William Shatner
Has Been (Shout! Factory/Sony)
Shatner may be crazy, but knows he's crazy, and that almost makes him sane. His "unique" spoken phrasing has been applied to pop gems before, but this thing's a bit different and more personal. The kickoff cover of Pulp's masterful prole anthem "Common People" is I daresay equal to the original. It's followed by efforts as incisive and even troubling as they are hilarious - blunt meditations on love ("Ideal Woman," "Familiar Love"), death (the revival-tent rouser "You'll Have Time" and "What Have You Done?," a bracing account of his wife's drowning) and of course celebrity ("Real" and the notable title track). The whole thing's carefully overseen by the brilliant Ben Folds, with guests including Joe Jackson, Aimee Mann, writer Nick Hornby and, on the cracking good omniphobic rant-duet "I Can't Get Behind That," Henry Rollins and Adrian Belew. 9/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

The Faint
Wet From Birth (Saddle Creek/ Outside)
Meaty basslines and carnivorous riffs, sawing SFX, a high-strung string section and a "raccoon-penis-bone on muffler solo" - how's that for a dance record? Finally following up 2001's Danse Macabre, Omaha's the Faint called on Bright Eyes' Mike Mogis to produce their fourth LP, a distinct step away from '80s revivalism. Beats and robotics are still the life of the party, but the band's action-packed arrangements, crude textures and nervous rhythms might overwhelm dancefloors and leave indie kids with a twitch. Despite hints of greatness, the Faint could be accused of trading their synthpop strengths for sonic excess. 7.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With TV on the Radio and Beep Beep at Cabaret La Tulipe, Mon., Oct. 11, 9 p.m. $18

Sweatmaster
Song With No Words (Bad Afro/Fusion III)
Baby Woodrose
Drop Out (Bad Afro/Fusion III)
Two of Scandinavia's finest show off their amazing record collections and put their own stamp on some psych, garage and punk rock classics. Finland's Sweatmaster start things off with two great originals but follow with excellent takes on the Misfits, the Modern Lovers, the Wipers and the Music Machine. Baby Woodrose get more obscure, applying their heavy psych sound to forgotten nuggets from the Savages, Painted Faces, the Lollipop Shoppe and the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, plus more than passable versions of better-known numbers by the Stooges, 13th Floor Elevators, Captain Beefheart, Love and the Saints. Both 9/10 (Johnson Cummins)

Nancy Sinatra
self-titled (Attack/EMI)
Nancy never did have much of a singing voice, still doesn't. But it wasn't pitch-perfect crooning that made the daughter of Ol' Blue Eyes such an icon. It was her cool quotient, her equal balance of come-hither and get-thee-hence. She's still got that by the bucketful and it comes through in these raw 'n' retro yet relaxed collaborations with folks like Jon Spencer, Jarvis Cocker, Morrissey, Thurston Moore and half of U2. Calexico's opener "Burnin' Down the Spark" truly harks back to Sinatra's days with Lee Hazelwood, while Little Steven's "Baby Please Don't Go" is a grand rocker. Nothing here beats "Boots," mind you. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Elvis Costello
The Delivery Man (Lost Highway/Universal)
On the heels of a tepid jazz album inspired by the Krall, England's Elvis further cements his jack-of-all-adult-contemporary-trades with a foray into country blues. With pedal steel, piano and guest stars Emmylou Harris and Lucinda Williams in place, Costello is transported from sterile jazz club to grungy honky-tonk, but one senses that he'd be more at ease with a pint in the pub. Cheers to him for regaining some passion and continuing to sidestep a rut by exploring different styles, but this is one territory he clearly won't revisit. 6.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Fatboy Slim
Palookaville (Virgin/EMI)
Big beat's big boy Norman Cook is still chipping away at his version of sampler-age bubblegum and as usual, while dropping a couple of true winners, padding his album out with toss-aways. Oddly, the lamer tracks are the ones showcasing guest stars like Lionrock's Justin Robertson and Damon "Tunekiller" Albarn. Even the take on Steve Miller's "The Joker" with Bootsy Collins comes off limp. But left to his own devices, Cook cooks. A tranced-up rework of Olatunji's legendary Afro drum track "Jin Go Lo Ba," the funky hippie-hop of "Don't Let the Man Get You Down" and the furious Dead Kennedys pastiche "Slash Dot Dash" kick some ass. 7/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Various
Cambodian Cassette Archives Vol. 1 (Sublime Frequencies)
Recorded in Cambodia and in the U.S. between the '60s and '90s, pre- and post-holocaust, this is the ultimate in disposable Cam-pop thrills. With hits like "Two Wives Are Twice the Problem" and "Don't Let My Girlfriend Tickle Me," these tracks have been culled from over 150 disintegrating cassettes found at the Asian branch of the Oakland Public Library. Moving from painfully primitive synth presets, jangly guitar and pulsing primal percussion, Sun City Girl Alan Bishop's label delivers an intoxicating blend of cha-cha, psych rock, classic metal and pulsing Cambodian new-wave pop. 8.5/10 (Raf Katigbak)

Mouse on Mars
Radical Connector (Sonig)
With cleaner sound and more predictable structures, the German duo try to broaden their audience, playing out like a wurst-eating, laptop-crushing version of Basement Jaxx. Unlike their previous, all-over-the-place Idiology, Radical Connector picks a single sound and sticks with it. Sadly, the results are intensely produced but more predictable with mere hints of the melodic pop brilliance of earlier releases like Distroia. From a newcomer Radical Connector would be an interesting first album to consider, but after ten years of brilliant groundbreaking productions, for better or worse, we've come to expect more from Mouse on Mars. 6.5/10 (Raf Katigbak)

Wylde Bunch
Wylde Times at Washington High (Columbia/Sony)
Taking the unstoppable-high-school-band concept to new heights, the 14 members of the Wylde Bunch have been playing together since Grade 10 advanced math. In an interesting mix of hip hop, rock, pop and soul, these guys grab everything they like from anywhere they can and camouflage it with hood-raps and catchy choruses. Clearly happy with how well Outkast's hip-pop push has opened the gates for black artists with something a little different, these guys seem to be having a lot of fun. They do a sly cover of Billy Joel's "Byg Shot" that could very well make the radio. Let's see if they can make it all the way through to graduation. 7.5/10 (Scott C)

Talib Kweli
The Beautiful Struggle (Rawkus/Blacksmith)
If Beautiful Struggle refers to the constant uphill battle involved in staying abreast of hot producers while balancing out insightful, politically relevant rhymes and punchlines, then Kweli has still got it locked. One might say that the only weak links on this record are musical, but it's no mistake that Kweli surrounds his soapbox with the likes of Just Blaze, the Neptunes, Kanye West, Charlemange, Dirty Swift and old partner in crime Hi-Tek. Longtime TK fans might balk at the beats, but this is clearly a man with a plan. Listen closely, because Kweli still says more in one song than a lot of MCs do in their whole career. 8.5/10 (Scott C)

Northern State
All City (Columbia/Sony)
They're one of the most irritating live acts I've ever seen, but that was three years ago, and with tighter rhymes, cooler production and quality guests (Har Mar Superstar!), NYC's three white lady MCs have made a record I can listen to without wearing a helmet. Lyrically, there's less snot, more laughs and more smarts on everything from misogyny to Ikea furniture to "smoking with John Kerry." The pressure of being pegged "the female Beastie Boys" is probably keeping Northern State on their toes, but Vancouver's Stink Mitt still shit bigger than this. 7/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Steel Pulse
African Holocaust (Ras/EMI)
Okay, there's absolutely nothing wrong with this album. Intelligent, politically charged lyrics, strong songs, pleasant harmonies, lovely horns, clean production - even the essays on black history in the liner notes are worth reading. Problem with African Holocaust is that there's just nothing right here. When David Hinds sings "downtrodden masses, get up off your asses," it's only the lyrics that supply urgency. A couple of moments in "No More Weapons" (featuring Damian Marley) are hot, but this makes it more painful when even Capleton (who appears on the disappointing "Blazing Fire") can't seem to help Steel Pulse get the fire burning. 7/10 (Erin MacLeod)

Boyz II Men
Throwback (Koch)
The idea of the Boyz doing an album of R&B covers seems like a no-brainer, but guess what - it's not. To start with, they inexplicably decide to remake funk essentials like the Dazz Band's "Let It Whip" and One Way's "Cutie Pie," which works about as well as *NSync doing Funkadelic. They're equally mundane on songs that should suit them better. For instance, Teddy Pendergrass's fiery passion on "Close the Door" and the Isley Brothers cool finesse during "For the Love of You" are completely lost throughout these lacklustre versions. In fact, the Boyz only approach credibility with Al Green's "Let's Stay Together." Beyond that, Throwback is just a big throwaway. 5/10 (Gerard Dee)

Mark Elf
Glad to Be Back (Jen Bay Jazz)
Peter Leitch
Autobiography (Reservoir)
It's time for guitar fanciers to rejoice. These are two of my favourite players at the top of their games. Elf is back after life-threatening medical problems and playing some smokin' bebop with David Hazeltine, Peter Washington and Lewis Nash acting as his most able assistants. Leitch, who grew up musically in Montreal, also picks topnotch musicians to play with - his musical buddy Jed Levy is here on tenor and flute, and so are George Cables, Dwayne Burno and Steve Johns. Both CDs mix standards and originals. Warm playing for the fall season. Both 9.5/10 (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

Mark De Clive-Lowe Tides Arising Sampler EP (Antipodean) MDCL mashes it tough on this early offering from the LP to come. Abdul Shyllon is God. 9 (SC)

Luciano Lessons of Life (Shanachie) When Luci sings, "Dem a try try try, can't hold me, dem a try try try, can't touch me," you believe him. 9 (EM)

NOJO City of Neighbourhoods (True North) This Toronto nonet is joined by the always inventive Sam Rivers, who just celebrated his 81st birthday. A most interesting and musical outing. 8.5 (LD)

TV On the Radio New Health Rock EP (Touch and Go) The new tune "New Health Rock" may be the band's most focused burst of torrential, transcendent soul punk yet. 8.5 (RB) With the Faint and Beep Beep at Cabaret la Tulipe, Mon., Oct. 11, 9 p.m., $18

Danny Michel Loving the Alien (Maple Music) From Ziggy Stardust to Thin White Duke and back, Michel does the Bowie good with creative arrangements and a sweet song selection. 7.5 (LC)

Milosh You Make Me Feel (Plug Research) Soulful, sexy, R. Kelly-meets-B. Fleischman blissed-out laptop R&B from Toronto. A warm, daring and mature debut. 7 (RK)

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