Team Canada
Classic Material Vol. 1 (TCR)
If you haven’t already heard, Montreal’s Team Canada (DJs D.R.One and Grandtheft) have been tearing up decks and dancefloors across the country in some well-executed moves to achieve household-name status. This CD is the next move, where they employ their uncanny ability to mash up just about everything under the sun for shake appeal, mass appeal and some hilarious shit. Take for instance the Beatles’ “Carry That Weight” married to Biggie’s “10 Crack Commandments,” or the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” with Sean Paul’s “Gimmie the Light.” This genius mix keeps on moving unpredictably through songs from everywhere, and will have you smiling from start to finish. Check out Sinatra’s “My Way” mashed with “Grindin’” by the Clipse if you think you know what’s up. 8.5/10 (Scott C)
The Mission District
self-titled (independent)
With plenty of modern vigour up their suit sleeves, this local quintet packs the romance and melancholy of ’80 Britpop into every picked riff and woozy lyric on this three-song single, giving the Organ a run for their rep. Don’t expect a battle of the sexes between those Vancouver ladies and these Montreal lads (they shared the stage at last summer’s Divers/Cité Sex Garage event), but David Rancourt’s vocals would win a butter-melting contest any day. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With Heroes and Villains at Main Hall on Friday, Jan. 27, 9 p.m., $6
Skip Jensen
Abscond (Delta Pop)
For an idea what this Scat Rag Booster and now one-man band sounds like, imagine blues-punk sung by Pere Ubu’s Dave Thomas with his foot caught in a bear trap. That, of course, is a very good thing. All songs were recorded in Jensen’s bathroom with a four-track on the crapper, capturing every howl, tiled reverb, foot stomp and out-of-tune twang in glorious lo-fi. Jensen’s songs are best bare, and on songs like “High Horses,” he proves to be well versed in the blues. His great take on garage folk on “Promised Land” shows the homework has paid off well. Fans of Hasil Adkins and Bloodshot Bill should take note. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
The Gourds
Heavy Ornamentals (Eleven Thirty)
Equal parts Doug Sahm and Little Feat, these Texans spice up their take on American roots music with zydeco, soul and Tex-Mex touches, and further cover their tracks with lyrical shout-outs to Johnny Thunders. This isn’t exactly a cakewalk through their record collection, though. On the the Band-esque “Burn the Honeysuckle,” singer Kevin Russel confesses to being a child panther killer, and things get even weirder on “New Roommate,” when Russell delivers one of the greatest rock ’n’ roll lines ever, “Couldn’t buy a bag of farts,” with an absolutely straight face. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
The Elected
Sun, Sun, Sun (Sub Pop)
Jenny Lewis With the Watson Twins
Rabbit Fur Coat (Team Love)
Two members of L.A. indie pop band Rilo Kiley released side projects this week, a debut for singer Jenny Lewis and a sophomore LP by Blake Sennett’s the Elected. The latter’s 2004 album, Me First, was an intriguing clash of beats, strings and lap steel, but the follow-up is less concerned with forging new ground than striking a classic pop/country chord for the masses. The band’s mini anthems and earnest indie-boy vocals conjure images of Conor Oberst doing country for AM radio, on Prozac. Lewis, meanwhile, takes country in a cleaner, crisper (not to mention more “conscious”) direction, borrowing from the warm antiquity of Patsy Cline ballads and the youthful innocence of early Beatles, with a heady dose of soul. Despite the Shining creepiness of gospel backup singers the Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat gets the ribbon. Elected 5.5, Jenny Lewis 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
Super Numeri
The Welcome Table (Ninja Tune/Outside)
While I was intrigued to see Ninja Tune sidetracking into the arena of avant-garde, “out there” chamber rock, Great Aviaries, the debut by this Liverpool collective of a dozen plus, never really took wing. Neither do a number of tunes on the band’s sophomore effort. Like famous Russian novels, they go nowhere and take fucking forever to get there. But other moments shine, particularly the impressive, 24-minute opener “The First League of Angels,” which boasts the nimble rhythm athletics of Can and early Pink Floyd’s piercing guitar signals duking it out until the chimerical mystery music (hint: the harp is a major factor) that’s been churning underneath boils up to the forefront. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
DJ Hell
Größenwahn: 1992-2005 (International Deejay Gigolo/Fusion III)
While it seems DJ Hell has garnered a reputation as the superstar DJ everyone loves to hate, there’s no doubt that he’s always brought something, well, special to the table. But if there was any serious doubt about Hell’s contribution to techno, this double CD (the first part a retrospective of his 13-year career, the second a collection of remixes of his last album NY Muscle) should silence all haters. Combining classics like “Suicide Commando” and “Keep On Waiting,” updated edits of “Like That” and “Definition of House” and solid remixes by Tiefschwarz, Villalobos, Superpitcher and Dave Clarke, this is a 24-track detonation of dark, driving dancefloor debauchery. 8.5/10 (Raf Katigbak)
Joris Voorn
Fuse Presents… (Music Man/Fusion III)
You know I got all giggly when I saw this promo in my docket. After all, it was the Fuse series, named after the Belgian techno Mecca, that made me discover the bananas mix-mastery of DJ Dave Clarke. Kicking off with the gorgeous ambient pads of Reload’s “Amenity,” Rotterdam DJ Voorn wastes no time in getting down to business with an odd, twisted James Holden mix of “Safari.” From there, Voorn is obviously stepping into a minimal and funky future (tracks by Marc Houle, Steve Bug, Matthew Dear) while having one foot planted firmly in the past (nods to forefathers Lil Louis, Arthur Baker, Jeff Mills, Carl Craig, Rino Cerrone). 8.5/10 (Raf Katigbak)
Various
Gomma Gang 3 (Gomma/Fusion III)
The German Gomma label’s major contributions to the current crop of damaged disco and neo-electro are Whomadewho and Munk, the latter having mixed this comp of Gomma hits and hard finds from the last two years or so. Likewise, the best tracks here are theirs. Whomadewho’s “Satisfaction” offers just that with its screechy rock overload, while their reworking of “Kick Out the Chairs,” Munk’s collab with DFA’s James Murphy, kicks indeed. Midnight Mike’s remix of Munk’s “Disco Clown” is no slouch either. But the balance of the material here, flat and uninspiring, hollers, “Drink up and catch that last metro while you can, nightclubbers.” 6/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Arabesque
The Frenzy of Renown (Sin Nombre Records)
The gifted flows of rapper Arabesque were sharpened in his native city of Toronto, but his ticket to international attention was given to him by U.K. label Sin Nombre. Arabesque is one of those cats who makes it look easy every time he picks up the mic, as you’ll hear on tracks like the excellent “Stardust.” On “Choked Up,” his raspy flow recounts the loss of a very close friend, while on “Occupied” he teams up with Montreal’s Euphrates for a heavy tune laced with big drums and drama. At 14 songs, this record seems much more realized than a longer LP, simply because of the quality of almost all of the tracks. My pick is the honest swagger of “Ouwei,” which is bumping through my head even now. 8/10 (Scott C)
Mary J. Blige
The Breakthrough (Universal)
Unlike ’03’s Love & Life, which featured a happy-go-lucky, post-No More Drama Mary, her latest is a combination of true-love euphoria and real-life drama. Sure, Mary’s still happy, offering accolades to love with tracks like “No One Will Do” and lead single “Be Without You.” And her performance of the Raphael Saadiq-produced “I Found My Everything,” a ’60s-styled torch song, would make Aretha smile. But it’s clear she still understands heartache and pain. On “Good Woman Down,” she assures the sisters that she’s still down with the struggle, while “Enough Cryin’” and “Baggage” lay claim to a past riddled with pain. After all, what’s Mary without a little drama? 8/10 (Gerard Dee)
Renee Rosnes
And the Danish Radio Big Band (Blue Note/EMI)
This renowned, Regina-born pianist is joined here by a wonderful orchestra in arrangements by the superb, if underappreciated, arranger (and pianist) Jim McNeely, who also conducts here. Included among these eight tracks are J.J. Johnson’s “Lament,” a jazz ballad of the first rank, McNeely’s “In This Moment,” and a number by Rosnes—“Bulldog’s Chicken Run” (for bassist Ray Drummond), “Black Holes” and “Ancestors.” Besides Rosnes’s piano, there are a number of ear-catching solos from band members, including those of tenorman Bob Rockwell. 9.5/10 (Len Dobbin) With bassist Neil Swainson and drummer Terry Clarke at Upstairs, Sat.–Sun., Jan. 28–29
Mini CD Reviews
Denzal Sinclaire My One and Only Love (Verve/Universal) An impressive new CD from the former Densil Pinnock, produced by Brad Turner and featuring Brad and the outstanding Seamus Blake. Try “Honeyman” from Porgy and Bess. 8.5 (LD)
Llorca My Playlist (Creative Vibes/Fusion III) An incredibly soulful and funky comp by the F-Comm artist. Could this be yet another early warning sign of the next French-touch tsunami? On ne sais jamais! 8.5 (RK)
Tiombe Lockhart The Tiombe Lockhart Bootleg #1 (independent) Platinum Pied Pipers vocalist Lockhart gets down with a live band, weaving sweet/jagged soul and the tipsy limp of a sexy drunk. 8 (SC)
Clearlake Amber (Domino) This U.K. band sounds bigger and better on LP three, produced by Steve Osborne (Doves, New Order etc). Look for them in an arena near you. 7 (LC)
George Carlin Life Is Worth Losing (Atlantic/Warner) Following a millennial beat-jive vamp, the Bob Hope of misanthropes gleefully discusses suicide (other people’s, eh, not his own). 8 (RB)
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan Ramblin’ Man (V2/Sony BMG) Campbell teams up with Queens of the Stone Age’s Lanegan, but the four songs on this just don’t register over the short trip. 6 (JC)
Eric Burdon Soul of a Man (SPV/Fusion III) This living icon still possesses the throat of gold, but swings and misses on this one. 5.5 (JC)
>> Music Listings
