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 THE END Elementary (Relapse/Koch)
Ottawa’s the End definitely set the metal world on its ear
with their debut Within Dividia, which cranked up the
pressure to make good on this follow-up. Elementary exceeds all expectations, as their epic metal is further galvanized
with their great sense of dynamics and difficult
transitions even more well honed. Where tremors of Isis
and Neurosis could be felt on the debut, the 10 songs here
definitely show the End shedding influences and leading
the pack. Come to think of it, this is the best Canadian
metal release I’ve heard since what coincidentally happened
to be the End’s last release. 9/10 (Johnson Cummins) With Cancer Bats, I Hate Sally at Club Lambi, Wed., Jan.
24, 7 p.m., $12, all ages
 The Shins
Wincing the Night Away(Sub
Pop)
Out next Tuesday, the latest album by
everyone’s favourite Albuquerque band is
probably their boldest, most diverse disc
to date. Alongside “Australia,” with its
sun-bleached Smiths stylings, “Sleeping
Lessons” packs a dramatic arc akin to Arcade Fire and the
Dears. There are more substantial echoes of Beck (“Sea
Legs”), the Crystals (“Turn on Me”) and the Travelling
Wilburys (“Girl Sailor”—accidental, presumably), yet James
Mercer’s songwriting is his own, and the melodic thread
through the Shins discography is all the more audible with
this sweet third installment. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
Bloodshot Bill
Trashy Greasy Rockin' Billy (Flying Saucer)
Montreal’s Bloodshot Bill is a one-man factory of wound-up,
wigged-out retro rock ’n’ roll, firmly grounded in the music’s
glory days while saluting the freaky psychosis of the Cramps
and the raw, wretched recording style of the Mummies. Lugging
bucketloads of crunch, twang and barnyard babble ’n’
snort (Bill’s vocal style owes as much to Hanna-Barbera cartoons
as any resident of the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame), and
Johnny Montreal’s thumping stand-up bass on most tracks,
Bill delivers a lucky 13 shakers here. It’s so delightfully
nasty, this slab o’ fun shoulda come with a lil’ squirt-tube of
hand sanitizer. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) With the Cockroaches
at Quai des Brûmes, Fri., Jan. 19, 9 p.m., $7
 Chumbawanba
A singsong and a Scrap
(Trade Root)
A singsong largely for the scrapheap, actually.
Now, for all intents, a conservative (in
the musical sense) Brit-folk unit, Chumbawamba
have left the punk clubs and
pop charts in the past, grafting their
obtusely earnest retro-leftist inclinations to acoustic tunes
that range from nauseating niceties to tolerable approximations
of Belle & Sebastian’s more pastoral moments (minus
the wit, mind you). Can’t fault their rich harmonies, though,
especially on the one really impressive tune here, an a cappella
go at the Clash’s “Bankrobber.” 4.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
The Brocken
West
I Can’t Go
On, I’ll Go (Merge)
This debut by a young L.A. quintet is a hearty pop smorgasbord,
its tunes flavoured with essence of the Byrds and the Ronettes,
Big Star and Teenage Fanclub. Now the bad news: Perhaps as a
result of too much sun, the Broken West is sometimes terribly
poppy, with banal riffs and melodic clichés recalling ’70s yacht
rock and ’80s hair ballads. Agood quarter of the album is mired
in this muck, another quarter is merely forgettable, and the other
half is pop gold. But if you’re into classic Motown and Glass
Tiger, these are your boys. 6.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
Clinic
Visitations (Domino/Outside)
Can I get a second opinion? There’s no doubt that these Liverpudlians
in surgical masks have hit on an effective methodology
with their needling angst mantras. Their focused use of cavernous
drums and creepy keys, lacerating guitars and
wracked-nerve ratfuck vocals, balancing art-school trance cool
and dirty punk heat, remains inspired and distinctive. But
there’s little to differentiate Visitations from previous Clinic
releases. In other words, they’ve honed their approach to
nearperfection,
and now need an emergency infusion of new elements
and ideas—and slapping on matching top hats doesn’t
cut it. 6.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
 You An I
Convicts
(Yep Roc/Outside)
Yep Roc continues to expand their roster
beyond their previous scope of Americana
roots music with this great inclusion, Aussie
rockers You Am I. With musical nods to fellow
Australians like the Lime Spiders,
Hoodoo Gurus and Radio Birdman, plus a smidgen of yanks
the Replacements, this proves to be top shelf. You Am I may
rock with abandon, but thankfully stop just short of dumbing
things down too much, with their Rickenbacher twang soaring
on top of solid songwriting. 7.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Dennis Young
Shadow
(independent)
Years after the heyday of his funk post-punk band Liquid
Liquid (“Caverns”), percussionist-plus Young continues to
create music with rhythm ’n’ bite, even if Shadow sees him
aiming for a dark folk-rock route. The acoustic guitars and
violins suggest a backwoods vibe, but the forceful attack of
his guitar playing (always the drummer…), the furtive
vocals and gritty, dare I say shadowy feel of the record indicate
that downtown still resounds in him. Rather repetitive
in tone and tempo, Shadow nonetheless impresses. 7/10
(Rupert Bottenberg)
The Berg Sans
Nipple
Along the
Quai (Team Love)
Yeah, I know, the band name is terrible—one of the worst in
awhile. Get past that, though, and you’ve got a duo, Lori Sean
Berg and Shane Aspegren, who bring agitated, scattershot
glitch beats together with luminescent, low-gravity synthpop
melodies and downy vocals. The music is busy with light and
active bits of this and that, gradually accumulating and
arranging themselves into sweet and moving tunes that hark
back to the pre-millennial Bavarian post-rock/post-techno
scene. A genuine pleasure. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
NÔZE
How to
Dance (Circus Company/Statik)
French duo Nôze’s second album is an exploration into the
funkier, quirkier side of minimal house music. The hoarse
ranting of madmen meets melodically with synthesizers,
pianos, droning cellos, blomping saxophones and guitars
over jingle-jangly four-four beats. The disc is replete with
whimsical, ambient noises, clever nonsense and eccentric
percussion that evoke Tom Waits’s Rain Dogs. How to Dance is an inventive oddity to be listened to while discussing surrealism
or working on the construction of your doomsday
device. 8.5/10 (Jack Oatmon) With Mossa, Mini, Slim Jim at
Igloofest/Piknic Électronik des Neiges at Quai
Trick Daddy
Back by thug
demmand (Slip-N-Slide/Warner)
Maybe best known as the other rapper in the “Crazy Train”-
sampling Lil Jon song (even though it’s his track), Trick Daddy’s
seventh album re-establishes his reign as the original
gangster-inspired dirty southerner. Chamillionaire stole his
shtick, except Trick’s tales of living in one of the worst ghettos
in America, in Miami, feel genuine. He doesn’t glorify his
gangster life as much as others. Conversely, he isn’t as overtly
political as Lil’Wayne or Killer Mike. The ultra-aggressive
tracks work best. “Lights Off” and “Breaka Breaka” are
angry bass-thumpers, and “Born a Thug” is personal narrative
at its best. 8/10 (Erik Leijon)
 Bonobo
Days to Come
(Ninja Tune/Outside)
Bonobo’s been busy refining his sound,
progressing from his signature unearthly
instrumental offerings to the cosmic jazz
and orchestral sounds of Days to Come,
which features the voice of Bajka
throughout. This is a truly beautiful record, blessed with
both a succession of striking and memorable beats, and an
equally subtle human feel. Bonobo isn’t afraid of the folk
hybrid either, building unique songs like “If You Stayed
Over,” featuring Fink, and “Nightlife” with ease. This is perhaps
his most sweeping work to date, and something to
savour in the quiet moments. 8/10 (Scott C)
Fantasia
Self-titled (J/Sony
BMG)
As the sixth season of American Idol gets off to its usually
boisterous start this week, third-season champ Fantasia
Barrino strives to maintain her post-AI career with this
uneven second effort. There’s a lot of generic material here
that fails to showcase Barrino’s true talent. What saves this
disc from a complete sophomore slump is that the good
material here is really good. Both lead single “Hood Boy”
and the ultra-funky “Baby Makin’ Hips” benefit from Barrino’s
pertinent perspective and some inspired samples (the
Supremes’ “Happening” and Al Green’s “I Tried to Tell
Myself,” respectively). Elsewhere, producer Babyface successfully
taps into Barrino’s persuasive vulnerability on the
engaging “I Am Beautiful.” 7.5/10 (Gerard Dee)
Amy Winehouse
Back to Black (Island/Universal)
Camden native Amy Winehouse returns to the essence of raw
soul on her second LP, keeping each song about the length of
an old 45. The stripped-down and dirty pop sound of the short
but sweet Back to Black oozes ’60s jukebox soul, without the
spit and polish reserved for most R&B made today. Singing
the praises of young, urban life, Amy shines, backed by a solid
rhythm and horn section on the Mark Ronson-produced future
classics “Rehab” and “You Know I’m No Good.” 9/10 (Scott C)
 Pratt Brothers Big
Band
16 Men and a Chick Singer Swingin' (CAP)
The main interest here is the titular
“chick singer,” the awesome Roberta
Gambarini, the best jazz singer in many
a moon. Here, she’s out front on four
tracks—“Skylark,” “East of the Sun,” Kenny Dorham’s
“Fair Weather” and Tom McIntosh’s “Cup of Life” (his “The
Cup Bearers,” with lyrics by Meredith D’Ambrosio). The
instrumental tracks are also of interest, and include a pair
by Ernie Wilkins as well as Hank Mobley’s “Old World,
New Imports.” Dean Pratt plays trumpet, brother Michael
drums, and they are joined by the likes of Don Sickler, Ronnie
Mathews and Willie Williams, but Miss Gambarini is
the real attraction here. 10/10 (Len Dobbin)
Mini CD Reviews
Adrean Farrugia
V 1.0:
(Romhog) The leader is a Toronto-based pianist, joined here by the
likes of Phil Dwyer and Brad Goode in a program of mostly
originals. 8 (LD)
DJ Lexis What I'm Feeling Vol. 4
(independent)Once
again, Lex makes you question your own tastes with
tracks from Koop, Beck, Ty, Amp Fiddler, Ben Westbeach
and more. 8 (SC)
Neko Case
Live From
Austin TX
(New West)
The queen
of young country does well on Austin City Limits, but
nothing beats 2004’s Sadies-backed live CD, The Tigers
Have Spoken. 7.5 (LC)
The Puppini
Siters Betcha
Bottom Dollar (Universal)
Produced by Montreal’s Benoît “Belleville” Charest, this
U.K. retro vocal trio capably covers early and late 20thcentury
pop, from Irving Berlin to the Smiths. 7 (LC)
Therion
Nuclear Blast
(Gothic Kabbalah) Who is actually
buying this operatic goth-metal garbage these days?
Somebody fess up, dammit! 3 (JC)
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