Disc of the week

The Dears
Missiles (MapleMusic/Universal)
A personnel rupture will do things to a band. Ranks close, energy is refocused, mandates are rewritten. But the Dears remain the same, and yet somehow more than they’ve ever been. Arrangements are scaled back, production is whipped up, guitars are drawn out, kids sing. “Disclaimer” leaves a profound impression, with layers of lush, spectral sound bubbling away at the core, and lyrics that set the tone for the rest of the record—romance is out, mortality is in, and so the torture is literal, the tension is 4real. And despite a few moments of uncomfortable intimacy and excess, at least three of these songs are better than anything this band has ever produced. Hopefully this is their Station to Station—next stop, Berlin. 9/10 Trial Track: “Money Babies” (Lorraine Carpenter)

Kaiser Chiefs
Off With Their Heads (Motown/Universal)
I want to like Kaiser Chiefs, if only because England has offered us such slim pickings this decade. But again, the hoary pop mechanics and asinine lyrics might as well have been birthed in an alternate universe where, in 1977, Paul Weller got a lobotomy and formed Dexy’s Midnight Runners instead of the Jam. And this is a poor imitation of that band. So forget passion, forget punk, forget Motown, forget rants about Eton rifles—Ricky Wilson feels like “a tomato in the rain.” I’m not even kidding. But hey, at least there’s still Scotland. 5/10 Trial Track: “Never Miss a Beat” (Lorraine Carpenter)

Bloc Party
Intimacy (Atlantic/Warner)
The third proper album from London’s Bloc Party finds them groping for new tangents, away from their trademark caffeine beats, soaring guitars and tormented vocals. There are the hysterical hype of opener “Ares,” spy-flick horns on “Mercury,” a gorgeous choir on “Zephyrus” and frequently fractured production tactics. Just as well, given that their true-to-form tracks here are largely sub-par pastiches of songs off earlier efforts. What’s all too absent on either end, though, are those sublimely thrilling moments so common on Silent Alarm and Weekend in the City, though the aforementioned “Zephyrus” does generate some tingles. 7/10 Trial Track: “One Month Off” (Rupert Bottenberg)

Fucked Corpse/Wax Attic
Cat Pants/The Ice Cream Headache (independent)
Two slabs o’ noise, five tunes each, on this fetching vinyl-only release from two of Canada’s more fucked up bands. Ottawa’s Fucked Corpse get first crack and, despite their blue moniker, actually surprise, sounding more like a Mark E. Smith-led pop band proudly recorded in no-fi. Local duo Wax Attic turns everything on its ear on the flip side and actually outcrap Fucked Corpse’s crap-o-phonic sound. The merging of noise and rock recalls Flipper at their most monotonous and proto-punks the Electric Eels at their most irritating. Although not for audiophiles, this vicious maelstrom should bleed through the needle and sear through the ears of any noisenik and musical miscreant. 7/10 Trial Track: Wax Attic “It’s All in the Can” (Johnson Cummins) Record launch with Wax Attic, Yip Yip, Half Baked at Casa del Popolo tonight, Thurs., Oct. 30, 9 p.m.

Menace Ruine
The Die Is Cast (Alien8/Sonic Unyon)
This local duo has definitely been busy in the studio, but even during the short period since their last release, Cult of Ruins, they’ve shown a lot of growth. Their brutality, blast beats and screaming vocals have been supplanted by a newfound classic psych-folk approach. Not to say this isn’t intense—the Swans-esque beatdown is still there and they still hang their hats on power drones, but their shoegaze density just seems to bend the ear a bit more. Dour and discordant, but it’s their basking in the light and use of Eastern European scales that will really leave you gutted. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “The Die Is Cast” (Johnson Cummins)

Michael Franti & Spearhead
All Rebel Rockers (Anti-/FAB)
Ever since Franti and crew mixed a lighter pop aesthetic into their mix of reggae, rock and dance grooves, things have been a bit watered down. All Rebel Rockers continues in the vein of past albums, bringing the band’s global travel experiences and collaborations (such as Cherine Anderson and Zap Mama) into the studio, but much of the fire is left onstage, where Franti and crew work best. Sly and Robbie are behind the boards on this one, proving that producers can only do so much. 7/10 Trial Track: “Life in the City” (Lateef Martin) With guests at Metropolis, Wed., Nov. 5, 8 p.m., $30, all ages

Pink
Funhouse (LaFace/Zomba/Sony BMG)
Freshly armed with a bitter divorce and feelings of inadequacy as a generation of younger nymphs gun for her job, Pink has the rage and thematic clarity needed for a career resuscitation. The thing is, pissed off former pop tarts who want to slag their ex and Jessica Simpson should refrain from enlisting the help of Pop-timus Primes Max Martin and Danjahandz. The army of producers miss the point entirely, robbing the 29-year-old singer’s blunt lyrics of a chance to shine in a more simplified setting. She’s an interesting songwriter, but needs to ditch 2005’s biggest hitmakers. 5/10 Trial Track: “Please Don’t Leave Me” (Erik Leijon)

Stephane Moraille
Florida Water (Deja/Warner)
Coming off her electrifying performance at this year’s Black & Blue, Moraille’s debut serves up an equally energizing and surprisingly eclectic mixture of musical styles. She peppers the tracks with a layered vocal approach that works particularly well with the upbeat vibes featured throughout. And a lot of those vibes run along the pop-rock/dance tangent, with assertive thumpers like “Gold” and “Sharpshooter” favouring the pop-rock side, while others like “Witness” and lead single “Lover” solidly representing dance. In fact, Moraille only slows down for the set closer and lone French track, “Presque Touché,” a reminder that even the party girl has a vulnerable side. 8/10 Trial Track: “Encore” (Gerard Dee)

aRTIST oF tHE yEAR
vELOUR bRIGADE (Cheezy Soundz/Dep)
A little numbskull bossa nova and jazz aside, AOTY’s follow-up to Wreck la Discothèque finds the Montreal trio fooling with new ideas and further finessing their fitful freak-outs of fortified, electrified funk, all farty with low-end squelches. Such heavy-duty disco damage traipses pretty close to Parisian turf, and several tracks on vELOUR bRIGADE could pass for Ed Banger product. But for the most part, a firm foundation in the live-band setting and an obtuse sense of lascivious, lowbrow humour make AOTY distinct. 8/10 Trial Track: “Sexy Me, Sexy You” (Rupert Bottenberg) With Scott C at le National, Fri., Oct. 31, 10 p.m., $10

Asian Dub Foundation
Punkara (Naïve/Fusion III)
With dancehall and delirious dub-rock, bhangra beats and Bollywood stings, ADF arrived as the angry black sheep of the millennial Asian Underground swell in the U.K. The sound has shifted little in the decade since, but it can still pack a punch, even if the chip-on-shoulder chants and stunt riffage can get wearying. Punkara packs in a few gentler moments, paradoxically quite powerful, before reaching a laudable climax with a lively Desi distortion of the Stooges’ “No Fun,” for which Iggy himself grabs the mic. 7/10 Trial Track: “Superpower” (Rupert Bottenberg)

The Menahan Street Band
Make the Road by Walking
(Dunham/Daptone)
Upon realizing that the orchestral funk compositions found here are the combined efforts of producer/musician Thomas Brenneck and various musicians from Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Budos Band, El Michels Affair and Antibalas, the dusty perfection of this 10-track creation makes much more sense. I would confidently say that the growing return to vintage production and recording techniques in popular music can be directly attributed to many of the musicians found here, who for years have been quietly grinding away at presenting the best in funk and soul for the next generation. This is some sophisticated Menahan Street funk, dipped in Mulatu, refined with Mayfield. 9/10 Trial Track “Make the Road by Walking” (Scott C) With Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings at l’Olympia tonight, Thurs., Oct. 30, 8 p.m., $25, all ages

Jazzanova
Of All the Things (Verve)
This Berlin-based production consortium’s lush collection of meticulously produced jazz and soul, backed by hip hop and house moments, reflects a love for taking music to special places, stopping in Brazil, London, New Zealand, North Carolina and Detroit. Guest vocalists like the seasoned Bembe Segue and newcomer Jose James shine over flawless jazz compositions like “Morning Scapes” and “Little Bird,” while the legendary Leon Ware teams up with Dwele on the rich grooves of “Rockin’ You Eternally.” These are songs that intentionally remind the listener of the limitless possibilities involved with taking older forms and super-imposing them with forward thinking music. 8.5/10 Trial Track “So Far From Home” ft. Phonte (Scott C)

Bill Cunliffe
Blues and the Abstract Truth: Take 2 (Resonance)
Amina Figarova
Above the Clouds (Munich)
New releases by two superb pianists—the first goes back to the material on the original Oliver Nelson session and adds a pair by the leader, including “Mary Lou’s Blues.” Terell Stafford is a guest trumpet soloist on this one. The second is by a group from Holland. The leader is also an exceptional composer. The nonet does well by her charts and altoman Tineke Postma guests on a pair of tracks inspired by Henry Hudson’s voyages. Both 9/10 Trial Tracks: Cunliffe “Stolen Moments,” Figarova “’A’ Dance” (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

Seamus Blake Way Out Willy (Criss Cross) One of the great tenormen of the day, Seamus grew up musically in B.C. This quintet outing with David Kikowski on piano showcases eight of his compositions. 9 (LD) At Upstairs, Fri., Oct. 31–Sat., Nov. 1

iNSIDEaMiND Scatterpopia (Public Transit) This Toronto duo tweak and twist treats from their turntables, from sparse mystery vistas to a bumper with Ghislain Poirier. 7.5 (RB)

We Insist! Oh! Things Are So Corruptible (Exile on Mainstream/Southern) If you think rock music has become creatively bankrupt, you have to get your grubby mitts on this. 7.5 (JC)

Cold War Kids Loyalty to Loyalty (Downtown) One imagines Brooklyn hipsters moonlighting as Louisiana bayou hustlers—in that their situation is somehow impressive, and you want to slap the dick out of their mouth. 6 (LC)

Keane Perfect Symmetry (Interscope/Universal) Middling MOR tripe topped with plastic ’80s synths that Patrick Bateman would surely kill a bitch to. 4 (LC)

Acusis Dancefloors and Cocktails (Freedumb/Select) Electropop punk in all its feculent, saccharine glory. A saving grace is the British accents, since emo haircuts and dopey synths have been a mostly American pursuit. 3 (EL)

>> Music Listings

MIRROR ARCHIVES » Oct 30 Oct 05 2008: INSIDE - COVER | ARCHIVES INDEX | CURRENT ISSUE