The White Stripes
Get Behind Me Satan (Third Man/V2)
Jack White's knowledge of rock 'n' roll history, matched with Meg White's primal Mo Tucker shuffle, is undeniable. But after the meteoric success of Elephant, where do they go? This time around Jack positions himself on a pile of pillows à la Donovan and settles in as a seasoned songwriter. Opener "Blue Orchid" is an instant smash, guaranteed to have their jock fans storming the dancefloors, but he is sure to confuse even the most ardent with songs like "The Nurse," where a marimba takes centre stage, or with the bluegrass of "Little Ghost." A couple of bones are thrown, like "The Denial Twist," but White now seems more comfortable just sitting behind the piano, as opposed to cranking it up. Let the bad reviews pour in, because it sounds like he couldn't give a toss what anybody thinks - which, as we all know, is the secret to any great record. 9/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Oasis
Don't Believe the Truth (Epic/Sony BMG)
The truth is that the Gallagher brothers haven't been relevant for years, yet this album's somewhat spruced up tones, textures and tempos buy them some time before Mick-and-Keith purgatory. Ever the serial plagiarizers, echoes of the Stones, CCR, the Velvet Underground and Badly Drawn Boy haunt this sixth LP, along with their old standby, the Beatles. However, much of the disc is free of the sludge that used to muddy and overstretch so many of their songs, and solid anthems like "Keep the Dream Alive" suggest that the Gallaghers still have some arena ambitions in them after all. 6.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
Money
Money We Are... (Orange/Universal)
Get past the fact that all five of the Peterborough, Ont. cats are the sons of Pentecostal preachers (um, not that it shows...), and the flair for fashion they display, and you're left with the core of the matter. Live, Money Money are a full-tilt, no-frills punk 'n' roll powerhouse with a brash disregard for the fourth wall. A lot of that bristle and bite has been sanded away here - too much, in fact, on the dubious "Bend & Break." Elsewhere, though, Ryan Kennedy's ragged howl punches holes through walls of needling guitar, underscored by big damn drum thump, an M.O. that delivers serious dividends on the grand title track and the ferocious "1988." 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Maxïmo Park
A Certain Trigger (Warp/Outside)
Warp gone rock? It's true, this Newcastle quartet is as close to Intelligent Dance Music as Aphex Twin is to the American Top 40. Not that Maxïmo Park's biting lyrics and breathless riffage make for typical radio fare, but the timeless flash of their economical hooks, melodies and climaxes have a substantially broader, more basic appeal. With multiple lone-wolf songwriters, this album's 13 tunes range from tightly-wound post-punk to jangly Britpop to a balls-out rip-off of Peter Gabriel's "Biko," the record's only real stinker. Otherwise, this is a solid premiere for Maxïmo Park, and for Warp. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
The 5.6.7.8's
Bomb the Rocks: Early Days Singles 1989-1996 (Sweet Nothing/FAB)
After their appearance in Tarantino's Kill Bill (yup, the house band in the notorious "Crazy 88s" sequence), serious rockaholics have no excuse for not knowing who these ladies are. Longstanding figures in Japan's lively retro rock 'n' roll demimonde, the 5.6.7.8's don't do cutesy bubblepunk like secretaries-on-holiday Shonen Knife. Hell no, their bag has been, from the get-go, dirty surf twang and rockabilly shuffle to complement their gritty, nicotine-stained, pool-hall-skank personas. Nasty, no-fi stuff here, though I question the absence of their sleazy wiggler "I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield." 7/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Audioslave
Out of Exile (Epic/Sony)
Maybe I'm stuck in the past, but Audioslave doesn't sound much different from Rage Against the Machine with Soundgarden's singer Chris Cornell. Maybe a producer with a fresh perspective (Rick Rubin we love you, but switch it up!), maybe some outside songwriting... Out of Exile has its moments, such as "Yesterday to Tomorrow" and "Heaven's Dead," but Tom Morello's mindbending solos seem misplaced and when it comes to straight-up rock, the musicians can come up a bit flat. Audioslave are growing, but still trying to find their feet. 7/10 (Lateef Martin)
Ray Ray
La Cité (Militant Muzik/Fusion III)
As a respected, regular contributor to Montreal's hip hop scene throughout the years, it was only a matter of time before Ray Ray dropped a piece where he was calling all the shots. Although La Cité finds Ray handling responsibilities on the mic, on the mix and in production, it's clear that multi-tasking may have left little room for innovation, something you can ususally count on Ray for. While most of the LP sounds like it was made with the radio in mind, and despite the absence of some standout banger heat, Ray is still the glue that holds it all together, hitting off friends like Bless, Stratège and Cobna, Sekou Toure, SAT and Busta Flex with his signature sound. 7.5/10 (Scott C)
Monolake
Polygon_Cities (Imbalance Computer Music/ Fusion III)
When Robert Henke began his sonic explorations as Monolake in 1995 (with then-partner Gerhard Behles), he had one mission: to blend his daytime knowledge of academic computer music with his nighttime clubbing obsession. The two came together like some kind of deep, dubby chocolate-and-peanut-butter combination. Ten years later, following his drone-drenched Signal to Noise album, Henke returns to form with Polygon_cities. But the results, while as nutty as ever, have achieved a certain dark, cold quality that might keep the listener from savouring the intricate processed goodness inside. 7/10 (Raf Katigbak) At MUTEK with nAnalog, Sense Club and more at Metropolis, Sat., June 4, 9 p.m., $32.50
Frankie Bones
Act Like You Know (System)
The story goes that in 1993, at one of Bones's pioneering NYC Stormrave parties, a fight broke out. Bones was credited with getting on stage and making a speech about showing peace, love and unity. Since that moment, he's been credited by some for creating the term "PLUR." The truth is, according to another DJ who actually played that particular party, that Bones really said, "If you guys don't start showing peace, love and unity right now, I'm going to break your faces!" This 75-nimute mix of Bones's own material and remixes is just what you'd expect from the outspoken rave pioneer: layered kick drums, rave synth stabs and jackin', in-your-face beats and breaks. Can you feeeeel iiiiiiiit! 8/10 (Raf Katigbak)
Brooke Valentine
Chain Letter (Virgin/EMI)
Like lead single "Girlfight," the debut by Valentine relies on a healthy dose of crunk to power a mainly upbeat release. "Taste of Dis" and "Ghetto Supastarz" follow hot on the heels of "Girlfight," both in tough-girl attitude and party flavour. But elsewhere, Valentine shows musical range with tracks like the acoustically-driven "Cover Girl" and the midtempo "Long As You Come Home," which includes a sample that makes good use of Dynasty's "Adventures in the Land of Music." The second half of the album gets bogged down with generic funk-lite tripe, but Valentine gets props for one of the most honest breakup songs on record, "I Want You Dead." 7/10 (Gerard Dee)
Various
Verve Remixed3/ Unmixed3 (Verve/Universal)
Various
Motown Remixed (Motown/Universal)
The third batch of remixed classics from the Verve vaults may focus largely, in its choice of originals, on the label's divas - Holiday, Horn, Vaughan, Simone. The contemporary producers called in to rework the stuff, though, range from RJD2 and Danger Mouse to Brazilian Girls, Junior Boys and the Album Leaf. That diversity, compounded by a genuine sense of adventure in each effort, leads to exceptionally interesting versions like the Postal Service's sweet 'n' high hacking of Nina Simone, Max Sedgley giving Sarah Vaughan's "Peter Gunn Theme" extra ammunition and Lyrics Born making Jimmy Smith's funky "Stay Loose" all the tighter. Now, the Motown mixes, on the other hand, are an all-around dud. I might give Salaam Remi's "krunk-a-delic party mix" of Jackson 5's "ABC" a pass, it's good enough, but the rest - even attempts by Z-Trip, Smash, Jazzy Jeff, Spinna and King Britt - only serve to undermine the great soul label's catalogue. Verve 8.5/10, Motown 5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Arnett Cobb
The Wild Man From Texas (Proper/SRI)
Lucky Thompson
Just One More Chance (Proper/SRI)
Two wonderful CDs from Proper's single-CD "Introduction to..." series. Both musicians are seriously underappreciated tenormen. The Cobb includes classics like "Go, Red, Go" and "Smooth Sailing" - "Booty" Wood, Dicky Harris, Ed Lewis, Johnny Griffin and Eugene Wright are among the sidemen here. Thompson, 87, has been inactive for some years now. His 23 tracks include the title piece, a classic ballad performance, as well as "Boppin' the Blues" and "From Dixieland to Bebop," from the same 1947 session. There are also sessions featuring the likes of Erroll Garner, Stuff Smith, Dicky Wells, Oscar Pettiford, Barney Kessel and Howard McGhee. Both anthologies contain the usual excellent notes and track details one expects from the people at Proper. Both 9/10 (Len Dobbin)
Mini CD Reviews
Dimlite Runbox Weathers (Sonar Kollektiv) Dimlite is like the Prefuse 73 IMAX experience. Glitch-chop-soul of epic proportions. 9 (SC)
Miguel Zenon Jibaro (Marsalis/Rounder) Zenon, who was here last year with the Liberation Orchestra, is a young saxophonist to keep an ear on. His latest consists of 10 of his interesting compositions. 8.5 (LD)
Various Wackies Sampler Vol. 2 (Wackies) A crazy variety of classic roots, dub, and dancehall from Germany's prolific Wackies reissue label - this one's a ringer. 8.5 (EM)
The Rocketeers Aux petites heures du matin (Rocketeers/Local) The chorus to the opener is, "Baie St-Paul, ville du rock 'n' roll!'' Yeah, yeah, yeah! 7 (JC)
Hal self-titled (Rough Trade/EMI) "What are you doing, Dave?" "Why, classic California pop, of course." "Oh...right. Carry on then." 7.5 (LC)
Shout Out Louds Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (Capitol/EMI) How can I sum up this Swedish emo band's debut more succinctly than they have? 5 (LC)
Jimmy D. Lane with Double Trouble It's Time (APO) Not even Hendrix engineer Eddie Kramer and Stevie Ray Vaughan's backing band can save this stinker. 3 (JC)
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