NUSRAT FATEH ALI KHAN and ROGER WHITE

Khan's Pakistani, vocal, devotional style, called Qawwali, is uniquely suited to the atmospheric needs of film soundtracks such as this one (his voice has also been used in "Last Temptation of Christ" and "Dead Man Walking). Unfortunately, what suited the needs of filmmaker Shekhar Kapur in this case doesn't really do much for Khan or the listener when the music is separated from the movie. What's left is an occasional yelp from Khan rising up over a synthesized approximation of the Indian subcontinent. Those seeking out the magic of Khan's Qawwali will need to look elsewhere.

UTAH PHILLIPS/ANI DIFRANCO

On this new CD -- the first not of her own to be released on her label -- producer/composer/musician Ani DiFranco has gathered "stories, rants and recitations" by folklorist, raconteur, songwriter and activist Utah Phillips, and added rhythmic, sonic and musical passages under, over and around his words. In the process she doesn't so much as remake them as give them new life and urgency, finding in Phillip's spoken-word raps their inner rhythms and musicality. Imagine an anarchist, hip-hop Garrison Keillor possessed by Laurie Anderson, and you have some idea what this great collaboration sounds like.

ROSALIE SORRELS/U. UTAH PHILLIPS

Thank goodness for Sorrels and Phillips, two of our greatest folklorists, without whom so much of our culture would undoubtedly just vanish into the ether. Hence the title of this effort, which attempts to preserve portions of the history of the American Labor movement through stories, songs and recitations that recall such key figures as Big Bill Haywood, Mother Jones and Aunt Molly Jackson. Sorrels and Phillips boast voices and spirits out of time, and their renditions of both source material and contemporary texts are infused with great wit, spirit and generosity. This is must listening for anyone who cares about American history or the education of those who hold our future in their hands.

VARIOUS ARTISTS

This two-CD, live collection documents the superstar gathering that helped inaugurate the opening of the Rock and Hall of Fame. Artists showcased here include Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, the Allman Brothers, Aretha Franklin, Lou Reed, Johnny Cash and James Brown. It features inspired performances by the likes of Al Green, the Pretenders, Iggy Pop and George Clinton, whose P-Funk All-Stars out-Sly Stone on a medley of his hits. Bob Dylan turns in a hard-rocking version of "All Along the Watchtower," and Jerry Lee Lewis takes the E Street Band to a place its usual boss seems to have forgotten about. Melissa Etheridge strains to recapture the glee of girl-group rock, and Jackson Browne doesn't cut it as a latter-day Bob Marley on "Redemption Song." But the most exciting sounds, exemplifying the pure essence of rock 'n' roll, are the two dozen bars of solo drumming by Stockbridge's own Kenny Aronoff that kick off the whole affair.

VARIOUS ARTISTS

Subtitled "Music From and Inspired By the Motion Picture," this isn't so much a soundtrack - most of these songs don't appear in the film as it is a tribute. The dozen songs herein, by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Johnny Cash, Patti Smith, Eddie Vedder, Suzanne Vega and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, were written specifically as companion works to the movie. As such, this is a striking thematic piece, dark, gloomy and beautiful.

VARIOUS ARTISTS

The Look of Love: The Burt Bacharach Collection (Rhino)

The three disks included in this exhaustively-annotated boxed set represent a singular history of three decades of popular music. Composer Burt Bacharach was and remains a unique stylist: neither a classicist, a hack nor a rocker, he wrote elegant, sophisticated melodies which challenged their interpreters -- most notably Dionne Warwick, but also the likes of Gene Pitney, Jackie DeShannon, Tom Jones, The Carpenters and the Fifth Dimension, all of whom are included here -- to rise to the heights of their talents. Sure, a lot of this music sounds funny, but its memorable quality is undeniable.[ 12/20/98 ]

VARIOUS ARTISTS

The Rolling Stone Women in Rock Collection (Razor and Tie)

Any anthology of women in rock that leaves out Joni Mitchell and Patti Smith -- arguably the two most influential females in post-'60s pop -- is automatically suspect. Think of it: without Mitchell there'd be no Lilith Fair and without Smith there'd be no R.E.M. (if you don't believe me, ask Michael Stipe). Other than that, this three-disk collection brings together artists as various as Big Mama Thornton, Etta James, the Velvet Underground's Nico and Tori Amos, in an attempt to highlight estrogen's contribution to rock music, or at least to the pop charts. [ 10/25/98 ]

VARIOUS ARTISTS

The summer's hippest hit movie has a hip soundtrack that deserves to be a hit, too, as it cleverly mixes vintage, proto-punk by the likes of Iggy Pop and Lou Reed with such contemporary, spiritual descendants as Blur, Pulp, Elastica and Primal Scream. Given the movie's subject matter, it's also a miracle the soundtrack avoids stereotypical drug songs and psychedelia in favor of punk atmospherics.

VARIOUS ARTISTS