album reviews: Spin Cycle is a biweekly roundup of the latest music releases selected by Citysearch editors.

Sisqo [ tickets ]
"Return of the Dragon" (Def Soul/Dragon)

When Sisqo released 1999’s "Unleash the Dragon," featuring the hit "Thong Song," it was easy to categorize the Dru Hill singer as a novelty act. But with his latest album, "Return of the Dragon," Sisqo proves he's more than a flash in the pan. His wide-ranging, emotive vocals fill the 12-song release that traces the course of a relationship. Using Spanish guitars, hip-hop beats and odd time signatures, Sisqo raps and sings through the stages of infatuation, cheating and true love, the latter of which is covered in the closing number "Dream." This duet between Sisqo and R&B singer Chinky of Luvher (which releases its debut in the fall) will surely be listed among the great R&B love songs. Much like the Whitney Houston-Jermaine Jackson number "Nobody Love Me Like You Do," "Dream" begins simply with strings and piano, then soars passionately.
--Christina Fuoco, LiveDaily

Gorillaz [ tickets ]
"Gorillaz" (Virgin)

Dan "The Automator" Nakamura, the producer behind some of hip-hop's most bizarre offerings ("Dr. Octagonecologyst," "Deltron 3030"), monkeys around with the concept album even further with Gorillaz, working with a band of cartoon characters created by "Tank Girl" illustrator Jamie Hewlett. They correspond, in real life, to Blur's Damon Albarn, Cibo Matto's Miho Hatori and rapper Del the Funky Homosapien, all of whom appear on the album. Neither Brit-pop nor hip-hop, "Gorillaz" contains a motley, dub-influenced collection of songs that are, like Hewlett's drawings, an exercise in sophisticated immaturity. Sampling bong hits ("Left Hand Suziki Method") and horror movie dialogue ("M1A1"), Nakamura and Albarn play with their ProTools as if they were kids with a new toy. The result is consistently cheeky, but not always interesting. Things do heat up when Del, no stranger to pop novelty, steps behind the mic for his pan-flute party anthem, "Rock the House," which does just that. But when vocals shift to Albarn, songs lose their animation.
--Amanda Morrison, bayarea.citysearch.com

Built to Spill [ tickets ]
"Ancient Melodies of the Future" (Warner Brothers)

Ancient? Fans of this Boise, Idaho, trio might say that the melodies found on this new disc date no further back than the band's last studio record, 1999's "Keep It Like a Secret." Sonically and musically, the ten songs that make up "AMOTF" don't stray far from the formula that has endeared Built to Spill to a modest legion of followers. Songwriter Doug Martsch again succeeds in striking an impressive balance between guitar-saturated bombast and impeccable melodic taste. Album opener "Strange" sets the template: Martsch's pleasantly nasal vocals weave an anthemic refrain through a set of ascending chord changes, culminating in a multi-tracked guitar solo. This classic-rock structure yields consistently inventive results, whether the band is unraveling a languid, dreamy ballad ("The Host") or bouncing through a double-time ditty ("Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss"). "AMOTF" is not a bold step forward for Built to Spill, but fans will find plenty to sing along to.
--Mike Kennedy, philadelphia.citysearch.com

Miles Davis [ tickets ]
"Live At The Fillmore East--March 7, 1970: It's About That Time" (Columbia)

Melding jazz improvisations with rock tonalities was something Miles Davis had experimented with before, but in 1970 he blew the door of fusion off its hinges. The opening track, "Directions," starts out like rolling thunder with 23-year-old Dave Holland laying down deep, furious bass lines. Drummer Jack DeJohnette pounds out frantic, crisp beats, while keyboardist Chick Corea pumps out angular and distorted chords with soul, while Davis and saxophonist Wayne Shorter take turns improvising on top of it all. The jams on such tracks as "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down," "Spanish Key" and "Bitches Brew"--three songs that would appear a month later on the trumpeter's first gold-selling album, "Bitches Brew"--are tight, undulating and purposeful with a feeling of controlled chaos. This double-CD of previously unreleased material represents a high-water mark in Davis' career. It's a shame this exact lineup never found its way into the studio.
--Curtis Waterbury, portland.citysearch.com

The White Stripes [ tickets ]
"White Blood Cells" (Sympathy for the Record Industry)

A band known for its live bombast and roughshod recordings, Detroit's White Stripes--siblings Jack and Meg White--continue their bacchanalia of pill-popped garage-rock on their third full-length. This time out, Jack confesses to the mounting toll of becoming a critical darling and the keeper of fiery, white-kid R&B on the fist-pumping (and cheekily misogynistic) "I'm Finding It Harder to Be a Gentleman"--"All the manners that I’ve been taught have slowly died away," he wails. Propelled on fat, wrecked chords, Jack leaps through personalities while drummer Meg minds the groove. He spits fire and brimstone on "The Union Forever" and "I Think I Smell a Rat," scats through "Little Room," and channels Ray Davies on "Hotel Yorba." The surprise of the White Stripes is how effectively they meet the demands of various muses. By delivering pert '60s-esue pop numbers with a twangy drawl, and by playing rockabilly riffs on torchy blues odes, Jack and Meg balance their divergent influences well.
--Scott Henkemeyer, twincities.citysearch.com

Previous Spin Cycles:

June 14: Blink-182, Mandy Moore, Travis, Rufus Wainwright, The Webb Brothers

May 31: Tool, Radiohead, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Ron Sexsmith, Mark Eitzel

May 10: Destiny's Child, The Black Crowes, Depeche Mode, Robert Cray Band, Mark Lanegan

April 26: Janet Jackson, Tim McGraw, Kirsty MacColl, Alejandro Escovedo, Red House Painters

Have a comment or question? Send a message to the Spin Cycle editor: Don Harvey.