Dig These Discs :: Mumford & Sons, Ciara, Róisín Murphy, Snoop Dog, Pitch Perfect 2

For Mother's Day, Ciara releases "Jackie," an album named in honor of her mom, in which she gives a good kick to her loser ex Future. Snoop gets his hand in the "Bush," his best album since 2008's "Ego Trippin'," and Mumford & Sons trade in their banjos for a harder, more rhythm-influenced sound. Irish electropop singer Roison Murphy is back with her first album in seven years, and it's a real winner. And the Barden Bellas of "Pitch Perfect 2" fame release a huge collection of chorale hits that will make the glee-club fans go wild. Dig into Dig These Discs.

"Jackie" (Ciara)

Ciara releases her sixth studio album, "Jackie," (named after her mom) and wastes no time telling us what she's all about. The title track "Jackie" has the subtitle "B.M.F." and Ciara tells you at the end of the song, she's a Bad Motherfucker, and advises you to "worry about yo business, ho!" Pitbull & Missy Elliott add spice to "That's How I'm Feelin'," a tune about going out and cutting up. Perhaps emboldened by the break up with her former husband/philanderer Future, Ciara puts everything on the line in this one. In a sweet move, she sings "Lullaby" to her baby Future Zahir Wilburn, redoing "Hush, Little Baby" line by line. She works through her past relationship in her lead single "I Bet," and likes it so much, she includes remixes with Joe Jonas and Dutch DJ/producer R3hab. Her second single "Dance Like We're Making Love" is a real make-out tune, with lyrics like "once I'm turned on, you can't turn me off," and a catchy chorus. "Stuck On You" is a synth-heavy song about finding passion around the world, with loads of name-dropping. She says goodbye to losers in "Fly," an excellent dance track, and extends the theme in "I Bet," singing, "I bet you thought the grass was greener on the other side." She's not holding back; Ciara demands your complete attention in "Give Me Love" or nothing at all. She gets coy in "Kiss and Tell," and is a baller in "All Good." She sings sweet and high in the love song "Only One," one of the few ballads on the album. And "I Got You" is the only baby-focused one. Diane Warren wrote the song for Ciara, and Harmony Samuels co-produced. "It completely sums up how my life has changed with being a mom. I cried when I recorded it. It's one of those classic Diane Warren songs that will be around for many years. And while I have my situation and my son, the message in the music can speak to anyone, in many different situations." Samuels also produced "One Woman Army," a female empowerment anthem that is a callback to her 2013 self-titled album, which originally had that name. Ciara may be a mommy now, but this album shows us that she's still a hot mama, laying down the freaky lyrics and double entendres. Ciara kicks off her U.S. tour on May 3.
(Epic)

"Bush" (Snoop Dogg)

Snoop Dogg releases his 13th solo album, his best since 2008's "Ego Trippin'." It's a superb collection of music influenced by the funk and R&B of the 1970s. But critics are saying that this collection of 10 hits relies too heavily on cameos, without the muscle that makes Snoop the Top Dawg. In particular, heavy hitting from Pharrell Williams takes some of the bite out of the Dogg's delivery. Still, the album runs smoothly together, and at only 41 minutes, it's a good example of that classic start-to-finish listening experience of old. Snoop starts the album out with some help from legend Stevie Wonder in "California Roll." It's not about sushi, though -- it's about getting that medical marijuana card and enjoy your buds, legal style! There's a funk vibe in the fast-moving "This City," with Snoop's rap interlude, and croons hammily that, "she's DTF cause she's down to feel" in "R U A Freak." Way to work those caps, Snoop! He comes with the beats and funk in tracks like "Awake" and "So Many Pros," but they are largely forgettable. The best of the bunch is the call and response "Peaches N Cream" with Charlie Wilson, with Snoop boasting about taking his limo or Maybach to his private jet, with the refrain, "Freak don't fail me now!" T.I. joins in "Edibles," but like its namesake, it's gonna be largely forgettable. Better is "I Knew That," a funky, fast-moving song that has him, "riding on your wave, girl." Gwen Stefani adds a sassy bit of female vocals to the call-and-response cut "Run Away." The album ends with "I'm Ya Dogg," featuring Kendrick Lamar and Rick Ross. Next time, Snoop, leave your friends at the crib and hit the studio alone. Because as they say in the South, if you can't run with the Dogg, you better stay on the porch!
(Doggystyle Records/Columbia Records)

Pitch Perfect 2 (Barden Bellas)

The Barden Bellas are back with the soundtrack of the hit sequel, "Pitch Perfect 2." The girls and their friends create exclusive mash-ups and medleys. They launch things off with "Universal Fanfare," a great mash-up of pop music and standards, among them Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball." The Trebles call it out with "Kennedy Center Performance," and morph it into "Lollipop." The quirky "Car Show" is a strange one, and "Winter Wonderland" sounds here like a rap rework. The hit single "Flashlight" was penned by Sam Smith and Sia, and has gotten radio play. The video for the song includes a live cameo by Jessie J. Their "Riff Off" pays homage to the badonkadonk, with tunes ranging from "The Thong Song" to "Bootylicious" to "Baby Got Back." They get old school with the tune "Jump" mashing Kris Kross and House of Pain. Their "Convention Performance" lets the Bellas shine with female-recorded songs and "Back to Basics" has them showing off their harmony on old tunes like "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and "Lady Marmalade." They include a "campfire version" of the hit song "Cups" that catapulted Anna Kendrick to fame, and blow Pat Benatar's "We Belong" into the next universe. This will get you all warmed up for the World Championship tricks, "Anyway You Want It," from Journey in both English and Spanish, and "Finale 1" and "Finale 2." They "Light 'Em Up" in the first, and start the second with an elaborate clap intro leading into "Run The World (Girls)." They rock in the intense anthem, "Crazy Youngsters," and follow it up with the "End Credit Medley." Bonus items include another version of "Flashlight" and "All of Me (Bumper's Audition)." If you love the Glee club, you'll go wild for this.
(Universal Music)

"Wilder Mind" (Mumford & Sons)

British rockers Mumford & Sons drop their third studio album this month, and its 12 tracks are a departure from their folk rock sound into a more rhythm-based sound. They start with the somber, slow "Tompkins Square Park," with steady percussion from a drum kit keeping time. Their slow, honeyed single "Believe" was released in March, with "The Wolf" closely following on its heels. The lyrics are intense, as Marcus Mumford sings, "Better keep the wolf back from the door/ he wanders ever closer every night. And how he waits, baying for blood." The songs are a lot sleeker than their previous banjo-influenced tracks. The sound has been compared to The Strokes. They also included "Snake Eyes" as a promo single, an interesting song that is slow and fast at the same time, with fast snare whispering under dark lyrics. The title track "Wilder Mind" is a steady rock song, and "Just Smoke" wistfully decries, "thought we were done, young love would keep us young." "Monster" starts with a slow acoustic-type intro performed on electric guitar, as Mumford sings about the devil with a steady backbeat: "So fuck your dreams, don't you pick at our scene, I'll turn into a monster for you if you pay me enough." They get whimsical in "Broad-Shouldered Beasts," in which he takes his love dancing in New York City for the night, singing, "it's all right, take it out on me." The scales in "Cold Arms" give the song a familiar presence, and "Ditmas" layers sadness over a fast drumbeat. Adding rhythm was a great idea for the Mumford crew. "I didn't fool you but I failed you, in short made a fool out of you," they sing in "Only Love," a song that benefits from one of the album's few all-out jams. They finish the album with "Hot Gates," a song that makes the best use of the word "vitriol" that you'll see in a while. It's good to try new things, and for the most part, this new sound works for the Mumford & Sons crew.
(Island Records)

"Hairless Toys" (Roisin Murphy)

Irish singer/songwriter Roison Murphy, previously one half of the electronic music duo Moloko, sets out on her own with her third studio album "Hairless Toys," her first in seven years (she had a couple of kids in between). Her contralto vocal range adds a jazzy feel to her songs. Murphy is influenced by Kim Gordon and Sonic Youth, and is known for her eccentric style of dress, which paved the way for artists like Lady Gaga. Gays, take note: her songs "Gone Fishing" was inspired by the fabulous 1990 documentary "Paris is Burning." It isn't fast and flashy, rather it sashays, with touching lyrics like, "found a place to express myself." The deep Celtic drum percussion in "Evil Eyes" takes on a modern sound when layered with electronica on top, and the result is almost disco. The album only has eight songs, but with each one topping in between five and nine minutes, it has weight. The big bass drum intro cedes to claves in "Exploitation," which has a feel of those old Everything But the Girl louche soundscapes we raved to in the '90s. It deals with "selling out, manipulation and exploitation within creative work and in a relationship," topics which she sure knows a thing or two about. The electropop album has gotten rave reviews from critics, who declare it powerful, emotional and understated. That sweeping soundscape is created again in "House of Glass," which builds percussion slowly 'til Murphy is crooning, "a naive transparency on a stage of glass/ How long can that play?" She goes even further back, for an '80s sound in "Uninvited Guest," which sounds a bit like the guys from Spiro Gyra were kidnapped by A Flock of Seagulls. In the torch song "Exile," she seems to be channeling Patsy Cline in her demeanor and the tremolo of her instruments. The title track "Hairless Toys (Gotta Hurt)" is a quirky number, with captivating harp. She wraps the album up with "Unputdownable," in which she compares someone to "a story so confounding the pages turn so easily." It is impossible to not fall for Murphy's guileless charm.
(Play It Again Sam)