With a rush like the first road trip of spring, the B-52s are back next week after a decade of silence with a rousting bop-'til-you-drop CD. Titled Funplex, the floor-shaking Astralwerks release is a time trip to the golden era of carefree college radio, with the beehive harmony sway of Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson and the unique vocal styling of Fred Schneider, cutting through today's gloomy emo haze with a love-shack karate chop to the sacroiliac. Helmed by Keith Strickland, the band's original drummer who picked up main guitar duties after the death of Ricky Wilson in 1985, highlights on the hook-heavy disc include the afternoon delight of "Ultraviolet," the martini-mile drive of "Deviant Ingredient," and the meet-me-at-the-mall hedonistic sass of the title track.

The hip-hop sound of the 1980's and 1990's gets peeled back like an onion this Tuesday, with Blue Note Records' release of Droppin' Science. Surveying the history of the label's catalog of funky vintage jazz breakbeats, broken down for use as the foundation of a whole new genre, the iconic label presents the original tracks and a look at the hip-hop gold each song inspired. From the "sampleography" of the Beastie Boys pulling from Jeremy Steig's "Howling For Judy" from 1970 into their 1994 hit "Get It Together," to A Tribe Called Quest, Main Source, De La Soul, DJ Krush, and J Dilla each copping a piece of 1974's "Think Twice" by Donald Byrd, the connect-the-dots history of sticky finger beat-making is a fascinating ride. Thirteen original classics fill the CD release, also available on old-school slipmat-scratching LP vinyl and stylish individual ring-tones of the original sampled loops. Other highlights include Lou Donaldson "Who's Makin' Love (To Your Old Lady)" from 1969, lifted by Marley Marl, Mary J. Blige and Biggie Smalls, and Joe Williams' "Get Out Of My Life Woman" from 1966, nicked by Biz Markie, Kool G Rap and Jill Scott.

An unusual CD side project built around John Garcia of Kyuss is the hard-rock record to beat in 2008. Call it sludgy, greasy, or stoner suburban, but thank Zeus for the decidedly electric stomp yard of Hermano's Into the Exam Room, a perfect fantasy soundtrack for Thor and Loki to throw down to in a Ralph Bakshi animated ballet. Formed in 1999 with members of Supafuzz and Disengage, the band's Regain Records release is a hair-raising psychedelic dream, a real headbanger awash in the earthy musk of Eddie Hazel, Slash, Black Sabbath, Warrior Soul, Alice in Chains, Zodiac Mindwarp, and the Butthole Surfers.

If your modern-day boogie leans deep into the heart-pumping grooves of Justice, LCD Soundsystem, Electric Six, The Rapture, The Teddybears, or Hot Hot Heat, take a little time-traveling trip next week and discover the roots on Strut Records' fantastic new-wave compilation Disco Not Disco. Opening with Vivien Goldman's classic "Launderette," the dub rumble is a perfect moment in time, built on a bass line by George Oban of Aswad with guest alchemists Robert Wyatt, On-U-Sound's Adrian Sherwood, and Steve Beresford of the Flying Lizards. Crazy about that roller-coaster bass shimmy? Long before riot-grrrl made its mark, the girlfriends of the up-and-coming Mekons pulled together to form the seminal Delta 5, represented here with the wickedly anti-posh "Mind Your Own Business," utilizing two bass guitars and plenty of mad moxie. And it just keeps getting better, flowing into a 12-inch edit of Shriekback's "My Spine Is the Bassline" from 1982, a sweaty club favorite featuring XTC's Barry Andrews and Gang of Four bassist Dave Allen. America is represented in a handful of nice picks: "Sharevari" from A Number of Names, "Contort Yourself" from New York City's no-wave saxophone prince James Chance & The Blacks, and Bill Laswell's Material collective and its "dance version" of "Lose Control," featuring Chic drummer Tony Thompson. The 14-track CD features extensive liner notes by historian Bill Brewster, author of the terrific book Last Night a DJ Saved My Life.