The True False Identity (2006)

Before he became the most sought-after roots-rock producer, T Bone Burnett specialized in stern rocknoir chronicles — and on The True False Identity, his first solo record in 14 years, he still does. With its clanging rhythms and oblique social commentary, the disc does a good job of capturing the current climate of apprehension, paranoia, and malaise; Burnett's depictions of a world gone wrong ring truer than ever. Ultimately, though, his pinched delivery and humorless moralizing wear thin; by album's end, you wish he'd just start a blog.