalist Salif Keita (who will be at Disney Hall on Saturday), the late, great African guitarist Ali Farka Toure, America's Ry Cooder, France's Gipsy Kings, Portugal-born singer Sara Tavaras, Argentinean Kevin Johansen and the Kronos Quartet, the hip classical group from the U.S. And there are multiple pleasant surprises from Africa, Japan, India and Russia. Making this global trip even better is Gillett's touch as a programer, which makes Brazilian Gal Costa's "Voyeur" seem like the natural song to follow Alergian Souad Massi's "Inspiraion." Too bad the real world isn't this harmonious.

-- R.L.

CAPTION(S):

6 photos

Photo:

(1) no caption (Avril Lavigne)

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