CD Choice:Hip-hop

SAUL WILLIAMS The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust Niggytardust.com ****

Radiohead aren't the only act raging against the music industry machine this season. Slam-poet/ actor/rapper Saul Williams is also bypassing a record label and instead leaving out a tip jar for his fans. They can decide if they want his new album for free or if they want to pay $5 for it.

Many will be happy to pay up. While Williams is probably best known as an outspoken, militant underground figure, he has never let his polemic take over the music. On both Amethyst Rock Star and his self-titled 2005 album, Williams was a hip-hop preacher writing intoxicating, heavyweight stanzas coated in fire and bromstone. He delivered his manic codes and steely observations about enlightenment, ignorance, American imperialism and ghetto nihilism through a fiery bullhorn.

On Niggy Tardust, Williams has found a kindred spirit in Trent Reznor. The Nine Inch Nails man shares his righteous fury about artistic and social oppression, but brings a sonic touch that places Williams's rhymes and Niggy Tardust's character in a harder and tougher setting than before.

A cover version of U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday may be a strange choice, but the manner in which Williams and Reznor marshall the military beat and change the emphasis of the lyrics spins the song with a new and more vital urgency. Their collaboration works because both seem acutely aware of the need to balance the various nuances on the album.

The spring-heeled punch of the title track and Tr(n)igger are examples of Niggy Tardust's ambtions when it comes to grandstanding, but there are also some surprisingly subtle touches, such as the beautiful No One Ever Does and The Ritual.

For once, it's the music rather than the distribution method that does all the talking. www.saulwilliams.com

JIM CARROLL

Download tracks: Tr(n)igger, No One Ever Does, Sunday Bloody Sunday