|
 Rufus Wainwright
Release the Stars (Geffen/Universal)
Stepping back from the unbridled orchestral excess of Want Two, the boy Wainwright has made an album of lilting pop and theatrical ballads. (Perhaps following Morrissey’s lead, there’s also an elegy for America and a song about what’s “Between My Legs.”) His familiar lyrical and melodic melodrama remain, however, and a handful of songs swell with choirs and eruptions of strings and piano. Otherwise, Wainwright treads lightly, co-producing (with the Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant) pretty songs suited for an old-fashioned musical. But all this easy breeziness is only an interlude—his next project is a full-fledged opera. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
 Ozzy Osbourne
Black Rain (Epic/Sony BMG)
I know I’m probably in the minority here, but I actually don’t think Ozzy has sounded vital since 1974’s Sabbath Bloody Sabbath record, and he certainly doesn’t return to his glory days of yore here. Despite the obvious sentiment of lead-off tracks “I’m Not Going Away” and “I Don’t Wanna Stop,” you can’t help but think somebody should take this Ol’ Yeller behind the barn and pump him full of buckshot. Although Zakk Wylde’s ripping it up on this, any glimpses of Ozzy’s better years get buried under vocal effects and overreaching production, unable to polish this turd. 4/10 (Johnson Cummins)
 Ahleuchatistas
What You Will (Cuneiform)
This Ashville, NC trio is holding the torch high for the evolution of math-rock, with definite elements of discordance and stop-on-a-dime changes but this probably has more to do with Miles’s Bitches Brew on diet pills than it does Drive Like Jehu. Abacus rockers sometimes get their slide rulers lost up their own asses, but Ahleuchatistas engage with every polyrhythmic change-up and discordant arpeggio here. Their real achievement is that they make these incredibly complex blasts sound almost effortless. 8/10 (Johnson Cummins) With Tugnut, Discord of a Forgotten Sketch and Bisbaye at Main Hall tonight, Thurs., May 24, 8 p.m., $15
 Alley Dukes
Go Back to College! (Flying Saucer/FAB)
Good to see Montreal’s Alley Dukes getting some higher education again (as opposed to just high) because they clearly didn’t learn a damn thing the first time around. Guys, your dreams of jawing with Ben Mulroney on eTalk Daily will never happen so long as you insist on playing raw, genuine rockabilly firmly rooted in tradition yet banged out with propulsive punk-rock panache and lyrical lewdness par excellence. A shakedown, not a fake-out, this sophomore effort is the rough, tough, meat ’n’ potatoes stuff, bound to earn these bastard a baccalaureate in bad behaviour. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
 Battles
Mirrored (Warp/Fusion III)
A chaotic math-rock full-length debut from well-pedigreed musicians, Mirrored comes perilously close to being too complicated to enjoy, but for the most part avoids careening into cacophonic drivel. Lead guitarist/keyboardist Tyondai Braxton actually sings on several tracks (as opposed to their all-instrumental EPs), and it’s always unintelligible gibberish programmed to eliminate any signs of humanity, yet his computerized beatboxing gives tracks such as “Ddiamondd” and the latter half of “Snare Hanger” much-needed structure. It blows away their previous work, although songs like “Tonto” and “Tij” show a band getting too caught up in creating weird sounds. 7.5/10 (Erik Leijon)
 The Saint Alvia Cartel
self-titled (Stomp/Warner)
Featuring members of Grade, Jersey and the Video Dead, this Burlington supergroup takes some tips from Mick Jones’s side of the Clash, modern pub sing-alongs and probably Don Letts’s set list from the Roxy. Dyed-in-the-wool street punkers may have a hard time winging pints to this one, as TSAC rest their tunes on pop hooks, but with adventurous production and arrangements, it’s obvious they’ve grown past the scope of their previous bands. Not bad, but the band may still be a record away from truly living up to their lineage. 6/10 (Johnson Cummins) With Whiskey Trench and the Next Best Thing at Petit Campus, Fri., May 25, 9 p.m., $10
Fields
Everything Last Winter (Atlantic/Warner)
Mando Diao
Ode to Ochrasy (Mute/EMI)
From Birmingham, England by way of Reykjavik, Iceland, Fields craft a watered-down, progged-up approximation of ’90s Britpop on their debut LP. Somewhere between the massive, gauzy guitars of Slowdive and Placebo’s arena-pop M.O., with a token glam rock song and a dash of twee, Fields have locked down a spot in line for radio play, somewhere on the sad path of Snow Patrol. Making a more successful stab at that U.K. sound, Sweden’s Mando Diao pair jittery punk vigour with sad seafaring pop on their third album, like a collision of Franz Ferdinand and the Coral. Far from genius, with a fair amount of filler, there are still enough gems on Ode to Ochrasy (that’s a made-up word, by the way) to merit a treasure hunt. Fields 6, Mando Diao 7/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
 The Bravery
The Sun and the Moon (Island/Universal)
The quintet’s sophomore disc is far too over-calculated and unoriginal to even be appreciated as camp. The Bravery were considered retro in 2005, and today sound like a horrible retread of every ham-fisted radio hit from the ’80s. There are catchy hooks and songwriter/singer Sam Endicott has a future career writing for AOR artists, but when they aren’t stealing the riff to “London Calling” (“This Is Not the End”), they’re copying their own tunes, like on “Every Word Is a Knife in my Ear,” which inelegantly mashes up two better-known singles from their first album, “Fearless” and “An Honest Mistake.” 3.5/10 (Erik Leijon)
 The Veils
Nux Vomica (Rough Trade)
New Zealand’s Veils continue to be beset by Nick Cave comparisons, largely due to the raw emotion gripping Finn Andrews’ quavering vocal cords, and maybe a lazy geographical link. The connection can be made, but there’s as much Hawksley Workman, Tom Waits and Pulp in there, even a little Led Zeppelin and Antony and the Johnsons. The band’s rough-hewn piano pop and velvety ballads rarely fail to satisfy, but this sophomore album’s best moments arrive when Andrews duels with piano, guitars and keys for melodramatic supremacy. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
Ellen Allien/Various
The Other Side: Berlin (TimeOut/Fusion III)
Ellen Allien
Fabric 34 (Fabric/Fusion III)
Berlin’s Ellen Allien takes fans for a sonic sojourn through her hometown for her stab at TimeOut’s Other Side series (which, for the uninitiated, is something of a clubber’s Lonely Planet). The CD/DVD combination features the local’s personalized look at everything the trendy vagabond might want to know about the bipolar Bundestag headquarters, as well as a grab-bag of the mechanical techno that keeps Berliners partying way longer than should be humanly possible (last I checked, anyway). Her contribution to the FabricLive series is also something of a journey as she gradually mixes across 15 quality, if rather unengaging, psychedelic and minimal techno tracks. Make sure to pack your ketamine. Both 8/10 (Jack Oamton)
 Moka Only
Vermilion (Urbnet)
It’s settled. Moka Only, aka Torch, wins the award for rapping producer who most frequently delivers the goods. Vermilion was recorded predominantly in 2005, but most of the tracks on here sound fresh to def. Moka was getting the short end from disgruntled fans who resented him for joining Swollen Members for a while, but he’s already shown his gypsy soul is able to morph and move with many styles and sounds. It still amazes me just how entertainingly cocky Moka is about how easy all this is for him on record, but it’s true. Torch is on fire making future classics in his sleep without the help of guests or gimmicks. 8/10 (Scott C)
 Anthony Hamilton
Southern Comfort (Merovingian)
Like 2005’s Soulife, Hamilton’s latest is composed of material recorded before his two major-label releases, 2003’s Comin’ From Where I’m From and 2005’s Ain’t Nobody Worryin’. True to form, this is soul music that draws on Hamilton’s gritty Southern vocals and a storytelling style steeped in raw emotion. For instance, “They Don’t Know,” perhaps the funkiest cut he’s ever delivered, serves notice to people who judge without the facts, while “Don’t Say What You Won’t Do” takes a hard line on intolerance. On “Glad U Called,” a friend’s timely call dispels Hamilton’s suicidal thoughts over his then-struggling career. Thankfully, he’s come a long way since that time. 8/10 (Gerard Dee)
Daniel Barnes
Classic Beauties (independent)
Felix Stussi
Give Me Five (independent)
Two most musical self-produced quintet sessions—Barnes is a drummer based in Toronto and his eight originals are played by a group made up of Richard Underhill, William Sperandei, Robi Botos and Kieran Overs, while Swiss-born pianist Stussi leads a Montreal combo that has Alex Côté and Bruno Lamarche in the frontline. He’s joined by Clinton Ryder and Isaiah Ceccarelli in the rhythm section. Lots of bebop here, “Short Bop” and “Another Short Bop” on the former and “Let It Be Bop” on the latter, another all-original outing by Stussi. Both 8/10 (Len Dobbin)
Mini CD Reviews
Under Pressure Come Clean (Escape Artist) Brutal and crucial hardcore/rock à la late, great Poison Idea… and by garsh, they’re Canadian! 8.5 (JC)
Tony Scott A Jazz Life (Kind of Blue/Fusion III) Recorded in Italy just over a year ago, this CD/DVD must be one of the last documents of Scott’s long career. He died recently at the age of 85, and this is a valuable addition to his legacy. 8 (LD)
Rock Plaza Central The World Was Hell to Us (independent) This reissue of RPC’s first album brings us back to the beginning of Chris Eaton’s angel vs. human vs. robot-horse odyssey. 7.5 (LC)
Khan Who Never Rests (Tomlab) Exploring the fine lines between pleasantly pervy and goofy sleaze, between dancefloor-filling beats and club-clearing funk. 5 (LC)
Maroon 5 It Won’t Be Soon Before Long (Octoscope/Universal) Clearly an attempt to duplicate Justin Timberlake’s last album. Unfortunately the group lacks charisma. And Timbaland. 4 (EL)
|
