Various
Le pop en duo (Le Pop Musik/Fusion III)
Can't say for sure that this was timed to coincide with Valentine's Day, but that would seem logical. The 16 boy/girl duets here come care of all sorts of chic French chansonniers - the old school (Birkin, Higelin) and the new (M, Katerine, Keren Ann), even a couple of locals in Jérôme Minière and Stefie Shock. Saving the sad-sack business for a later day, the tunes here may lean to the playful and silly or to the smoky and sexy, but they're uniform in their quality and catchiness. This is (almost) the best thing boys and girls can do together, and in an appropriately Romance language to boot. 9/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Kings of Convenience
Riot on an Empty Street (Astralwerks/EMI)
The kingdom of Norway's Erlend Øye and Eirek Glambek Bøe, as revealed in this sophomore document, used forlorn folk and dainty chamber pop to pacify its subjects, deify beauty and politesse and popularize the wearing of hearts on sleeves. Recalling such ancient monarchs as Simon & Garfunkel, the Kings sang in sweet harmony, twice with the fair maiden Feist, while stroking a variety of stringed instruments alongside their faithful court musicians. Despite having dabbled in the latest gadgetry, the Kings omitted such sounds from this document, yet they offered celebratory song amid the melancholy, lest their subjects be overly pacified. 7.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) At El Salon on Tues., Feb. 15, 9 p.m., $14
Antony and the Johnsons
I Am a Bird Now (Secretly Canadian/ Sonic Unyon)
Tellingly adorned with a photo of Candy Darling, one of Andy Warhol's tragic superstars, the sophomore LP by this New York act is preoccupied with love, longing and gender's greyest areas. Antony's beautiful, buttery warble, reminiscent of Bryan Ferry at his most eccentric, is backed by a lush piano score with tender infusions of strings and horns. Boy George, Rufus Wainwright, Lou Reed and Devendra Banhart lend extra sparkle to this graceful glitter-opera, which climaxes with "Fistfull of Love," a glorious slip 'n' slide of a soul song that's well worth the Santorum stain. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With Jordi Rosen at the Green Room on Tues., Feb. 15, 8:30 p.m., $12.50
...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
Worlds Apart (Interscope/Universal)
If you thought these displaced Texans delivered the panoramic epics before, you ain't heard nothing yet. Trail of Dead have never argued the fact that they're hooked on anglophonics, but this is so beyond your typical Britpop like Swervedriver or My Bloody Valentine. Take the lyrics in "Worlds Apart," where they poison the well of the American dream while drawing a line in the sand and daring the listener to cross. Instrumentation is lush and stacked high but it's the lyrics and the dangerous, guardrail-hugging curves that will have people gushing over this one. Pop music at its most inventive. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Femme Fatale
From the Abundance of the Heart, the Mouth Speaks (Last Gang)
Solo material recorded in 2003 by one half of Death From Above '79. Jesse Frederick's tricks in DFA '79, like vocoder vocals and the brief flirtation with electronics, can be sourced here, but Femme Fatale pulls out all stops. While his current band is all about the groove, this material goes right for the throat, leaning in a tech-metal direction like the Locust and Converge. With the six songs all clocking in at 10 minutes plus, Frederick whets our appetites for more. As good as DFA '79 are, he really excels with this moonlighting gig. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Harris Newman
Accidents With Nature and Each Other (Stange Attractors)
Guitarist Newman really wowed on his debut Non-Sequiturs, but the Montrealer has come far since then. Newman continues to flirt with traditional finger-picking style, but is able to push it in more experimental directions, like on the amazing opener "The Butcher's Block," where he is able to take a bluegrass stomp and add an Indian-flavoured raga. Newman's 32nd-note arpeggios are more than impressive, but it's his compositional skill that really makes this soar, as exemplified by the atmospheric psych-out with a slide on "It's a Trap (Part 1)." 9/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Various
Monika Force (Monika Enterprise)
With over 40 releases to date, Germany's Monika label has become synonymous with the leftfield sound of the fairer sex. If you love the minimalist adventurism of Kompakt but need just a little more sensitive pop structure to sink your teeth into, then this comp's for you. With vocals ranging from Niko-esque chanteuses (Chica + The Folder) to bratty punk (Cobra Killer) to Afghani all-girl raps (the Burka Band), Monika Force pairs wonderfully original artists like Barbara Morgenstern, Komeit and Masha Qrella with remixers and producers like T.Raumschmiere, Pole and Dntel. An emotive and pleasurable listen from top to bottom. 8/10 (Raf Katigbak)
Lemon Jelly
'64–'95 (XL/Select)
The U.K. duo of Fred Deakin and Nick Franglen have long excelled not only at awesome packaging but at what I'd call casual intensity - long, lazy tracks that unfold in the mildest manner, yet somehow grab the ear and hold it with sharp, shiny sounds. Their third album takes that approach to the vanishing point as each track starts from a single, near-perfect riff, loop or four-bar bit and works the damn thing into the ground. Also, aside from the Shatner soliloquy on the final track, LJ's beloved spoken-word element is absent. The results are more diverse, and frequently more rockin', than ever. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Fila Brazillia
Dicks (Twentythree/ Fusion III)
Besides the sticker that says "You Have Fila Brazillia's Dicks in your hand," the cleverness on this album is sorely lacking. Culled from sketches and outtakes from the making of their last album, Fila Brazillia have assembled 23 two- to three-minute mini-songs that, while maintaining some funk, sound incomplete and half-realized. Still, as unfinished as these tracks sound, and as lazy as Fila Brazillia may seem, they have mad skills for putting together chunky beats. Aspiring MCs looking for a blank canvas of solid backbeats still might want to pick up this disc. 6.5/10 (Raf Katigbak)
Tupac
Loyal to the Game (Amaru/Universal)
Man, y'all know how I feel about the hip hop afterlife, but it seems that no amount of complaining from me will be able to quell the bottomless pit of Tupac revisited. Here Eminem proves without a doubt why he should stick to producing for himself, lacing the dead and gone Tupac with equally lifeless production. It isn't until the very end of this LP that it shows some signs of life. Thanks in part to Spyda, Raphael Saadiq and my boy DJ Quik, Tupac is able to stay loyal to the game, even if he can't play any time soon. 7/10 (Scott C)
Sage Francis
A Healthy Distrust (Epitaph/FAB)
As with most of the music Sage Francis has produced, A Healthy Distrust immediately begs for printed lyrics to accompany the listening (and re-listening) process. Francis is a cynical, socially conscious poet who isn't exactly keen on making you shake your ass on a dancefloor, like the brainwashed in his tune "Dance Monkey." Instead, he challenges listeners to look and listen to what's up with the rest of the world, and how simply we're connected to all of it. His lyrical clarity is emphasized by the production help he enlisted from people like Sixtoo, Dangermouse, Joe Beats, Controller 7 and Reanimator. My joint is "Guns Yo." 7.5/10 (Scott C)
Luciano
Reggae Max 2 (Jet Star)
The Reggae Max series is a great way to get introduced to some of the best music Jamaica has to offer. Given that folks like Luciano (why'd he ever change his name from Jetpher McClymont?) are prolific as all get out, it's tough to know where to start. But never fear, you name the artist and Jet Star's sure to have already done the selecting work and released a Reggae Max showcasing the best tunes. As an added bonus, the CDs aren't that expensive. This compilation is full of hits, from "Lessons in Life" to "Ulterior Motive." 9/10 (Erin MacLeod)
Teedra Moses
Complex Simplicity (Universal)
R&B vocalist Teedra Moses was most recently heard on a couple of tracks on Raphael Saadiq's last album Ray Ray. He returns the favour here on the equally compelling "Take Me," a breezy mid-tempo joint that finds the two trading vocals with familiar ease. It's just one of the highlights on this refreshing debut. Although Moses's voice is on the light side, producer Paul Poli finds the right balance of soul and hip hop grooves to support her sweet if innocuous vocal style. As such, tracks like the soul-influenced "Backstroke" and the hip hop-fuelled "You'll Never Find (a Better Woman)," featuring Jadakiss, are equally effective. 8/10 (Gerard Dee)
Barbara Cook
Sings Mostly Sondheim (DRG)
Feb. 15 marks the centennial of the birth of songwriting great Harold Arlen. The wonderful Ms. Cook, whose soprano voice has been described as "crystalline," does four of Arlen's that Sondheim loved - "Bird's Won't Bud," "The Eagle and Me," "I Had Myself a True Love" and "I Wonder What Became of Me." This is a live Carnegie Hall performance of the titular show, recorded Feb. 2, 2001. She's joined by guest Malcolm Gets and her musical director, the late Wally Harper. Recommended to anyone who loves great American songs by the likes of Arlen, Sondheim, Berlin, Martin, Blane et al. 10/10 (Len Dobbin) Sondheim's Into the Woods is at McGill's Moyse Hall to Feb. 13, $10–$20
Mini CD Reviews
Crain Speed (Automatic) This art punk re-release from 1992 is thankfully getting a second wind. How the hell did we miss this the first time around? 9 (JC)
Katie Bull Love Spook (Corn Hill Indie) Ms. Bull is back, this time backed by wonderful musicians like Frank Kimbrough, Martin Wind, Joe Fonda and Matt Wilson. A nice mix of standards and originals by a top notch vocalist. 9 (LD)
Super Furry Animals Songbook: The Singles 1 (XL/Select) Un buddugoliaethus cerddgar carreg filltir heibio rhain mawr Cymraeg archwiliwrs, with two songs in their native Welsh. 8.5 (LC)
Gravenhurst Black Holes in the Sand (Warp/Oustide) Beautiful, experimental acoustic folk songs - a bold and wise signing to the usually bleepy, electronic future music of Warp. 8 (RK)
Insight The Blast Radius (Brick/Fusion III) Insight makes the beats, flips the bars, and even guests on his own tracks. 7.5 (SC)
Various Babylon OST (EMI) This 1980 flick about a West London soundsystem remains a fabled dream to me. Hopefully the reissue of the soundtrack (with wicked tunes by Yabby You) means a DVD release ain't too far behind. 7.5 (EM)
Ryan Mercer Music for Car Commercials (Forged Medical) Instead of zoom, zoom, zooming over treacherous terrain, this clever castrati takes the pop singer-songwriter path and nearly drives it home. 7 (LC)
>> Music Listings
