Notable CDs

The Continental Drifters were like a halfway house for once-famous ’80s pop-rockers. They ultimately included a dB, a Dream Syndicator, a Cowsill, and a Bangle. Also known as the Psycho Sisters, the latter two used their voices to transform the fellas from mere pop-rock eclectics into, for lack of a better metaphor, a sexy version of The Band—with good taste in cover tunes. So the group finished strong. And because the Sisters and cover tunes dominate this collection’s second disc, this collection does too.

The Trackless Woods

The critic John Simon has called the Russian poet Anna Akhmatova “totally untranslatable into English” due to the unique “sonorities” of her native tongue. Iris DeMent either disagrees or doesn’t care. Using translations by Babette Deutsch and Lyn Coffin, DeMent has set 18 Akhmatova poems to hymnal-worthy melodies that she plays on the piano and that, given her Pentecostal Arkansas upbringing, make perfect sense. The results, as critics have noted, are arresting. What critics haven’t noted: DeMent’s quavery soprano enunciation often makes the lyric sheet essential.

Now That’s What I Call Halloween

Subtitled “18 Halloween Party Classics,” this grab bag doesn’t treat Halloween as All Hallows Eve or as Samhain but simply as a chance to have fun pretending to get scared. It’s like an amusement park ride that way, so it makes sense that it feels like a roller coaster. Rob Zombie, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Mike Oldfield, Bobby “Boris” Pickett, Warren Zevon—you’ll either enjoy the ride or get queasy. Ironic footnote: Sony apparently got spooked by Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ and Ray Parker Jr.’s licensing fees.

Carousel One

Ron Sexsmith began writing really good songs and making pretty good records at the turn of the century, right after the expectations to which his 1990s output failed to live up coalesced into his reputation for being overhyped. How masterly a pop-song craftsman has he become? Paul McCartney could cover this album whole and get back onto the cover of Rolling Stone. The standout tracks are “Sure As the Sky,” “Loving You,” “Sun’s Coming Out,” and “No One.” But the rest will do as stand-ins.

Spotlight

Few 2015 albums have been as eagerly anticipated by diehard rock ’n’ rollers as Crosseyed Heart (Republic), the new solo album by The Rolling Stones’ Keith Richards. One reason is the expectations-stoking interviews that Richards has been granting. Another is Under the Influence, a new Netflix documentary about Richards. Another is that his previous solo albums were either quite all right (Main Offender) or borderline great (Talk Is Cheap).

Completed 18 months ago when Richards was 70, Crosseyed Heart sounds least like the work of a septuagenarian when you listen to the guitars and most like one when Richards sings and you listen to what he’s singing. (Nicotine and drugs do take their toll, and Glen Campbell has better amnesia songs than “Amnesia.”) But, like Bob Dylan, Richards knows how to get the most from his voice. And when he rocks (“Heartstopper,” “Trouble”) or grooves (“Nothing on Me”), he gets the most from his drummer. —A.O.