NEW YORK--Can a night that peaks with the disembodied vocals of The Cult's Ian Astbury be a good one?

Indeed.

Thursday night at the CMJ Music Marathon was an absurdly mixed bag. MP3.com did the rounds between Wyclef Jean's record release party at S.O.B.'s, ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead's raucous set at the Highline Ballroom, and the North American debut of UNKLE as a full band.

Mo Wax Records founder James Lavelle's UNKLE project has morphed over the years, moving between trip-hop, downtempo, and harder electronic breakbeat music, and somehow managing to find a common thread throughout each of them.

On UNKLE's latest, War Stories, Lavelle drifted toward a rock-focused sound, bringing in the likes of Astbury and Queens of the Stone Age frontman Josh Homme to sing on the record.

Keeping with its rock focus, last night's show at Webster Hall was the North American debut of UNKLE as a live band. Fronted by two guitarists and a bassist, Lavelle stayed at the back of the stage for most of the night alongside collaborator Psycho Pab, working a bank of tape loops, effects, and synths.

It could have easily been a forced mash-up of styles, but the group pulled it off, with Lavelle content to lay down the effects and atmospherics and let his instrumentalists and occasional guest vocalists shine. The sound was furious at times and downright spooky at others.

However, the aforementioned peak came on "Burn My Shadows," with the disembodied, prerecorded Astbury singing the charged lyrics on a screen behind Lavelle. The song is intense, made even more so by its riveting video, and it perfectly captured the dark, trip-hop-infused rock Lavelle sought.

Although he got plenty of help, Lavelle is clearly the visionary behind UNKLE. But across town at the Highline Ballroom, the two leaders of Austin, Texas-based rockers ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead were giving a master class in what works and what doesn't when two competing visions try to find a happy medium.

Co-frontmen Conrad Keely and Jason Reece have long been able to balance their respective talents, with Keely pushing the band toward more pop hooks and orchestral layers, and Reece basically tearing songs to bits with an unabashed fury.

The compromise has made for a sound that has changed from album to album, but what has remained is the band's knack for intense live shows, full of dramatic buildups and soaring climaxes. Last night's set was no different, particularly on "Naked Sun," a blues-tinged assault into which Keely poured himself.

This was big, heavy music, a stark contrast to the goings-on at S.O.B.'s downtown. Wyclef, the Fugee and Haitian jack-of-all-trades, kicked off the night with a party to tout the Dec. 4 release of Carnival II: Memoirs of an Immigrant, his seventh studio album and his latest attempt to repeat the success of his 1997 triple-platinum debut solo album, Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival Featuring Refugee All-Stars.

It was much more of a celebration than a show, with plenty of stops and starts, and all but a select few were kicked out before the full record was played. The album features yet another hilariously diverse cast of collaborators, this time including Paul Simon, Minister Louis Farrakhan on violin, and System of a Down's Serj Tankian.

Clad in a white suit, 'Clef treated the crowd to a two-song set, including the album's first single, "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)," which features Akon and Lil Wayne, although the crooner and the rapper were nowhere to be found.

It was brief, but far easier on the ears than the attempted stylings of Melky Sedek, the group of Wyclef's siblings that clearly wasn't ready to be onstage in front of people.