MORE MUSIC THIS WEEK

BIG BOI “BOOMIVERSE” (SONY)

Remember when Outkast were the biggest name in hip-hop, and all the white critics thought Andre 3000 was the genius because he wrote a guitar-based pop song that sounded like the Pixies? Hoo boy. Andre’s Outkast partner Big Boi isn’t the most prolific producer in the world — this is only his third solo album since Outkast went on hiatus in 2007 — but that’s three more records than Andre 3000 has put out, i.e. none.

Big Boi’s low profile between releases is no mystery when you hear what he comes up with after a long absence: “Boomiverse” is all killer, no filler (with some Killer Mike, to boot). George Clinton grooves are set to a modern context, with EDM touches and some old-school R&B flourishes, while always rooted in the Southern hip-hop that Big Boi played a large part in defining.

The “Boomiverse” is always expanding, it seems.

Stream: “Chocolate,” “Freakanomics,” “Order of Operations”

STEVE EARLE AND THE DUKES “SO YOU WANNA BE AN OUTLAW” (WARNER)

“If my mama coulda seen me in these chains, she’d be fit to be tied / she was spared that pain because I was barely 13 when she died.”

Who else can write a couplet like that?

Steve Earle, of course, has served time in jail, has hit rock bottom more than once, been divorced seven times, and has more than earned the right to write 19 albums worth of country songs about it all.

There have been times, of course, where the prolific artist has seemed to be either spinning wheels or trying on different sets of sonic clothing to varying effect. Here, however, Earle stays close to his country roots, to great effect, full of fiddles and pedal steel and a Willie Nelson cameo. Of course, there are also excursions into more hard rock territory, including the Zeppelinesque “Fixin to Die.” Continuing his great tradition of writing malefemale duets, he teams up with Miranda Lambert for “This is How It Ends” — which, unexpectedly bears an uncanny musical resemblance to “Islands in the Stream,” only sung by artists who recently went through very public separations with fellow songwriters.

By far the standout track, however, is Earle’s ode to his late mentor Guy Clark, “Goodbye Michaelangelo” — which speaks volumes about Clark’s influence.

Stream: “Goodbye Michaelangelo,” “If Mama Coulda Seen Me,” “News from Colorado”

KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD “MURDER OF THE UNIVERSE” (ATO)

This powerful and potent political statement is exactly what the world ... oh, wait, no, this is a completely ridiculous record. And, breaking the pattern for this band, not in the best possible way.

It’s the third album in less than a year released by these Aussie weirdos, who excel at incredibly heavy psychedelic freak-outs played at hyperkinetic speeds. Fasten your seatbelts and get ready for a bumpy, breakneck ride.

Normally that’s enough, but this time they fall short. “Murder of the Universe” consists of three different suites, we’re told, although a female narrator is interspersed throughout the first two-thirds album going on about — well, one can’t be sure, really.

The last third is narrated by a cyborg who talks about his imminent nausea. The song titles are entertaining enough on their own (“Vomit Coffin,” “Soy-Protein Munt Machine”) — surely we’re not expected to make sense of this? Musical ideas are recycled endlessly, and not effectively.

What was amazing about this band’s earlier records was that they were not the joke that the name would suggest. This time out, they’ve come up with exactly the kind of hogwash you’d expect from a bunch of stoners called King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.

Stream: “The Lord of Lightning,” “The Floating Fire,” “Han-Tyumi, The Confused Cyborg”