Disc of the week

Guns N’ Roses
Chinese Democracy (Geffen/Universal)
After a decade and a half, and a rumoured budget of $14-million, it’s finally here—or more accurately, Axl’s 15-year-old, hermetically sealed bag of farts has finally been broken open. Admittedly, Axl’s squeal has always made me break out in hives, but this over-baked turd will make even the most ardent fans wish that he would just retire to his rightful place on a Vegas stage. The attempts at being contemporary might’ve made sense when these songs were originally written 10 years ago, but even Axl’s overblown ego, hissy fits and corny bravado can’t save stinkers like “Street of Dreams” and the particularly horrific “There Was a Time.” I honestly don’t know who the fuck this record was made for, other than Axl himself. 4/10 Trial Track: “Madagascar” (Johnson Cummins)

Los Campesinos!
We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed (Arts & Crafts)
Only nine months after their debut LP, Hold on Now Youngster, this Cardiff band delivers another hyperactive, darkly humorous dispatch from the intersection of pretty chamber pop and propulsive indie rock. Gareth’s rants about relationship detritus and self-loathing are as shrill and verbose as ever, with Aleksandra’s girlish ways still sweetening the vocal pot, albeit with equally sour words. They’re like petulant kids shouting from school bus windows, essentially, but fresh infusions of restraint are welcome. As is the deluxe CD’s accompanying DVD, and zine feat. text and drawings by Jamie Stewart, Jason Lytle, Paul Heaton, etc. 8/10 Trial Track: “Miserabilia” (Lorraine Carpenter)

The Killers
Day & Age (Island/Universal)
Day & Age won’t convert any skeptics, but the six tracks that work very well epitomize how a completely rational person could enjoy the bombastic, unoriginal and campy Las Vegas quartet. When the Killers are on, it’s because the sizzle engulfs the steak—album starter “Losing Touch” tightly packs cheesy horns, a theatrical guitar outro and singer Brandon Flowers’ best histrionics. “Joy Ride” pilfers Sandinista-era Clash, and “I Can’t Stay” is Jimmy Buffett-meets-night at the Copa. It’s over the top but also refreshingly earnest, the work of four idealists who couldn’t tone things down even if they were performing at a funeral inside a library. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “I Can’t Stay” (Erik Leijon)

The Fireman
Electric Arguments (ATO/Fontana North)
In 1993, the enigmatic Fireman surfaced with a nice enough techno album, turning a few heads—and then stunning people with the revelation that the Fireman was in fact the duo of Youth (of post-punk heavies Killing Joke) and Paul MaCartney (of the Beatles). It was a deft diplay of defied expectations, but this third album, 15 years later, merely disappoints. The pork-lard blues rock of opener “Nothing Too Much Just Out of Sight” is the direst moment, but from there, matters improve little with a variety of frankly forgettable FM rock duds and soporific folk jams. A handful of more textural tunes hold some promise, but overall, there’s no need to sound an alarm. The Fireman has no fire this time. 5/10 Trial Track: “Light From Your Lighthouse” (Rupert Bottenberg)

Lazarus Moan
Sunrise (independent)
After a stint playing local watering holes under the moniker Lil’ Buck, these locals re-emerge with a new name and new psych-pop leanings. The unlikely opener “Damascus” takes risks, dipping equally into light and dark, but it’s on the Roy Orbison-flavoured “Outside Always” that things start taking off. Singer/
guitarist Mark Goodwin proves himself deft with the pen, giving his words further depth with a twisting and turning vocal performance and clever arrangement work. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Long, Long Gone” (Johnson Cummins) CD launch with Little Birdie at Petit Campus, Tues., Dec. 2, 8 p.m.

The Wooden Sky
When Lost at Sea (Black Box)
Priya Thomas
Is Blood Heron (Sunny Lane)
Two Toronto acts with one foot in roots music, the other in indie rock. The Wooden Sky re-release their debut LP from 2006 (when they were Friday Morning’s Regret), a grab-bag of murder ballads and country/blues collisions, head-down and knees-up ditties about booze, hard drugs and heartache. Arrangements run the gamut from finger-picked acoustic guitar and harmonica to full-on piano, cello, mandolin, bass, drums and electric guitar, with vocals reminiscent of a certain Kurt Cobain. Priya Thomas evokes the mid-’90s too, namely Liz Phair, PJ Harvey and, moreover, Patti Smith. Decidedly more rock than roots, Thomas’s first-take creations are built on a blues/folk foundation, with guitars, piano, organ and omnichord kicking it drawn out and pretty, raw and gritty or stoney and droney. Wooden Sky 8/10, Thomas 7/10 Trial Tracks: Wooden Sky, “This Bird Has Flown”; Thomas, “Had I Known, I Would Have Declined” (Lorraine Carpenter) At Divan Orange, Sat., Nov. 29, 9:30 p.m.

Kanye West
808s & Heartbreak (Roc-A-Fella/Universal)
In an era where a record release is more calculated than a space launch, it’s refreshing to witness Kanye West needlessly jeopardize his career just a year after the stellar Graduation. Eschewing traditional rapping and sped-up Chaka Khan samples for an auto-tuner, minimalist electronic beats and trite, lovelorn lyrics, Mr. West has inadvertently written a pretty good Depeche Mode record sure to piss off everyone. It’s inconsistent and the auto-tuner wears thin, but lyrically he was beginning to grow stale and a change was necessary. West is willing to present all the highs and lows that come with maturation. 7/10 Trial Track: “RoboCop” (Erik Leijon)

CFCF
Panesian Nights (Paper Bag Digital)
The name, apparently an homage to some obscure Taiwanese NES smut-game bootleg developer, alludes to long nights passed punching the keys of controllers, both MIDI and game console. “The Arctic” is a canny rendition of the Knife’s “Bridge,” while “Call Girl” is a laidback throwback to Ken Laszlo’s “Hey Hey Guy.” The catchy EP borrows a dreamy aloofness from Alan Braxe, but is sometimes plagued by the hurried thrift that made Kavinsky a missed opportunity. Tweaked and let loose a little more, an upcoming follow-up release early next year from this local could be a very promising prospect. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Sogni Rossi” (Jack Oatmon)

Asa
self-titled (Justin Time/Fusion III)
Listening to Asa’s music is like having a cup of coffee after a weekend lie-in. The Nigerian-born singer (and more than competent guitarist) doesn’t sing in French, but has had most of her success in France, where just last week she won a prestigious Constantin award for best young artist. Her music is folky, soulful, but more than anything, it’s pop. The uplifting strings in “Bibanke” would fit well in a soundtrack to Grey’s Anatomy, and fans of Norah Jones will be overjoyed as soon as they take a listen to “Subway.” Though this may sound pejorative, it’s really not. Sure, there’s no real edge to Asa, but sometimes music should be easy like Sunday morning. 7/10 Trial Track: “Bibanke” (Erin Macleod)

Beyoncé
I Am… Sasha Fierce (Sony BMG)
Beyoncé took flak for recording her 2006 sophomore set, B’day, in only two weeks. But that project was a lot more fluid than her latest, a disjointed two-disc effort that supposedly explores the dual sides of her personality. The first disc, the “Beyoncé” side, is all overwrought ballads, previewed by lead single “If I Were a Boy.” Disc two stars “Sasha Fierce,” supposedly the more audacious side of Beyoncé’s personality, who wastes no time in putting the guys in check on the feisty “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” and isn’t shook by a little exhibitionism (“Video Phone”). As a concept, this set proves that the sum of these parts isn’t better than the whole. 7/10 Trial Track: “Ego” (Gerard Dee)

Seal
Soul (Warner)
Seal has finally found his way down memory lane, but is it a labour of love or a simple lack of imagination? In reality, it’s probably a combination of the two. Truth is, Seal’s gravelly baritone is quite suited to many of these songs so, not surprisingly, he does a good job on classics like “I’m Still in Love With You” and “Free.” In fact, it’s hard to find fault with his vocal delivery throughout. But these are songs that have already been covered more times than necessary, so leaving any kind of unique stamp is something that eludes most singers, and that remains true here. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Here I Am (Come and Take Me)” (Gerard Dee)

Larry Gelb
America Is Free (Imaginmusic)
Enrico Pieranunzi
Plays the Music of Wayne Shorter (Challenge)
Plenty of memorable moments on Gelb’s record—10 most interesting originals by the pianist/leader played by an A-one band consisting of reedman Dick Oatts, bassist Cameron Brown and renowned jazz drummer Paul Motian. Pieranunzi meanwhile is a world-class pianist who’s chosen 11 items from the pen of a great jazz composer for this outing with a Dutch team of Hein Van de Geyn on bass and Hans van Oosterhout on drums. Among the material included is “E.S.P.,” “Nefertiti,” “Pinocchio” and “Infant Eyes”—a CD that will appeal to all interested in great compositions and piano trio playing. Gelb 9/10, Pieranunzi 9.5/10 Trial Tracks: Gelb “Motian Picture,” Pieranunzi “This Is For Albert” (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

Barbara Cook Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder (DRG) Nothing to do with jazz—Ms. Cook is just a great singer, abetted by veteran music director Lee Musiker on such wonderful tracks as a moving “For All We Know.” 9.5 (LD)

Gore Hart Gore/Mean Man’s Dream (Southern Lord) A two-CD retrospective set from these instrumental legends, mandatory for fans of Pelican and Don Caballero. 9 (JC)

The Olympic Symphonium More in Sorrow Than in Anger (Forward Music Group) Saccharine and sad folk pop from Fredricton, with finesse. 7.5 (LC)

Everest Ghost Notes (Vapor) Warm, country-tinged Americana led by former Sebadoh/Folk Implosion member Russell Pollard. Has a great, rough, earthy vibe. 7 (EL) With Neil Young, Wilco at Bell Centre, Mon., Dec. 1, 7 p.m., $45–$175

Wilderness (k)no(w)here (Jagjaguwar) Such atone, baritone moaning and post-punk, post-rock dronescapes would be avant-garde if they weren’t crawling wounded behind the army, through the muck. 7 (LC)

Mudvayne The New Game (Epic/Sony BMG) The coolest part of this record is murder mystery and list of suspects included in the liner notes. I say grocery store employee Misty killed your best friend. 4 (EL)

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MIRROR ARCHIVES » Nov 27 Dec 03 2008: INSIDE - COVER | ARCHIVES INDEX | CURRENT ISSUE