Jeezy riveting with social rhymes

Young Jeezy

“The Recession” (Def Jam) •••

Young Jeezy long ago established himself as “the snowman” with his sly raps and grimly silly T-shirts.

If his album “Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101” didn’t do enough to reference cocaine, his appearance on Gucci Mane’s “Icy” (“I’m Jeezy the Snowman / I’m iced out, plus I got snow, man”) did the trick. But the chill was apparent, too, in his icily repetitive music.

Jeezy’s cold streak has finally thawed. On “The Recession,” Jeez puts the same dedication into political and social landscapes as he once did thugs and drugs, using a denser sound with riveting rhythms – perfect for the nervous tension he’s allowed into the lyrics.

Jeezy also offers praise for Barack Obama on “My President.”

And even when club life rears its thuggish head (“Put On” with Kanye West), Jeezy is more pragmatic than dramatic. Finally, an outing that’s sexy and fun rather than discordant and deadly.

– A.D. Amorosi

Giant Sand

“proVISIONS” (Yep Roc) •••

Through 23 years and numerous personnel changes, Giant Sand remains anchored in a loose and rustic combination of boozy country, bluesy rock, barroom jazz, and the understated, talk-sung vocals of sole constant Howe Gelb, who often seems like a raspy, subversive Willie Nelson.

Gelb recorded most of “proVISIONS” in Denmark with a band of locals, but it retains the dusty, rambling vibe associated with the deserts around his native Tucson. Neko Case, M. Ward and others drop in for low-key vocal contributions, but the focus is on Gelb’s understated musings and his intuitive guitar and piano playing.

From the twangy ballad “Out There” to the clattering, Tom Waits-like “Muck Machine,” “proVISIONS” belies the claim that Gelb makes on its last track: “never going to leave well enough alone.”

– Steve Klinge

B.B. King

“One Kind Favor” (Geffen)• •• 1/2

As anyone who’s seen B.B. King perform in the past decade or so can attest, the considerable powers as a singer and guitarist of the iconic bluesman, who turns 83 this month, are largely undiminished by time. What can sometimes mar a “King of the Blues” concert, however, is an understandable tendency to take it easy after all these years and rely on showbiz shtick.

Happily, there’s not a smidgen of that to be heard on “One Kind Favor,” an old-fashioned (but not purist) recording produced by T-Bone Burnett, with a deeply sympathetic band that includes Dr. John on piano and Jim Keltner on drums.

The song selection is astute, pulling from King’s heroes and contemporaries including Blind Lemon Jefferson (“See That My Grave I Kept Clean”), T-Bone Walker (“Waiting For Your Call”) and Lonnie Johnson (“My Love Is Down” and “Tomorrow Night”), the band swings, and King sings it like he means it. More than anyone could have a right to expect.

– Dan DeLuca