Notable tracks from three key new album releases.

Jay-Z, "American Gangster" (Def Jam): "Ignorant (Expletive)" with Beanie Sigel has a bumping bass line, Isley Brothers sample and Jay, left, defending rap by taking aim at Don Imus and flashing "celebutantes."

Chris Brown, "Exclusive" (Jive): Given that Brown is barely legal, it feels almost unseemly to enjoy his bedroom banter on "Take You Down" — but it's worth the guilty feeling.

Little Big Town, "A Place to Land" (Equity): On "Evangeline," Little Big Town slips into a haunting arrangement for a story about the toll of emotional abuse, putting forth its message with such lyrics as "You don't have to be kicked to be bruised."

— Nida Khan, Associated Press

ANALOG RADIOHEAD

After the digital release of Radiohead's latest album sent shock waves through the music industry, the band announced Monday that "In Rainbows" will have an old-fashioned release. A physical version of the British band's seventh studio album will hit music stores Jan. 1. ATO Records Group will put out the disc in North America. The band made the album available for download via their Web site last month, letting fans pay what they wanted. Consumer research firm comScore Inc. found that 62 percent of the people who downloaded "In Rainbows" in a four-week period paid zip. The remaining 38 percent paid an average of $6.

— Associated Press

SOUND AND THE FURY

According to Rolling Stone magazine, Richard Thompson is the 19th-greatest guitarist of all time (No. 1 is Jimi Hendrix) — yet he's nowhere near as famous as No. 50 (Pete Townshend). We're lucky the Brit has a soft spot for Hawai'i — for the last few years he's made O'ahu his Thanksgiving week destination. Find out why his smart, mournful folk-rock gems are a favorite of critics and musicians when he plays on Saturday. He'll perform songs from his new CD "Sweet Warrior," which the British newspaper The Guardian called "one of the most brilliantly gloomy albums in his long career" (2007 marks his 40th year in the music industry). "I don't think of my music as particularly gloomy," said Thompson from his Los Angeles home. "I grew up with folk music, and in folk music you have mining disasters, murders, sometimes a mixture of the two. ... But that's just normal — incest and murder."

8 p.m. Saturday, Paliku Theatre, Windward Community College, $30, 235-7330, www.paliku.com.

— Lesa Griffith

SALES & BARGAINS