SOUND CHECK.

Charlie Robison/``Step Right Up'' (Lucky Dog/Columbia)

Suspended somewhere between the suburbs and honky-tonk heaven, Robison explores the domesticated hell-raiser's dilemma with smart, absurdist humor. Impressively, that enhances rather than undercuts his songs' emotional honesty.

A gifted yarn-spinner with a perspective all his own (well, OK, brother and sometime songwriting partner Bruce Robison is on the same wavelength), this shrewd, ornery son of Bandera, Texas, can take on the Celtic punk persona of a crooked Irish boxer as credibly as he expresses the tentative joy of a sinful parishioner whose preacher just died.

And on ``The Wedding Song,'' in which he duets with a Dixie Chick who ain't the one he's married to, Robison nails the last words on the settling part of settling down to the porch enclosure wall. Three and one half stars

- Bob Strauss

Tim McGraw/``Set This Circus Down'' (Curb)

Never one of country's greatest talents, McGraw always seemed like the guy next door who somehow got really, really lucky - and not just because he took Faith Hill off the market.

One of the ``hat acts'' of the early '90s, McGraw has remained remarkably consistent in his ordinariness. Most comfortable with country's version of the power ballad, he provides radio with an endless stream of frothy, airwave-friendly hits.

Of the 14 cuts here, album-opener ``The Cowboy in Me'' is probably the strongest. Fans of McGraw's usual merchandise will go for ``You Get Used to Somebody,'' ``Take Me Away From Here'' and ``Why We Said Goodbye,'' while Hill pops up on background vocals in ``Angry All the Time.''

And if you've ever suffered from an unfortunate yearning to hear McGraw doing karaoke Ricky Martin, ``Let Me Love You'' is your song. Two stars

- Fred Shuster

Grant Green/``First Session'' (Blue Note)

Don Wilkerson/``The Complete Blue Note Sessions'' (Blue Note)

Jazz guitar great Green's first session as a leader was never issued; Blue Note head Alfred Lion didn't think it cooked enough and he sent Green back to the studio two months later to make ``Grant's First Stand.''

Lion didn't make many bad decisions, but withholding ``First Session'' was one of them. Green's talent might not have been in full bloom yet and he may have been intimidated by the company (Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, Philly Joe Jones), but the slow blues ``Seepin' '' is a soul-jazz classic in the vein of ``Idle Moments.''

Green is heard throughout the three albums collected in the two-CD Wilkerson set and he never sounded more soulful. Wilkerson played tenor sax on all of Ray Charles' glorious '50s cuts; here he blends soul, blues and hard bop, much like King Curtis, delivering one fantastic groove after another. Further proof that the Blue Note vaults hold an endless array of treasures. Three and one half stars

- Glenn Whipp

Grey Delisle/``The Small Time'' (Humminbird)

A young singer with a voice as powerful as Linda Ronstadt's and the potential versatility of Ella Fitzgerald, Delisle delightfully smokes and slithers through this impressive and mostly self-written acoustic set.

Styles range from the opening Alanis-like rant (``The Brick'') to a winsome, little girl purr (``Sing to Me''), with stops along the way at Patsy Cline, gutbucket blues, brutalist gospel and even Spanish torch.

It's no surprise that Delisle sounds smartly at home in all locations; her grandma, after all, sang with Tito Puente. Four stars

- B.S.

!Beach Boys/``Hawthorne, Ca. - Birthplace of a Musical Legacy'' (Brother/Capitol)

Sleepy suburban Hawthorne today looks a lot like it probably did 40 years ago when this double-CD opens with a rehearsal of ``Surfin' '' taped at the boyhood home of Wilson brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis.

Also included in this collection are rehearsals of such Beach Boys classics as ``Good Vibrations,'' a demo of ``Surfin' USA,'' radio promos, a guest appearance by Jan & Dean's Dean Torrance on ``Barbara Ann'' and assorted alternate mixes.

Interesting but really intended for Beach Boys fanatics. Two and one half stars

- F.S.

Sigur Ros/``Agaetis Byrjun'' (FatCat import)

Bleak, eerily beautiful sounds from Iceland's hottest export, whose name means ``Victory Rose'' after the singer's little sister. The experimental post-rock quartet - appearing Tuesday at the Anson Ford Amphitheatre - makes music that reflects the country's cold, ghostly landscape. Sung in Icelandic, the songs are largely instrumental pieces that unwind at a relaxed pace, yet boast subtle organ melodies that linger long after the disc has ended. A gem, soon to be released domestically. Four stars

- F.S.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1) no caption (Charlie Robison)

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