Exceptionally mature for a sophomore effort, The Flat Earth has held up considerably well since its 1984 release. This staying power belongs to a fantastic ensemble of supporting players as much as to Thomas Dolby's songwriting and crisp production. "Dissidents" steps in cautiously and conjures images of blacklisted authors and ugly snow, gray from oppression. Here and elsewhere, Matthew Seligman's bass is a welcome addition – throughout the album his work is lavish, growling, popping through octaves, funk-a-fied and twinkling with harmonics. The title track, "The Flat Earth," is a wondrous R&B daydream of piano and Motown stabs of rhythm guitar. "Screen Kiss" has a similarly ethereal quality, and the lyrics are lush with imagery, if occasionally cryptic. "White City"'s drug reference and chugging groove are as murky as they are energizing, so new wavers might find themselves frowning a bit on the dancefloor. Then there is "Mulu the Rain Forest," a globally minded curiosity of foreboding and disorienting samples that certainly feels a long way off from The Golden Age of Wireless.

This two-fer combines Stoned Soul Picnic (1968) and Age of Aquarius – the 5th Dimension's (5D) third and fourth long players – and a pair of extra tracks – onto one CD.

Jazz vocalist Connie Evingson is joined by a true all-star cast for Some Cats Know: Ray Brown, Al Grey, Doc Severinsen, and Jimmy Hamilton, to name a few. (Evingson's usual Minneapolis-based band is on hand as well, including Sanford Moore on piano, Terry Moore on bass, and Dave Karr on saxophone.) The song list is great, too: "I've Got the World on a String," "Yesterday/Yesterdays" (crossing Lennon-McCartney with Kern-Harbach), "All the Things You Are," "'Round Midnight," and "Anthropology." Highlights include a lickety-split Cole Porter melody of "I Love Paris" and "It's Alright with Me" punctuated by bursts of scat, sax, and percussion, and a lilting "Bluesette" with composer Toots Thielemans guesting on harmonica. (David Horiuchi)

Jazz vocalist Connie Evingson is known for taking divergent musical paths. Her eclectic catalog of recordings for Minnehaha Music covers such varied themes as Peggy Lee, the Beatles, jazz elders, and most recently, "hot club" music a la Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli (Gypsy in My Soul, '04). Anticipating her next release, one would expect Evingson's music to take another divergent turn. But a chance meeting with a young hot club group from Sweden inspired her to delve deeper into the Django style before moving in a new direction…

After 2 albums with his band Skid Row, Gary recorded "Grinding Stone" in 1973. This album was not that much different than the music he had done before,but it was better, more polished…