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 Maria Schneider Orchestra
Sky Blue (artistShare)
The anxiously awaited new one by THE jazz orchestra. This year, Maria picked up first place honours in the Down Beat critics’ poll in three categories: big band, composer and arranger. This protégé of Gil Evans and Bob Brookmeyer just gets more and more musical. This CD contains five new originals with superb solos for the featured members of the band, the cream of the younger crop, including Ingrid Jensen, Donny McCaslin, Rich Perry, Scott Robinson, Gary Versace, Steve Wilson, Charles Pillow, Frank Kimbrough, Jay Anderson, Ben Monder and Clarence Penn. One of the year’s top releases! 10/10 (Len Dobbin)
 The New Pornographers
Challengers (Last Gang)
Shall I compare thee to a woodland creature? If the New Pornographers were a beaver, it would be an expert builder that’s more comfortable than ever in its slowly loosening skin, but unwilling to take unnecessary risks. Yes, B.C.’s finest sound slightly past their prime, packing their fourth album with understated epics that don’t pay off the way they used to. Neko Case plays a smaller role than ever here, and even Dan Bejar’s prickly presence seems dulled down. But the band set such a high standard with Twin Cinema that disappointment was almost inevitable—none of these songs are bad, and the likes of “All the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth” prove that there’s still some juice in the old beav. 7.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
 Stereo Total
Paris Berlin (Kill Rock Stars)
If multilingual, synth-styled rock ’n’ roll is your speed, chances are Stereo Total has been getting you cranked for years. This and the previous LP by Brezel Göring and Françoise Cactus haven’t quite lived up to the electrobilly splendour of old, but this one still does the job, kinda like crystal meth. It’s cheap, trashy and DIY, with a potency that will satisfy from the start, so much so that you won’t notice when you’re let down by subsequent songs, like subsequent hits. Just say maybe. 7/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With the Octopus Project at la Tulipe on Mon., Aug. 27, 9 p.m., $18
Dirty Projectors
Rise Above (Dead Oceans)
From the post-modern school of eccentric songwriting and genre-shattering deconstruction, David Longstreth has devoted his fourth Dirty Projectors LP (available Sept. 11) to “re-imagining” Black Flag’s 1981 album, Damaged, a record he hadn’t heard in over a decade. But it’s more than an homage filtered through a patchy memory—aided by producer Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear, it’s a convergence of camouflaged styles (namely pop, classical, R&B, folk and rock), a soft and surreal concoction of strange sounds and soulful voices that could easily be the soundtrack to a deeply weird dream. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With YACHT and Vampire Weekend at Casa del Popolo on Fri., Aug. 24, p.m., $12
Nicole Willis and the Soul Investigators
Keep Reachin’ Up (Light in the Attic)
With the huge success of Amy Winehouse’s amazing “Back to Black” and the Detroit Cobras and Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings hitting new heights with their take on raucous R&B, Willis’s soul revival couldn’t come at a better time. Willis and co. perfectly extract the essence of Curtis Mayfield, Northern Soul and Motown. Willis is top-notch here but the string arrangements and the time-travel production of Didier Selin, not to mention the expert musicianship of the Soul Investigators, will have you swear that this was recorded during the glory days of the Motor City. 8/10 (Johnson Cummins)
 Coalesce
There Is Nothing New Under the Sun
(Hydra Head/Sonic Unyon)
Okay, an album made up of mainly Zeppelin covers is going to be as lame as the day is long, right? Not when Coalesce choose to get the Led out. Although the band called it a day long ago, the fine folks at Hydra Head have re-released this classic from ’99 and added bonus tracks of Black Sabbath, Undertow, (gulp) the Get-Up Kids and Boy Sets Fire covers. Zep classics like “Immigrant Song,” “Out on the Tiles”, “Black Dog,” “Heartbreaker” and others prove they are open to interpretation but can also be infused with a new sense of crushing brutality. Utterly genius. 9/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Fuel
Devils & Angels (Sony BMG)
Aw. With a great logo and menacing Photoshopped photography on the cover, I had hoped for at least something brooding and heavy. I got lukewarm and whiney instead. Extract a tiny fragment of Scott Weiland’s voice from the Stone Temple Pilots’ “Big Bang Baby,” dip it in the quagmire of been-there-done-that riffs and watch it spread like a drop of milk in water (try it!). The obligatory angry and bitter song, “Not This Time,” manifests itself with all the bite of a toothless shark with gum disease. Wading out of an ocean of mediocre songwriting, shocked and covered in blood (not yours, the shark’s), you’ll pass out on a beach and forget everything. 6/10 (Lateef Martin)
 Final Baton
Gras Dur (Cyclop Media)
Yet another great release from one of Montreal’s heavy hitters, Cyclop Media, this local band truly pummels on this one. Punk rock is definitely their touchstone, but on songs like “Tout Doux la Patte” and “Coup de Des,” they reveal a daring flirtation with classic rock while the epic “Ketchup Sauce” prove they are able to throw some curveballs that spiral over the plate. Only eight songs here, but Final Baton manage to stretch out with varied styles while still remembering that their true calling is hitting like a nail gun. 7.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
 Bedouin Soundclash
Street Gospels (Dine Alone)
2005’s Sounding a Mosaic, with its hit “When the Night Feels My Song,” put this Ontario trio’s folk-informed rock-reggae on the front line of the recent transatlantic quasi-ska revival (the third-and-a-half wave?). If anything, Street Gospels ups the ante with a higher quotient of stuck-in-your-headiness—the snappy single “Walls Fall Down” is matched by the sad-souled “Nico on the Night Train” and the spare yet robust “St. Andrews.” Moreover, there’s extensive involvement by the venerable Vernon Buckley of the Maytones and Money Mark, getting all Studio One on the keys, and Daryl Jennifer of Bad Brains works the board. Sweet. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
 Chemical Brothers
We Are the Night (Astralwerks/EMI)
A reminder of that bizarre couple of years in the mid-’90s when Irvine Welsh and affordable satellite TV alerted us that, while we happily rolled around on skateboards wearing backwards baseball caps, saying ‘yo’ totally un-ironically and pretending to like smoking blunts, the Brits were sporting clothes that actually fit them and beating each other up at soccer games over there in Mirror Universe. What’s more, they were listening to a funky blend of understated techno and majestically climactic breakbeats with smatterings of nujazz. Crazy Brits. Here’s the updated package, complete with Klaxons cameo and bittersweet Midlake collaboration lamenting the starry days gone by. 7.5/10 (Jack Oatmon)
Sikh Knowledge
Nu High (The Bank of Mount Real)
Montreal producer Kanwar Anit Singh Saini, aka Sikh Knowledge, has been quietly building his musical repertoire for some time now, happy to finally unleash the fruits of his labours on his new label, The Bank of Mount Real. Nu High combines Sikh’s love of hip hop, dancehall riddims, Eastern percussion, and J Dilla swagger, to come up with something fresh and new for Montreal and beyond. Lyrical flex is also covered by Sikh, along with friends Lotus, Goodvibes and Nantali Indongo, accompanying the latest incarnation of the Montreal sound. 8/10 (Scott C)
UGK
Underground Kingz (Jive Zomba/Sony BMG)
After a five-year hiatus due to Pimp C spending time in the slammer, the original dirty South duo have made up for lost time with a bloated, ardently old-school double album. It’s nice to see the current Southern rap torch-bearers Slim Thug, Rick Ross and T.I. paying homage to their forefathers, but the major coup is getting Too $hort to re-work “Life Is Too $hort” on “Life Is 2009,” and other vet cameos like Big Daddy Kane, Kool G Rap and Scarface (Dizzee Rascal completes the eclectic and awesome guest list). At two-plus hours, it’s too long; the remix of “Like That” inexplicably precedes the near-identical actual version, and Jazee Pha’s tracks are lame. 7.5/10 (Erik Leijon)
 Broadway Calls
self-titled (Smallman/Warner)
I was fully prepared to designate this album as yet another pop-punk disaster to add to the sugarcoated pile, but then some familiar opening lyrics about Troubled Joe piqued my interest. Yes, some no-name Oregon punk band felt compelled to desecrate the Smiths’ “A Rush and A Push and the Land Is Ours.” Forgive me Morrissey, because it’s actually an interesting, passionately sung reinterpretation (a punkish gurgling scream replaces Morrissey’s defeated growl). If only they took the Frente! route and pushed the cover as their signature tune, as the rest of the material isn’t nearly as adventurous or even as inspired. 5/10 (Erik Leijon)
 Kool & the Gang
Still Kool (New Door/UMG)
Eleven years after their last release and an incredible 38 years after their self-titled debut, the venerable soul band returns. Founding member Robert “Kool” Bell is still part of the line-up, but silky-voiced lead singer James “J.T.” Taylor isn’t and, if anything, the set suffers from indistinct vocals. It’s not all bad: the band’s spirited cover of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Happening Brother” meshes seamlessly with their own “It Is What It Is,” while the breezy “Steppin Into Love” is reminiscent of the group’s peak. A bonus disc featuring five of the band’s biggest hits, including “Ladies Night” and “Celebration,” is a reminder of how far this incarnation is from the original. 7/10 (Gerard Dee)
Mini CD Reviews
Andrew W.K. Close Calls with Brick Walls (Load) Super-rare, vinyl-only third jam by cinder-block-eating Californian party spazz. Siiiiick! 11 (JO)
Charles Mingus Sextet Cornell 1964 (Blue Note/EMI) A momentous discovery of a concert by a great band that never did any studio recordings. The wonderful material includes “Take the ‘A’ Train” and “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling.” One of the great Mingus releases. 10 (LD)
Reid Jamieson The Presley Sessions (Banbury) Originally recorded for his sweetheart, like Elvis’s first single was made for Mom, Toronto folk/pop singer does a sweet job on the King’s ballads. 7 (LC)
Mae Singularity (Capitol/EMI) If Good Charlotte were hit by Death Cab, this is what the mangled, fiery wreckage might smell like. 3 (LC)
Ted Nugent Love Grenade (Armoury/Eagle Rock) Though not nearly as bad as Theodore’s Damn Yankees, songs like “Funk U” and a revamped “Journey to the Center of the Mind” make you wish he’d ditch the guitar and aim that crossbow straight into his jugular. 3 (JC)
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