Afrodizz
Froots (C4/Dep/Universal)
Montreal’s eight-man powerhouse Afro-beat orchestra has returned with their second full-length album, proving without a shadow of a doubt that they are no one-trick pony. This collection of nine original tracks explores new rhythms and funky directions that showcase the band’s continued cohesive ease, as well as their individual talents. Vocalist Vance Payne leaves his mark with the title track, while guitarist Gabriel Aldama takes writing credits for most of the tracks found here. Drummer Jean-Philipe Goncalves demonstrates once again why he is the backbone of this great band, something like an immovable object keeping time like a well-oiled machine. One particularly standout track is “Fashion Terroriste” with guest vocalist Deweare, who channels Serge Gainsbourg over an excellent rhythmic creep. 8.5/10 (Scott C)

The Great Awake
4 Songs (independent)
It’s nice to see some healthy self-deprecation coming from the big T, even when it’s only false humility—the Great Awake is one third of the “Toronto Bites” tour, and they don’t “bite,” although singer Thom Paulozza isn’t above chewing up the scenery à la David Byrne (or Win Butler). Weird energy abounds, and the band rightly lists Talking Heads, Brian Eno, Yo La Tengo and Wire as influences, but alongside there are poppier forces at work in the wide-open riffs and big ’n’ tall arrangements. It’s a mighty ambitious debut recording, and a sunny forecast for their album, due in October. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With Terror Lake, Ghetto Pony, DJ Mlle Bacon at Main Hall, Sat., July 8, 8 p.m., $7

The New Cars
It’s Alive! (Eleven Seven/Universal)
While roping in Todd Rundgren to fill Ric Ocasek’s shoes was a sensible move, the ballyhooed return of definitive ’80s power-poppers the Cars, captured live here, makes a good argument for buying second-hand wheels or taking the bus. Their Montreal appearance with Blondie was cancelled due to injury, so diehard fans can at least get a taste, but frankly, these thick-sounding, by-the-numbers live versions of “You Might Think,” “Shake It Up” and “Just What I Needed” come off competent but uninspired. And the less said the better about the two new studio tracks, “Warm” and “More” (um, no, that’s enough, thanks). 5.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Eux Autres
Hell Is Eux Autres (Grenadine)
Look out, there are more American faux-French interlopers in our midst. First we suffered the yéyé supremacy of NYC’s les Sans Culottes, then their spin-off band Nous Non Plus. Now, not only is this Omaha-born, Portland-based duo on a local label, but they’re matching (though not beating) us at our own game—bilingual garage rock. Heather and Nicholas Larimer (brother and sister, presumably for real) trade vocals over simple guitar and drums, as produced by Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney. There’s a fine line between simplicity and amateur hour, and the Larimers usually come up on the right side. 7/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Wolf Eyes & Anthony Braxton
Black Vomit (Les Disques Victo)
This live recording of an unlikely pairing from Victoriaville 2005 finds Braxton’s saxophone incorporating itself perfectly into Wolf Eyes’ searing sheets of electronic noise. Two compositions here, “Rationed Rot” and the 27-minute slow pummel of “The Mangler.” Wolf Eyes can deliver one of the heaviest assaults you’re ever going to hear, but they hold back quite a bit in this performance, leaving Braxton a lot of room. He proves to be an expert improviser and reciprocates the gift of space, making this pairing work. 8/10 (Johnson Cummins)

Johnny Cash
American V: A Hundred Highways (American/Universal)
Now that the rash of posthumous Cash records has petered out, producer Rick Rubin has chosen to release the last instalment in the American series, the final dozen songs that Cash recorded, and probably his most personal. Cash thought these American records were the most important of his career (including his Sun years), and it shows. “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” pretty much blots out Nick Cave’s entire catalogue, while Cash’s final composition “Like the 309” articulates his coming to grips with impending death, and reunites him with his wife June Carter while revisiting the metaphorical use of trains from his early days. This is hardly all doom and gloom, though, as Cash expresses joy perfectly in songs like “Rose of my Heart” and Don Gibson’s “A Legend in my Time.” 9/10 (Johnson Cummins)

Various
Strange Folk (Albion/Fusion III)
This bewitching 19-track comp skillfully links folk oddities from the past and present, from Portishead’s Beth Gibbons to Donovan, Devendra Banhart to Tyrannosaurus Rex, Joanna Newsom to Magnet (whose “Maypole” was featured in The Wicker Man). Whereas “plain folk” can wear you down with its static arrangements, many of these tracks transcend your standard acoustic guitar and voice with infusions of a cappella, country, baroque, Eastern and electronic. Whether Celtic, pagan or simply pastoral, this record has the ethereal quality of traditional music lightly twisted by psychedelics, with the exception of Adem, which just sounds like Coldplay, picked, not strummed. 8.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Daedelus
Denies the Day’s Demise (Ninja Tune/Outside)
Like the twisted dreams of a 10-year-old who’s stayed up much later than he should have, Daedelus’s first album on Ninja Tune operates with boundless imagination and hyperactive energy. With songs like “Lights Out,” “Sundown” and “Dreamt of Drowning,” he delves into the world asleep, and joins the few of us who seem to embrace what the wee hours bring. With less sample-based material appearing here, Daedelus lends his own vocals and live instrumentation to the mix while still providing a crazy assortment of measured rhythms throughout. Not too sure if this album will find its way to the dancefloor, but it will stand up to repeated listening regardless. 7.5/10 (Scott C)

ESG
Keep On Moving (Soul Jazz/Fusion III)
Five years after their noted return to the game, the South Bronx’s three Scroggins sisters offer another round of the lefthanded phantom funk, at once ingenuous and obscure, with which they bridged the punk and disco scenes at the turn of the ’80s, and fed early hip hop with samples galore. Keep On Moving is a stronger effort than 2002’s Step Off, with the appropriately propulsive title track and bristling closer “Gimme a Blast” showcasing the Spartan austerity of their grooves to fine effect. On the other hand, the piano-led ballad “Ex” fails to light up, and the tension and release of opener “Purely Physical” deplete themselves midway. 7/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Caribou
Start Breaking My Heart (Domino/Outside)
Caribou
Up in Flames (Domino/Outside)
Having forfeited the nom de plume Manitoba to the singer from the Dictators (not terribly handsome, but certainly a dick), Dan Snaith, that crafty Canadian conjurer of alluring, warm-blooded electronic reveries, re-releases his well-received albums from 2001 and 2003 with his new nomenclature neatly pasted in and, more importantly, a full disc each of extra material. A good chance to revisit earlier points in Snaith’s creative arc, and while I’m at it, gripe about the temerity of some talentless troglodyte from the Bronx suing a far more gifted Canuck for the right to use the name of a Canadian province professionally. Both 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Quantic
An Announcement to Answer (Tru Thoughts/Ubiquity)
A short but sweet look into the evolving tastes of Brighton, England’s bright light Will “Quantic” Holland, one of the most prolific young artists making notable leaps and bounds in funk, soul, Latin and electronic music today. Holland’s dug deeper into music from African, Caribbean and jazz roots to make his fourth LP. Surprisingly, it’s the two tracks featuring rapper Ohmega Watts, “Blow Your Horn” and “Ticket to Know Where,” that don’t quite fit the flow of the rest of the record. “Politick Society,” featuring Noelle Scaggs, and the monster finisher “Tell It Like You Mean It” will most likely be the songs that champion this release. 7.5/10 (Scott C)

India.Arie
Testimony: Vol. 1, Life & Relationship (Motown/Universal)
It’s quite obvious that the inspiration for most of Arie’s latest is a painful breakup. Though sometimes self-indulgent, Arie never fails to entertain while offering food for thought, like when she’s being quietly introspective on “Good Morning” or literally celebrating herself on “Private Party.” But like her last two albums, she often reaches out to a wider audience, whether it’s about being grateful for what you’ve got (“There’s Hope”), not judging people superficially (“I Am Not My Hair”) or encouraging better universal communication (“Better People”). On “Summer,” featuring country combo Rascal Flatts, India bids farewell to her favourite season, but we know she’s really saying goodbye to major heartache. 8/10 (Gerard Dee)

Bill Carrothers/Marc Copland
No Choice (Minium)
Oliver Jones
One More Time (Justin Time/Fusion III)
Two releases that should delight piano fans—the first is a duo outing, two of the very best players around. Done in January of this year, the ten tracks here include material from the pens of Neil Young, Monk, Miles and Duke, plus two looks at Ornette’s “Lonely Woman.” The Jones was recorded here last December, during a snowstorm. The trio with Dave Young and Jim Doxas is augmented on some tracks by the horns of Ingrid Jensen, Dave Grott and Chet Doxas. Another feather in Oliver’s chapeau. By the way, “Waltz for Debbie” is not a Jones composition. Also, XYZ Press has released an English edition of Marthe Sansregret’s bio of Jones. Both 9/10 (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

Roberta Gambarini Easy to Love (Groovin High/Koch) Quite simply the best new (to North Americans) jazz singer to come along in many years. 10 (LD)

Faces on Film Seven Sisters (SunnyLane) This is a rock-solid indie pop EP, though the schizo singer sounds like he’s either floating on a cloud or drowning in quicksand. 8 (LC)

Ramblin’ Jack Elliot I Stand Alone (Anti/Epitaph) Woody Guthrie’s student—and Bob Dylan’s mentor—proves he’s still a master storyteller. 8 (JC)

Various Fusicology 2006 Sampler (Fusicology) Oh, shit! This double CD features heat from Karriem Riggins, J Rawls, Liquid Crystal Project, DJ Dummy and even Malcolm-Jamal Warner—you know, Theo Huxtable! 8 (SC)

Cities in Dust Night Creatures (Paper Bag) Snotty, speedy punk that leaves a little leg room for dancing. 7.5 (LC)

Boban Markovic Orkestar The Promise (Piranha/Fusion III) While not the ferocious blowout his debut was, Boban’s latest batch of fat-ass Balkan brass blurts still kicks some ass. 7 (RB)

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