POP/ROCK

Vampire Weekend, "Contra" (XL)

This New York band introduced a unique mix of pop, reggae and African rhythms on its debut, and the quartet delivers an even richer musical landscape on its second CD. Electronic beats blend with African and Brazilian drums, topped with tinkling pianos, sweeping violins, playful marimbas, and layers of percussion and electric guitar. The result is a big, full sound that's dense and light at the same time, with multiple melodies and instruments coloring each track.

The catchy "Diplomat's Son" reveals the band's talent for mixing up rhythms and styles. A blend of reggae, dancehall and Bollywood influences, the song changes tempo midstream to show off finger-picked guitars and a chorus of violins.

Though upbeat like the first album, "Contra" delves into deeper territory thematically. "Holiday" is a bouncy ska track that touches on themes of war. "Taxi Cab" is an electronic ballad about a relationship gone wrong. Lead singer Ezra Koenig works the Auto-tune on "California English," a driving track rich with harmonies and strings. The closing song, "I Think UR a Contra," seems to encapsulate the band's evolution on this album: It layers vocal styles and experimental harmonies atop guitars, strings, piano and electronic sounds. Vampire Weekend performs March 22 at First Avenue.

SANDY COHEN, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Matt Morris, "When Everything Breaks Open" (Tennman)

Morris, who starred with Justin Timberlake in "The All New Mickey Mouse Club" in the early 1990s, is a beneficiary of Timberlake, who with Charlie Sexton co-produced this debut on Timberlake's label. Morris maneuvers easily through the arrangements of his able producers and ultimately seizes the spotlight. His voice rises out of the murky electronic brew of infectious opener "Don't You Dare." Morris then settles all the way down into the jazz-textured horns and organ of "Money," cooing like a soothsayer, "It's greed that's the killer."

The dramatic singer is up for anything Timberlake and Sexton throw his way. He's commanding and nearly angelic in the stately framework of "Bloodline" and "Let It Go." He flips through vocal acrobatics to upstage the staccato cadence and reggae inflections of "Live," slides through the loose, improv-feeling jazz of "You Do It for Me" and sends his yearning voice tripping through the stratosphere against the sprawling guitar of "Just Before the Morning." Morris' tone also shifts, from the theatrical sneer of "The Un-American" to the beguiling invitation of "Someone to Love You."

CHUCK CAMPBELL, SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE