A REINVIGORATED JACK WHITE HITS THE PARAMOUNT

(Paramount) To say that Lazaretto, Jack White's second solo album, is the best thing he's done since the White Stripes will sound like high praise to those charmed by the busman's holiday twofer of the Raconteurs and Dead Weather, but lyrics don't get much worse than, "I've got a rabbit, it likes to hop; I've got a girl and she likes to shop" (the Raconteurs' "Intimate Secretary"). If anything, I lost interest in the 'Stripes circa Icky Thump, a sketch of a record. Near as I could tell: they had, too. If White's debut, Blunderbuss, failed to burnish or destroy his rep, the follow-up reveals a reinvigorated musician. Sure, he’s spent the past year badmouthing a few colleagues, but niceness doesn't always breed the best rock & roll. KATHY FENNESSY
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MADELIENE COCOLAS' AMBITIOUS ELECTRONIC REGIMEN

(Kremwerk) Madeleine Cocolas, an Australian-born and impressively versatile sound artist, has embarked upon an ambitious 52-week project to “writ[e] a piece of music for every week of the year.” Besides the audacity of the pursuit, what impresses most is the diversity of her productions: She seems equally at home crafting crystalline, bell-toned sound sculptures, gently skittering IDM, or minor-key, orchestrations resembling an outback Arvo Pärt. From the look of her blog, she’s nearing the end of her odyssey, so expect exotic sounds from all ends of the spectrum. Local support comes from Your City Sleeps, whose recently released Different Days is a sometimes-jarring mix of aquatic atmospheres and bouts of pop-leaning digitalia, somewhere between Ulrich Schnauss’s snooze-wave and early M83. With Kylmyys and Red Alder. KYLE FLECK
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And here's all our recommended music events—tonight, tomorrow, this weekend, and beyond!