A Ghost of April Past

The soundtrack for Jim Jarmusch’s film “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai” was almost an April selection for Calendar’s guide to keeping up with what’s noteworthy in pop music on a budget of $50 a month. But it was left off because all the samurai quotations between the tracks are distracting. The music itself, however, is so striking that “Ghost Dog” makes a belated appearance in the guide.

May

Jeff Buckley’s “Mystery White Boy,” Columbia. It’s fitting that you have to wait 2 1/2 minutes for Buckley’s voice to join the band on the opening track of this posthumous collection. The singer-songwriter, who was 30 when he drowned in 1997, seemed so lost in his own thoughts on stage early in his brief career that he struck you as a reluctant spirit in this demanding, public profession. But these concert tapes, which were recorded after the release of his 1994 debut album, “Grace,” are remarkable for their energy and force. The folk-minded rock mystic is a bit precious, but he also reaches for creative heights that few artists ever imagine.

Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP,” Aftermath/Interscope. Eminem is such a combustible personality that you don’t know whether his records should be reviewed by a music critic or a psychiatrist. There are times when you marvel at his artistry (the superbly crafted, socially responsible “Stan”) and times when you wince at his imagination and demons (the recurring ugliness and rage). However unsettling, Eminem is the most electrifying rap artist since Tupac Shakur. Parents be warned.

Various artists’ “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai--The Album,” Razor Sharp/Epic. From the seductive strut of “Strange Eyes” and the tenderness of “Walking Through the Darkness” to the bravado of “Fast Shadow,” the collection, which balances R&B; and hip-hop touches, may be the most consistent and finely crafted soundtrack since Babyface’s “Waiting to Exhale.”

June

Grandaddy’s “The Sophtware Slump,” V2. “I’ve lost my way again,” Jason Lytle sings wistfully at one point, and it’s a theme that runs through the Modesto rock band’s enchanting second album. The group’s lo-fi production values and soft, psychedelic-country textures invite the word “quirky,” but Lytle writes with a strong sense of craft, and he examines the human struggle with the gentle questioning and assurance of the acoustic Neil Young.

The Handsome Family’s “In the Air,” Carrot Top. Brett Sparks (he writes the music, sings the songs and plays most of the instruments) and wife Rennie (she writes the lyrics) follow a path every bit as idiosyncratic as Buckley’s--though it’s a more rural back road that combines a bit of Junior Brown’s retro-country spirit with David Lynch’s sleight-of-hand emotional sensibilities. Almost every track leaves you with questions that aren’t easily answered. Why does the crowd in “The Sad Milkman” throw bricks and bottles at the boy on the roof? Why do the couple smuggle gin into the theater when they go to see “Singin’ in the Rain”? The group plays the Fold in Silver Lake on Tuesday.

Lucy Pearl’s “Lucy Pearl,” Pookie/Beyond Music. “Dance Tonight” may be the single that the record company is counting on to catch your ear--and the track does show that this R&B; super-trio can mirror the commercial currents of the day. But it’s the attitude and lilt in such tracks as “Don’t Mess With My Man” that give you hope that Raphael Saadiq, Dawn Robinson and Ali Shaheed Muhammad will eventually live up to the promise of their past associations--Tony Toni Tone, En Vogue and A Tribe Called Quest, respectively.