K.D.’S New Album Will Turn Heads

k.d. lang “Drag” (Warner Bros.)

Inimitable chanteuse k.d. lang will turn heads and raise eyebrows with her seventh album, a collection of smoke-themed covers highlighted by such wide-ranging material as the Peggy Lee nugget “Don’t Smoke In Bed,” Les Paul & Mary Ford’s hit “Smoke Rings,” Steve Miller’s “The Joker” and the Hollies’ “The Air That I Breathe.” Lang’s crystal-like voice and the suitably cabaret-ish arrangements lend the album a “standards” flair. This is a record that ought to restore luster to her career after the commercially disappointing “All You Can Eat.”

Asleep At The Wheel “Live!” (Epic/Lucky Dog)

As group leader Ray Benson always says when kicking off a show, “Western swing ain’t dead - it’s just asleep at the wheel!” Good to hear those words on CD - this is the kind of kickin’, feel-good music you hardly hear anymore outside the dance hall circuit.