Botch
Unifying Themes Redux (Hydra Head/Sonic Unyon)
This collection of singles and compilation tracks from the dearly departed Botch hardly smack of nostalgia, as everyone from Dillinger Escape Plan, Converge and Every Time I Die have been caught with their hands in Botch’s cookie jar. Although production is a little spotty throughout, songs like “Inch by Inch” and “Closure” are absolutely seething. It stymies the mind that some of these songs are 10 years old, and this comp should help canonize Botch as one of the most influential bands in hardcore. The best news is that this is only the first of four CDs coming out this year to feature more rare tracks that have been swept under the rug. The real special treat on this first installment is their ballsy take on the theme from Conan the Barbarian (“O Fortuna”) and the B 52’s “Rock Lobster.” 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)

Les Georges Leningrad
Sangue Puro (Dare to Care/Outside)
The third album from this kooky-pukey, spastic-fantastic Montreal trio could be called their most mature effort to date, if you’ll excuse the hoary shibboleth. That doesn’t mean, by any stretch of the imagination, that they’re all growed up. Book-ended by a couple of kraut-rageous instrumental excursions, the band’s troglodyte synth-punk communicates in the imperative. “Mammal Beats” urges a warm-blood-only dancefloor while “Sleek Answer,” an exhortation to “soon-to-be teenagers,” advises the world’s pubescents to “marry your shadow under a rainbow.” Good luck, kids. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) CD launch with Tony Ezzy at le National tonight, Thurs., Sept. 21, 8 p.m., $12

The Black Keys
Magic Potion (Nonesuch/Warner)
It seems like the Keys’ last release, a tribute to Junior Kimbrough, was just buying time—unfortunately, this new one doesn’t deliver the brilliance of their last record Rubber Factory. Not to say that this is a bad disc at all. Dan Auerbach’s Paul Rodgers croon (I’m not kidding, listen to him again) is still what really sells this two-piece, but on songs like “Goodbye Babylon” and “Your Touch,” they’re caught plundering their own back catalogue while sometimes letting the groove and jam-out get the best of them. Again, this is a great record, just not their best. Having said that, songs like the Lennon-esque ballad “You’re the One” are guaranteed to give even the die-hard fans goosebumps. 8/10 (Johnson Cummins)

New Found Glory
Coming Home (Geffen/Universal)
The Florida-based pop-punkers have seen most of their peers go by the wayside in recent years, as the genre was engulfed by the eye shadow-wearing emo set, but their fifth album stands as a slightly-better-than-most representation of teenybopper punk. It’s hardly original, but like teen dramadies and parties with red plastic beer cups, there’s a certain campy mystique about all things 1998. Unlike the more successful and far less talented Good Charlotte or Blink-182, NFG’s evolution has been gradual, not forced. Some tracks falter with the overuse of the string section, diminishing the energy of the first half. 6/10 (Erik Leijon)

Viva Voce
Get Yr Blood Sucked Out (Barsuk)
Created entirely in the couple’s Portland home, Kevin and Anita Robinson’s fourth record sounds like it was written on a fireside Persian rug, recorded over a boozy French meal in the dining room, and mixed in the haunted attic. The guitars are alternately lush and gritty, creating atmospheric rock and blackened blues groundwork for their fine vocals. The duo ventures into jangly pop and droning psychedelia too, the latter in a perverse homage to “Give Peace a Chance” called “Believer.” The record fizzles over the last few tracks, but not to the discredit of an otherwise fine piece of work. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

The Rapture
Pieces of the People We Love (Mercury/Universal)
Ditching the DFA production team in favour of British trio Ewan Pearson, Paul Epworth (Bloc Party) and Danger Mouse (Gorillaz, Gnarls Barkley) was a logical move for the leaders of the punk-funk brat pack, but this long-awaited sophomore LP is the Rapture’s to make or break. The good news is that the vice has been removed from Luke Jenner’s testicles, and about half of the LP’s dancefloor-tailored tracks merit more than one play on the home stereo. The bad news lies in easy comparisons to the bottom of the ’70s-disco and ’80s-new romantic barrels (including the abysmal lyrics of Duran Duran), and a pair of songs that sound like Chemical Brothers filler. Who’s losing their edge now? 6.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Fergie
The Dutchess (A&M/Universal)
Black Eyed Peas’ and former Kids Inc. child star Stacy Ferguson’s debut LP is a molotov cocktail of every pop cliché from the past five years. But the shit is not bananas, nor does it bring sexyback. There’s a passable Ciara copycat (“Glamourous”), an old Motown tune gets desecrated (the Temptations’ “Get Ready”) and even Paris Hilton’s faux reggae finds its way here (“Mary Jane Shoes”). She merely had to produce one track as agonizingly catchy as “My Humps,” but she doesn’t even accomplish that. Justin Timberlake and Beyoncé just raised the bar for pop albums, and Fergie isn’t close. 3/10 (Erik Leijon)

Too $hort
Blow the Whistle (Jive/Zomba)
Ten years after he supposedly retired, the single most influential voice in Bay Area hip hop releases his 16th album. Too $hort has to be one of the most unapologetically misogynist self-styled pimps ever to grace the microphone, which has made him both an Oakland legend and a moving target for the snipers on the moral high ground. He doesn’t disappoint fans with songs like the matter-of-fact “Call Her a Bitch” and the braggadocious “16 Hoes.” There’s not much to Too $hort, other than odes to blowjobs and songs about strippers, hos and making that dollar, but nobody does it quite like him. He hasn’t changed at all, and I’m pretty sure he has no plans to do so. 7/10 (Scott C)

Lupe Fiasco
Food & Liquor (Good Music/Atlantic)
The buzz surrounding Lupe (born Wasalu Muhammad Jaco) has been both steady and annoying, attaching unnecessary second-coming status to the Chicago native’s b-boy stance. This might not be the last album you hear from a black-belt Muslim skater, but when you cut through all the talk, Lupe Fiasco presents a strong debut suggesting that there could be some weight to all the hype. Although he dips in and out of an often gripping flow, his sincerity is palpable and works best on tracks like the personal “Kick, Push,” and while tackling the heavy topics of slavery and genocide on “American Terrorist.” Alongside a withdrawn Jay-Z, Lupe may be the heir to the throne on “Pressure,” but only subsequent LPs will tell. 7.5/10 (Scott C)

Various
Reggae Gold 2006 (VP)
Sean Paul, Capleton, Elephant Man—all the heavy hitters are here on this 14th edition of Reggae Gold. The compilation of this year’s biggest big tunes, as usual, range from dancehall bangers like the absolutely infectious “Bad Man Forward Bad Man Pull Up” by Ding Dong to future-classic roots tunes like Richie Spice’s lovely “Youths Dem Cold.” On the accompanying DVD, you get a whole wack of videos, and, in classic dancehall stylee, an equally important “behind the scene look at the girls of Reggae Gold 2006.” Altogether a solid collection, but the girls of 2007 better include Buffie the Body and that ass of hers. 8/10 (Erin MacLeod)

Luther Vandross
The Ultimate Luther Vandross (Sony BMG)
This latest Vandross collection marks the first time that material from Epic/Legacy and J Records has been combined, meaning early hits like “Never Too Much” share space with recent chart-toppers like “Think About You.” But since nothing short of a box set can effectively capture Vandross’s extensive catalogue, it’s a stretch calling this ultimate. Nevertheless, fans will appreciate the five dance remixes featured on the Collector’s Edition version of this release, as well as the unreleased “Shine,” an irresistible slice of groove that lifts the bassline from Chic’s “My Forbidden Lover,” bringing Vandross’s career full-circle to his early days singing back-up for the stellar disco band. 7.5/10 (Gerard Dee)

Dmitri Shostakovich
The Jazz Album (London)
Next Monday marks the centennial of Dmitri Shostakovich’s birth in St. Petersburg. This wonderful reissue contains the two so-called “Jazz” suites, his Piano Concerto, No. 1, Opus 35, and the delightful “Tahiti Trot.” The latter is really “Tea for Two” in an orchestration that Shostakovich put together (on a bet) in some 40 minutes. The highpoint for me is the concerto, better described by its subtitle, “Concerto for Piano, Trumpet and Strings” played here by pianist Ronald Brautigam and trumpeter Peter Masseurs with Riccardo Chailly conducting the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Wonderful listening! 10/10 (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

Bill Frisell, Ron Carter, Paul Motian self-titled (Nonesuch/Warner) With a pedigree this rich, it’s a miracle that it sounds like no one is left holding the leash. If you buy one jazz release this year, make it this one. 9 (JC)

Various Studio One Scorcher Instrumentals Vol. 2 (Soul Jazz) Does Soul Jazz ever put out crap compilations? No. Is this one good? Of course. 9 (EM)

Andy Biskin Trio Tragico (Strudelmedia) This trio is a superb chamber group made up of the leader on clarinets, Dave Ballou and Drew Gress. A charming 13-track set. 8.5 (LD)

Various Rio Baile Funk: More Favela Booty Beats (Essay/Fusion III) Essay’s second batch of bad-ass Brazilian rap retardation sustains the standardof the first set. Bonde do Role remix Edu K here, for starters. 8 (RB)

Spencer Dickinson The Man Who Lives for Love (Yep Roc) This re-release of Jon Spencer’s 2001 LP with members of the North Mississippi All Stars is 19 hits of groovy, low-down blues rock. 7.5 (LC)

Birdapres Get It Done (Peanuts & Corn/Universal) Birdapres and Mcenroe team up for some West Coast shit. Hit the title track or “High School Shit” with Moka Only for that good stuff. 7 (SC)

Our Brother the Native Tooth and Claws (FatCat/ Fusion III) The scrawled titles and finger paint on the packaging only hint at this band’s primitive derangement. That said, it’s a little boring. 6 (LC)

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