With every passing year, Tim McGraw becomes a bit more ambitious and creative. No one could have guessed that within seven years, the country superstar would have gone from the catchy novelty hit “Indian Outlaw” to the guy every serious songwriter wants to write for. "Set This Circus Down," his sixth studio album, reveals more about the artist than anything he’s ever done previously. He readily admits that it’s “The Cowboy in Me” that accounts for his restless spirit. However, it’s the title track, about living -- and making a living -- on the road, that tells the whole story. The Santana-inspired guitar work on “Let Me Love You” and the intense, driving beat of “Telluride” stand out, especially with the album's top-flight production. "Set This Circus Down" is loaded with radio-friendly hooks, and includes an artistic CD booklet with quotes from Confucius and Flannery O’Connor. The CMA might as well start engraving those awards now. --Craig Shelburne, nashville.citysearch.com

Janet Jackson [ tickets ]
"All for You" (Virgin)

Janet Jackson's last album, 1997's "The Velvet Rope," was an awkward mix of sad reflection and fluffy dance tracks. "All for You" finds Jackson in a less conflicted mood. Her longtime producers, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, with assistance from hip-hop wiz Rockwilder, pour on freestyle rhythms, roughed-up synth sounds and, on "Someone to Call My Lover," a sample from '70s rock band America. The album's meticulous attention to detail never overshadows Jackson's frisky good mood. The duet with Carly Simon, an unlikely remake of "You're So Vain," defies all expectations and outdoes the original with sisterly solidarity. True, no one's ever going to remember Jackson for her voice, a problem made worse during the record's surplus of slow songs. But with music this sensuous, she's knocking on Pop Heaven's door, while also managing to sound more flesh-and-blood than ever. --Justin Hartung, citysearch.com

Kirsty MacColl [ tickets ]
"Tropical Brainstorm " (Instinct)

With her baby-doll voice and take-no-prisoners wit, Kirsty MacColl left a rich, if compact, pop legacy when she passed away just before last Christmas. But don't misconstrue the following praise. "Tropical Brainstorm" is not a great album simply because we hear it in the wake of her untimely passing; it's just plain great. Drawing richly from MacColl's travels to Cuba, the album not only employs Latin instrumentation, but also showcases the inventive sampling of gyrating, sensuous Cuban songs. Lyrically, she was never stronger than on this album. To hear her riff on the subject of high-heel shoes, while a trumpet croons high above, is to hear her at her most commanding. The wry snipes at broken love may be swipes at her ex-husband, producer Steve Lillywhite (U2, XTC), but he'll probably be more humbled by the masterful production, from a soaring bit of Portishead-style trip-hop ("Autumngirlsoup") to the bubblegum "Celestine" to the Kurt Weill-flavored "England 2, Colombia 0." --Marc Weidenbaum, citysearch.com

Alejandro Escovedo [ tickets ]
"A Man Under the Influence" (Bloodshot)

Alejandro Escovedo’s first studio album in six years reveals an artist undergoing a renaissance as a poet, alt-country singer and Stonesy rocker. “Influence” explores many sides of Escovedo, whose life is worth writing about. “Wave,” a tale inspired by his father’s emigration from Mexico to the U.S., continues the sparsely orchestrated style found on his 1996 album, “With These Hands.” “Rhapsody” is a gorgeous ballad of longing that would be equally at home on a Lucinda Williams record. The can’t-live-with-can’t-live-without song “Castanets” rocks in a wonderfully ragged Keith Richards sort of way, with a Beatles “Revolution”-style crunch guitar hook. As with most of life’s better things, one needs to develop a taste for Escovedo's plaintive, mono-tonal voice, though it has never sounded better. Escovedo is squarely under his own influence, and that’s right where he belongs. --Don Harvey, austin.citysearch.com

Red House Painters [ tickets ]
"Old Ramon" (Sub Pop)

It’s hard to figure out why Red House Painters, given their otherworldly sense of melody and gloriously emotive songbook, haven’t broken out beyond their devout but small fanbase. Granted, singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek’s brooding nature might not work for everyone. But there’s a gleeful glow at the core of his sadness that somehow shines brightest in his darkest songs. “Old Ramon” is packed with moments like these--when a forlorn song Kozelek wrote for his cat says all that need be said about love; when his deceptively plain-spoken lyrics reveal themselves as all the more poetic for their lack of pretension; when the line “L.A. sparkles on the ground” puts you right there with him, in an airplane, flying far away from heartbreak. Much of the Painters’ power stems from Kozelek’s arresting voice, which meets its deep, moody match in the band’s exquisite renderings of rootsy gothic grace. --Andy Battaglia, newyork.citysearch.com

Previous Spin Cycles:

April 12: Run-DMC, Creeper Lagoon, The Cash Brothers, MJ Cole and Los Hombres Calientes

March 29: Aerosmith, Shawn Colvin, Mirwais, Pete Yorn and Old 97's

March 1: SXSW Edition: Idlewild, Blake Babies, Kasey Chambers, Spoon, Kristin Hersh, Jim White, Brassy, Kid 606, Will Hoge and F--k

Feb. 15: Stephen Malkmus, Rodney Crowell, Low, V/A "Studio One Rockers" and Dusty Springfield

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