Andrew Bird
The Mysterious Production of Eggs (Fargo)

Polymath Andrew Bird first came into view with his last album, Weather Systems. This rich sequel builds on his reputation as an inventive wordsmith and folk-derived songwriter with a penchant for lush orchestrations. He's also a whiz on violin and whistles too. 'Sovay' offers a taste of his verbose style: 'And they're acting on vagaries/ with their violent proclivities/ And they're playing Ride of the Valkyries', but for all the syllables on offer, his songs are fluent and unpretentious. Illinois-based Bird makes complexity sound easy with his sunny melodies and skilful arrangements. Sometimes, his painterly reach suggests Mercury Rev's haunted Americana; more often, he recalls Rufus Wainwright, but without the sexual theatricality. Absorbing.

Electric Six
Senor Smoke (Warners)

Can Electric Six repeat the wild success of last year's debut? Their second album certainly continues in the theatrical rock vein established by its predecessor, but it's hard to spot the next hit here. 'Rock'n'Roll Evacuation' has potential, while 'Dance Epidemic' moves its riffs into the previously uncharted pastiche (well, for Electric Six) of disco funk. But these purveyors of silly singles have gone so far as to write a song that screams 'novelty hit' in lurid falsetto, 'Future Is in the Future'. Its chorus? 'We'll karaoke all night long/ Macarena till the break of dawn.' Whatever your stance on comedy rock, however, it's a pity that Queen didn't ask E6's Dick Valentine to play Freddie Mercury on their forthcoming reunion tour instead of Paul Rodgers. Judging from the Six's cover of 'Radio Ga Ga', few would be more qualified.

Black Mountain
Black Mountain (Jagjaguwar)

Vancouver's Black Mountain may be a new band, but they are fans of the old ways. 'Faulty Times', for instance, places singer Stephen McBean's narrator in 1933 at the age of 17; its message of pacifist disgust resonates aptly in our times as well. Musically, too, the band favour antiques: the Rolling Stones on 'No Satisfaction', even Deep Purple on 'Don't Run Our Hearts Around'. If you ever wanted to know what Black Sabbath would have sounded like with a girl in the line-up, there's the groove of 'Druganaut'. Their disdain for modern pop is reiterated throughout ('We can't stand your modern music,' sniffs the song of the same name) but they don't come across as curmudgeons; rather, they are tremendous fun, deploying boy/girl call-and-response vocals, handclaps and primitive analogue psychedelics that invoke the spirit of a terrific party circa 1973. One to grow your hair to.

Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz
Crunk Juice (Tvt)

The dreadlocked, shiny-toothed Lil Jon was last year's Sean Paul, the guest every rapper and R&B divo had to have on their records. The vogue for his brand of crunk - a funny, shouty, rude, Southern, bass-heavy variant of hip hop - seemed unstoppable. But given his disappointing position in last week's singles chart (despite his protegee Ciara scoring a recent hit), it's possible Lil Jon is more use as a pop foil and producer than as an artist with his own albums. Crunk Juice, the follow-up to 2002's must-have Kings of Crunk, is interminable: there are 20 tracks, even before the deluxe edition weighs in with remixes and DVD. For all Crunk Juice's theoretically excellent bad manners and big bass, it's actually a bit boring. There are millions of guests (Usher, Ludacris, Ice Cube, R Kelly, Snoop, Nas, Chris Rock) and A-list producers (Neptunes, Rick Rubin); slow songs to vary the pace, and laugh-out-loud skits (especially the one that opens 'Aww Skeet Skeet', a paean to semen) but it doesn't quite make for quite enough variety, sub stance or real excitement.

The Residents
Animal Lover (Mute)

One of the benefits of wearing an eyeball on your head is that age does not wither you physically; you can stay as puerile as you like, even if you might be getting on in years. The Residents have been making provocative music since the late Sixties; anonymous as ever, they have turned their thoughts and instrumentations to animals for this debut release on Mute. What might be their 39th album (it depends how you count) starts off appearing noxious and silly with song titles such as 'What Have My Chickens Done Now?' and 'Mr Bee's Bumble'. But soon, Animal Lover reveals itself as a potent and often haunting commentary on the hubris of man. There is painstaking method underlying all the weird and discordant animal tales here; many of the sounds are taken from animal sources and the bestial points of view are convincing, after a fashion. Musically, though, the instrumental tracks - such as 'Ingrid's Oily Tongue' - make for more comfortable listening.

Josh Rouse
Nashville (Rykodisc)

Calling your album Nashville is something of a statement. One does not invoke the home of country music lightly. But singer-songwriter and longtime Nashville resident Josh Rouse has now swapped Tennessee for Spain and his fifth album leads away from alt.country into the Seventies soft rock first mooted on his most recent album, 1972. There's still twang aplenty on opener 'It's the Night Time', but by the time 'My Love Has Gone' comes around, Rouse is singing in falsetto to soul-inflected guitars. It's frustratingly hard to get an emotional bearing on Rouse, a songwriter of considerable skill whose works are a little too easy on the ear readily to engage the heart. Certainly, his recent divorce must have caused more anguish than is reflected here ('I'll spare you the details,' he sings at one point). The most direct song on Nashville is 'Middle School Frown', which bravely recounts an episode of betrayal from his school days. This is Rouse's most musically accomplished record, but Nashville lacks sentimental authority.

· To order Andrew Bird or Black Mountain for £11.99, Electric Six, Lil Jon or Josh Rouse for £12.99 or the Residents for £22.99, all with free UK p&p, call the Observer Music Service on 0870 836 0713