Gordon Lightfoot Book, Music and More!

The Strokes have rocketed to the dark edges of space with the New York band’s heaviest, most dangerous sounding album to date. The lead-off single, “Juicebox,” comes across like a sinister Batman theme, complete with ferocious guitar. The syncopated “Razorblade” and the blistering, raging “Vision of Division” are oddly euphoric. But strangest of all is “Ask Me Anything.” With its robotic keyboard riff and Julian Casablancas’ singing repeatedly “I’ve got nothing to say,” it’s like Kraftwerk on crack. Jan. 3

Depeche Mode represented the dark, dehumanized side of ’80s electropop. Despite frontman Gahan’s velvety vocals, Martin Gore’s deeply moody lyrics and the band’s cold, industrial sound always cast a pall. Gahan’s second solo album is no less depressing. Songs like the dreary “Down,” on which he sings “I feel so old, down on the ground is where I’m bound to end up,” deal with themes of aging and mortality. “Use You,” meanwhile, is a harrowing ode to self-loathing. Has Gahan never heard of Prozac? Oct. 23   

There’s nothing new about a female rapper dropping an album from prison. Lil’ Kim released one while she was sentenced for lying to a jury about a shooting (one that ironically involved Brown’s entourage). Brown, who shares Kim’s fixation on sex and the mafia, is now partially deaf and behind bars for parole violation. The Brooklynite’s latest is a tawdry affair, with tracks like “We Don’t Surrender” bitterly professing her supremacy while lamely insisting that she’s regained her hearing, if not her freedom. Dec. 11