Various
Let Me Tell You Boy: Soulful Sounds From Reggae’s Greatest Female Talents (Trojan)
A recent attempt at putting together a good, strong mix of women doing reggae led me to admit the unfortunate yet obvious: Jamaican music is ridiculously male-dominated. Until girls flood the scene and women like Ms. Tanya Stephens get equal respect, we’ll just have to be thankful for compilations like this. Great soul tunes inna reggae style performed by the usual suspects (Marcia Griffiths, Dawn Penn, Judy Mowatt, Pam Hall and the like), but man, these women can sing. “Lovin’You” by lover’s-rock superstar Janet Kay is a standout, as is the lighthearted take on “Take Another Little Piece of My Heart” by Hortense Ellis. 9/10 (Erin MacLeod)

Islands
Return to the Sea (Equator)
Chamber, music hall, hip hop, calypso and pop do the deed on the highly anticipated debut album by this local band, featuring former Unicorns Nick Diamonds and “J’aime.” With little trace of their old band’s unrelenting prankster vibe, the boys play it honest, clean and pretty, the kind you could take home to mother. Forget about punk and indie rock—Islands and their guests (mostly members of Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre and Torngat) are impeccably skilled musicians, but that’s not to say that they’re afraid to wade in murky waters (and sully their white uniforms). It’s pleasant and playful, but this record holds enough grit to keep it real. Oh, and don’t bother trying to extract “Rough Gem” from your skull. It’s movin’ in. 8.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Mudhoney
Under A Billion Suns (Sub Pop)
Wrongly so, Seattle’s Mudhoney will always be slapped with the grunge tag, which does sting a bit because their recent, albeit infrequent releases have been great psychedelic rockers. Never out to reinvent the wheel, Mudhoney are still one of the best garage bands out there, with their trademark fuzz pedals making a triumphant return and their songs meandering into the psychedelic sphere. Now that they are well beyond the blinding limelight, Mudhoney still prove to be full of piss and vinegar—songs like “Where Is the Future” and the epic “Blindspots” suggest that their best years may be still to come. 7.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)

Pretty Girls Make Graves
Élan Vital (Matador/Select)
Their formula hasn’t changed tremendously since 2003’s The New Romance, but this Seattle quintet’s muddle of indie rock, punk, pop, emo and no-wave now has more room to breathe. Their third LP, produced by Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, Destroyer), features Leona Marrs on keyboards, accordion and melodica, a refreshing addition to a sound that’s also become more varied in tone, from punchy mini-anthems to sinister mood music. That said, the band’s rote, juvenile lyrics, uneven vocals and abundant half-baked tunes make them sound like amateurs, and not in the good way. Another disappointment. 6/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Atreyu
A Deathgrip on Yesterday (Victory)
An apt title. Atreyu stick to what they’re good at—generic rock with occasional nu-metal tendencies—because it pays the bills. The fans will love it because it’s what they liked on their previous album, The Curse. I’m a fan of good growling and screaming, but what turned me off about Alex Varkatza’s growling is that it sounds like he’s got egg yolk in his throat. Musically, it sounds like the world’s gonna end on every song. To their credit, these boys sure know how to sling a hook, and their digging might seem deep if you didn’t know any better. 5/10 (Lateef Martin) With Deftones, Thrice and more at Stade Uniprix, Sat., April 15, $35, all ages

Venom
Metal Black (Castle/Sanctuary)
Riding the hoopla generated by the recent re-issues of Venom’s earlier work, Metal Black proves to be a disappointment all the way through. Original guitarist Mantas and drummer Abbadon know when to say when and don’t make appearances here, while original singer Cronus enlists tired metal hacks and phones in a caricature of the once-innovative band. Cronus has hardly kept up with metal’s evolution, and continues to write dated lyrics, like “I bear the soul of Satan” on “Antechrist.” Things just get worse with clunkers like “Rege Santanas,” “Lucifer Rising” and “Burn in Hell.” Avoid! 5.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)

The Streets
The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living (679/Warner)
Album three ties up the transition of Mike Skinner, point man for the current influx of U.K. garage (or grime or Brit-hop or whatever) from wide-eyed, bedroom-bound beat nerd to battered, canny vet of stardom’s first round. He’s not the first to dissect his own descent into celebrity self-destruction, but few have done so with equal clarity, ruthlessness and eloquence, or balanced odes to hotel-room trashing and financial freefall with a sober, searching reflection on their own spiritual void (“Never Went to Church”). While Skinner’s rhymes are at their most potent and piercing, his tracks, though more varied and surefooted than ever, are all business, muting the spark that made Original Pirate Material such a revelation. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Ghislain Poirier
Rebondir EP (Rebondir)
Following some noted production jobbies and a strong album on Chocolate Industries, Montreal’s busy Mr. Gizzy inaugurates his own label with an EP of his homestyle variant on U.K. garage, full of groaning bass and snapped-bolt beats. Poirier benefits from a background in minimal techno, hence his capability with space and contrast (a boon for his MCs here—Omnikrom, France’s TTC crew and, for a lil’ Queen’s English, Nik Myo), but more importantly, he understands what the best of Britain’s grimesters do as well: mirth and murk, balanced correctly, make for a potent brew. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) CD launch with Figure8 at Zoobizarre, Sat., April 15, 10 p.m., $7

Natural Self
Let Peace Be the Ruler (Breakin’ Bread)
There’s something about gargantuan drums, bass and percussion that Natural Self understands as the basis of his doleful, tragic and spirited sound. Incorporating the depth of Africa, the soul of Brazil and a hip hop sensibility soaked in jazz and breaks, this album screams for a live show and all-star musicians for the tour. Stacked with vocal talent from Alice Russell, and various musicians from the Quantic Soul Orchestra, Keno-1 is the man responsible for making all this happen, and seems to have stumbled upon a truly original hybrid of all of his favourite kinds of music. 9/10 (Scott C)

Various
Afterdark: Montreal (Kinkysweet/Koch)
Once again, the spotlight is on Montreal’s tastemakers as the Afterdark series takes its eighth volume to la belle province. Thanks to the accomplished Jojo Flores and Nav Bhinder, the new sounds of Montreal house are intricately mixed on this double CD. While Flores favours Ashen & Walker, Lost Tribes of Ibadan and Osunlade on the first disc, Bhinder champions Fred Everything, Miguel Graça and Roy Davis Jr. on the second. The sounds of house-music production in Montreal continue to evolve with the help of several healthy labels represented here, and the continued support and export by guys like Jojo and Nav. If you like your house “sophisticated” as well as soulful, then look no further. 7/10 (Scott C)

Javier
Left of Center (Capitol/EMI)
On his self-titled ’03 debut, Javier established himself as an intriguing singer/songwriter whose brand of R&B included songs that incorporated jazz and folk, and told interesting stories. However, his sophomore effort gets bogged down with too much commercially ambitious R&B that often makes Javier sound like any other urban singer. Saving graces here include the slinky “You’re the One,” which effectively uses a sample of the Meter’s funky “Just Kissed My Baby,” “The Answer is Yes” and “Is This Love,” both of which benefit from larger-than-life backing vocals, and “Once We Start,” an easy groove tailor-made for summer. Hopefully, on his next set, Javier will rediscover his centre. 7/10 (Gerard Dee)

Amanda Mabro and the Cabaret Band
Superwoman in the Making (XXI-21)
Cool but not distant, gutsy but not brassy, sexy but not sleazy, this local group’s proper debut is a class act. Co-written and produced by Cabaret Band member Cozmos Quazar, the 13-track record features light, fluid arrangements of voice, piano, bass, drums and acoustic guitar. Mabro’s versatile voice and confident lyrics pack in a lot of personality, a refreshing change from the sometimes vacant, wispy singers and writers in contemporary jazz pop. In a genre that’s so often relegated to retro, or watered down by hacks, Mabro and the Cabaret Band’s music lives and breathes. 7.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) CD launch at Main Hall, Fri., April 14, 9 p.m., $8

Murley-Braid Quartet
Mnemosyne’s March (Cornerstone)
Veteran reedman Mike Murley teams up with pianist David Braid, one of the brighter young musicians on the Toronto scene. Bassist Jim Vivian and drummer Ian Froman complete this quartet captured during an engagement in the beginning of 2005 at Lothar Lang’s famed Montreal Bistro & Jazz Club in Toronto. There are seven memorable tracks here, Harry Warren’s “I Wish I Knew” and three originals each from the co-leaders. Braid’s “Dream Recording” and Mike’s extended ballad “Cascade” would be good items to sample from this one. 8.5/10 (Len Dobbin) Kevin Dean’s Organ Band, with Mike Murley, is at Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill, Fri.–Sat., April 14–15

Mini CD Reviews

Various Seasons Rhythm: Rhythm Streetz Series #5 (Don Corleon Jamaica) Take a listen to “Love Is,” “How Come” and “Far From Reality,” and tell me this isn’t one of the best riddims of the last year. 9 (EM)

Eugene Marlow Making the Music Our Own (MEII Enterprises) Just in time for Passover, Marlow successfully fuses liturgical melodies with jazz—try his piano-trio version of “Hatikva.” 8.5 (LD)

The Black Angels Passover (Light in the Attic/Koch) Tenebrous Texan psych-rock that’s dirty, dazed and droning, sustaining a line that goes back through Spacemen 3 to the Velvets and first-album Stooges. Good timing on the title. 7.5 (RB)

Wilderness Vessel States (Jagjaguwar) Not since the days of Springsteen and Hart has constipated shouting sounded so right. 7.5 (LC) With Parts & Labor at la Sala Rossa, Fri., April 14, 9 p.m.

Jamie Lidell Multiply Additions (Warp/Outside) Interesting but somewhat wasteful takes on Lidell’s gifts, but remixes from Gonzales and Luke Vibert save the day. 7 (SC)

Sondre Lerche and the Faces Down Quartet Duper Sessions (Virgin/EMI) Norwegian boy wonder sucks the charm out of standards. 4 (LC)

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