|
 SA-RA
The Hollywood Recordings (Babygrande)
After over two years of radioactive mp3 leaks, mixtapes, 12-inches, remixes and savoury productions for the hip hop/soul elite, the cosmic trio of Om’Mas Keith, Taz Arnold and Shafiq Husayn has finally blessed us with a full-length LP. The Hollywood Recordings is a 19-track epic that exemplifies the new sound of psychedelic hip hop and soul, championed by these three accomplished producers. Robot vocals and sub-bass abound, as well as guest appearances by Talib Kweli, Bilal, Erykah Badu, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Pharaohe Monch and J Dilla. All will eventually bow to the heavyweight, extraterrestrial sound of Sa-Ra. 9.5/10 (Scott C)
 PETER BJÖRN AND JOHN
Writer’s Block (Almost Gold/V2)
Third album’s a charm for this Stockholm trio, insofar as breaking the ice outside of Europe, and delivering the goods. Despite obvious traces of My Bloody Valentine, New Order and the Smiths, this is more than simply a big British mash-up. Apart from the flood of guitars flowing through their shoegazing tunes, the trio favours light arrangements that highlight the groove, with melodies and vocals swimming in winsome melancholia. Tracks such as the whistled single “Objects of My Affection” recall the organic dancefloor fun of Norway’s Ralph Myerz & co., and like their “Nikita,” this too is destined for a car ad. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With Fujiya & Miyagi, Au Revoir Simone at le National on Sat., May 5, 9 p.m., $20, sold out
 JARVIS COCKER
Jarvis (Rough Trade/FAB)
No longer obsessed primarily with his lovelife and the lovelives of others, Pulp’s Jarvis Cocker weighs down his solo debut with hand-wringing and head-cradling over political affairs. The record kicks off in style with a song he wrote for Nancy Sinatra in ’04, followed by a tune that sounds amazingly like “Crimson and Clover.” But “Fat Children” is what Pulp/Britpop fans have been waiting for, a real rock anthem for the dancefloor. The rest is quality material that unfortunately fails to rekindle Pulp’s excitement, and Cocker’s “everything is gonna be alright” closer (which fizzles out before the expected climax) is a hard pill to swallow after an album’s worth of downers. 7/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
TORI AMOS
American Doll Posse (Epic/Sony BMG)
Starting her latest, self-produced effort with “Yo, George,” Tori Amos gives you a clue where this album is going. Amos speaks through her “posse” of finely-coifed alter egos, Santa, Clyde, Isabel and Pip, who apparently each have their own blog somewhere in cyberspace. These characters sing with varying degrees of annoyance about what’s going wrong with the world. The pianos are still fierce and her voice even more shrill—Tori’s urgency is a sign of the times when the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket. Strange how she comes out with an album every time NIN does. 8/10 (Lateef Martin)
VARIOUS
Spider-Man 3 (Record Collection/Warner)
My disappointment in the Spider-Man movies—and I’m no small fan of both Stan Lee and Sam Raimi—is matched, and even amplified, by the musical misjudgement displayed here. The material’s divided between dull, “sensitive” neo-folk pop and clumsy, turgid beer-commercial rock, which is what one might expect from the Killers, Jet and Snow Patrol. But it’s as though the tunes from promising names like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wolfmother, Rogue Wave, Walkmen and Black Mountain were selected for maximum ho-hum. Saddest of all is a commissioned Flaming Lips number that, while a sweet pastiche of the Beatles, is apocryphal at best. 3/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
 VARIOUS
A Tribute to Joni Mitchell (Nonesuch/Warner)
This ode to the grand dame of Cancon is packed with big names from the adult alternative/contemporary world, beginning with Sufjan Stevens’s ridiculously impressive “Free Man in Paris,” possibly an homage to ’70s TV theme songs. Björk’s pixie dust turns “The Boho Dance” into a music-box lullaby, Prince goes all R&B on “A Case of You” and Elvis Costello trumps his wife’s pseudo-jazz with “Edith and the Kingpin.” The other offerings are banal, sometimes frighteningly so–Sarah McLachlan, for one, sounds like she’s died and gone to limbo. 6/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
 DINOSAUR JR.
Beyond (Fat Possum/FAB)
The first notes you hear on this reunion CD are from one of J Mascis’s trademark searing solos, and the sloth pretty much doesn’t lay off the fuzz for the rest of the 11 songs here. Mascis packs at least three sections of fretwork in each, and normally this would relegate an album to the senseless-wankery section, but Mascis’s playing is so brilliant, he actually makes it work. His narcoleptic Neil Young vocals are still a bitter pill to swallow, but he knows how to deliver a catchy-as-hell chorus, while the two songs that Lou Barlow sings clean the palate. Solophobes may have their thumbs glued to the fast-forward button, but for the rest of us, this is six-string bliss. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
CHARIOT OF SHAME
self-titled (independent)
Montreal’s Chariot of Shame could be placed close to the stoner-boogie camp, what with the freight-train riffage and coke-numbed solos. Thing is, the weed whence cometh the Chariot’s notions is apparently laced, because the seven songs on this introductory EP are shot through with a jawgrinding nervousness and an inspired lyrical incivility (delivered with a pompous precision recalling Electric Six) that manages to get everything right about acting wrong. Track six is called “Your Mother,” feel free to play it for her. 7/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) With Supercharger and Diablo Red at Katacombes on Saturday, May 5, 8 p.m., $7
 DAGGERMOUTH
Turf Wars (Smallman/Warner)
Although Vancouver’s Daggermouth recall the glory days of Saves the Day and Jawbreaker (at least according to their bio), this ’90s-style poppy punk has a problem translating to 2007. All of the trappings are here in spades, the big crowd choruses and Fat Wreck harmonies, lyrics that include “you better watch your back” (oh my!) and “never give up on your dreams” (egads, man!), chuggy good-time guitars, done-to-death hardcore beats and so on. Is there really still that much babysitting and paperroute money out there keeping this overtly predictable kind of music afloat? I wonder if they do synchronised jumps when they play this stuff live. 5/10 (Johnson Cummins) With Set Your Goals, Protest the Hero and No Trigger at Café l’Inconditionnel tonight, Thurs., May 3, 8 p.m., $13
LIL’ FLIP
I Need Mine (Asylum/Warner)
Originally intended for release in 2005, Lil’ Flip’s fourth album was apparently so terrible that Sony refused to release it and intentionally leaked it when he jumped ship to Asylum. Some of those ill-fated tunes have resurfaced on this 37-track, two-hour mammoth. For every clever, slightly selfdeprecating song like “Block Money,” “Single Mother” and “Cruise Control,” which prove he’s a fun and skilled lyricist, there are a few clunkers a solid edit would have rectified. There are a dozen decent tracks to discover for those willing to wade through a lot of mediocrity. 5/10 (Erik Leijon)
ANTHONY JOSEPH & THE SPASM BAND
Leggo De Lion (Kindred Spirits)
Trinidadian-born, London-based spoken word artist Anthony Joseph leads the rhythmic, bass-laden sounds of the Spasm Band with lyrical rushes and poetic jewels. This lecturer and teacher of creative writing stirs the soul with stories of Afrofuturism mixed with wild island jazz, as heard on songs like the “Kneedeepinditchdiggerniggersweat.” Joseph is a fiery and capable performer and commands the unconditional attention of the listener like his influences Gil Scott Heron and Fela Kuti. This is an imaginative trip into the mind of a mystic. 8.5/10 (Scott C)
 MAVIS STAPLES
We’ll Never Turn Back (Anti/FAB)
Her first album since 2004’s Have a Little Faith finds Staples in a reflective mood, revisiting songs that exemplified the civil rights movement. At 67, her voice shows signs of wear, but Staples shows no sign of slowing down. In fact, her matured vocal timbre adds weight to tracks like the somber “I’ll Be Rested.” Elsewhere, producer Ry Cooder brings musical muscle to “This Little Light of Mine,” while Ladysmith Black Mambazo adds resolve to “Eyes on the Prize.” The set’s most poignant track is the self-penned “My Own Eyes,” a testament to Staples’ personal experience with the struggle, and the lasting contributions she continues to make to it. 8.5/10 (Gerard Dee)
 KURT ELLING
Nightmoves (Concord/Universal)
Elling, hands down the greatest male singer to appear since the ’90s, comes up on a new label with his best-ever session. A great deal of his success comes from his longtime collaboration with pianist Laurence Hobgood, his musical director Rob Amster and Willie Jones III, his present trio, are also here along with important guests like Bob Mintzer, Howard Levy, and the Escher String Quartet in an 11-track outing that includes material by Jobim, Betty Carter, Randy Bachman, Alan Pasqua, Fred Hersch and Walt Whitman plus Ellington (“I Like the Sunrise”) and Elling’s rewrite of “Body and Soul.” A must for jazz vocal collectors—and watch for Elling at the Jazz Festival this summer. 10/10 (Len Dobbin)
Mini CD Reviews
IRENE KRAL/HERB POMEROY The Band and I (Capitol/EMI) Kral was one of the unsung singers of her time—she died in 1978 at age 46. This is a welcome reissue of a 1958 session that adds to her rather sparse available legacy. 8.5 (LD)
JOHN PRINE & MAC WISEMAN Standard Songs for Average People (Oh Boy/Fusion III) Prine and Wiseman put a fresh coat of paint on classics by Ernest Tubb, Bob Wills, Tom T. Hall, Kris Kristofferson and more. 8 (JC)
THE JON COHEN Experimental (independent) Launnie Anderssohn/ex-Dears guitarist dips into shroomy ambiance, producing sweet mood music and excellent rockers like the early-Eno-esque “Just Me Against the World.” 7.5 (LC)
DOG DAY Night Group (Black Mountain/Tomlab) Uneven indie rock power from Halifax, with highlights that rival the early ‘90s greats they’re aping. 7 (LC) With Heavy Trash at the Green Room, Sat., May 6, 9 p.m.
THE JUJU ORCHESTRA Bossa Nova Is Not a Crime (Agogo) Minus a few 4/4 missteps, the Juju Orchestra get it movin’. “Funky Nassau” is the joint. 7 (SC)
ANBERLIN Cities (Tooth & Nail/EMI) This alt-Christian band has committed an obvious sin: thou shalt not steal from Yellowcard. 2.5 (EL)
|
