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 JOSS STONE
Introducing…(EMI))
Maybe it was unreasonable to expect that any album of
new material could replicate the near perfection of Stone’s
2003 debut The Soul Sessions, which paired her old-soul
voice with classic R&B songs. Her ’04 follow-up Mind,
Body & Soul didn’t do it, but this time, producer Raphael
Saadiq manages to capture the retro vibe of her debut and
channel it into a batch of solid originals. Stone seems to
enjoy every moment, playing coy one minute (“Headturner”),
vulnerable the next (“Bruised but Not Broken”). And
on lead single “Tell Me ’Bout It” she displays a seasoned
confidence that, at the ripe old age of 19, makes for one
hell of an introduction. 9/10 (Gerard Dee)
 KLAXONS
Myths of the Near Future (Geffen/Universal)
England’s latest Greatest Band Ever have
actually done an exemplary job of expanding
on their promising Xan Valleys EP.
The best songs remain the four previously
heard singles, but the rest is nearly as
memorable, including the hypnotic ode to the female form
“Isle of Her,” and perhaps this generation’s “Do the Strand,”
“Totem on the Timeline.” There’s a taint of faux-intellectualism
(the song titles and lyrics casually reference your English-
lit syllabus), but taken as a more hyperactive version of
’90’s Britpop (especially Blur), it’s an early contender for stupid
white boy dance-rock album of 2007. 8.5/10 (Erik Leijon)
THE PATIENTS
Get Well Soon
(Permafrost)
The Patients are part of the explosion that Toronto is currently
unleashing on an unsuspecting world, and with singer
Stu Bishop’s off-key Lou Reed squeal, they’re surely bound
for big things. They proudly wear the Band’s influence on
their sleeves, but take several hairpin turns that keep them
at arms length of the ’70s retro tag. Guests from the Constantines
and Weakerthans make appearances but with
songs so good as the dirge-y “Yes Sir” and the Springsteen
rave-up “Doberman,” the Patients hardly need any helping
hands. 7/10 (Johnson Cummins) CD launch with the Royal
Mountain Band, Young Mothers at Casa del Popolo, Wed.,
April 4, 9 p.m.
 MODEST MOUSE
We Were Dead Before the Ship Even
Sank (Epic/Sony BMG)
With as many gratuitous pop moments to
rival their 2004 hit, “Float On,” as there
are confoundingly torturous stretches,
Modest Mouse’s fifth album is a long, difficult
voyage. The band’s new guitarist, Johnny Marr, complements
their choppy stylings, rather than infusing elements of
the Smiths or his other projects. If anything, this is more akin
to a band like Hot Hot Heat, from the punk-funk inflections
to the garish pop choruses. The Shins’ James Mercer makes a
brief appearance on deck, singing back-up on three songs and
offering some relief from Isaac Brock’s nauseating histrionics.
The captain must’ve been drunk. 6/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
KILL THE LIGHTS
Buffalo of Love (MapleMusic/Universal)
Draped in levitating guitars, heat-seeking rhythm and casually
pretty male vocals, this is an impressive but uneven
sophomore release by a band claiming to be regulars at Blizzarts and TO’s Queen’s Head Pub–they may as well throw
Williamsburg’s Royal Oak into the mix if they’ve got that
much gas to burn. But they’re as much Mid-Atlantic as they
are Mid-401, echoing Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, the
Smiths and the Fixx, from the highlights to the filler. In fact,
they sound so familiar that they’ll likely get lost in the shuffle,
but “Skinny White Girls” and “The Palest Form of Sabotage”
are fine discoveries nonetheless. 7/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
With the Royal Mountain Band, Diableros, Famous
Lovers at Main Hall on Sat., March 31, 8:30 p.m., $10
CLUTCH
From Beale Street to Oblivion (DRT/Universal)
Clutch’s main talent, within their angular take on boogie
rock, is that they seem to seal themselves in a bubble while
covering their tracks as far as influences go. The spirit of
John Lee Hooker, via Montrose boogie and Kyuss heaviosity,
make an appearance, but Clutch are living in a world of their
own, bringing fresh ideas to what could’ve been done-to-death
blues. Clutch are masters at making blues boogie actually listenable
and vital, but they truly show how mighty they can
be when the B3 leads them into some hard funk that crosses
heavy rock boundaries into amped-up Booker T/Meters funk
terrain. 8/10 (Johnson Cummins)
 CAULDRON
Into the Cauldron EP (Basement Metal)
No fancy-pants foolin’ around on this
Toronto trio’s debut EP, just a four-song
serving of meat ‘n’ potatoes metal, my
friend. Singer/bassist Jason Decay (formerly
of Goat Horn) spares us any operatic
overkill on the mic while laying down the shuddering lowend
thunk, in unholy union with Al Chambers’ rain-of-terror
drumming and the rampaging riffage of Ian Killpatrick’s
“burning metal axe cross.” Opener “The Striker Strikes”
barges in like a runaway locomotive, while the title track
rides a hammer-on hellwind into the shadows of eternity.8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) With Metalian, Brigitte L.A. at Saphir, Sat., March 31, 9 p.m., $8
FINGER ELEVEN
Them vs. You vs. Me
(Wind-Up)
The middle of the road needs to be filled somehow, and Finger
Eleven’s just the band for the job. Dance-y opener “Paralyzer”
will get the chicks moving at the club and shows
potential, but everything else falls to the deep, dank mire of
generic rock. The self-loathing “Lost My Way” is that perfect
mix of angry and catchy, and the title track is that rock ballad
we’ve all gotten used to. No risks taken here, just the staples
that are neither here nor there, and guarantee radio
play. 7/10 (Lateef Martin)
 ADULT.
Why Bother? (Thrill Jockey)
As amusingly icy, morbid and mechanical
as ever, Detroit’s Adult. have slimmed back
down to a duo, the lean, mean husbandand-
wife machine of Nicola Kuperus and
Adam Lee Miller. Kuperus’s banshee/commandant
vocals (which sound angelic after listening to Modest
Mouse for two hours) serve as a classic punk exclamation
point to the duo’s blackened industrial noise and feverish
rhythm, but songs like “I Feel Worse When I’m With You” and
“Inclined to Vomit” really test your synth-punk tolerance—
though with titles like those, maybe that’s the point. 7/10 (Lorraine
Carpenter) With Erase Errata, Parts & Labor at la Sala
Rossa, Thurs., April 5, 9 p.m., $15
PIERRE LAPOINTE
2X2 EP (Audiogram/Select)
Been waiting for this since Ghislain Poirier dropped his banging
remix of “Deux par deux rassemblés” at the Saboteur party
last November. It’s here, as is Jérôme Minière’s, plus neat
mixes of other tunes off Lapointe’s La forêt des mal-aimés—a
characteristically moody “25-1-14-14” by Kid Koala and finely-
wrought funkiness from Jean-Phi Goncalves, Jean Massicotte
and Philippe Brault. The new-school retoolings of Lapointe’s filigreed fairy-tale rock are accompanied by a new
tune, “Le maquis,” which kicks off quietly before blossoming
into a crunch-pop whopper.8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
SIDE C
Nerd Crimes(GDC)
You may have seen Montreal hip hop group Side C playing
live around town, but Nerd Crimes is a decided effort to show
what they can do in the studio. MCs Syps, Strath and Rigo
provide the commentary over beats that incorporate sequencing,
sampling and live instrumentation. Subject matter varies
from stoned channel-surfing to relationships and rising to the
challenge, and despite falling into some rap traps with
cadence and delivery, these guys are well on their way to carving
out a place for themselves in the MTL scheme of things.7/10 (Scott C)
 J DILLA
Ruff Draft
(Stones Throw/Koch))
Dilla’s Ruff Draft was first released in
2003 after a solo deal he had with MCA
disintegrated. He took that opportunity to
make a record that would appeal to his
die-hard fans, complete with a creative
array of rugged and ambitious beats, and some classic street
lyrics. This was a mild departure from some of the more soulful
stuff he’d been producing for others around the same time,
and has been remastered with new tracks and instrumentals
for this posthumous release. Turn it up. 8.5/10 (Scott C)
ANDY PALACIO & THE GARIFUNA COLLECTIVE
Watina
(Cumbancha)
Hailing from Belize, the Garifuna track their roots back
through slavery to West Africa. On Watina, Palacio—who
made his mark as a hit-making punta musician, creating
synthesizer-heavy dance tunes—narrates the history and
culture of his people. The record is clearly a labour of love on
behalf of Palacio, but also Ivan Duran, a producer and cultural
activist who initially released the record on his own
label Stonetree, dedicated to local music. Sure, there will be
the obvious Buena Vista comparisons, but music like
“Amunegu,” a tune about the need to conserve a unique and
threatened culture, is strong stuff, even when you don’t
understand the words. 9/10 (Erin Macleod)
JOHN BENSON BROOKS
Folk Jazz U.S.A.
(Lonehill Jazz/Trend)
This reissue combines two sessions by this composerarranger,
the well-known 1958 “Alabama Concerto” that featured
“Cannonball” Adderley, Art Farmer and Barry Galbraith
and a rare 1956 date he did for the Vik label, his look
at a dozen folk songs including “Shenandoah,” “Wayfarin’
Stranger,” “Darlin’ Corey” and “Black Is the Color of My True
Love’s Hair,” played by an all-star combo that included Zoot
Sims (on alto), Al Cohn (on baritone), Nick Travis and again
Galbraith. Brooks himself adds a touch of piano to both sessions.
It’s wonderful to have these two sessions readily available
again. 8.5/10 (Len Dobbin)
Mini CD Reviews
GRANT STEWART
In the Still of the Night
(Sharp Nine)
Here’s another Canadian tenorman currently making an
impact on the jazz scene, joined by Tardo Hammer, Peter
Washington and Joe Farnsworth.
10 (LD)
KERRI CHANDLER
Return 2 Acid
(Large)
I don’t know if
you can get any more literal than this, but Kerri will
make you move on top of everything.
8 (SC)
ELEVADO
This World Is on Fire
(ISP) All the way from
Atlanta, in a veggie-diesel bus, an oddly alluring collision
of Cabaret Voltaire, Morrissey and Sandinista-era Clash.
7 (LC) With Fat Maggots, Many Mental Mistakes at
l’Escogriffe, Tues., April 3, 9 p.m.
CITY AND COLOUR
Live
(Dine Alone)
I should be beside
myself about the tender side of Alexis on Fire’s guitarist,
but sadly, I am not part of his target demographic—14-
year-old girls.
3 (JC)
DAVID USHER
Strange Birds
(MapleMusic/Universal)
If Jonas is too punk rock for ya, Mr. Moist is back with the
kind of radio-bound background music you’ll barely
notice.
3 (LC)
GOOD CHARLOTTE
Good Morning Revival
(Epic/Sony
BMG)
If you need a laugh, download “All Black."
1.5 (EL)
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