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 FM3
Buddha Machine II (FM3/Forced Exposure)
Back in 2005, I freaked out over a delightful little device called the Buddha Machine, care of China-based electronauts FM3 (Christiaan Viant and Zhang Jian). About the size of a cigarette pack, the chintzy little plastic dickens (cheaper than a CD to manufacture, apparently) coughed out tinny, buzzing hypno-loops, thereby closing the circle between the trashy and the transcendent, the mawkish and the meditative. The new version, available in three colours, has nine new loops and—dig this—a pitch-bend function to fuck those loops up. I just hope the next version has the guts packed inside a hot-pink plastic demon or something. Brian Eno, Daft Punk and Mike Patton are nuts for these things—find out why! Oh, PS: two AA batteries not included. 9/10 Trial Track: “Mao” (Rupert Bottenberg)
 Aidan Baker and Tim Hecker
Fantasma Parastasie (Alien8)
These two disparate noiseniks are no strangers to collaboration, but Baker (of doom-droners Nadja) and legendary local Hecker really prove to be a perfect pairing on this transmission of ambient noise. While Hecker has been regaining his breath for the past two years following an exhausting output, the time has only served to further focus his scope—his input leaves plenty of room for Baker. Although the cacophony of dark wave and ambience is thick, it’s the strong melodies that the two bring out in each other that really stretch out in your frontal lobe. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Hymn to the Idea of Night” (Johnson Cummins)
 Wino
Punctuated Equilibrium (Southern Lord)
Although Wino was hardly the first to sling the Sabbath sludge, he was probably the first to sit up in Papa Iommi’s lap and refine it with his legendary previous bands like the Obsessed, Saint Vitus, Spirit Caravan and the Hidden Hand. He’s now officially a solo artist. This record produced by J. Robbins (Jawbox, the Burning Airlines) still hits right in the gut with a fistful of nickels. No reinventing the wheel here as Wino still worships at the altar of the almighty riff, but among a legion of imitators, Wino still wears the crown. 8/10 Trial Track: “Secret Realm Devotion” (Johnson Cummins)
 Smothered in Hugs
The Healing Power of Injury (Collagen Rock)
With a name lifted from a Guided by Voices song, lyrics that make mention of Pavement and written praise rife with comparisons to early REM and the Replacements, it should come as no surprise that PEI’s Smothered in Hugs are committed college rock revivalists. And they’re hardly hiding it, given the name of their label, co-founded with fellow Charlottetown band the Danks and Halifax’s Mardeen. But their sound is more classic than retro, with the kind of gorgeous melodies, urgent pacing and reverb-soaked arrangements of riffs, piano and keys that will make some people swoon while others bust out the air guitar. 8/10 Trial Track: “Ghost Believah” (Lorraine Carpenter)
Correcto
self-titled(Domino)
What jangles and chimes, blathers and whines, and claims to be a supergroup? Yes, it’s Glasgow’s Correcto, led by Danny Saunders, with drummer Paul Thomson (Franz Ferdinand), bassist Patrick Doyle (ex-Royal We) and guitarist Richard Wright (visual artist). With a long list of classic influences (including Dylan, the Kinks, VU, PIL, the Smiths), the band spans the stylistic spectrum from proto-punk to quaint ballads, managing a few catchy tunes along the way. But Saunders’ vocals are weak and indecisive, alternately aping John Lydon, Ray Davies and Doug Yule—poor singers all, but at least they had solid lyrics to fall back on. 6/10 Trial Track: “Joni” (Lorraine Carpenter)
 Glass Candy
Deep Gems (Italians Do It Better)
Johnny Jewel has so thoroughly mastered and articulated his glamorous, astral production style that even this collection of dusted-off B-sides and reprises is well worth hunting down. Ida No’s sassy lines are as mystifying as ever and her aloof, Debbie Harry demeanour meets Jewel’s buzzing, reverberating synths for a moody and hypnotic baker’s dozen of bonus jams. Some of the gems include “Geto Boys,” a funky ode to the Houston group of the same name, as well as a pared-down remix of “Miss Broadway” and “Stars & Houses,” one of the duo’s most intimate ballads to date. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Animal Imagination” (Jack Oatmon)
 Common
Universal Mind Control (Geffen/Universal)
The driving force for this album, by the Chicago MC’s own proclamation, was to make a record that finally gives him presence in the club, hence the heavy helping hand from the Neptunes on production. But Common’s charm and appeal comes from the self-reflective poetry he displays on the more uplifting and inspirational tracks “Changes” and “Inhale,” rather than the phoned-in, unnatural efforts of “Sex 4 Suga” or “Everywhere.” Although the tailor-made Neptunes production is enough to give the album a listen, especially on “Gladiator,” Common was way more at home on the soulful Kanye beats of his past two albums. 6.5/10 Trial Track: “Universal Mind Control” (Morgan Steiker)
 Clipse
Road to Till the Casket Drops (Re-Up)
A mixtape with the dual purpose of whetting our appetites for a new Clipse record and promoting their new clothing line. It’s evident the crack-dealin’ Virginian duo are saving their mind-blowing, Neptunes-helmed masterpieces for 2009. Still, Clipse are far more present and engaged in this mixtape than the recent, nondescript Re-Up record, and as a preview, there are just enough moments (the second verse on “The Haters Wish,” the cut-up horn sample on “Big Dreams” and everything about “Addiction”) that indicate Pusha-T and Malice will at least try to match the impossible heights of the epic Hell Hath No Fury. Sigh—will 2008 ever end? 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Addiction” (Erik Leijon)
 Plies
Da Realist (Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic/Warner)
The Floridian MC takes the lethargic, slightly slack-jawed Southern style of rapping to even more sluggish, damn near catatonic depths. Da Realist’s hypnotically cut-up beats, with everything moving at a snail’s pace, might be trying to recreate the permanent haze of a sizzurp-addled brain, but Plies’ sneering delivery and the numerous date-rap snoozers break the pleasant, sonically induced fog of the better tracks. The record never builds on the relative promise of the first two mesmerizing cuts, as the rest feels like the rapper is scraping the bottom of the creative barrel on his third album since August 2007. 3/10 Trial Track: “Fuck U Gon’ Do Bout It?” (Erik Leijon)
Deborah Cox
The Promise(Deco/Image)
After her sojourn on memory lane with last’s year’s Destination Moon, Cox returns with her first set of original material since 2003’s The Morning After. Although her impressive vocal range has always been her forte, she’s gotten more mileage out of the energetic dance tracks she’s recorded. But lead single “Beautiful U R” and a handful of other tracks, including the sassy “Down 4 U,” are about as high-energy as she gets here. It’s not that Cox doesn’t do a good job with some of these slow jams, including the title track, but next time, let’s hope she remembers her dance fans. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “You Know Where My Heart Is” (Gerard Dee)
 Novalima
Coba Coba (Cumbancha)
From the first track on this record, it’s obvious that Novalima is going to impress and intrigue all sorts of folk. Already one of the highest selling groups in their native Peru, their concept is to find points of connection between traditional Afro-Peruvian music and the present. These touchstones include bits and pieces of funk, rock, dub, soca, salsa, jazz, broken beat, reggae and hip hop—terrific Cuban hip hop outfit Obsesion make an appearance on “Ruperta/Puerde Ser” and New Zealand’s Mark de Clive Lowe adds keyboards to Carlos Uribe’s vocals on the pleasingly danceable “Yo Voy.” But it’s “Tumbala” that really shines. A bit of broken beat business, this tune really does everything right. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Tumbala” (Erin MacLeod)
Dizzy Gillespie
U.S. State Dept. Jazz Orchestra (Olfert Dapper)
Renolds Jazz Orchestra
Cube (Shanti)
Two very different big bands—the Gillespie is a 1956 live appearance by a band that had amongst its soloists Ernie Henry, Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, Wynton Kelly, Billy Mitchell and Al Grey, as well as the leader, playing music by Diz, Golson and Horace Silver. The second item was recorded in Bonn, Germany in 2005 and is made up of 10 originals by Fritz and Helen Renold, with Greg Tardy, Donny McCaslin, Tommy Smith, Randy Brecker, Barrie Lee Hall, Miroslav Vitous and Adam Nussbaum among the better known members of the band. Superb arrangements and vocals by Helen. Both 9.5/10 Trial Tracks: Gillespie “I Remember Clifford,” Renolds “Resurrection” (Len Dobbin)
 Rodeoscopique
self-titled (Audiogram/Select)
Montreal’s Rodeoscopique, led by local jazz guitarist and composer Antoine Berthiaume, aren’t the only act out there dusting off the cornucopia of cool that were the scores of vintage Spaghetti Westerns of the ’60s and ’70s. The Spaghetti Western Orchestra is another, but whereas those Australians slavishly recreate to perfection the works of Ennio Morricone, Berthiaume and co. drift away from the master to seek their own distinct space—the Man With No Name would approve. The playing here is sharp, the ideas in play rich and diverse, and the tone ranges from forlorn to mirthful. 8/10 Trial Track: “Tombstone” (Rupert Bottenberg)
Mini CD Reviews
Elliott Carter Pacifica Quartet String Quartets Nos. 1 and 5 (Naxos) Two wonderful additions to the string-quartet repertoire written by Carter, who celebrated his 100th birthday last week. 9.5 (LD)
Frank Fuller The Second Christmas Album (DB Sounds) Local singer-songwriter subjects seasonal classics to his sweet folk/country/rockabilly stylings. 7 (LC)
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan Sunday at Devil Dirt (Fontana) This odd pairing of the QOTSA’s gruff Lanegan and Belle and Sebastian’s crooning Campbell meshes perfectly here. 7 (JC)
Julian Koster The Singing Saw at Christmastime (Merge) Elephant 6 collective guy wishes you a creepy Christmas with carols covered by his Singing Saw Orchestra. 7 (LC)
Shiny Toy Guns Season of Poison (Motown/Universal) One or two fleeting moments of atmospheric synth pop with shouty, cheearleader vocals, but mostly uncomplicated emo-dance. 3 (EL)
Hinder Take It to the Limit (Universal Republic/Universal) Hinder are taking it to the limit—the one already reached by the likes of Warrant, Poison and Kix. 0.5 (EL)
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