JOANNA NEWSOM

"Have One on Me" (Drag City)

Get off the Internet. Put the iPhone down. Joanna Newsom demands your time and undivided attention. And rewards it. Sure, the 28-year-old unlikely indie-darling harp virtuoso and pianist has a small, pinched soprano that often grates, and she's guilty of being prone to eight-minute-plus, no-chorus story songs that opt for a big word where a little one would do. Yes, her impressively nuanced narratives sometimes work better as poems on paper than as musically pleasing songs. And on her third album, the Nevada City, Calif., native rarely picks up the pace, settling into a static mid-tempo mode that can be lulling in the extreme.

If you want to appreciate what she does, you're going to have to work and digest her music in small doses. But if you're not averse to putting in the effort to listen to the three-CD (or LP) opus that, at 120 minutes, could have easily fit on two discs, plenty of payoff awaits you. Compared with 2006's proggy "Ys," which featured orchestrations by Van Dyke Parks, "Have One on Me" is filled with uncluttered songs that navigate emotional terrain of longing and regret with considerable elan.

On wholly impressive tracks like "Good Intentions Paving Company," which gathers momentum as Newsom's piano is joined by mandolin, trombone, and Hammond organ, legitimate echoes of Joni Mitchell abound.

And on the rare occasion when Newsom manages to really keep herself to the point -- like on the brittle and beautiful 1-minute-and-49-second "On a Good Day" -- she hints (I hope) that she's someday going to realize that more is not always more. In the meantime, though, her music is frequently bewitching and increasingly engrossing with repeated listening. And in a no-attention world, she's an archaic-school artist who's like those old ads from Camel Filters: She's not for everybody. But then, she doesn't try to be.

-- Dan DeLuca, The Philadelphia Inquirer

BRAD MEHLDAU

"Highway Rider" (Nonesuch)

Let it never be said that Brad Mehldau lacks ambition. The gifted pianist and composer's latest is a reunion with uber-producer Jon Brion and percussion gadfly Matt Chamberlain, who joined Mehldau's trio on 2002's eclectic "Largo." But instead of re-creating that record's arresting, electronics-flecked sound, Mehldau has upped the ante by teaming with saxophonist Joshua Redman and a full orchestra for a sprawling, two-disc travelogue of sorts that might be his most fully realized work yet.

Mehldau, who performs with Redman at Jefferson Center on May 1, is primarily a jazz artist. Yet he is no stranger to classical, recently collaborating with Orchestre National d'Nle de France and mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter. And while there's plenty of gorgeous orchestral sweep involved, such as the dramatic "Always Departing," what's striking is how much the album feels like two disciplines on equal footing. For the most part -- most notably on the 12-minute mini-epic "We'll Cross the River Together" -- Mehldau and Redman engage a battery of horns, strings and percussion in a lively conversation, a byproduct of the record's emphasis on live recording.

Though Mehldau lists Strauss and Beethoven as among this record's touchstones, its closely cropped moments leave some of the greatest impressions. Against Mehldau's acrobatic piano, a pattering hand-clap rhythm lends a raw intimacy to "Capriccio," and after a scene-stealing soprano saxophone solo from Redman, an unexpectedly playful chorus of la-la-las lights up "The Falcon Will Fly Again."

A simmering, searching duet between Redman and Mehldau on "Old West" is another highlight, as is Mehldau's teaming with usual trio mates Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard, who revisit some of the twitchy, drum-and-bass drive of "Largo" with "Into the City." Full of unexpected twists and lush, evocative detours, "Highway Rider" is most definitely a trip, and one well worth taking.

-- Chris Barton, Los Angeles Times

THE DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS

"The Big To-Do" (ATO)

Economic hard times, dead-ended lives, everyday struggles and the alcohol-fueled delusions we conjure to escape them -- that's the stuff the Drive-By Truckers have traded in for eight albums now.

But the timing couldn't be better for them or "The Big To-Do" (ATO) because someone has to tell it like it is. "Working this job is like a kick in the pants," Patterson Hood sings in "This -- -- Job." "Working this job is like a knife in the back. It ain't gettin' me further than the dump I live in. It ain't gettin' me further than my next paycheck."

It's a rant, fueled by snarling guitars and a loss of hope, that sums up a lot of lives right now and "Get Downtown," with its guitar boogie beating back the "unemployment blues," sums up many, many more.

"The Big To-Do" isn't as ambitious as the accurately named "Southern Rock Opera" or the expansive "The Dirty South." But the Truckers' vision is downsized skillfully, focusing on storytelling, especially in the ripped-from-the-headlines murderous tale "The Wig He Made Her Wear" and the dark, deflated dreaminess of "The Flying Wallendas."

Of course, they also throw in a bit of aspirational beauty -- in a pair of songs featuring bassist Shonna Tucker's lovely vocals, the poignant ballad "You Got Another" and the rocking "I Told You So." That gets us through all the tough talk, told in Springsteen-ian detail with Tom Petty-ish heartbreaker flourishes. And the guitars help, too.

-- Glenn Gamboa, Newsday

THE WHIGS

"In the Dark" (ATO)

In less capable hands, The Whigs' whirlwind of rock styles would never come together. The Athens, Ga., trio's third album, "In the Dark" (ATO), blends melodies from '70s Rolling Stones and '80s Replacements with '90s grunge underpinnings to build a whole new rock animal. With a little luck, "Kill Me Carolyne," with its Westerberg-ian verses and spiky Killers-ish chorus, could be this year's "Sex on Fire." As much as Parker Gispert's swagger sells the charming "I Don't Even Care About the One I Love," it's his guitarwork that should land "In the Dark" in the year's bright spotlight.

-- G.G.

TITUS ANDRONICUS

"The Monitor" (XL)

"I never wanted to change the world / but I'm looking for a new New Jersey / because tramps like us, baby we were born to die," Patrick Stickles declares, deftly merging Billy Bragg and Bruce Springsteen on Titus Andronicus' second album, "The Monitor." The shredded vocals, buzz-saw guitars, and defiant attitude signify punk rock. But the northern New Jersey band favors messy excess over concision. "The Monitor" is epic -- 65 minutes, with half of its 10 songs surpassing seven minutes -- and exhilarating, with unflagging energy and momentum.

Named after the Civil War ironclad, "The Monitor" is full of battle-cry choruses ("The enemy is everywhere!"), but Stickles is just as likely to turn to self-recriminations and make "You will always be a loser" a cathartic sing-along. Like Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst, he's an impressive writer skilled in metaphor and multilayered narrative. Other reference points, direct and indirect, include the Pogues, Fugazi, the Hold Steady and Bob Dylan. Titus Andronicus knows history, but would rather recontextualize it than simply repeat it.

-- Steve Klinge, The Philadelphia Inquirer

JASON AND THE SCORCHERS

"Halcyon Times" (Courageous Chicken / Nash Vegas Flash)

With their pioneering blend of twang and rock helping to set the Americana template in the early '80s, Jason and the Scorchers were one of those bands whose influence exceeded their own fortunes. Now, 14 years after the group's last album of original material, front man Jason Ringenberg and guitarist Warner E. Hodges are back with a new rhythm section and the old fire.

Most of "Halcyon Times" rocks hard. It's great to hear Hodges flashing his six-string fireworks again alongside Ringenberg's nasal tenor. Like "Golden Days" and the album itself, the final song has a title that could refer to Jason and the Scorchers' rebirth, and the fact the band is as good as ever, if not better. It's called "We've Got It Going On." Do they ever.

-- Nick Cristiano, The Philadelphia Inquirer