How far the godfather of downtown art-rock has come! Thirty years ago he was singing about the joys of mainlining heroin. Now, on the kickoff track to this great new effort, he waxes nakedly nostalgic for the egg creams of his youth. Freed of the sort of thematic concerns that have fueled his more recent work like "New York" and "Magic and Loss," Reed gives us his most personal album in a decade. Songs like "Trade In," "Hang On to Your Emotions" and the title track betray an incisive, mature emotional honesty. This isn't to say Reed has turned totally inward -- "Sex With Your Parents" is a bitterly caustic challenge to the Republican right-wing. Reed's guitar work continues to break ground, and overall this is a work of great, lasting beauty -- as we have grown accustomed to expecting from him in his old age, top-shelf Lou Reed.

REELTIME

Don't let the group's silly name fool you - this Irish quartet can do a lot more than just lay down fiddle tracks for square dances. Reeltime builds upon a foundation of traditional Celtic folk to construct a genre-bending fusion. Fiddle, accordion and guitar are joined by clarinet, piano, electric guitar, percussion and synthesizer in tasteful arrangements of reels, waltzes, slow airs and ballads spiced with Texas swing, Bulgarian gypsy, ragtime, Hawaiian slack-key guitar and French jazz a la Django Reinhardt.

R.E.M.

Up (Warner Bros.)

Lost in all the hoopla over R.E.M.'s first post-Bill Berry album (drummer Berry has retired and the group has not replaced him with a permanent drummer) is the sheer beauty and scope of the music on "Up," from "Airportman," the opening-cut tribute to Brian Eno, to bits of Beach Boys- and Beatles-like pop. One of R.E.M.'s softer, more melodic albums of the decade, "Up" isn't so much a large statement by a once huge band as it is a simply pretty record made for late-night listening.[ 11/29/98 ]

R.E.M.

JUNE RICH

The name almost rhymes with Blowfish. It might just be a coincidence, as might the Philadelphia quintet's stylistic resemblance to a certain mega-super-well- known group, which like June Rich, shares a love of minor-key, '70s-era, modal folk-rock and a multi- racial lineup. There are important differences, too, however. For one, June Rich is fronted by two female singer/songwriters, Vanida Gail and Jackie Murphy. Also, as heard on the group's EP, "June Rich" (Longview), June Rich is a lot rootsier and funkier than Hootie.

AMY RIGBY

Middlescence (Koch)

The follow-up to Rigby's great solo debut, "Diary of a Mod Housewife," continues to chronicle the indignities and triumphs of a real-life, forty-something single mom and rocker. Rigby's voice is shot through with wit and vulnerability, and on songs like "All I Want" she comes across as a cross between Roger McGuinn, Buddy Holly and the Roches. Producer Elliot Easton (The Cars) gives Rigby a wider palette from which to work than the straight-ahead, roots-rock of her debut, which serves Rigby the writer well, as she's equally at ease with ballads, folk songs and even jazz ("Calling Professor Longhair"). Call her the anti-Alanis.[ 12/13/98 ]

TOM ROZUM

Jubilee (Signature Sounds)

Best known for the last decade for lending support to Laurie Lewis in Grant Street and her eponymous band, Tom Rozum steps out in frnt on his solo debut here as a vocalist, mandolinist and guitarist on a collection of classic bluegrass, old-time and country-swing tunes by the likes of Bill Monroe, Merle Haggard and the Louvin Brothers, alongside contemporary songs by David Olney and Mark Simos. Co-produced by Lewis and featuring all-star support by Lewis, Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, Herb Pederson and David Grier, Rozum's debut reveals him to be a spirited, evocative vocalist with a curatorial ear. [7/19/98]