Hank III
Straight to Hell (Curb/EMI)
On this two-CD set, Hank Williams III, grandson of the godfather of country music, rails against both pop that hides under 10-gallon lids and the narrow-minded traditionalism that’s made a laughingstock of the Grand Ole Opry. Like his heroes Merle Haggard, David Allen Coe and GG Allin, Hank III is often very un-P.C. and remains one of country’s last outlaws, shooting straight from the hip on barbs like “Pills I Took,” “Dick in Dixie,” “My Drinkin’ Problem” and “Crazed Country Rebel.” Remaining close to his kin, Hank III steers his rusty old pickup down the dirt roads of drugs, drinking and fighting. He really delivers the middle-digit salute on the second CD, 45 minutes of musique concrete, tape collages, noise and psychedelia mixed with stripped-down country, guaranteed to challenge and confuse the country-music fan with even the biggest ears. 9/10 (Johnson Cummins)

Various
Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited (Barclay/ Universal)
Lots of star power present on this tribute to French pop’s late regent of reprobates, including Michael Stipe, Tricky and Franz Ferdinand (joined by one-time Gainsbourg girl Jane Birkin, no less). Marianne Faithfull is, well, faithful in her go at “Lola Rastaquouère” with Sly & Robbie, as is Jarvis Cocker and Kid Loco’s joint contribution. Marc Almond’s synth-pop swoon on “Boy Toy” takes liberties, as do the Rakes’ rocked-up “Just a Man With a Job” and Portishead’s uncharacteristically aggressive “Requiem for Anna.” The baseline brilliance of Gainsbourg’s songcraft shines through, though (except maybe on Cat Power’s crappy offering), and his unhurried, dissolute elegance informs the whole affair. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Femme Generation
Brothers and Sisters, Alone We Explode (Permafrost)
Following up their punchy 2004 EP, Circle Gets the Square, this Toronto foursome deliver a molotov cocktail of feverish rhythm and fiery vocals. Recorded in a barn, with the Fembots’ Dave McKinnon at the helm once again, the album infuses the melancholy-streaked sparseness of no wave with urgency and electronic frills. Disco-punk yelps, hearty hand-claps, cranked drums, circular guitars, lonesome horns, hilarious lyrics about drugs, dictators and child molesters and little homages to Chubby Checker and Aretha Franklin add up to essential listening. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Pink Mountaintops
Axis of Evol (Jagjaguwar/ Scratch)
From lo-fi blues to distorted junkie rock to robo-trucker gospel, Black Mountain’s Stephen McBean reduces dark backwoods music to a science with this strange little solo project. It’s weird science, sure, but the formula works, with all its fret squeaks, synthetic beeps and beats, reverberating guitars and everyman lead vocals. The socialist, pacifist spirit of classic folk meets the devout tones of old spirituals on tracks like “Plastic Man, You’re the Devil” and “Lord, Let Us Shine,” while Vancouver’s drug ghetto is evoked on “Cold Criminals,” “New Drug Queens” and “Slaves.” It’s not pretty, but there’s always appeal in the underbelly. 7.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

The Derek Trucks Band
Songlines (Sony BMG)
Trucks may live in the shadow of his colleague Warren Haynes in the Allman Brothers Band, but left to his own devices, this young and incredibly talented slide-guitar player is about as good as it gets. Unfortunately, his incredible performance skills often outshine his songwriting. Trucks’s guitar playing on Roland Kirk’s “Volunteered Slavery” and the Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan-penned “Sahib Teri Bandi/Maki Madni” are worth the price alone, while his own ditties, like “Revolution,” will inevitably fall prey to the skip button. Thankfully, Trucks balances his strengths and weaknesses—his own compositions barely make up half this set list. If there’s a more inventive, soulful and technically proficient slide guitarist out there, I’ve yet to hear him. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)

Lindstrom & Prins Thomas
self-titled (Eskimo/Fusion III)
You should all know by now that I’ve been on Eskimo’s jock since nigh on forever. Not because using the rather racialist descriptor “Eskimo” to name your label is a sign that we may finally be past the fascism of pre-millennial political correctness, but simply because they put out the best mix CDs ever. Now, with the release of an LP from Norwegian remix celebs Hans-Peter Lindstrøm and Thomas M. Hermansen, they also release the best artist’s albums ever. Here, the duo drop some of that deep, Italo-inflected, Moroder-esque, mid-tempo disco that all the jocks are elbowing each other for at the record stores, and add to it a few choice, sprightly, contemplative instrumental downtempo numbers. 9/10 (Raf Katigbak)

Goldie
Drum & Bass Arena: The Classics (Ministry of Sound/ Fusion III)
While Goldie may now be more known for errant behaviour, like smashing some bloke’s head with an ashtray at a pub for saying “I saw you on Eastenders,” at one point he was actually a top producer and hella tight DJ. Here, Goldie takes it back to the old school, thankfully choosing to do our heads in with breakbeat classics instead of tabletop cigarette receptacles. Basically, every single drum & bass smash from the last decade makes an appearance, kicking off with Goldie’s own “Inner City Life” and including essential tracks by Krust, Roni Size, John B, Johnny L, Shy FX, Dillinja and, well, everyone who’s everyone. 8.5/10 (Raf Katigbak)

Nightmares on Wax
In a Space Outta Sound (Warp/ Outside)
DJ George Evelyn has done his share to popularize lush, downtempo, instrumental electronic compositions that lean heavily towards the hip hop template, but like many of the dudes who once championed these sounds, he has somehow been shipwrecked and essentially robbed of any contemporary creativity. That’s not to say that none of the tracks on this offering will get your head nodding. Evelyn has a firm grasp on the sonics of production at this point, but it seems like a static approach to funk, soul and hip hop that clings to the accolades he was getting for LPs like Carboot Soul and Mind Elevation, while missing the point altogether. 7/10 (Scott C)

Natural Self
Let Peace Be the Ruler EP (Breakin Bread)
Natural Self’s antiquated approach to production makes his music sound like it could be some lost jewel from the turn of the ’70s, made by people who could have only dreamt of the future of hip hop and breaks. The huge drums on “Solomon” are indicative of the gritty NS sound, and set the stage for tunes that only get better. The “Into the Sun” remix, with partner in crime Nostalgia 77, makes for unapologetic dancefloor jazz to keep you moving. “Black Orchid” could be a funeral song with its spotlight on cello and percussion, but it rounds things out quite nicely. Spearheading an original sound in 2006 isn’t easy, but some seem to make it look easy as pie. 8/10 (Scott C)

Rico Rodriguez & Roots to the Bone Band
Togetherness (Delanuca)
From the dawn of ska, through the rise of Rastafarianism and the Two-Tone era to today’s worldwide appreciation of old-school Jamaican soul, reggae’s premier trombonist, Rico Rodriguez, has played with most of the sound’s biggest figures. Here, in a live set from Buenos Aires in 2000, Rodriguez is joined by an A-list of Argentine ska-balleros for a spread that reflects his long history. A couple of episodes of cheesy jamminess from the band mar this platter, but steps back to classic rock steady (a take on Don Drummond’s “Eastern Standard Time,” for instance) and some bonus marimba make up for that. Rico’s lusty, lazy ’bone, however, is front and centre throughout. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Shane Philips
Everybody (Mile End/Outside)
It’s nice to hear some first-rate contemporary soul coming out of our own city. Montreal-based singer Philips is definitely a throwback to ’60s R&B, though his sound is still fresh. The album has a genuinely organic feel, thanks to hefty servings of guitar licks, piano riffs, drum rolls and all the other accoutrements of a live band sound. It’s the perfect setting for Philips’s strong and pleasantly unpolished vocals. The energetic title track acts as a jubilant gateway to an album that is equal parts party (“Superfly,” “Flava Jam”) and intimacy (“She’s Mine for Life,” “More Than I’ve Ever Known”). Philips is a welcome shot in the arm for the local soul scene. 8/10 (Gerard Dee)

Jimmy Raney
Woody Herman’s Cool Guitar Player (Quadromania/ Festival)
Despite the dumb title—Raney, who died in 1995, only spent a short time with Woody in the ’40s—this is a superb, bargain-priced four-disc package. Raney was one of the most influential guitarists of his time, and this release contains 50 examples of his playing, beginning with some sides he made with Kai Winding and Blossom Dearie in 1949. Also included are the great Getz at Storyville session, the Norvo trio with Red Mitchell, the sides he did with Mitchell and Sonny Clark in Europe in ’54, a session involving Phil Woods and one with Hall Overton on piano from the same year, and a 1955 session with the almost forgotten John Wilson on trumpet. A must for the collector of jazz guitar gems! 10/10 (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

Andrew Hill Time Lines (Blue Note/EMI) This latest from creative genius Hill, a pianist/composer of the first rank, has Charles Tolliver and Greg Tardy in the frontline on seven tracks, while “Malachi” is a solo track from the leader. 10 (LD)

Satoshi Tomiie Renaissance 3D (Renaissance/Fusion III) A three-CD triple threat that takes us from the club (mid-tempo tech-disco) to the studio (Tomiie’s deep-tech remixes) to the home (original grooves from Miles Davis, Roy Ayers, Jaco Pastorius) in style. 8.5 (RK)

Buttless Chaps Where Night Holds Light (Mint) They could’ve been contenders, but bare-assed cowboys always get the shaft. 6.5 (LC) With Snailhouse at the Green Room on Sun., March 19, 9 p.m., $8

Alchemist Embryonics 90-98 (Relapse/Koch) Early demos from Australia’s heaviest hit home on the psychedelic moments, but their overreaching can get a little too disorienting. 6 (JC)

Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (Domino) Bearing that title in mind, Arctic Monkeys are unique, underrated and somewhat listenable. 4 (LC) With the Spinto Band at the Spectrum on Wed., March 22, 9 p.m., sold out

Panic! at the Disco A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out (Decaydance/Warner) An unholy fusion of mall punk, prog-pop, Counting Crows and Barenaked Ladies. This is one deeply uncool record. 3 (RB)

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