A half-dozen cool things in music, from two points of view:

Sheryl Crow, "100 Miles From Memphis." It sounds like nothing she has done before, but it is as good as her other stuff. The songs have a 1971-like funky pop vibe that grooves perfectly with a hot summer. It doesn't hurt to have Keith Richards, the King of Cool, playing on "Eye to Eye."

She & Him, "The Late Show With Craig Ferguson." The retro pop duo shined on the breezy "Don't Look Back." M. Ward's slick guitar and Zooey Deschanel's, well, everything were a welcome reward after 57 minutes of Ferguson's comedy.

Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band, Mystic Lake. Ringo looks better at 70 than I do at 40, and the show was wall-to-wall fun. His songs, drumming and humor were all geared to giving his fans their money's worth. Hey, I saw a Beatle last week!

MARK CHIRHART, MINNETONKA

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Dead Weather, First Avenue. Urgent, primal, scary, haunting, dangerous, ear-splittingly loud. Isn't this what great rock 'n' roll is supposed to be? The quartet was even better this year than last, thanks to a more varied repertoire and just enough rock-star cool from Jack White.

"Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival: The Movie." Condensing 11 hours of music to two, this one-night-only movie (soon to be a DVD) captured many magical moments of an extraordinary day. The film magnified the Southern soul stroll "Midnight in Harlem" by Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks and Clapton's consistently inspired guitar work, especially on the jaw-dropping "Voodoo Chile."

Los Lobos, Minnesota Zoo. On its second night, America's greatest roots band was loose, talkative and spirited. Plenty of blues, Tex-Mex, rock and a little Grateful Dead. Always a summer highlight.

JON BREAM, STAR TRIBUNE