Disc of the week

HELMS ALEE
Night Terrors (Hydra Head/Sonic Unyon)
Having now finished my third consecutive listening in one sitting, this is probably an early contender for my top record of ’08. Although the likely suspects that earmark Hydra Head are all here—post-rock innovation, face-melting psych, non-self-serving prog, searing noise—it’s the infectious melodies oozed in harmony that manage to stick their neck out from the pummelling heaviness. Basking in equal parts light and dark, Helms Alee, hailing from Seattle, have cooked up a perfect formula. If you’ve been digging the latest Torche and Big Business as well as pioneers like Chavez, My Bloody Valentine and the Melvins, this will blow your pretty little mind to bits, because it’s just too massive to ignore. 9/10 (Johnson Cummins)

THE STILLS
Oceans Will Rise (Arts & Crafts/EMI)
Opening for Paul McCartney before a crowd of a quarter-million, as Montrealers the Stills recently did in Quebec City, requires rock writ large. On their third album (and first on Arts & Crafts), the often astronomical scope is there—witness the artfully textured expanse of “Snow in California” or the implacable “Snakecharming the Masses”—but not at the expense of the fine print. Inspirations are rarely camouflaged to any great degree, as shady U.K. rude-boy rock and bright Yankee long-weekend riffin’ are teased out into sumptuous yet solid songs, none of them an album-fattening afterthought. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

HUMAN HIGHWAY
Moody Motorcycle (Secret City)
Islands’ Nick Thorburn (formerly Nick Diamonds, onetime Unicorn) and solo artiste Jim Guthrie (formerly of Royal City, Islands, Three Gut Records) get a super-duo going with this backroad pop record, an ode to the oldies they love. The Everly Brothers, Roy Orbison and the Kinks are listed as influences, but there’s a post-hippie accent at work as well, with shades of Simon and Garfunkel, Buffalo Springfield, even one-hit wonders Mungo Jerry and Terry Jacks. Warm and harmonic, with toe-tapping, torso-swaying swingers and ballads, it’s a nice album with which to spend these late summer days. 7.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

THE COOL KIDS
The Bake Sale (Chocolate/Koch)
Chicago’s hottest rap duo is about so much more than nostalgia. Sporting immeasurable swagger and minimalist, boom box-pounding beats, Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish come to bury the likes of Biz Markie and Eric B. & Rakim, not to praise them. Listening to The Bake Sale is like a light-hearted smack-talk session down in the schoolyard, bragging about shiny new bikes and clean white sneakers. Except instead of talking about how great shoes and wheels were in the days of yes-y’allin’, the Cool Kids’ deliberately-paced rhymes are modern concoctions of laugh-out-loud put-downs and audacious self-promotion. 9.5/10 (Erik Leijon)

ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS
Forest of Tears (Blue Fog/Sonic Unyon)
Apparently, being second to Montreal as “best hotbed for Canadian musical exports” has started to get stuck in Toronto’s craw. This record, which has more to do with early Emmylou Harris than any No Depression country, hopes to change that, with singer Simone Schmidt’s husky drawl delivering tales of destitution and despair. If Schmidt’s tales of love gone wrong don’t grab you by the heartstrings and unclog the waterworks, Stew Crookes’s careening pedal steel surely will. Bonus points for the great take on Ian Tyson’s “Someday Soon.” 7.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)

ELZHI
The Preface (Fatbeats)
Lyricists can take note, as Elzhi doesn’t disappoint in his first solo venture after holding down duties with Slum Village for the last few years. Showing a gifted and promising approach to skills on the mic from the get-go, Elzhi delivers above-average material, straight from the rhyme-book Olympics, backed by Black Milk production. Songs like “Colors,” “D.E.M.O.N.S.” and “Guessing Game” may seem like lyrical grandstanding, but Elzhi simply understands that few are taking things to this level of thought on the mic these days. I would love to hear Elzhi and Nas team up in the future, a meeting that would certainly lead to both MCs at their very best. 7.5/10 (Scott C)

NICO MUHlY
Mothertongue (Brassland/Bedroom Community)
Wunderkind composer Nico Mulhy has worked with elder statesmen like Philip Glass and indie figureheads from Bjork to Will Oldham and Rufus Wainwright, as well as had works performed by orchestras all over the world—all before even hitting 30. This disc, featuring three ambitious multi-part compositions, occasionally recalls the minimalist work of Glass or Steve Reich, but also incorporates traditional orchestration, ancient folk balladry, field recordings and newfangled sampling and programming. As gripping as it is ambitious, it’s welcome proof that neo-classical music can be at once complex and compelling. 8/10 (Malcolm Fraser) With Doveman and Sam Amidon at Sala Rossa, Tues. Aug. 26, 7 p.m., $20

STEREOLAB
Chemical Chords (4AD/Select)
The four years since Margerine Eclipse is a relatively long wait for a new Stereolab album, but Chemical Chords makes it worthwhile. The 14 intentionally short and focused songs here betray a renewed spark in the “groop,” who’d kept their prismatic, pop-art, baroque bubblegum in a holding pattern even before member Mary Hansen’s untimely death in 2002. They never do stray too far from their sparkling signature formula here, but as the weighty “Pop Molecule” or the jaunty “Daisy Click Clack” indicate, delightful new configurations can still be found for the familiar components. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

THE FAINT
Fasciinatiion (Blank.wav/Select)
The Rapture’s animatronic analogs, or maybe a cold-cast Hot Chip, Omaha, Nebraska’s the Faint drop album number five of squelch-heavy synth-rock on their own new Blank.wav label. Singer Todd Fink tackles tough subjects thoughtfully, meditating on the nature of things—war, faith, love—in an icy robo-drone that’s perhaps suited to his scope and remove, but hardly engaging. Not so the tunes, as complicated structures are avoided, giving the floor to amazing electronic detailing throughout. Lead single “The Geeks Were Right” is a strong card, light-hearted by the album’s standards and sure to have legs for some time. 7/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

KREESHA TURNER
Passion (EMI)
The cheeky lead single “Don’t Call Me Baby” from Edmonton native Turner’s surprisingly accomplished debut sets the tone for this retro-styled disc of funky pop. Handclaps and snappy beats punctuate many of the songs here, including “Bounce with Me,” and the ‘60s-influenced “Chains of Love.” Turner’s light and breezy vocal style is deceptively sturdy, which makes her well-equipped to tackle the Minnie Riperton classic “Lovin’ You,” expertly morphed into the updated “Always (Lovin’ You).” Turner loses her edge when she goes into more generic hip-pop territory with tracks like “Simple,” but thankfully she mostly avoids the baby-diva trap, and instead expresses her passion through superb rhythmic tunes like “Black Magic.” 8/10 (Gerard Dee)

DEATH VESSEL
Nothing is Precious Enough for Us (Sub Pop)
Despite the seemingly metallic name, this Rhode Island-based group actually traffics in indie neo-folk fare, from the pen of fey-voiced frontman Joel Thibodeau. His sound is characterized by a decent melodic sensibility, pleasant guitar-picking and the occasional flourish of effective songwriting craft. The quality that will undoubtedly tip the scales one way or another, depending on the listener’s taste, is that Thibodeau writes and sings like a male Tori Amos, and his songs evoke images of twee hippies sensitively jamming on a farmhouse porch. 7/10 (Malcolm Fraser) With Micah Blue Smaldone at Sala Rossa, Wed. Aug. 27, 8:30 p.m., $10/12.

ICE CUBE
Raw Footage (Lench Mob Records)
“Y’all know what I represent/the only rapper wanna fist fight the president.” As Ice Cube returns with his second venture into self-financed and distributed LPs, Raw Footage is a mildly politicized offering that finds Ice biting back everybody from George W. Bush to Oprah. We all know that like his cool, elderly counterpart Ice Tea, Cube’s acting career not only allows him the luxury of releasing albums at will, but also seems to affect the frequency with which he actually even touches the mic. The result: a few forgettable songs like “Jack N the Box” and “Get Money, Spend Money, No Money” backed by more meaty selections like the facetious “Gangsta Rap Made me Do It.” At this point, all I can do is enjoy Cube’s shifting views until he makes another Barbershop sequel. 6.5/10 (Scott C)

TITO PUENTE
Live at the 1977 Monterey Jazz Festival (Concord)
CAL TJADER
Best of… Live at Monterey Jazz Festival (Concord)
More previously unreleased material from Monterey; both will appeal to lovers of Latin jazz. The Puente features a large ensemble doing tunes like (no surprise) “Oye Como Va,” “Babarabatiri,” “El Rey Del Timbal” and “Picadillo,” the latter with guest Cal Tjader from 1977. The Tjader has music recorded between 1958 and 1980, including a pair with Vince Guaraldi and guest Buddy DeFranco doing “Now’s The Time” and the previously released “Summertime,” Ray Bryant’s “Cubano Chant” featuring Mongo Santamaria and Mongo’s “Afro Blue,” as well as a version of Gillespie’s “Manteca” with Dizzy, Clark Terry and Al McKibbon guesting. John Lewis joins Cal on a great Tadd Dameron ballad as well. Both 9/10 (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

SHIRLEY HORN Live at the 1994 Monterey Jazz Festival (Concord) Previously unreleased material by this great singer from a concert in Monterey. It includes “Foolin’ Myself,” “Here’s To Life” and an instrumental version of Oscar Peterson’s “Blues for Big Scotia.” 10 (LD)

ORCHESTRA BAOBAB Made in Dakar (World Circuit/Nonesuch) Reunited Senagalese supergroup pays tribute to ’60s and 70s Afro-pop on this ear-pleasing collection.
8 (MF)

DAVID VANDERVELDE Waiting for the Sunrise (Secretly Canadian) Vandervelde’s Laurel Canyon rock is sure to appeal to the bearded and beaded. As smooth as Reuniti on ice. 7 (JC)

THE MUSIC TAPES Music Tapes for Clouds and Tornadoes (Merge) Elephant 6 affiliates rock the musical saw, rule the DIY cover art and recall that first Arcade Fire EP. 7 (LC)

LADY GAGA The Fame (Streamline/Interscope/Universal)Vampy electropop may appear to be in abundance, but Madonna just hit 50 and Kylie already had a health scare. 6.5 (EL)

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