Disc of the week

Kardinal Offishall
Not 4 Sale (Geffen/Universal)
Kardinal is perhaps Canada’s strongest and most consistent contribution to the now international flow of hip hop music, having developed a unique patois style and big personality on the mic, and loved by fans and fellow artists alike. Kardi shows his magnetic pull on Not 4 Sale, scooping an A-list of collaborators that reflect his own reach and diverse ability. A master of the loud and boisterous tune, Kardi runs big tracks like the lively “Burnt” with Lindo P and “Family Tree” with Glenn Lewis alongside radio-ready jams like “Dangerous” with Akon and “Numba 1,” featuring Rihanna. After over 10 years making hip hop and reggae, Kardinal is enjoying a level of respect and recognition that he has worked very hard to achieve, and he deserves every bit of it. Big tings. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Ill Legal Alien” (Scott C)

Metallica
Death Magnetic (Warner)
Now that Metallica have exorcised the demons of a past full of feather boas, make-up, weepy Kirk, Lars being a dick and so forth, the band is back to epic form—more or less. Thankfully, James Hetfield is back to the pen, hopefully relegating Kirk Hammet to scrawling only on bathroom walls. Advance reviews said this new one sounds like the follow-up to …And Justice for All, albeit with an audible bass, and they’re spot on. But it’s not all kissing babies here. There’s a lot of filler but, having said that, this is easily the best record they’ve made in the past 20 years. 8/10 Trial Track: “Broken, Beat and Scarred” (Johnson Cummins)

Slipknot
All Hope Is Gone (Roadrunner/Nuclear Blast)
Four years and several side projects after The Subliminal Verses, All Hope Is Gone finds the eight horror-show characters from Iowa in heavy form. The album explodes into lethal play with opener “Germatria (The Killing Game),” harkening back to the speed/thrash groove of old-school Metallica and Slayer. A taste of Meshuggah’s math-metal is found on “Butcher’s Hook,” altering the album’s cadence and flow. Slipknot varies up their riffage, but after four albums and dozens of tours, singer Corey Taylor needs to change it up a bit. 8/10 Trial Track: “Butcher’s Hook” (Lateef Martin)

Kamikaze Baby
Uptown VineRise (independent)
Between their debut EP, Identity Crisis, and this strong, introspective full-length, blistering with originality and urgency, 2007 Noisemakers Kamikaze Baby have been down a road of lost guitarists and new paths, breaking down and building up. The EP’s “Time’s a Wasting” reappears here with a somber, slower lurch, as if things have gotten worse. But Kamikaze Baby has only gotten better, expanding on their sound with solid production and engaging musical forays, separating them more and more from their influences. 8/10 Trial Track: “Friendly Fire” (Lateef Martin) CD Launch with guests at Théâtre Plaza tonight, Thurs., Sept. 18, 9 p.m., $11

Bison B.C.
Quiet Earth (Metal Blade)
These Vancouver knuckledraggers storm out of the gate with this low-end beatdown of mighty metal mayhem. This is all about meaty riffs served up à la later-period COC with Kyuss-style desert sludge popping up every now and again. Bison know when to put the pedal to the metal as well as doom it down, but it’s on the epic “Wendingo Pt. 1” that the band clearly stands head and shoulders above their metallic competition. This is so good, you have to pinch yourself to remember this is actually Canadian. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Slow Hand of Death” (Johnson Cummins) With Baroness, Genghis Tron at la Sala Rossa, Tues., Sept. 23, 8 p.m., $19

Land of Talk
Some Are Lakes (Secret City/Fusion III)
Elizabeth Powell’s voice, adrift in the same stratosphere as Blonde Redhead’s Kazu Makino, is the bait that will hook you to this record by a local band that’s been in the brewing stage for some time. Free of gimmicks, awkward fusions or pretentious mumbo-jumbo, the record revolves around the pop/rock realm, touching on everything from plaintive folk to spiky post-punk to wraparound shoegazing. With versatile guitar work, that smoky damsel coo and the occasional lyrical pearl like, “Are you seeing your own death and selling it to me?”, not to mention solid songwriting at its core, this is a fine debut. 8/10 Trial Track: “Give Me Back My Heart Attack” (Lorraine Carpenter) With the d’Ubervilles at la Sala Rossa, Fri., Sept. 19, 9 p.m., $12, and at le Trac (Cégep Montmorency, 475 de l’Avenir, Laval), Mon., Sept. 22, 8 p.m., $10

The Streets
Everything Is Borrowed
(Locked On/Warner)
As much sunny country lanes as the gritty city avenues Mike Skinner’s stage name evokes, the latest from the Streets arrives on the other side of the U.K. MC/producer’s arc from precocious punk-poet to jaded chart-topper. The successful sorties are those that stick close to town, such as “The Way of the Dodo” with its echoes of tough Two-Tone rudeness. Lyrically, Skinner picks up from certain tracks on 2006’s The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, meditating—or mouthing off, rather—about the Big Questions of life, death, love and faith. One’s not sure that the upstart word-weaver of 2002’s Original Pirate Material might not have expressed himself more deftly, though. 6.5/10 Trial Track: “Alleged Legends” (Rupert Bottenberg)

Nelly
Brass Knuckles (Derrty/Universal)
St. Lunatics frontman Nelly was once a crossover rap superstar, and Brass Knuckles reminds us of how long it’s actually been since we shimmy-shimmy-cocoa’d to a decent Nelly track. From selling shoes to his duet with Tim McGraw, Nelly has never been mistaken for an authentic bad boy, but his attempts to toughen up his image are as laughable as his fashion-challenged band-aid. Thug-centric Death Row rip-offs like “L.A.,” “U Ain’t Him” and “Chill” show Nelly turning his now comically muscular back on fun, dopey party anthems. Only Akon’s “Body on Me” truly incites the removal of clothing. 3/10 Trial Track: “Self Esteem” (Erik Leijon)

Skillz
The Million Dollar Backpack (Koch)
Skillz, formerly known as Mad Skillz, came up in Virginia, and back in 1992, he was signed to Atlantic. His debut LP, From Where???, was largely overlooked despite Skillz’ gift for crafting witty, engaging punchlines. TMDB comes almost 12 years after he arrived on the scene, with Skillz—aided by friends Jazzy Jeff, ?uestlove, James Poyser and Freeway—acting the evolved and older rapper, but still able to hold the attention of the hip hop nation. The LP doesn’t quite deliver everything it promises on paper, but Skillz shines on tunes like “Hip Hop Died” and “Hold Tight” with Black Thought. 7/10 Trial Track: “So Far So Good” (Scott C)

Cherish
The Truth (Capitol/EMI)
Atlanta-based R&B quartet Cherish scored a major hit with “Do It to It” from their 2006 debut Unappreciated. But nothing else on that set came close to replicating the lead single’s memorable hook. The group’s sophomore set is somewhat more consistent, while again relying on a hooky lead single, “Killa” featuring rapper Yung Joc, to blaze the path. But despite their pretty harmonies, Cherish blends indistinctive vocals into run-of-the-mill grooves that occasionally lead to entertaining tracks like the polished “I Ain’t Trippin’,” but mainly result in throwaway music that doesn’t leave a lasting impression. 6.5/10 Trial Track: “Amnesia” (Gerard Dee)

Bio Ritmo
Bionico (Locutor)
Richmond, VA’s Bio Ritmo describe their music as “bionic salsa,” which means it sounds a whole lot like a Latin-themed soundtrack to a 1960s Star Trek episode. It’s salsa for the Space Age played by a ridiculously tight and competent band, which not only makes the record interesting to listen to, it’s unmistakably danceable. “Lisandra” is a particular standout, a tune that would no doubt inspire lovers of Latin vibes as well as folks more familiar with funk. “A la cha,” apparently inspired by Abdel Halim Hafez’s music, is another example of this band’s willingness to play around with what just might be possible for salsa—clearly, a whole lot, if Bionico is any indication. 8/10 Trial Track: “Bionic Boogaloo” (Erin MacLeod)

The Franco Proietti Morph-Tet
Morphology (Bongo Beat)
Montreal sax-and-so-much-more man Proietti has said “sayonara” to his acid jazz outfit Kobayashi and moved on to his Morph-Tet, a project with a darker edge to it that has Proietti and his rhythm duo backed by rotating guests. The name and title suggest a constant shifting, and yes, the line-up reconfigures track by track and the contoured, mid-tempo tunes tend to evolve at the threshold of perception. But given the record’s mesmerizing miasma of shadows and unexpected elements and gestures—check the bluesy “Bottle Shaped Cage” or the meditative drone of “Verte de Fougerolles”—maybe credit should go to Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Bushido” (Rupert Bottenberg) With Ninja Funk Orchestra at Centre St-Ambroise, Fri., Sept. 19, 8 p.m., $7

Toshiko Akiyoshi
Let Freedom Swing (Haenssler)
Joe Lovano
Symphonica (Blue Note/EMI)
Two well-known Americans in Europe for big band sessions. Toshiko is in an outing with the SWR Big Band in a baker’s dozen of great pieces over two CDs, all arranged and composed by the leader—her piano solos are a decided bonus. Lovano plays both tenor and soprano saxes in superb arrangements (by Michael Abene) of six of his compositions as well as Charles Mingus’s “Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love,” backed by the WDR Big Band and Rundfunk Orchestra. As Toshiko no longer leads her own big band and Joe is heard here with strings, these are both important releases. Both 10/10 Trial Tracks: Akiyoshi “Lady Liberty,” Lovano “I’m All for You” (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

Sonny Clark/Buddy DeFranco Complete Sessions (Definitive) The pianist and clarinetist are joined by Eugene Wright and Bobby White on 27 tracks from 1954, music by the likes of Charlie Parker, Gerry Mulligan, Oscar Pettiford and Clark. Long overdue! 9 (LD)

Rapper Big Pooh & DJ Warrior Rapper’s Delight (hallofjustus.com) Pooh recruits some pals and the beats of Dilla, 9th Wonder, Khrysis, Nottz, Focus and more for this tidy collection of dope tunes. Worth a listen. 8 (SC)

Prince Fatty Survival of the Fattest (Tommy Boy) Tired of today’s atonal dancehall glut? Here’s the antidote, a baker’s dozen of throwback rocksteady tracks sure to please any analog aficionado. 8 (EM)

Hackneyed Death Prevails (Nuclear Blast) Somewhat unoriginal death metal that does go far beyond this German band’s age (they’re teens). Fans of Suffocation, take notice. 7 (JC)

Metronomy Nights Out (Because) Retro synth electropop riddled with ADD—even the near unlistenable parts are at least really interesting. 7 (EL)

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