Guru

Jazzmatazz Streetsoul (Virgin)

Albums like Guru's Jazzmatazz Streetsoul make it hard to cram music into genres like hip-hop or blues or jazz or rock. The album announces its intentions right from the intro to the first track: "This joint here is one of the hottest blends of hip-hop, soul, R&B and jazz ever, defining a whole new style of music."

From this statement alone, you might think Guru, the vocal half of the hip-hop group Gang Starr, is overly arrogant regarding his third Jazzmatazz project. But the music that follows the man's initial words more than backs him up. Guru has collaborated with some phenomenal and diverse artists in order to create this fusion of hip-hop and other genres. Erykah Badu's soulful voice laughs and dances around Guru's rap in the jazzy song "Plenty." In contrast, "Lift Your Fist" with the Roots is Philly hip-hop with an attitude. All in all, you will find yourself nodding your head, swaying your hips and throwing up your arms to the chill beats and sweet voices in Streetsoul. No surprise the man calls himself Guru. A- -Nicole A. Raspa

The Beautiful South

Painting it Red (ARK 21)

What seems so strange about the Beautiful South to American listeners is the overriding lack of interest in aural shock. There's no shouting, no distorted guitar noise and rarely an unexpected chord change. Instead, the group's songwriter Paul Heaton rolls out slow, beautiful pop songs backed by melodic tunes that never pretend to be anything but accompaniment. This is not to imply that something is lacking in the music. It is rich, profound and mood-setting-qualities which have made the band's albums bestsellers in their native Britain.

This side of the Atlantic, the extreme emphasis on singing seems anachronistic, but the Beautiful South's focus is clear. The band has three vocalists for the four instrumentalists, allowing for spectacular vocal range and clever bantering among singers. Still, there are signs of experimental distortion: spectacular songs like "Half-Hearted Get" show the expert hand of Norman Cook, a.k.a. Fatboy Slim, credited with "open groove surgery." Critics have often described Heaton's lyrics as bitter and cynical (the band's previous female vocalist reputedly left because of one of the lyrics). But on Painting it Red, Heaton comes across as a defender of true love, even if he rarely sinks to clichd subjects and metaphors, singing about love through old age and rages against infidelity and abuse. For all the songs' backwards compliments, Heaton's muse is always in sight, as on "10,000 Feet": "the landing won't be fatal/If love's parachute's been dropped." A- -Roman Altshuler

Soundtrack

Rugrats in Paris (Warner)

You know Tommy and Chuckie aren't real people, and you love them just the same. So what if the music on the Rugrats in Paris soundtrack isn't that real either? The songs on it are entertaining enough to love it too.

Blackstreet led the original Rugrats movie soundtrack with the childish sound effects and almost mechanical sound of their hit song "Take Me There." In this sequel soundtrack, the lead star is T-Boz Watkins (the "T" of TLC fame) and the hit song is "My Getaway." The track's trite percussion rhythms mean it won't be nominated for a Grammy anytime soon, but it does harness the cutesy spirit of the Rugrats. And while the pre-pubescent voice of Aaron Carter would be insufferable elsewhere, it fits perfectly on this soundtrack. The catchy rhythm of "Life is a Party," backed by a plethora of pre-pubescent vocals, is guaranteed to keep a classroom of sixth-graders flowing to the beat. Indeed, this soundtrack is equivalent to that mix CD you were planning to make- even the Baha Men "Who Let the Dogs Out" makes an appearance. Ubiquitous, yes, but then this soundtrack never claimed to be original. B -Patrick Chun

Pharcyde

Plain Rap (Edel America)

Plain Rap basically sums up the new album from the Pharcyde. The L.A. group spent the '90s putting out a catalog of conceptual, just-a-little-bit-over-the-top hip-hop albums and proving that they were some of the only MCs that Hammer didn't scare away from dancing on stage. The concept for this new release, though, is no concept; the Pharcyde want to tone it down and just "rap for hip-hop's sake."

Unfortunately for them, they didn't exactly beat anyone to the idea. The past two years have brought an explosion of acts that came real and kept it that way. The Roots, Mos Def and Talib Kweli, Common and Jurassic 5 have all blown up lately, not to mention fellow L.A. wildmen the Black Eyed Peas.

Plain Rap does have its moments, though the uneven production makes it hard to see them coming. Top honors go to the introspective "Somethin," with a sly, funky bass line and soulful female vocals. "Frontline" could also make some heads bob, though why the track the Pharcyde says "tells you the whole vibe and mindset of the album" hides in the number nine slot is as much a mystery as why one of the strongest hip-hop acts of the '90s has come out so weak in 2000. C+ -Taylor R. Terry

Brian White

Greatest Hits (Asylum)

Greatest Hits is a well-selected collection of mainstream country pop singer/songwriter Bryan White's chart-topping singles, a selection that reveals not only the artist's development of his country-pop style but also his growth as a relentless perfectionist. Opening the album is "Love is the Right Place," supported vocally by the moving background voice of Bekka Bramlett. "Rebecca Lynn," which White has described as a signature song, never ceases to tire with the strong acoustic and guitar playing of Billy Joe Walker Jr.

"From This Moment On," White's number one duet with Shania Twain, is also on the album and offers a warm, romantic break from the more panging "Someone Else's Star," in which White plaintively and intimately expresses a longing that is not answered until his 1999 "Heaven Sent." Also off the Between Now and Forever album are "I'm Not Supposed to Love You Anymore" and "So Much Pretending," both top singles in which White mastered his ability to create love songs of symphonic forces. Greatest Hits, full of easy-going songs with endearing vulnerability and expressive vocals, will appeal to both Bryan White and country music fans in search of believable and deep country crooning. B -Yan Fang