Autumn de Wilde

White Stripes, Icky Thump
The Stripes' spiky, guitar-solo-strewn sixth CD blends country, Scottish folk, and spacey F/X into one terrific pile of crash-and-holler that may be the duo's best album yet. Top of the heap: ''Conquest,'' a Patti Page cover that rolls like the soundtrack to a great unwritten (as yet!) Tarantino movie. Thump on! Release date: 6/19

Click here for director Michel Gondry's behind-the-scenes memories of the White Stripes videos he's directed — and his contribution to Icky Thump.

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