One of the absolute best aspects about artists who choose to go the purely "conceptual" route--that is, artists who from the very start who seem to pay no heed to fashionable trends of the day and simply pursue that which drives them--is that time never lessens their appeal.

And Devo proves that point better than nearly any other rock 'n' roll band.

The Akron-based group, who caused a critical uproar in the late '70s with their seemingly formal theory of "de-evolution," their pioneering music videos, and the stirring 1978 album debut Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, seem as contemporary today as they did when they began--and their memorable videos, perhaps most notably their 1980 MTV hit "Whip It," perhaps even more trailblazing.

But the band, who furthered their reputation both critically and commercially with successful '80s albums such as Freedom Of Choice, New Traditionalists and Oh, No! It's Devo, eventually called it a day by 1991. Individual success would then greet band

Despite the fact that "MMMBop" came out 13 (yes, THIRTEEN) years ago, many people still frustratingly think of Hanson as that "kid band," those little golden boys with the long girly hair. The truth is, Hanson have steadily built a respectable career for themselves since their youthful beginnings, releasing four solid albums of impeccably crafted pop-rock since their 1997 boyhood breakthrough Middle Of Nowhere and now heading up their own label, 3CG Records. However, diehard music fans and, it should be noted, serious musicians have always appreciated and respected Hanson. The trio's praises have been sung by everyone from super-producer Butch Walker to electropop guru Har Mar Superstar to "American Idol" rebel girl Siobhan Magnus; singer Taylor Hanson was recruited last year to front the supergroup Tinted Windows with Fountains Of Wayne's Adam Schlesinger, Smashing Pumpkins' James Iha, and Cheap Trick's Bun E. Carlos; and the brothers guested on the allstar powerpop project L.E.O.

History may hold that there was really only one Bionic Woman--maybe two, if you count that classic TV show's failed remake--but Christina Aguilera is likely to change that with her new album, which bears the same Bionic Woman title but sounds like nothing that happened in the previous millennium.

With its striking cover illustration, which depicts Aguilera as an apparent android, to the much-viewed video for "Not Myself Tonight," the singer is moving forward artistically on a very conspicuous level. Collaborations with top-level artists abound on the new album, some of them surprisingly esoteric for a singer with such a broad commercial following--including M.I.A., Sia, LeTigre and Peaches, among others.

Aguilera will be all over the place in 2010, not least due to her highly anticipated appearance in Burlesque, a film bowing this fall that will feature her alongside Cher, Kristen Bell and Stanley Tucci and promises to be an eye-opener.

Y! Music recently had a chance to sit down with

It's big news when Jack Johnson releases a new album.

The much-loved singer/songwriter, who releases his new album To The Sea next week, has made a career of being a non-careerist--that is, by simply doing what he does, doing it well, and having a marked distaste for the typical marketing/promo blitz that dogs the efforts of nearly all of his contemporaries.

It's just part of what makes him different.

Perhaps more notably--and absolutely the exception to every rule in the entertainment business-Johnson makes a habit of taking his tour profits and, incredibly, donating them to charity. He did it in 2008 via the establishment of the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation, and will do it once again with this year's tour profits. And there will be tour profits aplenty.

To The Sea is a marvelous Jack Johnson album:  Intimately recorded in a near-live format in Johnson's own studio, the record captures the charm and seeming simplicity of the singer's music at its best. But of course "seeming"