Disc of the week

The National
The Virginia EP/A Skin, A Night DVD
(Beggars Banquet/Select)
From Brooklyn, via Cincinnati, the National finally won over critics and audiences last year with their fourth album, Boxer. The story of their slow ascent and musical blossoming is told in A Skin, A Night, a poetic documentary by French filmmaker Vincent Moon. As for the “EP,” which is 12 tracks long—four new songs, four demos, four live—it’s a great introduction to their blackened mid-Atlantic rock, echoing the miserable U.K. baritone of the Tindersticks’ Stuart Staples and Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffat, Americana songcraft spanning Stephen Foster and Springsteen, with a touch of U2’s anthemic prowess and chiming guitars. 8.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Silver Jews
Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
(Drag City)
These alterna legends hardly have anything to prove, but ringleader David Berman changes things up again with a bevy of crackpot Nashville players behind him. With over 30 members passing through the band over the years, the Jews’ quality can vary, but on this one Berman’s monotone drawl coasts on top-notch hurtin’ tunes like “Suffering Jukebox” and “Strange Victory, Strange Defeat.” For the uninitiated faced with an overwhelming discography, this new one would be a perfect place to start. 8/10 (Johnson Cummins)

Jeremy Jay
A Place Where We Could Go (K)
You’ve gotta love a bio that prioritizes an artist’s height, handsomeness and “illusive” quality, “like Buddy Holly, Peter Pan and John Hughes movies rolled into one.” Well, he’s playing Zoobizarre in July—hopefully he’ll fly over the border. Expect a short and sweet set, like this debut LP. Jay’s thin, reverb-draped guitar-picking and half-voice have an effective classic quality, as do his lyrics, preoccupied with romance, danger, beauty, rebellion etc. There are echoes of Jens Lekman here, even Beck, minus the irony and jaded humour. He’s so earnest, you half expect Demetri Martin to emerge and tell you it was all a joke. Or a dream? 7.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Shai Hulud
Misanthropy Pure (Metal Blade)
Springing from the same musical soil that gave us Dillinger Escape Plan and other tech-core bands, Shai Hulud return after five years with their chops still in play, but they now choose to focus on pulverizing instead of just dazzling. For those of you who miss the hardcore days of DEP, like on the genre-defying Calculating Infinity, are sure to find gold here. 7/10 (Johnson Cummins)

The Virgins
self-titled (Atlantic/Warner)
With a former model in their ranks, a fashionista fanbase, offhanded mentions of “cocaine brunches” and a shiny, lubricated disco-rock sound (“Rich Girls” could be the stunted son of the Stones’ “Miss You”), it’s hard to imagine these pretty boys from the Big Apple need any help getting laid. They could, however, take a lesson or two from Electric Six—a nice sense of tunefulness doesn’t make up for lack of sonic flair and limited lyrical bite (their odes to hedonism, high-class and low, suggest fertile soil). Perhaps a second album, a less virginal effort, will bring out a bit more cynical sass. 6/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) With She Wants Revenge, Be Your Own Pet, Switches at Club Soda, Mon., June 2, 8 p.m., $28, all ages

Walter Meego
Voyager (Almost Gold/Sony BMG)
This Chicago electronic duo’s debut record plays like a dance music fan’s iPod shuffle. There’s a Cut Copy wink (“Forever”), a Justice nod (“Wanna Be a Star”), while the majority should result in Daft Punk receiving a royalty cheque in the mail. Voyager isn’t completely devoid of panache, as the instrumental in “Girls” and the final two tracks don’t feel like deliberate attempts at being stylish. Imagine the aforementioned groups distilled through an American filter—the lyrics obsess over Yankee dreams of celebrity and girls like some Phantom Planet acolyte, while the guitar/synths are too clean and non-confrontational. 5.5/10 (Erik Leijon) With the Presets at Cabaret du Musée Juste Pour Rire, Sun., June 1, 9 p.m., $15

Foxboro Hot Tubs
Stop Drop and Roll!!! (Jingle Town)
“Sixteen and a son of a bitch”—first line of the titular first track, and doesn’t it sum up the snotty adolescent spirit of this poorly camouflaged side project of Green Day (the core trio and some on-stage auxiliaries as well). Billie Joe Armstrong’s nasal-drip vocals give the game away right off the bat as he, Mike Dirnt, Tré Cool and pals charge through this ’60s-style garage-rock lark with a frequent debt to the Jam (check lead single “Mother Mary” for echoes of that Weller feller). Likely too neat and tidy for true garage fiends, this energetic effort should nonetheless clue a few youngsters in to what preceded the anemic mall punk—for which Green Day are largely responsible. 6.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Feuermusik
No Contest (Standard Form/Outside)
Emerging from backgrounds in blistering mathcore—the two played together in Rockets Red Glare—Toronto’s Gus Weinkauf and Jeremy Strachan redirect their intricate ideas into the realm of, for lack of a more all-encompassing tag, hard jazz. Drummer Weinkauf’s weapon of choice is the plastic bucket, and he summons some fierce rhythms out of it while Strachan lays on a sax attack as ballsy as any Afrobeat brass blast and loaded with enough anguished skronk to nuke the Knitting Factory. This sophomore jam introduces some nifty flourishes—flute here, guitar there—but that’s just gravy. The pair’s sax-and-pail ruckus is more than satisfying enough. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Flobots
Fight With Tools (Universal Republic)
Condemning the state of the world, particularly the Bush administration, is so commonplace now that a new approach is required to catch the attention of the converted. Perhaps a seasoned MC, or a mandolin player who studied KRS-One and Chuck D. Fiddles, violins, live drums, guitar and bass mixed with samples lend a sense of urgency to Flobots’ message, but these conscious-bots need to be reformatted with a less preachy OS, refitted with subtlety and upgraded with a little more experience. 6.5/10 (Lateef Martin)

Carlos Nino & Lil Sci
What’s the Science? Elevation
(Shaman Work)
In this open call to the international hip hop diaspora, MC Lil Sci, aka John Robinson, joins forces with sometime collaborator and Los Angeles music maven Carlos Nino, along with likeminded colleagues like Prince Po, Dwight Trible and Tiffany Paige. This record embraces and encourages anything and everything positive about the power and reach of hip hop culture in these days and times. Tracks like “Higher,” “Honor, Courage and Karma” and even “Love, Hugs and Hip Hop Soul” may sound trite, but with Nino’s deftly crafted production, featuring both ample sample material and live orchestration and instrumentation, the music is taken to another level altogether. Lil Sci’s raspy delivery never gets tired either, spitting endless possibilities with a unique point of view. 8/10 (Scott C)

C.R.A.C. Knuckles
The Piece Talks (Tres)
While you may think you know what this duo would sound like together, when Cali supa-MC Blu teams up with Detroit’s heir apparent MC/producer Ta’Raach, the result is anything but obvious. This is a cosmic mash-up of styles that often favours Ta’Raach’s potent productions over Blu’s normally untouchable rhymes. The concept remains ambiguous for a few listens before revealing a bigger picture and the experimental nature of these two sizable personalities. While these artists may still see more kudos in their respective careers, this is a momentary lapse, offering a skewed look at hip hop output. It’s almost a controlled test of each one’s willingness to deviate from the usual paths. It’ll grow on you in the end. 7/10 (Scott C)

Donna Summer
Crayons (Sony BMG)
It’s been 17 years since the undisputed Queen of Disco released her last album, 1991’s Mistaken Identity. To her credit, Summer doesn’t try to reinvent herself here—she’s still the damsel of the dancefloor. That said, her sound has been updated, somewhat to her detriment, with the type of sonic tricks that help bad singers sound good. But unlike many of today’s disposable divas, Summer always had a great voice. So not surprisingly, the best cuts here, including anthemic lead single “Stamp Your Feet” and the self-congratulatory “The Queen Is Back,” allow Summer’s still impressive vocals to share the spotlight with the thumping grooves she’s best known for. 7.5/10 (Gerard Dee)

The Lost Fingers
Lost in the 80s (Tandem/Select)
The digital moniker is a nod to this Quebec trio’s patron saint, Gypsy jazz icon Django Reinhardt, who turned a terrible manual injury into a technical advantage on the guitar. Double bassist Alex Morrisette and guitarists Christian Roberge and Byron Mikaloff have all their fingers, and have them poking about in the ’80s hit parade for tunes to twist in a lively, acoustic style, material ranging from AC/DC and Soft Cell to Paula Abdul and George Michael. The first two tracks are telling—the trio’s cover of Technotronic’s “Pump Up the Jam” is the most absurd inclusion, and the strongest. The Bon Jovi number that follows, however, shows that a shitty song should be left alone, no matter how inspired the gimmick. 7/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Charlie Haden
The Best of Quartet West (Verve/Universal)
Vic Vogel
Jim & Andy’s (V.V.)
The first has a dozen tracks from prior releases by this group led by bassist Haden with Ernie Watts, Alan Broadbent and either Larance Marable or Billy Higgins, and Shirley Horn doing a wonderful job on “Lonely Town.” The Vogel is from a Jazz Fest appearance at Théâtre St-Denis with Zoot Sims and Phil Woods guesting, previously only available on a small U.S. label. Dave Turner, Simon Stone and Janis Steprans also get feature spots. Try “In a Mellotone” by Ellington (mistakenly credited to Basie here). Both CDs are well worth having in one’s collection. Both 9/10 (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

The Swan Silvertones Singin’ in My Soul/Blessed Assurance (Collectables) Two LPs on one CD here by one of the great Gospel groups, not to be missed by lovers of that genre. Go directly to “Seek, Seek.” 9.5 (LD)

Jamie Lidell “Little Bit of Feel Good” Dorian Concept remix (CDR) Dorian injects a little bit of boogie into this already great tune. Love the synth gymnastics. 8 (SC)

The Ting Tings We Started Nothing (independent) True enough, but with their pop-electro, CSS stylings, this British band have their moments. 7 (LC)

Beyond the Fall A Day in the Death Of… EP (EO Music) Considering the humorously dark title, I was surprised this Vancouver quintet plays bouncy punk à la AFI. 5 (EL)

GG Elvis & the TCP Band A Punk Elvis Tribute (Mental) Members of NOFX and other long-in-the-tooth punkers pay tribute to the King. So stinky not even Fat Wreck would touch it. 4 (JC)

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MIRROR ARCHIVES » May 29 June 04 2008: INSIDE - COVER | ARCHIVES INDEX | CURRENT ISSUE