LCD Soundsystem
self-titled (DFA/Sonic Unyon)
The personal project of James Murphy, one-half of notorious NYC disco-damage production duo DFA, LCD Soundsystem has a stack of notable singles to its credit. Those expansive episodes of electro-funk-punk, like "Losing My Edge" and "Beat Connection," are here on a bonus disc, while some new songs, like "Disco Infiltrator" and the killer opener "Daft Punk Is Playing at My House," retain the chunky bass, digital dirt and Murphy's smartass, death-of-cool soliloquies. The album format allows Murphy to explore new ground, however, generating the Pong-core of "On Repeat," the Beatles-style reverie of "Never As Tired As When I'm Waking Up" and the sparse grandiosity of the finale "Great Release" - two words that sum up this disc. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
The Kills
No Wow (Rough Trade/Sanctuary)
Bettering their 2002 debut Keep on Your Mean Side, this American/English duo delivers chugging garage blues and classic rock 'n' roll melody, like the Raveonettes with all the fat and flesh hacked off. The most obvious comparison, however, remains PJ Harvey, with VV's straight-shooting blues-mama voice and Hotel's economical riffs, alternately breathless and roaring, recalling the 50-ft. Queenie at her meanest and most mechanic, with predatory sexual urges threatening to raise the roof. Flashes of tenderness illuminate songs like "Rodeo Town," but shadows dominate the Kills' underground enclave, and subterranean delirium has rarely sounded better. 8.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
Doves
Some Cities (EMI)
How often do Phil Spector's epic grandeur, the Velvet Underground's jangly drive and the good-time groove of Northern Soul engage in a convincing ménage à trois on one record? Manchester's Doves manage all that and more on their third LP, a more direct and concise exercise than 2002's The Last Broadcast, yet still brimming with beatific grace. Celestial pop doesn't get much better than "Some Cities" and "Sky Starts Falling," and even though a few tracks feel thick with whitewash, the band's majestic arrangements and soulful vocals are always inviting. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
Cephalic Carnage
Anomalies (Relapse/Koch)
This fourth release continues in the tech-grind direction, actually packing in more blast beats per second, and more technical precision, than their last record Lucid Interval. Their controlled chaos relies less on jazz this time around, going straight for the throat with stop-on-a-dime tempo changes ("Counting the Days") and keeping things interesting with some doom groove ("Piecemaker"). With this truly challenging listen, these grind kings are still sitting on the edge of the extreme. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
A-Frames
Black Forest (Sub Pop/Outside)
Apparently the "grunge" label really stuck in their craws, because Sub Pop's roster gets even more eclectic with this new one. Erin Sullivan's cold, hard vocals take centre stage here, while his Gang of Four guitar stabs offset his atonal deadpan perfectly. A-Frames carry on comfortably for the grandpappys of noise rock like the Scientists, Scratch Acid and especially Big Black, but they do dig a little deeper with a trashy groove suggesting the Slits. It's not all '80s posturing here, though, as "Eva Braun" proves these guys can really pen a tune if they find their backs against the wall. 8/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Hed p.e.
Only in Amerika (Koch)
Mentioning Malcolm X and Bob Marley in the same breath as "faggot," "bitch" and rape threats ain't the smartest thing you can do, especially if you're a white rap-rock failure. These boys pull out all the stops in offending everyone, from fags to groupie sluts to un-Amerikans to good MCs to Planned Parenthood and Deftones (likely because they know how to rock funk beats and heavy guitars properly). This is some of the most hateful, juvenile crap I've ever heard. I know it's kinda early in the year to proclaim this, but here goes: this is the Worst Album of the Year. 2/10 (Lateef Martin)
Canned Hamm
Erotic Thriller (Pro-Am)
While there's always a heartbreaking finality to the loss of innocence, there comes a time to "put aside childish things," as St. Paul once wrote. Vancouver's self-described "Princes of Poptronica," Big and Little Hamm, ditch the denim pantsuits, G-rated glee and Baby Huey bonhomie, effectively announcing to the world, "No more Misters Nice Guy, plural." (A clue as to why would be track 4, "Laughing at Me."). Their budgetronic karaoke cabaret has been sexplicitly sexy-fied, from their cosmic gigolo get-ups to triple-X tunes like "Couples Nite," "Love Handles" and the, um, tasteful "Seafood Taco." A rich, warm and slightly musky hot box of unadulterated consensuality. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) With the World Provider and Donkey Heart at la Sala Rossa, Fri., March 11, 9 p.m., $10
Mu
Out Of Breach (Output/Fusion III)
Maybe it's making up for their lack of rhythm or their inability to hold their liquor, but the Japanese have always had such a talent for throwing back American culture at an insane next level that it's gone beyond cute and into eye-rubbing amazement territory. Listen to Mutsumi Fulton, lead singer for punk-house duo Mu. On Out of Breach she's all up in your face with hilarious and disturbing shout-sung lyrics about Paris Hilton, Michael Jackson, freedom of speech and throwing up. Meanwhile hubby/producer Maurice Fulton's downright disturbing ambiences and inimitably twisted, funky-punk rhythms provide a perfect counterpoint. Musical mayhem akin to Melt Banana at the Paradise Garage. 8.5/10 (Raf Katigbak)
Beenie Man
Kingston to King of the Dancehall: A Collection of Dancehall Favorites (Virgin/EMI)
Since the Jamaican music industry is completely single-driven and artists are bloody prolific, rockist demands for solid, consistent albums are rarely, if ever, fulfilled. But when you've got a guy like Beenie Man with 50-plus number one hits, a compilation is going to kill. Kingston to King is a series of these top-ranking tunes (plus a DVD with a featurette and a bunch of videos), presenting Beenie Man's uncanny ability to spit out lines that get stuck in your head ("zim zimma," anyone?). With all the controversy surrounding Beenie's homophobic lyrics, it's good - and heartening - to remember that the most popular tracks are all good fun. 8/10 (Erin MacLeod) With Little D, Sampaloo, Satta Fyah and Ricky Ten at Dome, Fri., March 11, 8 p.m., $25
50 Cent
The Massacre (Shady/Aftermath/Universal)
We all watched as bodybuilder/ crack-dealer turned MC 50 Cent shot to instant recognition with Get Rich or Die Tryin', and we also watched while he cultivated the G-Unit empire. Well, Captain Hook is back, with more weak and lazy verses than you can shake a stick at. While 50 leaves a lot to be desired on the mic, he does write a masterful hook - lots of them in fact. Things start off with the neighbourhood joint "In My Hood" and quickly degrade to tracks like "Gatman and Robbin," featuring boy wonder Eminem. People got sweet on "Candy Shop," while "Disco Inferno" and "Outta Control" will get 'bows up all around, but high points go to "I Don't Need 'Em," thanks to my old friend Buckwild. Maybe I sip the Hate-o-rade a little too often, but the game has 50 preoccupied. 7.5/10 (Scott C)
Soul Supreme & Statik Selektah
Uncommonly Nasty (Nocturne/Fusion III)
These two guys have taken on the daunting task of remixing two of the most versatile MCs around, and manage to pull it off with mixed results. It's probably a given that if you plan to remix Common and Nas, you better have some heat up your sleeve, and Soul Supreme and Statik Selektah unfortunately miss the mark on tracks like "The Light" and "Doin It." "1-9-9-9" gets a bath and some cologne, but most of the Com mixes do not even match the originals. The Nas tracks, on the other hand, are on the whole well done and a nice change from the original mixes. Standouts include remixes of "Ether," "The Flyest" with AZ, and "Destroy and Rebuild." 7/10 (Scott C)
Various
The Rough Guide to Boogaloo (World Music Network)
In the late '60s, while Chicano rock was rising on the West Coast, the Big Apple's NuYorican scene was mashing up Motown and mambos. The upscale roster here - Tito Puente, Fania All Stars, Celia Cruz's snappy "Tumbaloflesicodelicofamoso" - is eminently respectable, if not entirely representative. I'd have liked to see the raucous revelries of Jimmy Castor and Joe Bataan thrown in, though Joe Cuba's clap-happy "Oh Yeah" will rock a block party in a pinch. A lively load of Latin soul jazz, nonetheless. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Normand Guilbeault
Mingus Erectus (Ambiances Magnétiques)
Dave Young
Mainly Mingus (Justin Time/Fusion III)
It's now been 26 years since bassist/composer Charles Mingus died of Lou Gehrig's disease, and his music lives on. The leaders of these two loving, live-quintet tributes are both bassists. Guilbeault's, done here in Montreal, has Jean Dérome, Mathieu Bélanger, Ivanhoe Jolicoeur and Claude Lavergne on eight tracks including Dérome's "MDMD" and a rousing "Moanin'" (my radio theme for many years). Young's is a Toronto session with Perry White, Kevin Turcotte, Gary Williamson and Terry Clarke, opening with "O.P." (Mingus' dedication to fellow bassist Oscar Pettiford) and "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" (for Lester Young). Both groups approach the music with reverence and spirit, though Guilbeault's is a little more on the cutting edge. Both 9/10 (Len Dobbin)
Mini CD Reviews
Russ Freeman Safe at Home (Just a Memory/Fusion III) A rare trio appearance on CD by a grossly unsung pianist, live in Vancouver in 1959. Cookin'! 9.5 (LD)
Greg MacPherson Band Night Flares (G7 Welcoming Committee) In a sea of punkers picking up acoustic guitars, MacPherson emerges as just a great singer/songwriter. Take that, Dashboard Confessional! 9 (JC)
Linton Kwesi Johnson Live in Paris with the Dennis Bovell Dub Band (BMG) LKJ's dub poetry is brilliant and bloody prescient - "music blazing sounding thumping fire" indeed. 9 (EM)
Choke Slow Fade or: How I Learned to Question Infinity (Smallman/Warner) With more than enough blindsiding hooks, Choke actually make melodic hardcore listenable again. 8 (JC)
Josh Rouse Nashville (Rykodisc) Wistful strains of pedal steel ornament this top-tier guitar pop record, Rouse's fond farewell to the city he's called home for a decade. 8 (LC)
A Guy Called Gerald To All Things What They Need (!K7/Outside) The techno legend and co-founder of 808 State falls short of the mark with some meandering ambience that never quite seems to get where it's going. 5 (RK)
>> Music Listings
