Disk of the week

GRINDERMAN
self-titled (Anti/Mute/FAB)
First off, you should know that Grinderman is the once again pairing of Dirty Three’s Warren Ellis and Satan’s favourite lounge singer, Nick Cave. Free from the confines of the Bad Seeds, Cave resurrects his Birthday Party howl and, for the most part, gets back to his noise roots while letting his blues get even swampier. Cave dashes all criticism of this being a tossed-off side project by hitting lyrical high points within the Stooges-style punk rock fury. It seems like Cave is really saving his best days for last while doing away with cheap competition, rendering Jon Spencer’s entire discography obsolete in just 40 minutes. If you like the Bad Seeds as much as anyone but miss Cave’s more nihilistic, stripped-down Birthday Party days, this will absolutely fucking kill you. 9/10 (Johnson Cummins)

YOU SAY PARTY! WE SAY DIE!
Lose All Time (Paper Bag)
This merry B.C. quintet unleashes a solid second album of dance music you can sing and yell along to, and rock music you can pogo and bop to. Hardly a new concept this decade, and there are arch vocal turns and groovy punk moments reminiscent of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Gossip, but the band’s hyper-efficient guitars and melancholy keys create a distinct pop personality. Becky Ninkovic occasionally grasps beyond her vocal reach, but overall, her versatile instrument is put to great use, and even the album’s amateur-hour instances (“Teenage Hit Wonder,” primarily) are easily overshadowed by fabulous hooks and bountiful energy. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)With DJ Champion, Malajube, Chromeo at le Spectrum, Fri., April 6, 8:30 p.m., $25

NEKROMANTIX
Life Is a Grave and I Dig It (Hellcat/FAB)
Legendary psychobilly band Nekromantix is back, but after a couple of years out of the game, it seems like they’re still flogging the same dead horse. Main man Nekroman is once again behind the washtub bass but has replaced his backup band with some rockabilly hacks, and reduces his lyrics even more, dealing with—you guessed it—ghouls and goblins. In fact, his two ringers actually outdo him here as his vocals are so laid back, it sounds like he’s sleeping. This doesn’t even come close to the sense of pandemonium of forefathers the Meteors, so even diehard psychobillies will have a hard time getting through this. 6.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)

PLAZA MUSIQUE
L’Amour et l’Occident (Le Bonheur des Sons)
Championed by France’s Bertrand Burgalat and produced by Xavier Paradis of Automelodi (formerly Echo Kitty), this local band’s debut album logically lies between featherweight French pop and seductive synth pop, buttressed by lilting piano and occasional orchestral maneuvers. Guest vocalists Pierre Lapointe and Lewis Furey provide breezy/sleazy counterpoints, respectively, to Maude Robillard’s soft, satiny voice, which somehow suits each of the album’s diverse songs, from near-bangers to lush pop tunes to sappy ballads. Lovely all around. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) At Zoobizarre on Tues., April 10, 8 p.m., free

JUNIOR BOYS
The Dead Horse EP (Domino/Outside)
Certainly not flogging it, The Dead Horse EP is a welcome addition to the Junior Boys’ remix catalogue, featuring five radically different takes on the band’s hypersensitive themes and textures in as many tracks. Kicking off with a wonky, spectral dancefloor rework by Hot Chip of “In the Morning,” the disc trots nostalgically through a retro remix of “FM” by Tensnake, followed by Carl Craig’s diminutive techno retooling of “Like a Child.” The galloping crescendo ironically turns out to be an unlikely “Double Shadow” dub by Kode 9, which capably complements the Junior Boys’ inherent genre-less-ness. 8.5/10 (Jack Oatmon) With Russian Futurists at la Sala Rossa, Sat., April 7, 9 p.m., $15

RUN DMC
Live at Montreux 2001 (Eagle Rock)
RUN DMC
Live at Montreux 2001 DVD (Eagle Rock)
Captured at the Montreux Jazz Festival in France just prior to Jam Master Jay’s murder in 2002—and on a less tragic note, DMC’s treacherous 2005 betrayal of Adidas for le Coq Sportif—hip hop’s own original men in black are in fine form (okay, so Run’s chunked out a bit). After warming up in fits and starts, they sail through an engaging set, including the necessary numbers like “It’s Tricky,” “Kings of Rock,” “Mary Mary” and “Peter Piper,” clearly having a blast with their catalogue. What recommends the CD as well is the superior sound recording, which serves their tough, simple and efficacious style quite well. Both 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

TIMBALAND PRESENTS
Shock Value (Blackground/Interscope)
Timbaland was the man last year when he rode the raw, futuristic sounds of Justin Timberlake’sFutureSex/ LoveSounds from the centre of the dancefloor to the top of the charts. This week, Tim releases Shock Value, which should have been called Futuristic Leftovers, judging by the sheer number of songs that copy or borrow elements from last year’s hits. While still a huge fan of his use of real drums, and thankful he’s not lazy with the synth, do we really need Timbaland and the Hives? Timbaland and Elton John? Timbaland and f@#%ing Fall Out Boy? I think not. More entertaining than annoying. 7/10 (Scott C)

REDMAN
Red Gone Wild Thee Album (Def Jam/Universal)
I’m not so sure why Redman seemed to be MIA in 2006, throwing us bones here and there, but I am glad that a fulllength has finally emerged. As one of my all-time favourite MCs, Redman’s nasal flow is still a force to be reckoned with once he gets going, like on “Gimme One,” produced by Pete Rock, or “Get ’Em” with Saukrates and Icadon. Red’s clearly being pulled in a few directions though, fulfilling his club obligations with the Southern-rolled “Sumtn 4 Urrbody,” weed appreciation on “Merry Jane” with Snoop, and hot shit with “Gilla House Check.” Not his best, but I’ll take it for now. 7.5/10 (Scott C)

SLAVIC SOUL PARTY!
Teknochek Collision (Barbès)
VARIOUS
Gypsy Groove (Putumayo/Koch)
As the Balkan-beat sound gains global momentum, two new discs pour gas on the flames. The Putumayo comp, characteristically, shies away from anything too raw or boisterous, though amid its wide spread of material, several tracks pass muster—Amsterdam Klezmer Band, Balkan Beat Box and Eastenders crank up the energy,and numbers by Slovenian sex guerrilla Magnifico and Uzbeki heartthrob Karen Gafurdjanov impress with their originality. Brooklyn’s SSP!, meanwhile, offer the opposite. A few moments of calm break up a furious Balkan brass frenzy with a subtle, and at times not so subtle, American accent. Both 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

TRACEY THORN
Out of the Woods (Astralwerks/EMI)
With a soothing voice that could chill out a riding bull, Everything But the Girl’s vocalist reaffirms her status as the queen of adult pop after eight years in hibernation. Ewan Pearson, who produced the last Rapture disc, keeps the tracks light and effortlessly blends her voice with textural synth layers. There are no “Missing”-like stabs at past glory, but “It’s All True” and “Raise the Roof” are mature dance excursions on par with her previous work. The pensive ballad “Falling Off a Log” and the funky “Get Around to It” round out this varied record. 8/10 (Erik Leijon)

MACY GRAY
Big (Universal)
Gray’s exceptional ’99 debut On How Life Is introduced a funky, gravel-voiced singer with a quirky personality. Her subsequent releases—2001’s The Id and 2003’s The Trouble With Being Myself— maintained the eccentricity but lacked the substance. With Big, Gray returns to form, kind of. There are some brilliant moments here: Natalie Cole’s sterling background vocals turn bittersweet lead single “Finally Made Me Happy” into a sincere declaration of joy, while “What I Gotta Do” provides entertaining insight into Macy the mother. But except for a few tracks like “Strange Behavior,” quirky Macy is MIA, and this refined incarnation simply isn’t big enough to fill her shoes. 7.5/10 (Gerard Dee)

LENNIE TRISTANO QUARTET
Live at the Confucius Restaurant (Gambit)
This is an important double CD consisting of 22 tracks. The four controversial studio tracks with Peter Ind and Jeff Morton are here. These include his touching memorial to Charlie Parker, “Requiem.” What makes this reissue of particular value are the 18 tracks recorded in the Sing Song Room of the eatery mentioned in the title, 13 of which were not included on the original release. They are played live by an unusual quartet of the pianist, his most famous student, altoman Lee Konitz, bassist Gene Ramey, who goes back to the Kansas City era, and a fiery hard bop drummer in Arthur Taylor. New items like “Donna Lee,” “Whispering” and “Confucius Blues” should delight Tristano fans. 10/10 (Len Dobbin)

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