Sound Advice: This week's CD releases

Sing In My Meadow/Latent

If you have only experienced Cowboy Junkies through your well-worn copy of "The Trinity Sessions," then you're missing out on a different and exciting aspect of the band that usually only comes to light during its live performances.

While Margo Timmins and the rest of the Junkies perform hits such as "Misguided Angel" and "Anniversary Song," the band's live performances more often than not delve into some wonderfully psychedelic guitar playing courtesy of Michael Timmins, Margo's brother and fellow band member.

With the release of "Sing In My Meadow," casual fans can finally get a true taste of that louder, edgier side of the band. The songs were recorded in just four days last year, and feature some wonderfully wild guitar work from Michael.

Things start off deliciously heavy with "Continental Drift," which features drummer Peter Timmins (another brother) channeling John Bonham, and everything else, including Margo's vocals, covered in a fine sheen of distortion. Thing don't settle down until track four, "Late Night Radio," but even that track is down and dirty.

It sounds like the Timmins clan has been listening to a lot of White Stripes and Black Keys, and, surprisingly, it works pretty well. Just don't go in expecting mellow sedate songs about rings or miners.

Key Tracks: "Continental Drift," "Late Night Radio," "I Move On"

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds/Mercury

When Noel Gallagher's former band, Oasis, was topping the rock charts in the '90s, it seemed that the infighting between Noel and his vocalist brother, Liam, garnered more press than the band's music.

Still, even with its inner turbulence, Oasis remains one of the biggest British bands of the past 20 years, thanks to hits such as "Live Forever" and "Wonderwall."

Now Noel is back with Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. Despite the obvious implications that come from sticking your own name in front of the band name (it's sort of like deciding to call a band Billy Corgan's Smashing Pumpkins or Bono's U2), it appears that Noel's latest project is more than just a vain attempt to reclaim the spotlight.

For starters, Noel never really was the spotlight grabber in the first place; that job already had been secured by brother Liam.

Then there's the fact that Noel really was the genius behind Oasis's success. He wrote the great songs we still remember.

That probably explains why tracks on Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, such as "If I Had a Gun ..." and "Everybody's on the Run," sound as catchy as his Oasis work without seeming like lost Oasis tracks.

It also should be noted that Noel's voice sounds really good on the new album, so good that one wonders why he didn't kick Liam to the curb long ago and simply sing his own songs.

The arrangements are lush, but not overdone, and the songs are genuinely catchy, especially "The Death of You and Me," which sounds like what might have happened had The Beatles and The Kinks ever collaborated.

The material here certainly sounds better than Oasis' last couple of studio releases, and even if you didn't drink the Oasis Kool-Aid, you will likely find something to tap you foot to here.

Key Tracks: "If I Had a Gun ...," "The Death of You and Me," "(I Wanna Live In A Dream In My) Record Machine"