Basement Jaxx always cram their records with character and their latest is no exception, Bob Dylan gets rootsy with Modern Times and The Roots release a classic.

Basement Jaxx: Crazy Itch Radio
XL Recordings
Review: Arwa Haider
*****
Dance music gets lambasted for lacking personality - but Basement Jaxx always cram their records with character. While they're established chart stars, their fourth album Crazy Itch Radio pulses with underground club energy. It's a soulful alternative to 2003's electro-punky Kish Kash - but it's still laced with offbeat twists and assertive guests, from Swedish popstress Robyn (on Hey You) to London grime empress Lady Marga (on the irrepressible Run 4 Cover) and Vula Malinga, performing the sassy funk of current single Hush Boy. Its fresh mix spans the folky beats of Take Me Back To Your House to the tremulous Lights Go Down (featuring British soul treasure Linda Lewis on vocals). Which makes Crazy Itch Radio an essential turn-on - all human nightlife is here.

Beyoncé: B'Day
RCA
Review: Arwa Haider
****
Beyoncé's second solo album title, B'Day, suggests a classy lady turned potty-mouthed. Pardon me - it's actually because she turns 25 upon its international release. Mostly, it's cause for celebration. Her latest single Déjà Vu lacked Crazy In Love's punch but it's a cool grower with another cameo from her squeeze Jay-Z. The raw rhythms of Get Me Bodied add grit to the glossy r'n'b and Irreplaceable's independent woman anthem contrasts with the breakdown of Resentment. Her tributes to fans do jar, alongside a plug for her Dereon fashion label, but these are such slick belters, it'd be churlish not to get down - even if the bonus track takes for ever. And the B goes on...

Bob Dylan: Modern Times
Sony BMG
Review: Arwa Haider
***
As all-American troubadours go, Bob Dylan's first work in five years, Modern Times, is both a rootsy homecoming and an anachronistic affair. Aside from namechecking Alicia Keys on the opening track Thunder On The Mountains, Dylan deliberately turns towards downhome fare, comfortably freewheelin' from boogie-woogie piano to bluecollar r'n'b such as The Levee's Gonna Break. His wry and grizzled tones elevate this above conventional countrified fare, providing lonesome cowboy schtick of the finest order.

The Roots: Game Theory
Def Jam
Review: Siobhan Murphy
*****
A new era begins for Philadelphia hip hop crew The Roots on Game Theory. ?uestlove, Black Thought and co have found a home at Def Jam - and a tighter focus for their music. Building on the direction that last album The Tipping Point marked out, they declare their intentions by quoting Public Enemy's Don't Believe The Hype on opener False Media. Instead of noodling jams, there's hard, driving hip hop vocalising anger about Iraq, Katrina and the state of the nation, on top of pounding beats drawn from rock and blues, cool synths and samples from Radiohead to Kool And The Gang. This is heartfelt, energising hip hop that doesn't put a foot wrong.

Iron Maiden: A Matter Of Life And Death
EMI
Review: Arwa Haider
***
Headbangers will have a ball as Brit metal bastions Iron Maiden return with their 14th studio album A Matter Of Life And Death. Bruce Dickinson et al make no trendy concessions and this bombastic fare evokes their 1980s prime, from the boys' own anthem of These Colours Don't Run, to the pomp of The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg. Within the duelling riffs and grandiose lines, there's a reminder of how melodic they are. A snazzy choice of formats, too - CD with DVD, or picture-disc double vinyl, yeeeaah!