Savvy to the desires of a serene, metropolitan, and diverse fanbase that’s younger than ever and musically well groomed, Nurses have pitched another chapter for the unhinged/ ever-evolving/ apocalyptic nomads of now. Performance partnership/ best friends John Bowers and Aaron Chapman have successfully avoided settling anywhere for long, opting instead to hopscotch around the country and about their own imaginations with a good deal of physical space to match. Recently, these two admirable tramps and their collectively eccentric outlook on transient existence took up residence in Portland, OR, where they teamed with percussionist and visual artist James Mitchell. Immediately the threesome generated quite a stir, through spirited live performances and trusty word-of-mouth buzz.

Nurses’ roots fall outside of any tangible intersection or crosshair of influence. Apple’s Acre, the band’s second release, is creepily elegant, and not Southern Gothic creepy, but cold, northwestern, fog-bound creepy. It would be an intimidating task to stay for long in the Victorian attic where Apple’s Acre was recorded, given the number of mannequins, old knives, and adorable kittens presumably lying around. The album’s production is charming, honest, and natural, spawning from Nurses’ willingness to explore a wicked jungle gym of technical approaches under a pop-psych shadow. The trio lingers in that darkness, unafraid to incorporate double-dude duets and beautiful notes tickled from a Rhodes piano.

Operatically bold in introduction and consistently uplifting in its instrumental chorus, “What Then” is where the teetering potential of Apple’s Acre can first be grasped. “Technicolor” offers the schizophrenic proof needed for Nurses’ avowed psychedelic tendencies, while “Man At Arms” represents the first noticeably slow turn for the album, murkily and drowsily offering reinforcement for the benefits of frolicking depression. Yet the bulk of the album is more upbeat in tempo and exultant in premise; if you’re willing, Apple’s Acre will take you through a few different dimensions of space and time. Avoiding too much information on the history of Nurses helps the journey along, allowing you to sidestep preconceived dislikes. By Will Tunstall

Reggae’s lyrical content is generally divided into four distinct categories: political and social criticism, advocacy of marijuana, spiritual appeals to Jah, and lover’s rock. Many believe reggae originated from the latter category’s romantic side, but except for a recent surge in popularity in Britain, lover’s rock has lain dormant for some time. Bronx-born crooner Tarrus Riley countered that trend in 2007 with the mega-hit “She’s Royal,” which resurrected the prevailing Rastafarian belief that all women are queens. Riley’s 2009 album Contagious also features the stirring “Start Anew,” an infectious track that urges women to save themselves from abusive relationships.

Contagious’ infectious riddims and Riley’s sultry tenor also allow room for warning tracks like “Good Girl Gone Bad” and “Why So Much Wickedness?” along with softer ballads like “Love’s Contagious,” “Soul Mate,” and “Young Heart.” Yet Riley knows how to balance the lover’s rock with the darker sides of reggae, reflecting on modern society with hard-hitting tracks like “Living The Life Of A Gun” and “Stop Watch.” Of course, the requisite Rastafarian tracks turn up on “King Selassie H.I.M.” and “Herbs Promotion,” while hopeful odes like “Let Peace Reign” and “Don’t Judge” reflect Riley’s positivist outlook. In fact, Contagious’ press release says the most about the populist, everyman appeal Tarrus Riley is shooting for: “The reason why I called [this album] Contagious is because I would love for everyone to catch it. I don’t want my music to have boundaries of race, age, nationality, or religion. I represent reggae, live music, and I want everyone to catch on to its positive, good vibes.” Even if you hate reggae, you can’t argue with that kind of olive branch. –NM

Parsing the differences between interrelated genres like hardcore, thrash, thrashcore, crossover, and heavy metal can feel like an exercise in head-pounding futility. Narrow signifiers like grindcore, groove metal, and nardcore abound, leaving casual listeners who just like their music fast and hard unsure what to call that which they rock out to. Apparently, a retro-thrash trend in the mid 2000s also offended plenty of metal purists, but that didn’t bother Austin, TX, bludgeoners Iron Age, who marry speed metal, NYC hardcore, and thrashy punk to implosive effect on sophomore album The Sleeping Eye.

So rather than speculating about which genre Iron Age belongs to, it’s a hell of a lot more fun to just lunge right into the mosh pit upon hearing The Sleeping Eye’s opening title track. The song’s six and a half minutes explore blitzkrieg chord changes, spacious drumming, and the howling voice of Jason Tarpey, along with some slowed-down doom metal guitar solos. “Dispossessed” begins with a more traditional metal stomp, before rocketing into Corrosion Of Conformity-like riffage. Tarpey’s vocals also drop an octave on “Dispossessed,” much as they do on the staggering, slow-building screamer “Burden Of Empire.” Sludgy ambiance highlights the interlude “Materia Prima,” before “A Younger Earth” downshifts into a primitive early metal languor. Of course, as soon as you get used to the slower pace, “Arcana Pt. I” and “Arcana Pt. II” both detonate into ferocious thrash energy, while eleven-minute epic “The Way Is Narrow” careens from slow to fast to creeping to pummeling, proving the metal purists wrong and demonstrating that Iron Age clearly possesses the chops to mix a wide variety of hardcore-influenced genres. –NM

British jazz-hop collective Us3 stormed onto the scene in 1993 with the surprise hit “Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia),” but since then, the Geoff Wilkinson-led squad has remained relatively quiet on this side of the Atlantic. After releasing two albums on vaunted jazz label Blue Note and one ill-fated venture on Universal, Us3 went the independent route, with Wilkinson handling all aspects of the group’s business, from distribution to production to hand-picking the MCs that would back up his crack band of jazz aces (Ed Jones, Bryan Corbett, Chris Storr, John Crawford, and DJ First Rate).

Adding extra spice to the Us3 gumbo, Wilkinson recruited young New York upstart MCs Sene and Brook Yung for 2009’s stop.think.run, which follows a familiar cool jazz route while injecting new doses of 21st century street smarts. “Gotta Get Out Of Here” relies on a loping drumbeat and police siren sample to add grittiness to Brook Yung’s tale of urban hell, while “Can I Get It?” injects Latin flavor into Sene’s sultry romance track. “You Already Know” proves that Wilkinson’s production skills are nothing to laugh at, as the beat is cobbled together from countless Rahzel-like beatbox riffs. But the trademark Us3 jazz vibe returns on the excellent piano-led “From The Streets,” one of several tracks that features Sene waxing philosophic in his urgently smooth style. Us3 aren’t the toughest guys in the rap game, and they aren’t concerned with propping up their egos like so many hip-hop crews, but they do provide a refreshing blast of jazz-hop that sounds just as good in 2009 as it did in 1993. –NM