POP NOTES.(Sound recording review)

INSTANT REPLAY -- Here are some records released in the past year that deserve a second listen:

Babyshambles, "The Blinding EP" (Regal)--The London musician Pete Doherty has interrupted a series of arrests to release an E.P., which will baffle those who think his main job is smoking crack and dating Kate Moss. On "The Blinding," his band, Babyshambles, sounds like a loose version of the Clash, and Doherty is in mystifyingly good form, a literate and sleepy charmer.

Sibylle Baier, "Colour Green" (Orange Twin)--Between 1970 and 1973, the German singer and actress wrote a series of original songs and recorded herself singing and playing guitar. More than twenty years later, her son used the original tapes to create CDs and gave them out as presents to family members. Now officially released, Baier's plangent, plainspoken songs evoke Nick Drake.

Cheap Trick, "RockFord" (Big3)--The band's last studio record, "Special One," from 2003, sounded great but sometimes came up short on material. "Rockford" solves that problem, and then some. Rick Nielsen's virtuosic guitars and Robin Zander's powerful vocals remain as impressive as they were in 1977, and "O Claire," a moving ballad in the key of Lennon, is the band's best work in years.

The Coup, "Pick a Bigger Weapon" (Epitaph)--In 2001, the Bay Area hip-hop group made headlines when the original cover image of its album "Party Music" showed the band setting off an explosion of the World Trade Center. Last month, the Coup's tour bus crashed, nearly killing artists and crew members. Amid all the drama, the Coup remains one of the rap world's great resources--fearless, fierce, and funny as hell--and the new album is a potent combination of leftist politics, revolutionary humanitarianism, and triumphant funk.

Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra, "Boulevard de l'Independance" (Nonesuch)---For the past decade, the Malian kora master Diabate and his band have been performing epically long sets on Fridays at the Hogon Club, in Bamako. This album, which was recorded during two weeks of all-night sessions, captures the highly polished ensemble in its quest to ...