This week I have for you some thumbnail sketches of 2007 releases that I didn't have time to review during the year but are worthy of note for one reason or another. That was going to be the only "theme." But then I noticed something. Several stunningly attractive women lurked among the CD covers in the pile. And it got me thinking...

Sometimes I wish artists weren't allowed to put any pictures of themselves on their CD packaging.

Physical appearance can skew one's expectations unfairly. With very attractive artists, the listener can suffer from a kind of reverse prejudice. The camera adores Kyle Lardner, for example.

Her stunning photos stress her Sara Michelle Gellar eyes and lead one to think she might be a manufactured pop moppet. Not so - read on for a pocket review of her new CD.

Landon (or Landonband) is fronted by Landon Dunning. Her music is harsh and sore, serious and angry and rocking - Bob Clearmountain mixed it, 'nuff said? - but her face is absurdly beautiful. Landon has addressed this by titling her CD Defying the Stereotype and using a non-glamorous cover photo.

She looks closely into the camera, the black and white emphasizing her raccoon eye makeup, the beginning of a sly grin slightly curling her upper lip. The broken text of the title is stamped right across the middle of her face. So I'm fucking beautiful, she seems to be saying - what am I supposed to do about it? It's an effective technique. Listen to the forcefulness of the music and it stops mattering what the artist looks like.

Just the other day I got word that Lara St. John, whose Bach Violin Concertos is one of my favorite recent classical discs, has a new Bach recording out. When I went to check it out, I read up on the critically acclaimed violinist, and I found that she has a penchant for provocative CD cover poses. (This kind of thing tends not to come up when you're buying downloads and not CDs.)

Do I now think about this person differently, whom I earlier admired purely for her artistry? In some subtle way, probably.