PLAYLIST: Meg and Jack duke it out with gypsy punks

While I ponder what's on Ralph R. Papitto's iPod — "Me Against the World" by 2Pac, "Doing Dumb S---" by Ice Cube, "Rotten Apple" by 50 Cent or "Running Your Mouth" by Biggie Smalls, perhaps? — it occurred to me that there's been a lot of good new music lately. Here's what's been on my iPod's heavy rotation.

"Conquest," by The White Stripes — Yes, Jack White and his sister/ex-wife Meg are still together, and all is right with the world. They played a blistering show in Boston last week, then conquered Madison Square Garden. Jack hasn't lost his taste for trashy cover songs, as this take on an old Patti Page chestnut proves. The flamenco rhythms, mariachi horns and White's over-the-top vocals make me smile.

Available on "Icky Thump"

"American Wedding," by Gogol Bordello — This bunch of loony "immigrant punks" from the Lower East Side of New York — by way of Eastern Europe — is my new favorite band at the moment (sorry Jack and Meg). With their electric guitars, fiddles and accordion, they play "Gypsy punk;" what The Pogues did to Irish tunes, Gogol Bordello is doing the same to Slavic music. Here, as in many of their songs, they comically and savagely detail the immigrant experience ("Where is the vodka, where is marinated herring?"). Oh, and they're wild, crazy and tons of fun.

"Super Taranta!"

"Huck's Tune," by Bob Dylan — The old guy just keeps on churning out gems. His latest, included on the soundtrack to an insipid Hollywood poker flick, is available at iTunes. It's the best 99 cents you'll ever spend.

"Lucky You (Music from the Motion Picture)," iTunes

"Wheels in Motion," by Glenn Mercer — Remember The Feelies? No? Then go out and buy all their sadly out-of-print CDs before there are none left. (One Amazon seller wants $191.69 for a copy of the band's 1980 debut, "Crazy Rhythms.") But if you don't want to mortgage the house on this great band with the nervous, Velvet Underground-at-78-rpm-sound, check out the next best thing. On his new solo album, lead singer Glenn Mercer sounds just like a Feelies member should 15 years after the band's demise: A little slower, a little wiser.

"Wheels in Motion"

"Back in Your Head," by Tegan and Sara — This song is stuck in my head! Identical twins Tegan Rain and Sara Kiersten Quin have come out with one of the catchiest things I've heard in months.

"The Con"

"Junkie Slip," by Mark Cutler — The most criminally overlooked talent in our midst, Mark Cutler first made a name for himself with The Schemers, the most beloved Providence-based band of the 80s (they still play together from time to time, often at Jake's in Providence). Here he does justice to The Clash, while paying tribute to an album I had on my turntable for two solid weeks after John Lennon's murder in December 1980.

"The Sandinista! Project"

"I Feel It All," by Feist — If you haven't yet hear of the Canadian singer/songwriter Leslie Feist — also a member of the Broken Social Scene — you will in due time. Her song "Mushaboom" was one of the most charming tunes to come out in 2004, and now she's on the verge of breaking out.

"The Reminder"

"Sleep Talking," by Ornette Coleman — Still a vital musical force at 77, the groundbreaking jazz saxophonist's live "Sound Grammar" album was recently awarded the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for music. I don't profess to fully understand every note of this free jazz manifesto — that's not really the point, anyway — but I crank it full volume whenever I want to clear the cobwebs out of my head.

"Sound Grammar"

"The Road To Gila Bend," by Los Lobos — The Mexican immigrant experience has always been a recurring theme in the music of Los Lobos, but never so forcefully than on their latest album. You can thank George W. Bush for that. Catch one of America's best rock bands over the past 25 years when they play the Fall River Celebrates America festival on Aug. 11.

"The Town And The City"

"Mr. Stupid," by Richard Thompson — Another rebuke to Dubya, Thompson's latest album is partly a treatise on American foreign policy. (Its centerpiece is "Dad's Gonna Kill Me," in which "Dad" is a soldier's pet name for Baghdad.)

"Sweet Warrior"

"The Dress," by Blonde Redhead — They've been compared to Sonic Youth and My Bloody Valentine, but they don't sound like anyone else to these ears. Kazu Makino's high, unearthly voice skims over shimmering, dissonant guitar chords for a truly hypnotic experience. You can catch the trio at Lupo's in Providence Sept. 25.

"23"

By Jim McGaw

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