Mark Olson and Gary Louris, Ready for the Flood (New West)

The two principal figures in the Jayhawks reunite, and they’re good for each other. The songs they perform together seem far more effortless than those they have made independent of each other, and the low-fuss production makes the album sound like two old friends playing songs together—sometimes with a band that’s picking the song up on the fly. That, too, is good for their art.