Traveling to Many Worlds

From Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith to New York rappers Wu-Tang Clan, the lineup is unusually diverse on this installment of Calendar’s guide to keeping up with what’s exciting in pop on an album budget of $50 a month.

MAY

John Fogerty, “Blue Moon Swamp,” Warner Bros. True, few of these songs live up to Fogerty’s Creedence Clearwater Revival legacy, but the music itself--from the sparkle of the vocals and guitars to the assured feel of the rhythm section--is as sunny as anything you’re likely to hear in 1997. No one can match this classic rocker when it comes to the music’s roots authenticity--whether the Sun Records rockabilly glow of “Blue Moon Nights” or the Chess Records blues rawness of “A Hundred and Ten in the Shade.”

Various artists, “Rhythm Zone,” Mango. Without trusty guides such as Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel or David Byrne, U.S. pop fans too often lose track of the wonders of music from other countries and cultures. But this infectious, 10-song sampler makes it easy to explore on your own, thanks to a lineup that includes such can’t-miss attractions as Nigeria’s King Sunny Ade and Cuba’s Los Van Van. The album is akin to a great hour of KCRW.

Yo La Tengo, “I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One,” Matador. As long as you don’t suffer from insomnia, there’s something magic about 3 a.m. in the city, a time when the tensions of the day are at rest and the promise of the new morning looms. In “Heart,” this veteran alt-rock trio gives us music that conveys the post-Velvet Underground dreaminess and mystery of 3 a.m. solitude, all the way down to a surprising, cleansing version of the old “My Little Corner of the World.”

JUNE

k.d. lang, “Drag,” Warner Bros. Despite all the talk about lang’s evolution from cowgirl to torch singer, she’s still under the spell of Patsy Cline, who showed on recordings such as “Crazy” that she was as at home in an urban saloon as in a country honky-tonk. In this marvelously ambitious work, every song touches, at least indirectly, on cigarettes--but the real issue is individual addiction.

Ron Sexsmith, “Other Songs,” Interscope. Let’s make this simple: Do you like the mostly ballad side of Tim Hardin (“Reason to Believe”), John Prine (“Hello in There”), Jackson Browne (“Late for the Sky”) and Elvis Costello (“Almost Blue”)? If so, you’ll love this Canadian singer-songwriter, whose music is as warm and universal as a heartbeat.

Wu-Tang Clan’s “Wu-Tang Forever,” Loud/RCA. At a time when rap’s creative future is being questioned, this New York collective delivers a potent two-disc set that serves as a renewal tonic. With language that ranges from uplifting to ugly, the album is so filled with contradictory messages that it sometimes reminds you of the way rival delegates battle at a political convention podium. By the end, however, the rappers come together in a show of unity and purpose.