New and Notable

Peter Case, “Flying Saucer Blues,” Vanguard. Against a backdrop of bluesy folk-rock, Case conveys the melancholy of living out one’s days on Earth, hungering for those rare moments that provide comfort and preserving them as emotional touchstones.

Various artists, “Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai--The Album,” Razor Sharp/Epic. This soundtrack was produced by the Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA, and nearly every track features a member of that mammoth rhyme family. The surprise is that the moody interludes are among the album’s best selections.

Various artists, “Guerra de Estados Pesados,” Lideres. An exhilarating demonstration of norten~o grit, this left-field hit pits bands from various Mexican states in a sort of musical battle, complete with the apocalyptic sounds of helicopters, cars and distant gunshots.

Neil Young, “Silver & Gold,” Reprise. The album doesn’t have the overriding urgency or ambition of 1992’s similar-minded “Harvest Moon,” but it is as consistently open and optimistic as anything Young has ever produced.