Joe Henry

‘Slipstream" is Bonnie Raitt's first album in seven years, after time off to rest and recharge, but it's really two albums in one. The first, comprising eight of its 12 tracks, is vintage Raitt — "vintage" meaning the sound that emerged, starting in 1989, when her ship came in with "Nick of Time. " It's a potent mix of propulsive, rootsy, three-chord rock 'n' roll ("Down to You"), chugging blues-rock ("Split Decision"), nasty, lowdown blues ("Ain't Gonna Let You Go"), and smoother, made-for-AAA-radio fare ("Take My Love With You")

‘Slipstream" is Bonnie Raitt's first album in seven years, after time off to rest and recharge, but it's really two albums in one. The first, comprising eight of its 12 tracks, is vintage Raitt — "vintage" meaning the sound that emerged, starting in 1989, when her ship came in with "Nick of Time. " It's a potent mix of propulsive, rootsy, three-chord rock 'n' roll ("Down to You"), chugging blues-rock ("Split Decision"), nasty, lowdown blues ("Ain't Gonna Let You Go"), and smoother, made-for-AAA-radio fare ("Take My Love With You")

Bonnie Raitt is releasing a new album in 2012, her first in seven years. "Slipstream," out April 10, follows a long break from studio work for the Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member. She lost her parents, her brother and her best friend. "I hadn't stopped moving in a very long time so I really wanted to take a total break and not concentrate on making a new record or what I was going to do next," Raitt said. "So that was really valuable because I waited until I was really ready to come back.

Bonnie Raitt is releasing a new album in 2012, her first in seven years. "Slipstream," out April 10, follows a long break from studio work for the Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member. She lost her parents, her brother and her best friend. "I hadn't stopped moving in a very long time so I really wanted to take a total break and not concentrate on making a new record or what I was going to do next," Raitt said. "So that was really valuable because I waited until I was really ready to come back.

► Today is Friday, Dec. 2, the 336th day of 2011. There are 29 days left in the year. ► Today's birthdays: Actress Julie Harris is 86. Edwin Meese III, former US attorney general, is 80. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is 72. Actress Cathy Lee Crosby is 67. Movie director Penelope Spheeris is 66. Actor Ron Raines is 62. Country singer John Wesley Ryles is 61. Actor Keith Szarabajka is 59. Actor Dan Butler is 57. Broadcast journalist Stone Phillips is 57. Actor Dennis Christopher is 56. Actor Steven Bauer is 55. Country singer Joe Henry is 51. Rock musician Rick Savage (Def Leppard)

POP & ROCK BATHS Under the moniker Baths, electronic musician Will Wiesenfeld creates dense, skittering confections that end up sounding like futuristic R&B. Dec. 1, 9 p.m. Tickets: $15. Middle East Downstairs. 617-864-3278. www.ticketweb.com GRIEVES & BUDO Grieves's new album is called "Together/Apart," and that punctuation couldn't be more apt: the Seattle-based rapper obviously doesn't know if he'd be happier with or without his beloved. "Together/Apart" is one of the year's most emotionally resonant indie hip-hop albums, and he's touring with his partner in crime, Budo, to bring it...

STOWE, Vt. -- "High performance" is not a term I usually associate with the most childish of winter sports, but Joe Henry, Umiak Outdoor Outfitters retail manager, was ready to disabuse me of my preconceptions about sledding. In fact, Umiak sells - and more typically, rents - three radically different high-performance sleds. "They're adult toys," Henry said. Just like kids' sleds, the new-wave equipment gets you from the top of the hill to the bottom, but the ride is a whole lot more memorable.

What's your favorite flavor of Madonna? As is usually the case, there are several to choose from on "MDNA," the pop icon's new release, out Monday. The one that Madonna seems to have been pushing in the run-up to her album's release is the most familiar: queen of the dance floor, here to help us boogie our, and more crucially her own, troubles away. From "Everybody" to "Into the Groove" to "Music," Madonna has successfully helped us surrender to the transporting catharsis of moving to the beat for nearly 30 years.

Jazz Allen Toussaint The Bright Mississippi Nonesuch ESSENTIAL "Dear Old Southland" Allen Toussaint's new album couldn't sound more like New Orleans. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame pianist and R&B hitmaker ("Lady Marmalade," "Workin' in a Coal Mine") revisits jazz classics by Duke Ellington, Leonard Feather, Sidney Bechet, Jelly Roll Morton, Django Reinhardt, and Thelonious Monk and takes them for a stroll through Preservation Hall, imbuing his own funky brand of pop-song charisma.

Here’s the thing you’re not supposed to say about singer and pianist Mose Allison: A lot of his songs sound the same. That point was underscored by the pace of his concert Saturday night at Scullers. He packed 22 songs into the 75-minute second set, and at least half of the tunes started in the same manner: two I chords and two IV chords per bar, for four bars, before the singing starts. Allison is not a flashy singer. He’s not even a particularly good singer. But his introverted, laid-back, sort-of-but-not-really-in-tune, talk-sing style is charming, and it has buoyed his career into a sixth...

► Today is Friday, Dec. 2, the 336th day of 2011. There are 29 days left in the year. ► Today's birthdays: Actress Julie Harris is 86. Edwin Meese III, former US attorney general, is 80. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is 72. Actress Cathy Lee Crosby is 67. Movie director Penelope Spheeris is 66. Actor Ron Raines is 62. Country singer John Wesley Ryles is 61. Actor Keith Szarabajka is 59. Actor Dan Butler is 57. Broadcast journalist Stone Phillips is 57. Actor Dennis Christopher is 56. Actor Steven Bauer is 55. Country singer Joe Henry is 51. Rock musician Rick Savage (Def Leppard)

POP & ROCK BATHS Under the moniker Baths, electronic musician Will Wiesenfeld creates dense, skittering confections that end up sounding like futuristic R&B. Dec. 1, 9 p.m. Tickets: $15. Middle East Downstairs. 617-864-3278. www.ticketweb.com GRIEVES & BUDO Grieves's new album is called "Together/Apart," and that punctuation couldn't be more apt: the Seattle-based rapper obviously doesn't know if he'd be happier with or without his beloved. "Together/Apart" is one of the year's most emotionally resonant indie hip-hop albums, and he's touring with his partner in crime, Budo, to bring it...

STOWE, Vt. -- "High performance" is not a term I usually associate with the most childish of winter sports, but Joe Henry, Umiak Outdoor Outfitters retail manager, was ready to disabuse me of my preconceptions about sledding. In fact, Umiak sells - and more typically, rents - three radically different high-performance sleds. "They're adult toys," Henry said. Just like kids' sleds, the new-wave equipment gets you from the top of the hill to the bottom, but the ride is a whole lot more memorable.