Tea-dance divas

Dragonette

Led by Martina Sorbara, Dragonette isn’t afraid to toss in a banjo sound on a dance track such as “Gone Too Far,” from the trio’s “Fixin To Thrill” (Bandroom) disc. “Liar” is a truly delirious dance cut and the syncopated “Easy” is hard to resist. “Pick Up The Phone” has the ring of a dance anthem, and “Big Sunglasses” sounds like an homage to Lady Gaga.

Music reviews: Crystal Castles, Christina Aguilera, SIA, Dragonette, Robyn, Kylie Minogue, Kelis

iMusic: It takes two

Court Yard Hounds

Sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison go from being two-thirds of the Dixie Chicks to being the Court Yard Hounds on their eponymous Columbia debut. We already know they are gifted musicians, thanks to their work with fellow Dixie Chick Natalie Maines. With assorted guest musicians, Court Yard Hounds fulfills the promise of previous DC discs that found the trio expanding on their modern country sound. The edgy “Delight (Something New)” and the fury of “Ain’t No Son” (sung from the perspective of the father of a gay son) provide a counterpart to the bare bones acoustic course of “April’s Love” and the front-porch plucking of “See You In The Spring” (a Jakob Dylan duet). If Sheryl Crow doesn’t cover “The Coast,” which sounds like it was written for her, she’s a fool.

Music reviews, Court Yard Hounds, Beach House, High Places

Wright revisits her gospel roots

You hear it in her voice when Lizz Wright first speaks: a resonant tone – calm, centered, sure of herself. She’s grounded, very much down-to-earth.

But when Wright sings in that rich contralto, she conjures images of her gospel upbringing in the South, blending soul, blues and jazz that are born of the spiritual.

“I’m in a very joyful, grounded place in my life,” says Wright,. “My music comes from an ancestral place and I’m just thankful for it.”

At 30, Wright has recorded and released three albums in the past seven years, although she’s been singing and performing since childhood. The daughter of a minister, she was born in the small town of Hahira, Ga., and raised on gospel music and traditional church hymns. With her fourth album, scheduled to be released this fall, Wright returns to the wellspring of her musical soul.

Lizz Wright

Summer soul

Joan Armatrading

As her sizable GLBT following can attest, Joan Armatrading has been blending soul, folk and island-inflected music for nearly 40 years. Her latest, “This Charming Life”( 429), is a massive improvement over the misstep of her previous all-blues disc and serves as a reminder of the best aspects of her highly regarded mid-1970s to mid-1980s output. Utterly charming tracks include the title tune, “Two Tears,” “Goddess of Change,” “Cry” and “Love Love Love.”

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