Disc of the week

Lupe Fiasco
The Cool (Atlantic/Warner)
After Lupe’s first effort suffered an early leak that pushed him to change the official release from previously downloaded material, it’s a new day. The Cool arrived with all of its concept intact, save for tunes like “Dumb It Down” and “Superstar,” which provided two good reasons to hope for the best. Fiasco’s insight into The Cool ensures that you won’t get tired of the material, with him spitting wisdom with apparent ease. The relaxed “Paris, Tokyo” lays out stories of international success and travel, while “Gold Watch” again talks about prosperity and the weight that comes with it. Lupe knows where he stands in all of this, taking a crisp position and providing a distinctive look into the way he sees the world. 8/10 (Scott C)

Katie Stelmanis
Join Us (Blocks/Universal)
Hovering portentously in the Kate Bush/Cat Power/Diamanda Galas axis—though her own list of influences reads Nina Simone, Shakira, Nine Inch Nails and Queen, and she’s a member of neo-gospel buzz band the Bruce Peninsula—this Toronto artist’s debut album is a gift. Vocals brimming with confidence, backed by hard, cold piano and MIDI creations, she lines each track with just enough melody and warmth to grant an audience access. Major-label distribution and regular rotation on Quebec City radio are pleasantly surprising developments. If only more women would make such bold musical statements. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

iLiKETRAiNS
Elegies to Lessons Learnt
(Beggars Banquet/Select)
Like watching Dick Clark on New Year’s Eve, this album brings on sadness, dread and laughter simultaneously. It’s hard to believe that these guys are from Leeds (and that English is their mother tongue), given England’s rich history of poetic gravitas and proper goth. To the band’s credit, their post-rock backdrop is passable, and they sing about the dark corners of history rather than lackluster lovelives, albeit in an affected baritone. Tales of the plague, unjust persecution, political assassinations and “an ill-fated round-the-world yachtsman” would be more effective, however, were they written in language more complex than their band name. 4/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Puny Human
Universal Freak Out (Small Stone)
These yobs from Brooklyn come out swinging after a lengthy hiatus, but the denim warriors better approach with caution—this won’t appeal to the knuckledraggers who like their meat ’n’ potatoes rock served in bite-sized portions. Like their Williamsburg brethren Bad Wizard, Puny Human have things turned up to 11 as pentatonic riffs lead the way, but you will have to search long and hard for the actual songs laying under the thunderous riffs and gratuitous guitar solos. Fans of early Clutch are sure to dig this. 7.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)

Various
Disco Not Disco: Post Punk, Electro & Leftfield Disco Classics 1974-1986 (Strut/Outside)
Shaking off a half-decade of dormancy, the U.K. label Strut reemerges as a subsidiary of !K7. Prior to unveiling their first signing—no less than Grandmaster Flash—Strut resumes the task of digging up the dancefloor detours that punk, jazz and prog-tronics took around the turn of the ’80s, stuff that was often lackluster in practice, but on occasion electrifying. The first two Disco Not Disco comps were key in igniting the millennial dance-punk resurgence, and the third holds its own with tracks from Vivien Goldman, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Bill Laswell’s Material and Delta 5 (“Mind Your Own Business,” later tackled by Chicks on Speed). 7/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Yelle
Pop-Up (Source Etc/Fusion III)
Springboarding off a home-baked answer song cutting TTC down to size (“Short Dick Cuizi,” rehashed here as the spare, snotty “Je veux te voir”), this brassy Breton has carved a niche for herself among the ballsy belles of MySpace (M.I.A., Lily Allen and such). The terrain her debut covers isn’t unexpected—“Tristesse/Joie” taps lightly into the hydraulic funk her French provenance demands, “Mal poli” brings the bubbly bounce, “Mon meilleur ami” assumes a Teutonic lockstep, and nods to early synth-funk and sweet, vintage French e-pop abound. Aggravatingly pouty at points, Yelle’s charm and humour win out in the end, keeping her Casio coquetteries fun. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Chingy
Hate It or Love It (Island Def Jam/Universal)
Chingy’s latest attempt at hip hop is utterly disposable, unmemorable and does nothing to convince anyone he’s anything more than a talentless, catchphrase-repeating Soulja Boy four years removed from his big hit. With more serious lyrics and less baggy clothes, the idea was to dupe the masses into admiring how mature (read: gangsta) the nasal-whiny rapper had become, yet the older and wiser Chingy is as nondescript as his adolescent doppelganger. Every song is three forgettable verses and a shameless attempt at creating a new catchphrase. Even Ludacris sounds bored as he copies his own “Saturday” on “Gimme Dat.” 2/10 (Erik Leijon)

Liquid Stranger
The Invisible Conquest (Interchill)
Opening on a sampled spiel from David Icke, the nutty Brit famed for preaching about Earth’s secret alien lizard-man rulers, you know that the latest from Liquid Stranger (Swedish-born Martin Staaf) is going to be a weird, disorienting and often hilarious trip. Staaf’s spin on diabolically deep dub nods to reggae but also to the far ends of Euro-tronic space rock, booby-trapping his echo chambers with entirely unexpected textures and sounds (care of Icke’s lizard lords, perhaps?). Staaf’s safe to flirt with humbling cosmic grandeur, because unlike too many of his peers at the axis of dub, rave and new age, he knows when to pull back from the edge and toss in a ticklish twist. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

The Dynamics
Version Excursions (Groove Attack)
Given reggae’s riotous history of ripping and recycling, the Dynamics’ conceit—covers in a boutique Euro-reggae vernacular—lacks the novel zing of say, the bossa nova’d new wave nuggets of Nouvelle Vague. Then again, this French quintet knows its way around roots and rock steady, and tackles everything from Zep, the Stones and White Stripes to Prince, Curtis Mayfield and, boldly enough, Pharaoh Sanders and Herbie Hancock. Moreover, the Dynamics bring enough clever and inventive flashes to make Version Excursions a memorable if mellow listen. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Keyshia Cole
Just Like You (Geffen/Universal)
Mary J. Blige
Growing Pains (Geffen/Universal)
Cole had a great year in 2007, thanks to hot tracks like “Let It Go” and “Shoulda Let You Go,” from her sophomore effort. But her best material, like her latest, “I Remember,” features more traditional grooves that allow Cole’s earnest vocals to squeeze the emotion out of a song. Tracks like these and Cole’s around-the-way persona have earned her a lot of comparisons to Mary J., but Blige isn’t sitting still. Her eighth album is one of her most consistent. Although jams like “Work That” and “Grown Woman” are instantly likable, it’s the mid-tempo nuggets like “Fade Away,” “Smoke” and the title track that exhibit a new level of creative maturity for Blige. Seems Cole still has some growing to do before she can catch the queen. Cole 8/10, Blige 8.5/10 (Gerard Dee)

Floyd Lawson and
the Hearts of Stone
Coming Out (Afro-Kats)
East of Underground
self-titled (Wax Poetics/Lettuce)
These two funk reissues rescued from obscurity and fresh for 2008 are perfect examples of previously released records worth your CD dollar. Floyd Lawson recorded Coming Out with his Hearts of Stone band right here in Quebec back in 1976, pressing only 1,000 copies that sold mostly within the province. This serious piece of music contains spunky versions of funk and soul classics like “K-Gee,” “Air I Breathe” and a scorching take on “The Theme From S.W.A.T.” Local label Afro-Kats continues its run of surefire funk. The mysterious East of Underground was recorded in Frankfurt, Germany at the height of the Vietnam War, produced by the United States Army in 1971. The band was made up of U.S. servicemen who had won an Army-sponsored battle of the bands. Excellent recording quality makes this exceptional funk band sound immediate, as found on “(Don’t Worry) If There’s a Hell Below,” “Walk on By” and the harmony-heavy “I’ll Bet You/California Dreamin’.” As the first release from Wax Poetics Records, this is a compelling snapshot of American culture of the time, complete with bass, drums, vocals and funky guitar. Lawson 8/10, East 9/10 (Scott C)

Various
Montréal Variations (Analekta)
A concept album that really works—take nine pianists and have them come up with originals and variations, all inspired by Montreal, one of the world’s great cities. Luc Beaugrand, François Bourassa, Lorraine Desmarais, Guy Dubuc, James Gelfand, Jean-François Groulx, Oliver Jones, Alain Lefèvre and Guy St-Onge are the musician/composers here. I particularly liked Jones’s “St-Henri,” Dubuc’s Monkish “La Main” and especially Lefèvre’s theme and variations. Here’s a justifiably renowned “classical” musician showing a deep love and understanding of the jazz idiom, and his fog-ridden “Ville Émard la Belle” is not to be missed. 10/10 (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

Frank Rosolino & Carl Fontana Trombone Heaven (Uptown) This live 1978 session from Vancouver is a trombone lover’s dream, six tracks that give two great players plenty of room to create. 10 (LD)

The Huguenots Discography (Hydra Head/Sonic Unyon) This comprehensive posthumous package proves that the avant-punk of this influential and defunct band, featuring Converge’s Kurt Ballou, was way ahead of its time. 9 (JC)

Nubian Mindz The Black Soul EP (Bagpak) Serious broken techno with soulful vocals from Ahmad Larnes on “Shades of Grey,” not to mention the Small Arms Fiya remix of “Black Soul.” 8 (SC)

7D Hot Pants: A James Brown Dedication (Lion Arts) Released on the anniversary of JB’s death, Montrealer 7D drops a 20-track ode to the master, sampling every major tune under the sun. Check “He’s Gone” for the fire. 7.5 (SC)

Nellie McKay Obligatory Villagers (Hungry Mouse/Fusion III) Hiding behind a veil of irony, this chick dishes out anti-feminist rants, limp rapping, lame jokes and plastic ’50s arrangements like Betty Crocker trying her hand at jazz. 3 (LC)

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MIRROR ARCHIVES » Jan 10 Jan 16 2008: INSIDE - COVER | ARCHIVES INDEX | CURRENT ISSUE