Record Rack

*** 1/2 Various artists, “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me” soundtrack, Maverick. Talk about shagadelic. This soundtrack for the latest installment in the time-warped Powers saga takes a rather obvious high concept--contemporary artists from all over the pop music map remaking old chestnuts--and pulls it off with real panache. R.E.M. expertly replicates the woozy undertow of Tommy James’ 1971 hit “Draggin’ the Line”; Melanie G (a.k.a. Scary Spice) and producer Timbaland turn Cameo’s “Word Up” into a double-jointed jam; and Madonna contributes “Beautiful Stranger,” an original song that’s the closest she’s ever come to chiming guitar pop.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent). The albums are already released unless otherwise noted.