In Brief

* * * Burning Spear, “The World Should Know,” Heartbeat/Rounder. Burning Spear, the prime flagbearer of Rasta-oriented roots reggae, continues to rebound from a mid-’80s creative slump. This consummately crafted collection features taut, muscular riddims, contemporary keyboard swirls and strong, jazzy horn lines behind Spear’s inimitable village-elder voice delivering love songs and his perennial theme of personal identity. Burning Spear appears at the Santa Monica Civic on Saturday, the World Beat Center in San Diego next Sunday, La Casa de la Raza in Santa Barbara on July 19 and the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on July 20.

New albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).