Disc of the week

Anthony Hamilton
The Point of It All (Arista/Sony BMG)
Hamilton delivers his most accomplished set to date, which is impressive considering his previous discs, 2003’s Comin’ From Where I’m From and 2005’s Ain’t Nobody Worryin’, were both stellar. Bookended by two timely social commentaries, “The News” and “Fine Again,” Hamilton’s latest strips his emotions bare, balancing whispered pleas (“Hard to Breathe”) with anguished declarations (“Soul’s on Fire”). He demonstrates a new level of musical flexibility on “Prayin’ for You/Superman,” which seamlessly morphs from an upbeat, guitar-driven jig into a moody piano-laced ballad. And the title track, powerful in its simplicity, exudes an exceptional level of sincerity, much like Hamilton himself. And that seems to be the real point of it all. 9.5/10 Trial Track: “Please Stay” (Gerard Dee)

Bruce Springsteen
Working on a Dream (Columbia/Sony BMG)
Dear Boss: Apparently you didn’t read my review of your lacklustre Magic, so I figured I would again cast a message out into the murk of the Internet in hopes that you might do a vanity Google search and find it. On behalf of all of your fans, please stop using Brendan O’Brien as your producer. He drains away the immediacy and urgency you so expertly employ, and frankly, we’re sick of it. Even you would have to agree your new one is hardly Born to Run or even close to Nebraska (which BTW you recorded at your kitchen table with nary a producer in sight). Songs like “Outlaw Pete” and “Good Eye” still possess your unique spark, but even they get stopped in their tracks by O’Brien’s over-baked gloss. Are you paying this guy by the hour? Live, you’re still the Boss, and these songs will probably really take flight in the arena setting, but as far as recording goes, get back to the kitchen table and please take O’Brien’s name off your speed dial. 6.5/10 Trial Track: “Good Eye” (Johnson Cummins)

Franz Ferdinand
Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (Domino/Sony BMG)
A celebration of rowdy Scottish soccer hooliganism, traditional dry British wit and universally danceable white boy funk, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is a winding journey recounting a particularly hedonistic night on the town. Singer Alex Kapranos warbles along enthusiastically like the life of the party, with his bandmates shouting responses as any tightly knit group of drunken louts would. The first three tracks are disjointed singles, but “Send Him Away” through “Lucid Dreams” feels like the definitive statement on the whole indie dance rock question. No “Take Me Out” here, but a dazzlingly consistent set of bass-heavy grooves. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Live Alone” (Erik Leijon)

The Veronicas
Hook Me Up (Sire/Warner)

Zero Boys
Vicious Circle (Secretly Canadian/Sonic Unyon)
This 1982 re-release is nothing short of the hardcore holy grail—even after over a quarter of a century, it can still put most of the current crop of speed-enhanced punks to shame. Long before hardcore became regimented with rules and metal mucked it up, these four pimply teenagers rose from the cultural wasteland of Indianapolis, fuelled up on the pop of Ramones and Stiff Little Fingers, and the speed of DOA and So-Cal’s finest of the day. Power poppers like “She Said Goodbye” and “Trying Harder” are probably the greatest songs the Real Kids never wrote while the blitzkrieg of the title track and “Outta Style” scorch like the Germs at their most unhinged. 9/10 Trial Track: “Hightime” (Johnson Cummins)

Circlesquare
Songs About Dancing and Drugs (Boompa)
Reporting from Berlin, Vancouver native Jeremy Shaw has incorporated his live band into this third Circlesquare record, adding thinly sliced percussion and guitar to the starkest of synth-funk landscapes. Complementing his “if that’s all there is” philosophy is a sound nearly free of sonic frills and rhythmic swing, with only the leanest of grooves to abet dancing. “Dancers” really satisfies, keeping you hanging until the beat finally catches, but such suspense is absent towards album’s end, when the deadpan style begins to drag like a dull church service, albeit one on Mars, after it’s been colonized by Christian missionaries. Yawn? 6.5/10 Trial Track: “Dancers” (Lorraine Carpenter)

Ferriswheel
Woodsongs From the Backroom (4e Avenue)
Keyboardist Mathieu Charbonneau (Torngat) and guitarist Simon Trottier (White Noise Ensemble, Timber Timbre) make some instrumental magic together on this debut LP, also featuring Charbonneau’s Torngat bandmates on French horn and percussion, and other familiar names and faces from the Montreal improv, electroacoustic and jazz realms, on violin, clarinet and bass. From parlour classical to porch folk, their sometimes lively, sometimes staid compositions evoke the antiquated and the pastoral—–perhaps they’re aware of their cinematic potential, having titled the closing track “Scrolling Names.” Someone hook these guys up with a documentary about the Amish. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Free Middle” (Lorraine Carpenter) CD launch with Chantale Morin, J’Envoie at Divan Orange tonight, Thurs., Jan. 29, 8 p.m., $7

Rudeboy
2 (independent)
After a brief heyday at the tail end of the ’90s that saw the debut album Shut-up and Dance, Ottawa outfit Rudeboy (uh, yes, actually, they are a ska band) packed up their porkpies and called it a day. A decade later, the sextet is reassembled and rarin’ to go with this 12-pack of nimble nods to prototypical ’60s Kingston soul and second-wave U.K. two-tonalities—it’s alternately the Specials and early English Beat (and dare I say a dash of Men at Work) that come to mind. Beyond the ample instrumental skill in play, inspired twists in the margins—a snappy organ lick here, an atmospheric sound effect there—freshen up what’s frankly a very familiar template. 7/10 Trial Track: “24/7/52” (Rupert Bottenberg) CD launch with Charlotte Cornfield and Laurent Bourque at la Sala Rossa tonight, Thurs., Jan. 29, 9 p.m.

Thievery Corporation
Radio Retaliation (ESL/Select)
With their fifth studio release, dynamic duo Rob Garza and Eric Hilton launch an album with a payload of political punch. Vocalists were recruited to deliver righteous indignation over dubbed-out beats mixed with Latin grooves and subtle shades of trip hop. Sleeper Wonder issues a war cry on “Sound the Alarm” while Femi Kuti asks what you’ll find in Darfur and Kinshasa on “Vampires.” In tumultuous times, Thievery Corporation enter the fray with a solid album that gets both brain and booty moving. Bonus points for fantastic package design. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Vampires” (Lateef Martin)

Mavado
Mr. Brooks… A Better Tomorrow (VP)
Though public opinion indicates that Vybz Kartel beat Mavado in a clash at the recent Sting 2008 stageshow, it would be tough for Kartel to beat this album of sweeping, cinematic dancehall, which shines with huge tunes like the crossover hit “I’m So Special” (produced by Linton “TJ” White) and “I’m On the Rock” (a voicing of the Baby G-produced Mission Riddim that was reworked as “We Need Barack,” one of the best dubs of the past few years). Production duties are also filled by Stephen McGregor for “I’m So Blessed,” “Overcome” and “In Di Car Back,” three tunes showcasing Mavado’s ability to sound at once ominous and hopeful—and very rarely require auto-tune. Though the Gully God doesn’t (regardless of his claim) sing “like Beres,” he does have his own unique signature singjay style, a plaintive, melancholy wail that’s intense as all get out. 9/10 Trial Track: “I’m So Special” (Erin MacLeod)

A.R. Rahman
Slumdog Millionaire (Interscope/Universal)
There’s a faint echo of the Danny Boyle film’s reach-for-the-top riff in Rahman’s recent Golden Globe grab. Venerated as Hindi cinema’s biggest contemporary composer, Rahman’s at last getting globe-wide props for his bold blend of Western pop and widescreen Bollywood oomph, epic scale and informal affability. Alongside the sultry bhangra of “Ringa Ringa” and ominous sitar-tech of “Mausam & Escape,” his Slumdog score, peppered with vocals from rising playback royalty, suggests Underworld (“Riots”) and Giorgio Moroder (“Aaj Ki Raat”)—and lobs a few schmalz-balls as well, unfortunately. M.I.A.’s ubiquitous “Paper Planes” and a distant-cousin DFA remix thereof appear, but it’s Rahman’s monumental, drum-heavy opener “O… Saya,” on which she drops a rap, that truly impresses. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Liquid Dance” (Rupert Bottenberg)

Eric Rasmussen
School of Tristano (Steeplechase)
School of Tristano 2 (Steeplechase)
School of Tristano 3 (Steeplechase)
The leader is a California-born alto man, joined here by Nate Radley on guitar, Dave Ambrosio on bass and drummer Matt Wilson, on three volumes of music written by Tristano or his students Lee Konitz, Warne Marsh, Ronnie Ball, Billy Bauer and Ted Brown as well as the leader and Radley. Thirty-three tracks in all, including “Kary’s Trance” (based on “Play Fiddle Play”), “Marionette,” a “September in the Rain” contrafact and Lennie’s blues for Charlie Parker, “Requiem.” Recorded in 2006 and 2007, all three CDs belong in the collection of any follower of the Tristano school and its members. All 10/10 Trial Tracks: Tristano “Wow,” 2 “Tautology,” 3 “Line Up” (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

Liu Fang & Michael O’Toole Duo Pipa & Guitar (Philmultic) An intriguing combination of instruments playing music by Bartok, Vivaldi, Piazzolla and John Cage—well worth a listen. 9 (LD)

Volcano Suns All-Night Lotus Party; The Bright Orange Years (Merge) The first two albums by this Mission of Burma spin-off band from Boston, re-released in all their post-punk, proto-grunge glory. Both 8 (LC)

Jon-Rae Fletcher Oh Maria (Weewerk) If Fletcher doesn’t grab ya, better go see a doctor because you may be lacking a heart. 7 (JC)

Inward Eye self-titled EP (J/Sony BMG) Balls-to-the-wall punk rock from the ’Peg. Gets by more on spirit and speed than actual proficiency. The singer might also want to cut back on the Raine Maida moments. 6 (EL)

Bend Sinister Stories of Brothers, Tales of Lovers (Distort Light) Imagine all American pop/rock of the ’70s, the cream and the crap, condensed and crammed through the revisionist filter of a stage musical. Scary. 5 (LC)