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Disc of the week |
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 The Mars Volta The Bedlam in Goliath (Universal) Things are as excessive as ever, with crazy musical complexities still flexing their pipes at all times, but before the many musical tangents appear and quickly disappear, the Mars Volta manage to kick some catchy bits between the frontal lobes. Omar and co. get as close to earthy as they ever have with a solid five-piece groove keeping things chugging, while the falsetto of Bixler Zavala makes everything attainable. Really good stuff here, but this could be way too much for ADD-heads looking for a quick fix. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins) Cat Power Jukebox (Matador/Select) It may seem safe to make a(nother) covers record, with quietly conventional arrangements of songs by universally renowned artists, but taking on Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Hank Williams, Joni Mitchell, Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan ain’t easy. A love letter for the latter, “Song to Bobby,” is Chan Marshall’s only new track, and it fares reasonably well among the classics. Producer Stuart Sikes (White Stripes, Loretta Lynn, Modest Mouse) creates a rich, warm filter for the surprising subtlety of the Dirty Delta Blues Band (featuring Blues Explosion’s Judah Bauer and Dirty Three’s Jim White) and Marshall’s endearingly simple semi-croon. And if it’s too tranquil and tasteful for you, I bet your lesbian aunt would love it. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)  Ringo Starr Liverpool 8 (Capitol/EMI) Schlubby Ringo was always the real fifth Beatle, humble, homely and half the talent his three bandmates were, fumbling his way through waning sales and expectations to settle into a comfy career as a nostalgia act. Wistful recollection is after all something Starr can bank on and always has, which isn’t to say he isn’t honest and even mawkish in doing so. Much of Liverpool 8, assisted by Dave Stewart of Eurythmics among others, is rather gauche in its stiff and uninspiring imitation of what John, Paul and George once wrought, alone or together. Most of the balance is dull self-reference. It’s his guileless affability that makes Starr’s mediocrity tolerable. 5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) The Magnetic Fields Distortion (Nonesuch/Warner) On Stephin Merritt’s eighth LP, he hands half the vocals to Shirley Simms (who sang on 1999’s 69 Love Songs) and immerses all 13 sing-along songs in Psychocandy. To achieve the searing wail of the Jesus and Mary Chain’s 1985 album, every instrument (except drums and voice) was saddled with amps to force feedback—guitars, piano, cello, even accordion conspire in this wall of sound. Romantic despair dominates the lyric sheet, save for one throwaway nod to the “Three-way!” and a hate-on for “California Girls” (Merritt just moved from NYC to L.A.). As punk/pop experiments go, it’s shockingly easy on the ears (and on the intelligence). 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)  Bloodshot Bill/The Firejacks Full Blast (Sin) The first side of this slab o’ wax is just Montreal’s Bloodshot Bill, with the backing of a tub-thumping bass on three tracks. It’s on the flip that he really brings things to a boil when he joins forces with Texans the Two Timin’ Four. B.B. can sure shake some action on his own, but his pairing with TTT is one hell of an unholy hootenanny, with stompers like “Bongo Beatin’ Babe” and “The Beat” hitting all marks with full-bore frenzy. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins) Record launch at Rockette on Sat., Jan. 26, 9 p.m. The Burning Hell Happy Birthday (Weewerk) Peterborough’s Mathias Kom makes a strong case for the Burning Hell with his electric ukulele, warm baritone and sideshow sense of humour, not to mention the dozen musicians who lend light accompaniment on lap steel, cello, trumpet, melodica, “rockenspiel,” voice and much more. The band impresses with their melting pot of roots stylings and retro pop, resulting in gems like “Grave Situation” (which should replace “The Monster Mash” as a Halloween staple), “Happy Birthday to the End of the World” and “What Do You Get for the Man Who Has Nothing?,” which sounds like Leonard Cohen and his “So Long, Marianne” singers tackling “Angel in the Morning.” 7.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With the Barmitzvah Brothers at Divan Orange on Sun., Jan. 27, 9:30 p.m. Eugene S. Robinson FIGHT: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ass-kicking but Were Afraid You’d Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking (Hydra Head/Sonic Unyon) A respected journalist, singer in the brainy but brutal band Oxbow, and connoisseur of barehanded combat, Robinson has recorded a two-disc audio edit of his controversial new book. A riveting, deliberate speaker, Robinson diligently details the technical specifics, insult to injury and everything in between, and reveals a sprawling culture of hitting and hurting as sport, art, even rite. He meditates on his own compulsion to throw down and muses on the motivations of others. Whether you perceive scrapping as primal or just primitive, Robinson’s articulate, at points poetic oratory is funny, frightening and fascinating. 9/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)  Wildchild Jack of All Trades (Fat Beats) Anybody who calls their record Jack of All Trades better be able to live up to the expectations attached to such an intrepid handle, and Wildchild does just that on this return. Beginning with the title track, we’re introduced to the concept of the album, setting off a multifaceted junket into all the things that hip hop means to this experienced MC. “Rest in Beats” is a genuine J Dilla tribute song, while “Ox to the D” features Detroit natives Frank N Dank acting the fools. Nice to see a posse cut with teeth on “The League,” featuring Special Ed, MC Lyte, Masta Ace and Percee P trading bars with Wildchild. With an armed second disc of instrumentals to boot, looks like all bases are covered. 7.5/10 (Scott C) Natasha Bedingfield Pocketful of Sunshine (Epic/Sony BMG) The gag-inducing album title has it right. Natasha Bedingfield is as boring and harmless as a sunny day. The white Ashanti attempts to hide her blandness by caking every sappy motivational speech with layers of artificial overdubs. She emits zero sexuality, angst, anger, political righteousness, happiness, coyness or playfulness with her Charmin-soft voice—Bedingfield could easily be a singing robot featuring the likeness of every lame current female R&B performer. Amazingly, she finds the only person/cyborg more boring than her, the hefty reggae blob Sean Kingston, to add even more vanilla to this McFlurry of nothingness. 1/10 (Erik Leijon)  MeShell Ndegeocello The World Has Made Me the Man of My Dreams (Decca/Universal) You’ve got to hand it to Ndegeocello, she’s really not one for sitting on the same style for long. Her first couple of albums were all about the funk. With 2005’s Dance of the Infidel, she became both composer and director of an impromptu jazz effort. Her latest simply defies categorization, melding rock, funk and jazz with airy grooves that twist and turn throughout musical streams of consciousness that Ndegeocello loosely calls “songs.” Mind you, she always has a point, whether it’s celebrating family (“Solomon”) or some serious introspection (the self-titled “Michelle Johnson”). It’s just that she insists on delivering songs in a way that forces you to pay attention and think. 8.5/10 (Gerard Dee)  Various Neujazz: Compiled by Jazzanova (Sonar Kollektiv) A tip of the hat goes out to all those DJs who made a point of including bona fide dancefloor jazz tracks in their sets over the last 10 years. Jazzanova has always championed authentic club jazz alongside all the electronic hybrids and sub-genres, and here they dedicate an entire LP to the cream of the crop. Artists like Sleep Walker, Two Banks of Four, Fertile Ground, Hajime Yoshizawa, Build an Ark and Hipnosis provide ample inspiration, both instrumentally and with the help of vocalists like Bembe Segue and Yukimi Nagano. It’s great to see the talent pool for new jazz growing deep and wide. 8.5/10 (Scott C) Gene Dinovi The Three Optimists at the Old Mill (Sackville) Pianist DiNovi, bassist Dave Young and guitarist Andrew Scott (also CODA magazine’s new editor) make up the Generations Trio, and this material was recorded live in Toronto just under a year ago. The repertoire is mostly standards, including Rodgers and Hammerstein II, Kern, the Gershwins, Ellington and three by the great Cole Porter. DiNovi has been living in Toronto since the ’70s—born in New York, he turns 80 in March and has played, in a long career, with (among many) Anita O’Day, Peggy Lee, Tony Bennett, Benny Goodman and Ruby Braff. A most musical outing—try “I Got Rhythm,” a contrafact of “Anthropology,” “Shaw ‘nuff”” and “Oleo.” 9/10 (Len Dobbin) Mini CD ReviewsStephanie Laliberté self-titled (Elephant) One of the very best young jazz singers in Montreal, joined here by a wonderful Geoff Lapp trio and a string quartet arranged by David Martin. An impressive debut. 8.5 (LD) |
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