Disk of the week

JADE MCNELIS
All the Fables (Good Fences)
With six songs, in under 17 minutes, the seeds of a career are planted for this fine singer-songwriter, born in Taiwan, raised in Tallahassee, based in Montreal. It’s a lithe concoction of lovely vocals and piano (and violin and melodica), plaintive pop melodies, fluid synths, serenading guitars and percussion, with e-beats dropping in on the closing track. And she’s surrounded herself with top local talent: The EP was produced by Stars’ Chris Seligman, with Drew Malamud, featuring guitars by the Dears’ Murray Lightburn and Patrick Krief, Stars’ Evan Cranley, Plaza Musique’s Gregory Paquet (ex-Stills) and the Slip’s Andrew and Brad Barr. A truly impressive debut. 9/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

NINE INCH NAILS
Year Zero (Nothing/Interscope/Universal)
Trent Reznor takes a look into the future 15 years off, and things are looking pretty grim. The artwork reflects the horrors of today (the wall keeping hell out of paradise) and the future (chips inserted under skin, removed to resist). The music this time is noisy, minimal and different from previous releases, though that familiar NIN sound does pop up now and again, a reminder of the long thread Reznor has woven through the skin of his musical career. Year Zero would be a little fresher had Jeordie White (NIN’s live bassist and Marilyn Manson’s former sonic architect) co-written. Josh Freese is in the mix, and Saul Williams joins in on the hook for single “Survivalism,” a wartime anthem that takes it back to Pretty Hate Machine’s “Wish.” Although lacking a little dimension, Year Zero is another fine stake in the black heart of the Bush administration. 7.5/10 (Lateef Martin)

BRIGHT EYES
Cassadaga (Saddle Creek)
Post-therapy at Cassadaga, a “spiritualist camp” near Disney World in Florida, Conor Oberst is cocooning himself in back-to-nature country rock and left-wing ideology. You can’t begrudge the guy for dumping on his government, but throwing shit at shit seems futile. Wincing is guaranteed, with Oberst’s pretentious lyrics and affected twang ’n’ drawl, neither of which match the power of the band, no matter how much he drapes his vocals in female back-up. That said, the album is dotted with listenable tracks, a pretty orchestral number, a derivation of the Deadwood theme and an introverted ballad. Otherwise, you’ll sit there wishing this guy was shaken as a baby. 6/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

TWINK
Ice Cream Truckin’ (Mulatta)
Boston’s Mike Langlie, aka Twink, continues to champion his charming musical version of regression therapy. Following two albums of toy-instrument jams and a kiddie-record mashup par excellence, this Victor Borge of the toy piano elects to pass along 18 marvellous motifs to a variety of unknowns for remixing and beyond. The remarkable results range from snappy dance tracks (the amazing “Slush Bunny” by Milk Monster) to drum & bass beatdowns, experimental oddities to the closing mall-punk rush of “Ice Cream Headache.” The icecream theme, signalled by Langlie’s opening cover of the Mister Softee song, matches the undeniably adorable tones of his kitschy keyboards. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

SICK PUPPIES
Dressed Up As Life (Virgin/EMI)
When your primary musical inspiration is Silverchair, it’s time to hit the record stores and find some new idols. Aussie (big fucking surprise) trio Sick Puppies mimic the same Mickey Mouse grunge we found laughable over a decade ago, but they also pay homage to the self-indulgent, anorexic Silverchair of the Neon Ballroom era, with predictably stale results. They branch out to whiny emo on “Issues” and acoustic pop-rock on “All the Same,” and for those who admire subtlety in songwriting, there’s the Focus on the Family-approved “Asshole Father.” A worthy successor to your Default CD. 3/10 (Erik Leijon)

XBXRX
Wars (Polyvinyl)
In the tradition of rock deconstructionists and post-hardcore bands like Polvo, Drive Like Jehu and more recently Daughters and Blood Brothers, these Bay-area bashers definitely bring the noise, with every well-calculated smash hitting the mark every time. Moving further away from their former blitzkrieg of blast beats, they now make room for urgent vocals while still having their pedal to the metal, with chaotic riffs falling just short of careening off of the rails at every turn. This is sure to take your lid off live—and wouldn’t ya know, they’re coming to town this week. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins) With Hamborghini and ttttttttttttt at Zoobizarre, Sun., April 22, 10 p.m., $10

YOUNG GALAXY
self-titled (Arts & Crafts)
Stephen Ramsay and Catherine McCandless are a Montrealbased duo from B.C., another loss for the West and gain for us. Out next Tuesday, their debut LP is a vivid blend of graceful melodies, shoegazing guitars and his ’n’ hers vocals swimming in reverb, the astral atmospherics in the expert hands of the Besnard Lakes’ Jace Lasek. Shades of Spiritualized appear in their soulful, slowly unfurled melodies, genteel moon-rock guitars and keys, and choral backing vocals. Young Galaxy doesn’t indulge in thunderous climaxes the way Jason Pierce did, but their velvet-gloved, nostalgia-tipped pop approach packs a powerful punch. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With the Frames at le National on Sat., April 21, 9 p.m., $18

NAW
City Saturate (Noise Factory)
Former Montrealer Neil Wiernik, now a Torontonian, continues his excursions into dub techno with his latest release. In fact, he’s goes beyond the echo-chambered minimal house of his previous efforts under the naw moniker, confidently dropping the plodding rhythmic template and exploring more deeply the possibilities of tone and texture. What certainly does carry over, however, is his perfect evocation of that transitional time of half-light, both comforting and alienating, that blooms briefly at dawn each day—that’s where and when he seems happiest. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

EL-P
I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead (Definitive Jux)
One-man wrecking crew El-P has never had a problem destabilizing his listeners, and upon the first rinse of I’ll Sleep..., it’s plain to see that he hasn’t given up his penchant for thick and meaty rap that defies any sort of uniform classification. This consummate producer/MC clearly loves the old standby of big drums, but here he complements that with dark and unforgiving lyrics, a notable sense of humour and a dramatic and varied array of beat backdrops that speak to his own personal vision of what hip hop could be in 2007. It’s not very pretty, and this is not music for posting up in the club, but it might do for a night in with a bottle of gin, some handcuffs and a friend. 8.5/10 (Scott C)

BRASSMUNK
Fewturistic (EMI)
Brassmunk turned heads way back in 2000 with the “Live Ordeal” 12-inch on Montreal’s Audio Research label, but this album heralds their return to the fold in a big way. Led by the massive productions of Agile, MCs S-Roc, Clip and the welcome addition of King Reign, they’ve dropped one of the best hip hop LPs I have heard so far this year. Brassmunk sidestep the foolishness by incorporating real vocals into the already charismatic interplay between MCs, only it’s the MCs that provide those vocals. They also get help from Kardinal, Moka Only, Chris Rouse and Phat Kat, but they don’t really need it. Big tunes in “How Bouts” and “Say Uh?” 9/10 (Scott C)

ULTRA NATE
Grime Silk Thunder (Tommy Boy)

USIQ SOULCHILD
Luvanmusiq (Atlantic/Warner)
The neo-soul movement has slowed of late, with leaders of the genre like D’Angelo, Maxwell and Erykah Badu nowhere to be found. At least Musiq (aka Taalib Johnson) has been a constant, putting out four albums since 2000, including this one. He’s also been consistent in style, never straying from the classic soul sound that made him in the first place. Not surprisingly, the best tracks here—“Ms. Philadelphia,” “Teach Me,” “Betterman”—reference vintage soul either indirectly through song construction or directly through wellplaced samples. Lead single “Buddy,” which rolls off Taana Gardner’s monster ’80s club jam “Heartbeat,” is a case in point, and sets the tone for another solid Soulchild release. 7.5/10 (Gerard Dee)

BRIAN KELLOCK TRIO
Live at Henry’s (Caber)
Recently in Ottawa, vocalist Sheila Jordan was asked to name her favourite living pianist. Her immediate answer was Brian Kellock, of Edinburgh, Scotland, where the titular Henry’s is located. This CD has been named BBC Album of the Year, and the leader, BBC Instrumentalist of the Year. Kellock, on upright piano, is joined by his regular trio of Kenny Ellis and John Rae in a superb 10-tune program that includes some tough material, including Shearing’s “Conception,” Tristano’s “Lennie’s Pennies” and “317 East 32nd Street,” Bird and Diz’s “Shaw Nuff” and a wonderful 17- minute track that has Jimmy Rowles’ “The Peacocks” segueing into George Russell’s “Ezz-Thetic,” originally dedicated to boxing champion, Ezzard Charles. 10/10 (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

THE BOOK OF KNOTS Traineater (Anti/FAB) Members of Pere Ubu, Unsane and Tom Waits’s band obliterate with this doom-laden beatdown and jangular jazz. Totally freaking heavy! 9 (JC)

ARCTIC MONKEYS Brianstorm EP (Domino/Outside) The fast and aggressive single is bested by a kick-ass Dizzee Rascal cameo on the b-side. 8 (EL)

GEORGE HANDY Pensive (Fresh Sound) On this rare 1955 session by a great arranger, a dozen of his originals are heard and the players include Dave Schildkraut on alto—there are also violin, flute and oboe players involved. 8 (LD)

PANDA BEAR Person Pitch (Paw Tracks) This solo offshoot of Animal Collective sounds like the Beach Boys, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and a team of woodland critters broadcasting from Earth’s core. 8 (LC)

SHAKING JUDY Songs for Apollo (independent) Pierrefonds’s second-best-kept secret (the first being Bombay Choupati): a bar band for boys and girls, with muscular riffs and rhythm, quality vocals and melodies with heart and soul. 7.5 (LC) With Paper Street, Snap Caravan at Petit Campus on Sat., April 21, 9 p.m., $5

MARK FARINA House of Om (Om/Koch) Get sweaty with another mix Mark Farina has done in his sleep, featuring tracks from Kerri Chandler, Vibezelect and MTL’s own Leon Louder. 7 (SC)