More than any other group, My Morning Jacket has the talent, vision, and balls to bring jam bands into the 21st century. Not content with just regurgitating 16-minute blues progressions, My Morning Jacket embraces experimentation with a musicality that’s infinitely more convincing than that of their contemporaries, who lack the songwriting chops to make it work. And that’s really My Morning Jacket’s advantage. Whereas most jam bands place the emphasis on playing and regard songwriting and recording as a chore, MMJ realize that the jams are sweeter when the songs are solid. Listen to “Wonderful (The Way I Feel),” and you get the idea. It’s a song that could have been written by the Brill Building greats and performed by Jerry Garcia. Or “Holdin’ on to Black Metal,” which sounds like the theme to a lost ’60s James Bond film. “Circuital” is an album by a bunch of dudes who love songwriting, record-making, and playing — all with equal fervor and mastery.

WATCH an exclusive first look at My Morning Jacket’s UNSTAGED performance, 5/31/11.

Flogging Molly has been carrying the Celtic punk flag since their humble beginnings playing L.A. Irish pubs. The formula has gone largely unchanged over 14 years. They play with equal parts speed, twang, and 4/4 rage. Flogging Molly’s fiddles, banjos, and accordions make them a bit gentler than Boston Celtic counterparts Dropkick Murphys, but make no mistake, “Speed of Darkness” is filled with just as much venom. And after a surprisingly scant four studio albums, this release raises the sonic bar. Pour a pint and play until the neighbors complain about the slam dancing above their heads.

WATCH the video for Flogging Molly’s single “Don’t Shut ‘Em Down.”

At some point in most musical careers — usually the middle doldrums or shipwrecked end — an artist will release an album of cover songs. The covers album is meant to establish cred by associating a singer with some heavyweight songwriters. If the singer is lucky, one of the cover songs will replace the original in listeners’ minds, thus giving our shipwrecked singer a life raft to career rehabilitation (and possibly some motivation to write some new songs). Such is the case with former Corrs front-woman, Andrea Corr. After her 2007 debut bombed, Andrea put down the pen and went through her record collection. It’s impressive, filled with music from the Velvet Underground, Harry Nilsson, Nick Drake, and other critic-proof choices. Still, despite the tasteful arrangements from producers John Reynolds and Brian Eno, there’s nothing to keep anyone from the originals. Don’t know ‘em? Pick them up. They’ll amaze you more than these earnest but forgettable versions will. WATCH the music video for Andrea Corr’s single “Tinseltown in the Rain.”

It’s hard to think of Death Cab for Cutie as music industry, major label veterans, but alas, here we are. Seven albums, 14 years, and countless prime-time TV show song placements later, Death Cab now belongs to the mainstream as much as those heady indie rock cynics who were the first to bow at Ben Gibbard’s feet back in the late ’90s. “Codes and Keys” is the sound of a band crossing over on their own terms. Gibbard’s voice is as full as ever of heartbroken wonder. Guitarist Chris Walla’s production is urgent and explores sonic terrain beyond Death Cab’s usual six-string wizardry. Just as with Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs,” “Codes and Keys” offers Top 10 salvation from a musical landfill packed with manufactured, plastic pop. Get ready for next year’s Grammy upset.

WATCH the music video for Death Cab for Cutie’s new single “You Are a Tourist.”

The first time I heard the ukulele was in the hands of Pete Townshend, whose “Blue, Red and Grey” was the emotional (and solo) centerpiece of the Who’s 1975 release “The Who by Numbers.” Fellow Townshend devotee Eddie Vedder undoubtedly was moved as well (check out his live take on the tune). It takes a certain kind of musician to hold a ukulele and not turn into a Tiny Tim joke. Vedder’s “Ukulele Songs” has little to do with Hawaiian culture (although part of the album was recorded in Oahu) or kitschy musical irony. Like Townshend, Vedder uses the ukulele to cut through the noise and get straight to the heart of the matter. At 16 songs and 35 minutes, “Ukulele Songs” plays like an introspective Sunday afternoon in the garden with only your voice and arpeggios to keep you company.

WATCH the music video for Eddie Vedder’s new single “Longing to Belong.”

What can I say about Lady Gaga that will change the opinion of any of her Little Monsters? You all have made up your minds. My bitching about Gaga’s endless Madonna recycling and marketing one-upmanship is useless. You already drank the rehashed disco Kool-Aid. “Born This Way” will undoubtedly define this time in musical history because Lady Gaga has become the chief curator of this pop culture moment. Still, it doesn’t mean I dig it — anymore than I dig those old Village People singles. And besides, who needs to buy a Lady Gaga album when you can hear it on every TV station, radio station, website, and public space in America? We breathe Gaga for free like we breathe the air. Mission accomplished, Ms. Germanotta. WATCH the music video for Lady GaGa’s latest single, “Judas.”

Sonic Youth’s legendary electric guitarist and punk icon Thurston Moore trades his Fender for an acoustic, harps, and a string section. He also gets Beck to sit in the producer’s chair. Beck knows a bit about making lonely, forlorn tunes, and “Demolished Thoughts” has hints of Beck’s magma opus, “Sea Change.” The bummer is that “Demolished” doesn’t grab the jugular like Beck’s own acoustic exploration. The whole thing just seems to meander a bit. It’s an album full of beautifully recorded killer riffs looking for some songs. Sonic Youth devotees: Let the flame wars and hate mail begin.

WATCH this exclusive interview with Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo.

Joseph Arthur has been releasing his deeply textured tunes since 1997 when Peter Gabriel discovered him. Full disclosure: I covered Arthur’s song “Dear Lord” on my own 2005 album after it kept me held together in the days and weeks after my mother’s suicide two years earlier.

His songs turn dislocation heavenward and transform isolation into a rendezvous with angels. Joseph Arthur does what only few artists can accomplish: he gives shape and sound to innermost thoughts and conversations that are otherwise unknowable. “The Graduation Ceremony” is another one of those conversations. Only now, Arthur opens his arms a little wider than usual. Maybe his time with Fistful of Mercy (the one-off group project with Ben Harper and Dhani Harrison) got him digging the idea of surrounding himself with bigger sounds and sharing musical space. Arthur gets the balance of esoterica and catchiness just right. These are songs worthy of being called your new best friends.

WATCH the music video for Joseph Arthur’s “This Is Still My World.”

Ray Manzarek continues to remind us why most ’60s rockers need to lie low once and for all — especially when a band’s frontman has left the building. After milking the Doors gravy train for all he could (including an embarrassing “Doors of the 21st Century” project that was shut down, thanks to a lawsuit by Doors drummer John Densmore), Manzarek is left to impersonating a bar band with Northern California slide guitarist Roy Rogers. It’s actually a pretty good impersonation. Grab some darts, a pitcher of beer, and pull your ponytail back. If you’re lucky, ol’ Ray might even play you “Love Me Two Times.” Remember to tip your waitresses.

WATCH Roy Rogers’ live performance of “Terraplane Blues.”