The Dresden Dolls
Yes, Virginia… (Roadrunner/Universal)
The Bostonian duo of drummer Brian Viglione and keyboardist/singer Amanda Palmer return with their second batch of bitter pills and creepy candy, and it’s easily as tasty as the first. Their gothic peers should take note—sure, the black lace, greasepaint and “cabaret of the damned” schtick is cute, and the pair do it better than most, but it takes more than that. Successfully orating from her black book of heartbreak and hate-ons (and it’s a big one) requires not only viciously incisive and eloquent lyrics on Palmer’s part, but also a commanding voice, and she’s got both. Buttress that with the propulsive pounding out of the dark, engaging melodies (even the “quiet” numbers carry a certain force) and you’ve got art-brat angst that’s worth a listen or 10, for a change. 9/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Twilight Singers
Powder Burns (One Little Indian)
Long after the Afghan Whigs called it a day, head honcho Greg Dulli makes up for lost time, and proves he can still croon out a perfect line. His previous band’s foray into mutant R&B is now galvanized on “Forty Dollars,” with a grand piano leading the charge. On “Candy Cane Crawl,” he dyes the grey around his temples and spills his guts while attempting to hold demons at bay. Once again, Dulli knows how to work his fairly limited vocal range with skill, but it’s his trademark acidic lyrics that really burrow beneath the skin. If you liked the brutal honesty on the Whigs’ classic break-up album Gentleman, you’re going to be all over this like white on rice. Trainspotters may also want to know that Ani DiFranco and former Whigs bassist John Curley figure prominently here. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
JF Robitaille
The Blood in My Body (Rhythmbank)
You may remember this former Montrealer as the singer for the Social Register, a band that surfaced now and then as a vehicle for Robitaille’s Britpop-influenced songwriting. After moving to Brooklyn about a year ago, he went solo and scored a record deal, and voila, a six-song EP, to be followed by an LP before the fall. Both the pristine pop tunes and slow-bop ballads are clean and simple, and their light orchestration, pretty harmonies and pleasant melodies are contrasted by often dark, even depressed lyrics, a great device in the right hands, from Del Shannon to Morrissey to Robitaille. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
Various
See You On the Moon! Songs for Kids of All Ages (Paper Bag/Universal)
A sweet idea, this indie-garten initiative with the likes of Hot Chip, Junior Boys, FemBots and Sufjan Stevens. Too bad so much of it involves gentle-hearted stoners with acoustic guitars, a type I recall despising being subjected to as a child. Cheers then to Broken Social Scene for their ambitious if muddled essay at a meatier “Puff the Magic Dragon.” The real standouts, aside from the trilogy of “Kiddo” interludes by Montreal’s Montag, would be the fun (and healthy!) “Fruit Belt” by Lederhosen Lucil and Kid Koala, and above all the boisterous “24 Robbers” by Apostle of Hustle, which declares the death of “quiet time” and the unleashing of recess. 7/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
The Dagons
Reverse (Blow the Fuse/Fusion III)
White Stripes comparisons continue to dog L.A.’s Karie Jacobson (vocals, guitar) and Drew Kowalski (drums, electronics, sitar) even though the two bands are night and day. Sure, there’s the old-time rock ’n’ roll baggage and the couple dynamic, though this one’s still together. But Meg and Jack would probably lose their minty-fresh candy-coated shit on the Dagons’ lo-fi psychedelic smack trip, complete with horror-movie scenery and pedal-to-the-metal sprints. I’m not saying the Dagons are the better band—sounding this messed up makes for some less than stellar moments—but damn me if they wouldn’t win in a stand-off. 7/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With Skip Jensen at Quai des Brumes on Thurs., May 4, 9 p.m., $5
Taking Back Sunday
Louder Now (Warner)
Emily Strange-wearing girls across the nation! Traders of black nail-polish shades and AFI patches! Rejoice in the skater-firendly groove of “What’s It Feel Like to Be a Ghost?” Squeal along to the catchy chorus of “MakeDamnSure,” and bop around to the frenetically-paced “Spin.” This is your MTV rock band of the moment. You’ve heard it all before but the packaging’s exciting. You’ll catch ’em on tour with a bunch of other bands that’ll rock your world for a few months, then it’ll be on to the next batch of clones. Enjoy it while it lasts! 6.5/10 (Lateef Martin)
Scissorfight
Jaggernaut (Tortuga/Sonic Unyon)
After countless releases, Scissorfight don’t change too much up, delivering detuned, amped-up riffage all the way through, but this time these bearded weirdos hit like a nailgun on “Victory Over Horseshit” and “Metal Mother.” Here’s the rub—what marred their previous releases is that they never really strayed from their mid-tempo sludgefest, which does get to be tiring over 45 minutes. The AC/DC boogie in “86 Sucker” and the lyrics in “Appalachian Chain” keep things interesting, but overall, Scissorfight’s Southern-fried heaviosity still just comes across like a poor man’s COC. 6.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
The Silver Hearts
Dear Stranger (Banbury Park)
Peterborough’s roots-music big band returns with the Deadly Snakes’ Andre Ethier upfront, producing an album that plays out like a standard-issue evening in the Old West. The sleaze, the revelry, the tension, the tenderness, the blood, the tears and the tumbleweed are all here, as are the law, the outlaw, the good little lady and the sassy whore. Our hero (let’s call him Iggy) is ranting and ripped on whiskey at the saloon, with accompaniment from the house band (which includes a few mariachis, apparently). Sad-sack honky-tonk, knees-up rock ’n’ roll spirituals and Southern gothic ballads get the job done right, at least most of the time. 7/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
Brian Eno + David Byrne
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (Nonesuch/Warner)
Twenty-five years since its release, Byrne and Eno’s mercurial, meta-national masterpiece remains resonant, still coming off as a series of hypnagogic transmissions from a future 15 minutes away, a musical variant on the anarchic, polyglot Interzone evoked in William Burroughs’ writings. The pair’s high-tech, lefthanded, Africanized funk, dubbed out and distant, is peppered with fragments of chatter snatched from the global ether, the “ghosts” of ephemeral radio waves. Fattened with outtakes, a short film and informative notes, this quarter-century anniversary edition is a genuine keeper. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
DJ Manifest
Stop, Look & Listen (Metropolis)
Riding high off of being voted best DJ at the Montreal Underground Gala, and being featured in the beatmaking documentary Before it Drops, DJ Manifest serves up some of the quality material he’s become known for in Montreal hip hop circles. Stop, Look & Listen features tracks from heavies like Kanye West, Nas, Masta Ace, Little Brother and Ghostface, but sits original joints produced by Manifest right alongside them. Locals FP Crew, 1Man, Manchilde, Sabrina Jean, Imposs, Offsides, D-Shade and many more benefit from Manifest’s fresh ear, and easily stand tall beside their well-known counterparts. Check “Reach Your Goals” with DL Incognito, Manchilde and Marokia, as well as FP Crew’s “Come Around and See,” for the proof. 7.5/10 (Scott C)
Ghostface
Fishscale (Def Jam/Universal)
Ghostface does it again, showing all in doubt why he is indeed one of the greatest storytellers in hip hop today, thanks in part to production contributions from MF Doom, J Dilla, Moss and Pete Rock. Ghostface weaves what could only be called a touching tale about getting beat with the belt on “Whip You With a Strap,” while schooling some party girls on the pitfalls of cocaine on “Big Girl.” He bleeds best on tracks like “Beauty Jackson” and “Kilo,” where he’s joined by Raekwon, while the only weird inclusions are the strangely situated “Three Bricks” with Biggie and Rae, and the smoothed-out “Back Like That” with Ne-Yo. Listeners can always count on Ghostface to tell the story like nobody else, complete with gun talk, ye-yo and his irresistible vulnerability. 8.5/10 (Scott C)
Cassandra Wilson
Thunderbird (Blue Note/EMI)
While, technically, Wilson has always been thought of as a jazz singer, a myriad of musical elements, including the blues and folk, have consistently found a home in her eclectic style. Here, her musical inclusiveness expands to include pop influences, as evidenced by the surprisingly upbeat “Go to Mexico,” her deft cover of the Wallflowers’ “Closer to You” and the stellar “It Would Be So Easy.” The moody, atmospheric melodies that Wilson fans are accustomed to make an appearance on her gratifying interpretation of blues legend Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “Easy Rider” and repeat with the sombre “Red River Valley.” As usual, a topnotch set of musicians complete Wilson’s rewarding sound. 8.5/10 (Gerard Dee)
Karrin Allyson
Footprints (Concord/Universal)
Kelly Friesen
Sings Songs of Love (Oasis)
Two musical singers—Allyson, who also plays some piano here, tackles lyrics added to instrumentals by people like Coltrane, Gillespie, Wayne Shorter, Duke Jordan, Ornette Coleman and Sam Jones—“Give Me a Break” is his “Unit 7.” Bruce Barth, Jon Hendricks and Nancy King ably assist. Canadian-born Friesen is also a bassist (credits include Woody Allen’s film Sweet and Lowdown). He both plays and sings on 14 standards by the likes of Kern, Ellington, Jenkins and Sammy Fain, including “You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me” and lesser-known items like “Do It the Hard Way” and “The Lonely One.” Solos from Bob Ward and Michael Hashim add much to the proceedings! Both 9/10 (Len Dobbin)
Mini CD Reviews
Dave Turner Earth Tones (Elephant) This quintet outing, Turner’s first on baritone (he’s one of Canada’s premier jazz alto saxophonists), is an imposing debut with tributes to Skip Bey, Stan Patrick, Nelson Symonds and Vic Vogel. 9 (LD)
Jesu Silver (Hydra Head/Sonic Unyon) Warning: fans of Justin Broadrick and Ted Parson’s previous bands—Head of David, Prong and the Swans—may find this too pop-ridden. 8.5 (JC)
Yoshida Brothers III (Domo/Sony BMG) With fleet-fingered fretboard fireworks, Ryoichiro and Kenichi take the venerable, three-stringed Japanese shamisen to the edge of rock ’n’ roll. 8 (RB)
Various Je T’aime (Where Are My Records) Deluxe indie pop, rock and electro-lite with a local accent (Field Register, Torngat etc) plus the likes of Rick White and Windsor for the Derby. 7.5 (LC)
Telepathe Farewell Forest (The Social Registry) This nightmarish soundtrack needs a film–I’m thinking Hot Rot III: Junkie Witches in Heat. 7 (LC)
Various Les Fleurs du mal @ St. Moritz Vibes Vol. 4 (Milan/Warner) A not quite annoying lounge comp, this disc is saved by Rich Medina, Middle Child, Fertile Ground and Franck Biyong. 7 (SC)
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