Disc of the week

Chad VanGaalen
Soft Airplane (Flemish Eye/Outside)
Direct from a Calgary basement comes the third album by this remarkable singer-songwriter, a truly endearing, evocative pop melting pot. His roots, rock, chamber and electronic manoeuvres fit each song like a glove, reliably guiding the alternately vulnerable/steadfast vocals and melodies, located in the same constellation as those of Neil Young, James Mercer and Win Butler. VanGaalen’s lyrics tackle the heaviest of topics with grace and charm, disturbing and soothing in equal measure—should we be worried about you, Chad? Probably not, as his electronic eruptions (such as the one that caps the album) suggest that he knows how to dance the pain away. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “City of Electric Light” (Lorraine Carpenter) With Women, Julie Doiron at Ukrainian Federation, Fri., Oct. 3, 8 p.m., $18

Ben Folds
Way to Normal (Red Ink)
Hot damn, guess who’s back! After a few years of “mature” jaunts and primo production gigs (e.g. William Shatner’s brilliant Has Been), the furious and funny Folds of the old BF5 days returns. A couple of his maudlin ballads and an electronic pair closer to his Fear of Pop project aside, Way to Normal boasts Folds’ familiar full-contact piano pounding, backed by big, fat fuzz bass and a fearsome bashing about of the drums, plus of course his lyrical penchant for the clever and cantankerous. The opening ode to a public faceplant, “Hiroshima (B B B Benny Hits His Head),” bursts out of the gate, but the cornerstone here is his requisite “bah, women!” number, “The Bitch Went Nuts” (“She stabbed my basketball!”). 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Dr. Yang” (Rupert Bottenberg)

The Neins Circa
C.S. Rippen (Copperspine)
Chamber pop hasn’t outlived its usefulness yet, although a glut of violin-led, classically trained, free-trade-coffee-drinking jam bands have diluted the initial allure of watching 20 performers on stage. Vancouver quintet Neins Circa accomplish what Islands’ tip-toe around by attaining an unforgivable level of art rock self-awareness on this short EP—the theatrical vocals and character profiling of Cameron Dilworth equal the more laughable moments of Supertramp’s discography. The upbeat arrangements are an unpleasant mix of savvy Britpop with Saturday-morning cartoon silliness, while the lyrics are ironically delicate and unbearably smug. Art school meandering with no sense of musicality. 3/10 Trial Track: “It’s Cold” (Erik Leijon) With Novillero, Young & Sexy, Hot Panda, Kellarissa at Bar St-Laurent II, Thurs., Oct. 2, 9 p.m.

Final Fantasy
Spectrum, 14th Century EP (Blocks)
As with the D&D device of his Polaris-winning LP He Poos Clouds, violinist/composer Owen Pallett—working here with folks from Beirut (the band)—builds a thing of startling beauty and subtle insight up from a somewhat goofy concept. The fake birdcalls aren’t his only debt to exotica icon Martin Denny, in whose footsteps Pallett amalgamates aural incongruities and conjures up an imaginary place from which to bring home “field recordings.” In this case, it’s the land of Spectrum and its populace of plebes and potentates, and Pallett’s postcards home are rich and righteous. 8/10 Trial Track: “Blue Imelda” (Rupert Bottenberg) Owen Pallett joins Socalled et al. at Porn Pop at Cinema l’Amour, Fri., Oct. 3, midnight

Mercury Rev
Snowflake Midnight (Yep Roc/Outside)
Devised in the band’s laboratory in the Catskills, with “laser harps, ad-hoc computer programs and random note generators,” the latest by these veterans of atmospheric alternative rock is an outright airborne opera, cruising and swooping at myriad altitudes, gently ascending through little fluffy clouds and rocketing down into teeth-gnashing turbulence and roaring thunder. The synthetic is favoured over the organic here, with only vocals and piano tethering songs to solid ground. Of course, these guys concoct their sonic formulas masterfully, but their pop/techno/prog-rock theatrics are undercut somewhat by a cold, brassy sheen, and the dull pall of new age, like something you’d hear in a Chinese spa. Impressive, but dodgy. 6.5/10 Trial Track: “Butterfly’s Wing” (Lorraine Carpenter)

Meshuggah
Destroy Erase Improve (Nuclear Blast)
Chances are, most of you missed this when it was originally released in 1995, but thanks to Nuclear Blast’s “reloaded” series, you can now get a second crack at this touchstone for tech metal. Even 13 years later, this still hits like a nailgun, perfectly executing “outside” time signatures and jazz arpeggios but never to the detriment of the band’s white-hot aggression and intensity. Even after all these years, this record can still put most tech-minded metal bands to shame, and only further proves Meshuggah’s immense contribution to the genre. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Beneath” (Johnson Cummins)

Pigeon Funk
The Largest Bird in the History of the Planet… Ever! (Musique Risquée)
A scattered, whimsical aggregate of sound and synth lines, Pigeon Funk’s latest is somewhere in the cacophonic nether regions between Bitches Brew and Berlin-style minimal techno. From the headache-inducing to the tentatively funky, the record is more an ear-teasing curiosity than an everyday listen, but its moments of coherency are well balanced with the indulgent chaos punctuating nearly every track. Abstract clicking and popping percussion is layered with spacey licks to explore the outer boundaries of the danceable in a rather nerdy package, well suited to the production obsessed. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Brukim Lo” (Jack Oatmon) With Sutekh, Vincent Lemieux at SAT, Fri., Oct. 3, 10 p.m.

T.I.
Paper Trail (Grand Hustle/Warner)
The pressure to come correct must be immense when you’re producing and recording an album while under house arrest. While a lot of people were wondering what was next for the Atlanta-based rapper who was tied up in criminal controversy, I don’t even think T.I. knew how much of a hit “Swagga Like Us” featuring Kanye, Jay-Z and Lil’ Wayne was going to be when he laid it down. Along with radio darlings John legend, Rihanna and Usher, this record should succeed in satisfying the curiosity that many have with T.I. in his post-gun-possession reality. He’s still not the lyrical heir to the throne that everybody thought he might be at one point, but T.I. should definitely benefit from the solid effort. 7/10 Trial Track: “Ready for Whatever” (Scott C)

2000Black
A Next Set a Rockers (Third Ear)
West London heavyweights Dego MacFarlane and Kaidi Tatham continue to fill the world with warm and soulful interpretations of future boogie with the arrival of this 2000Black full-length. After outings as Silhouette Brown and DKD, these broken beat pioneers know exactly what they’re doing, marrying Kaidi’s vintage synth array with Dego’s drum programming and overall production. It’s hard to peg most of these tunes with dancehall, house, electro-funk, hip hop and broken influences throughout, complete with featured vocalists Nadine Charles, Ferraz, Face, Alma Horton, Rasiyah, Vanessa Freeman and Ty. Nice to hear these guys are still pushing the limits of genuine soul. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Move Over” (Scott C)

Raphael Saadiq
The Way I See It (Columbia/Sony BMG)
“Maverick” may be an overused term these days, but Saadiq’s earned the label because, whether steering bands like Tony Toni Toné and Lucy Pearl or his own solo career, he’s always been willing to take chances. But that doesn’t guarantee success, and his latest, an homage to ’60s soul, straddles the line between gutsy retro and self-indulgent nostalgia. Albeit, tracks like “Sure Hope You Mean It” and lead single “Love That Girl” prove he could have been a star decades earlier, but does it warrant a whole disc? With anyone else, this might be called lazy, but Saadiq’s dead-on delivery will more likely be chalked up to yet another adventure down the road less travelled. 7.5/10 Trial track: “Keep Marchin’” (Gerard Dee)

Steve Swallow with Robert Creeley
So There (Watt/ECM)
Billy Drummond
Dubai (Criss Cross)
Here’s two thirds of the Steve Kuhn trio that plays Upstairs this Friday and Saturday (7:30 and 10:30 p.m.). Swallow is the bass guitarist in jazz, by leaps and bounds. On this tribute to poet Creeley, he’s joined by the poet, Kuhn and the Cikada String Quartet—Swallow’s writing is a decided bonus. Drummond is a superb and flexible drummer, joined here by bassist Peter Washington and two top-notch reedmen, Chris Potter and Walt Weiskopf, on eight tracks including Weiskopf’s gorgeous version of Billy Strayhorn’s “Daydream,” Potter’s Ornette-ish “Bananafish” and “Mushi Mushi” by the late Dewey Redman. Swallow 9.5, Drummond 9/10 Trial Tracks: Swallow “Names,” Drummond “Mushi Mushi” (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

Patricia Barber The Cole Porter Mix (Blue Note/EMI) Ten of Cole’s great songs and three by Patricia, a perfect match. Check out the “list” songs, Cole’s “You’re the Top” with new lyrics and Ms. Barber’s “Snow.” 9 (LD)

Hawthorne Headhunters Live at the BBQ (HVW8.com) Stoney Rock, Ced No and Proh Mic do their thing live in L.A. with beats for days on yet another lead-up to their first full-length release. 8 (SC)

FemBots Calling Out (weewerk) With experimental “junkstruments” (ie. garbage) and conventional pop/rock tropes, these Toronto boys geek it up and burn it out. 7 (LC) With the Burning Hell, Proof of Ghosts, Don Brownrigg, Susie Asado at l’Escogriffe, Fri., Oct. 3

Flash Lightnin’ Destello (Pheromone/Fontana North) These T-dotters have their snakeskin boots firmly placed on ZZ Top’s Texan soil. Hell, I’m not complainin’, but they can definitely kiss that Polaris Prize goodbye. 7 (JC)

Various Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist soundtrack (Atlantic/Warner) From weepy emo to inept mall rock to tight glam funk to a cool theme song by Devo’s Mark Mothersbough, this playlist is as hot and cold as our young heroes’ escapade. 5 (LC)

Friendly Fires self-titled (XL/Select) Groovy dance-punk debut years after !!! and Rapture perfected the combination. Too bad “In the Hospital” completely rips off Talking Heads’ “Crosseyed and Painless.” 6 (EL)

Pussycat Dolls Doll Domination (Interscope/Universal) Being nubile, vacuous and shrill do not make the Dolls qualified musical performers—it makes them qualified vice-presidential candidates. 0.5 (EL)

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MIRROR ARCHIVES » Oct 02 Oct 08 2008: INSIDE - COVER | ARCHIVES INDEX | CURRENT ISSUE