When it comes to Too $hort (born Todd Shaw in 1966!) the word "longevity" is barely adequate. From 1983 to 2007, it's been 20 albums, six platinum plaques (back-to-back, no less) a 21-year-old record label, and immeasurable influence from one coast to the other. At 41 years of age, Too $hort is an elder statesman of elder statesmen. His newest LP,

, will be his 21st (!) album and hits your computer today!

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On their self-released EP

, Sean Lee and The Masquerades provide added insurance that good, straightforward American songwriting won't die when Wilco retires. Hailing from Philadelphia, PA, Lee and his band jam through 17 minutes of alt-country and earthy pop-rock, with the verve of a group that knows what it's doing and will definitely know how to rock when the big show comes calling. From the get-go, Lee's talent as a songwriter and front man practically jumps out the speakers. At just 21 years of age, he ably upholds his half of comparisons to the likes of Elvis Costello and Tom Petty. His thoughtful yet refreshingly unforced lyricism is propelled by the bands, super-tight musicianship and Lee's earnest energy. Keeping in mind his age might bring one to a new level of appreciation for the Texas-two-step precision of How Do I Know or the gentle pacing and soulful restraint of the title track, The Apes Have Escaped .

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After their 2005 self-titled debut, Asobi Seksu earned a lot of critical praise and a lot of My Bloody Valentine comparisons for its unabashedly shoegaze vision. Of Asobi Seksu's take on the genre, one music writer assessed, "'It's shoegaze.' But it's difficult to emphasize precisely how modern and revived this shoegaze is." In May of 2006, they released the follow-up, Citrus, showcasing, as CMJ noted, a tighter, more melody-driven "balance [of] turbulent shoegazer fuzz with sparkling pop confection," yielding a "more lush organic," and, I would add, more original result. Their latest recording

features 8 tracks from Citrus, 2 from their debut album, and one excellent cover.

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"I was brought up with James until I met George," Dudley Perkins muses in his trademark wounded-dog, crooning funk-speak on Funky Dudley , the opening track of,

, his second full-length release on Stones Throw Records. The lyric, in a nutshell, is a description of what makes his latest effort different from his last LP, . If his debut album was the rapper-cum-singer's attempt to mine the soulful sounds from his childhood, Expressions finds Perkins a little farther off the ground, investigating the clouds for the funk he's clearly grown enchanted with as an adult.

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