Disc of the week

Hank III
Damn Right, Rebel Proud (Sidewalk)
It seems like the spirit of great country outlaws like David Allen Coe, Johnny Paycheck, Waylon Jennings and of course Hank III’s ol’ grandpappy is nowhere to be found in mainstream country music today, but Hank III’s middle finger salute is as rigid as ever, and this shitkicker comes out swingin’. You can almost hear Hank III spinning his revolver chamber on record opener “The Grand Ole Opry (Ain’t So Grand),” and he pretty much doesn’t let up throughout. With modern country music treading water in a cesspool, you can almost see Hank III standing on terra firma with a sixer of PBR hanging from his hand and a Lucky Strike wedged in his kisser, laughing his head off. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Candidate For Suicide” (Johnson Cummins)

The Cure
4:13 Dream (Geffen/Universal)
Thanks to renewed vigour, tours, the return of a sound-defining member in guitarist Perry Bamonte and the ever-present bassist Simon Gallup, 4:13 Dream harkens back a bit of their old sound in spots. This is due in part to the recording of “Sleep When I’m Dead,” originally slated for 1985’s The Head on the Door, and other, older unreleased material. Originally conceived as a double album, the idea was rolled back, with all the darker tunes held for a future release. Now that the Cure have gone just about everywhere with their music, frontman Robert Smith needs to rein in the effects and over-production. The album’s not your face, and production’s not your lipstick. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Freakshow” (Lateef Martin)

Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
Cardinology (Lost Highway)
The always eclectic and eccentric Adams has proved his heaven-sent transmissions can sometimes also be his demons in the past but as much as a coin toss as he can be, he shines once again on this one. Adams gets back to straight-up songwriting spilling more blood than ever, but also proves to be no chump by giving the Cardinals plenty of elbow room. When Adams lets his croon loose on the coda of “Cobwebs” he sends chills and when he drops his defenses and just lets it pour out he makes amends on his spotty career and proves he’s still a contender. 8/10 Trial Track: “Let Us Down Easy” (Johnson Cummins)

The Darling DeMaes
A User’s Guide to Raising the Dead (Songs of Spring) (independent)
Songs of spring? This local band’s debut LP makes a fine soundtrack for November, when everything goes grey, a monster is spawned etc. Singer Erik Virtanen’s balance of bleeding heart and backhanded humour, twin fixations on love and death and faint retro rock ’n’ roll echo make him a contender for the next big new Morrissey. His voice is softer, the band’s arrangements more acoustic, but the Darling DeMaes’ giddy highs and suicidal lows evoke the Smiths and their ilk, without aping them. As for the weeping stone angels in the CD booklet: not very subtle. But subtlety is often overrated. 8/10 Trial Track: “In Love With Patty Duke” (Lorraine Carpenter) With Receivers and Open Fields at Club Lambi on Fri., Nov. 7, 9 p.m., $7

Oldfolks Home
We Are the Feeding Line (independent)
Oldfolks Home is Winnipeg’s Ricardo Lopez, one of those unstoppable, obsessive one-man bands. Several of these eight tracks were inspired by a spell in this city, and offer a surprising juxtaposition of sweet, supple pop music and a stark, rigid electric/electronic edge. Given the recurring hard-candy synths and showy guitars, it’s clear that Lopez can give ’er like a ’70s cock rock band, yet the songs sound like the product of ’80s boys in eyeliner. It’s a busy but fully functional mosaic of mad riffs, bold beats and moments of grace, vocoder, shouting and cooing, sing-song melodies, pretty harmonies and dance music. More please! 8/10 Trial Track: “I Hate Dell” (Lorraine Carpenter) At Bar St-Laurent 2 on Sun., Nov. 9

Brian Borcherdt
Coyotes (Hand Drawn Dracula)
Disposing of “the Remains of,” Toronto’s Brian Borcherdt returns to his longstanding solo efforts with a seven-song mini-album on noteworthy new label Hand Drawn Dracula. Borcherdt by his lonesome stands in sharp contrast to the euphoric machine jams of Holy Fuck, his better known project, not only in his choice of tools—an acoustic guitar and that’s it, sir—but in the emotional palette he draws on. Over spare, repetitive, bleary-eyed motifs, his soft and weathered voice gives life to effective little metaphors for loss, longing and release. A haunted if not tortured record. 7/10 Trial Track: “Means of Escape” (Rupert Bottenberg)

Snow Patrol
A Hundred Million Suns
(Polydor/Universal)
The rousing, over-dramatic choruses featured on previous hits “Run” and “Chasing Cars” suggest Snow Patrol share a lot in common with fellow Irish drama rockers U2, but Snow Patrol are rooted primarily in post-grunge and the non-singles are as un-anthemic as any ‘90s American college radio staple. “Crack the Shutters” has the best shot at becoming their next big, overwrought, laughably intimate power ballad, and the rest is an unsuccessful attempt to bring more technical musicianship into Gary Lightbody’s songwriting (similar to Coldplay’s dabbling in faux-prog). Very predictable alternative rock, and without the infectious pop radio hits one would expect. 4/10 Trial Track: “Engines” (Erik Leijon)

The Knux
Remind Me In 3 Days…
(Interscope/Universal)
More than three days now and New Orleans brothers Krispy Kream and Rah Al Millio still remind me of a bunch of stuff, firmly rooted as they are in the more playful hip hop of the ’90s and even ’80s (note the Fat Boys salute on “Life In a Cage”). With backing from live band the Symetrics and a knack for flipping FM spring-break pop-rock and new wave sounds into new and interesting things to rap over, they bring N*E*R*D to mind, and in their rockier moments, New Kingdom minus the Sabbath-worshipping bong-crud excess. “Powder Room” and “Parking Lot” meanwhile make me think of Fun Loving Criminals, albeit without the PG rating. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Cappuccino” (Rupert Bottenberg)

Q-Tip
The Renaissance (Motown/Universal)
It’s no mistake that Q-Tip’s latest was released on election day this week. After 10 years as a solo artist, only two of his four solo-produced albums have managed to make it to an official release, so this record is a definite change. While the unreleased Live At the Renaissance seemed to feature the accompanying band as much as Q-Tip himself, The Renaissance brings it back to the man with a mix of live and sampled beats backing him up. Calling on friends like D’Angelo for “Believe” and Norah Jones for “Life is Better” won’t propell this record to classic status, but it certainly adds to the mix. With at least five tracks that have appeared in other forms on other releases, this feels like the closest thing to a concession that Q-Tip has come to as a solo artist. Not bad though, I must say. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Move” (Scott C)

Jennifer Hudson
self-titled (Arista/Sony BMG)
In light of the personal tragedy that Hudson recently suffered, it’s easy to forget that up until then this had been a banner year for the former American Idol contestant, what with her recent engagement, starring roles in two prominent films (Sex & the City and The Secret Life of Bees), and the release of this, her long-anticipated debut album. Overall, this is a well-rounded set that gives Hudson a chance to get sassy (“Pocketbook” with Ludacris), display vulnerability (“Giving Myself,” “If This Isn’t Love”) and generally let her powerful pipes soar. The set’s most compelling track, “Jesus Promised Me a Home Over There,” is even more poignant now considering Hudson’s family devastation. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Can’t Stop the Rain” (Gerard Dee)

Thom Gossage Other Voices
Impulsi (independent)
Montreal drummer Thom Gossage returns with this collection featuring various states of unencumbered improvisation and composition. Things open up with one of three versions of the decidedly free title track and then quickly bolt off in many different directions. With the help of fellow musicians Remi Bolduc, Frank Lozano, Miles Perkin and Steve Raegele, Gossage experiments with quieter moments of reflection, heard on “Frank With Autoharp” and “Adagio For Isabelle,” while exploring a slightly agitated creation on “Thom With Drum Fragments.” Impulsi musically weighs the importance of deliberation against the unknown outcome of temptation and whim. 7/10 Trial Track: “Dilly Dally” (Scott C) Album launch at Diese Onze, Wed., Nov. 12, 8:30 p.m., free

Toshiko AKIYOSHI–
LEW Tabackin BIG BAND
Mosaic Select (Mosaic)
A three-CD set of material recorded by the California edition of this great big band. Manchurian-born Toshiko Akiyoshi was discovered in Japan by members of the JATP. She then studied at Berklee and she and her second husband, Lew Tabackin, a Don Byas-inspired tenorman and flutist, formed this band in the mid-’70s. The 26 tracks included here were originally done for Japanese RCA Victor. Toshiko stands as one of the great composers in jazz history and this is a wonderful introduction to her large writing and piano talent. Among the sidemen are Bobby Shew, Britt Woodman, Bill Reichenbach, Gary Foster, Bill Perkins, Gene Cherico and Peter Donald. Tabackin is a soloist of the first order. A must for big-band fanciers. 10/10 Trial Track: “March of the Tadpoles” (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

Dawn Lambeth Midnight Blue (Spanish Shawl) A wonderful singer from the U.S. West Coast, Ms. Lambeth will appeal to lovers of vocalists like Lee Wiley and Barbara Lea. Great backing as well. 9 (LD)

Geisha Die Verbrechen der Liebe (Crucial Blast) These experi-metalists lay Shellac’s angular bash down perfectly but it’s on the 35-minute droner “Theme From Diana” that they really take the expressway to your skull. 9 (JC)

Amp Fiddler Rare and Unreleased (independent) Certified gold nuggets from the back catalogue of Detroit’s Amp Fiddler, featuring appearances from Tony Allen and remixes by Kenny Dope. 8 (SC)

Amanda Mabro Wine Flows (independent) More bold moves, tender tales and brassy craft from our local cabaret songstress. 7.5 (LC) At Cabaret tonight, Thurs., Nov. 6, 8:30 p.m., $12

The Waking Eyes Holding on to Whatever It Is (Coalition/Warner) Extremely clever and cheeky Canadian-style awkward pop from Winnipeg music vets (former members of The Pets and Novillero). 7 (EL)

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