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 Tindersticks
The Hungry Saw (Constellation)
For 17 years, this band from Nottingham, England has specialized in exquisite misery, and their latest record deftly showcases that refined pairing of soul and sorrow. Impeccably arranged guitars, percussion, brass, woodwinds and strings form a supple, sultry foundation for Stuart A. Staples’ buttery baritone croon. Songs such as the title track pick up the pace from the standard swoon speed and pack surprising vigour, an energy that’s undercut by aching lyrics about regrets, betrayal and biological heartbreak (blood, muscle and bone). Most bands are past it after nine albums and change, but this stellar album proves Tindersticks to be an exception to that rule. 9/10 Trial Track: “Yesterdays Tomorrows” (Lorraine Carpenter) With guests at la Tulipe, Mon., March 9, 8 p.m., $22
 Various
War Child Presents Heroes (Musicor/Select)
Recent years have afforded no shortage of tragedy to occupy the folks at War Child, an organization dedicated to rehabilitating kids in former or ongoing conflict zones—not so much a fighting chance as a chance after the fighting stops. This benefit CD partners current alt-pop notables with a variety of venerable radio hits, for a variety of results. Duffy’s odious “Live and Let Die” is the lowest point, while tracks like Franz Ferdinand’s churlish live go at Blondie’s “Call Me” merely bore. A step up are those that put a distinct spin on their cover, such as Hot Chip’s sweetly narcotic assessment of Joy Division’s “Transmission.” The best material here, though, doesn’t so much reinvent as replenish—the title track, TV on the Radio’s excellent nod to their pal Bowie, is rich, but Lily Allen’s light yet full-bodied rendition of the very a propos Clash tune “Straight to Hell” is heaven-sent. 7.5/10 Trial Track: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” (Rupert Bottenberg)
 U2
No Line on the Horizon
(Mercury/Universal)
A lemon. A Sunday bloody mess. A snoozeropa. Where the Cheese Has No Shame. Discodreck. Prattle and doldrum. The nausea tree. The excretest thing. Pure hell-evation. A beautiful payday. Uno, dos, tres, fatigué! The interminable mire. Facktunes lazy. Diphtherious blehs. Red shades whining now. Twelve albums, but they’re all the same. Hardly better than a bee sting. I can’t listen, with or without “Boots.” One nap in the name of yawn. Bullet this spew, guys. Stuck in caricatures they can’t get out of. If you press replay, I will throttle. How to dismiss a monotonous bore. More sanctimonious lines on the horizon. 3/10 Trial Track: “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy” (Erik Leijon)
 Eleni Mandell
Artificial Fire (Zedtone)
On her seventh album, Quebec’s favourite L.A. chanteuse recasts herself in a relatively raucous, pop-ous mold, a refreshing change of pace. The intimate cabaret style of old colours the ballads, but most of these 15 songs find Mandell keeping time with the vivid riffs and rhythms of guitarist Jeremy Drake (also credited for “space fog”), bassist Ryan Feves and drummer Kevin Fitzgerald, supported sporadically by string players. Taut and touching tales of a complicated love life (including the title track’s shout-down to one dodgy local fella) provide a complementary narrative to tunes recalling the likes of Cole Porter and Elvis Costello. 8/10 Trial Track: “Little Foot”
(Lorraine Carpenter) With Lyse & the Hot Kitchen, DJ Sunny Duval at Divan Orange, Sat., March 7, 10 p.m., $23
 Lamb of God
Wrath (Epic/Sony BMG)
While Metallica’s relevance continues to stumble as they try to revisit their former glory, they’ve left the barn door open for metal supremacy and Lamb of God seem only too eager here to take it over. Lamb of God still know how to bludgeon, but through their filing down of the rough edges, it seems like they’re finally ready to knock it out of the park. While their metal knows how to get its hands dirty, LOG’s true ace in the hole is vocalist Randy Blythe’s cacophony, which really elevates them above the formulaic metal bands. With each record getting progressively better, it seems their brand of simplified metal is indeed stadium ready and only time will tell if this will knock the crooked crown off of Hetfield’s head, ’cause they’re definitely contenders. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Dead Seeds” (Johnson Cummins)
The Agonist
Lullabies for the Dormant Mind (Century Media)
With their second release, the Agonist solidify their position as one of Montreal’s premier metal bands. What punctuates their brutality is the fearless treading into softer territory such as in “Swan Lake (A Capella).” Lullabies finds the band in tighter form while singer Alissa White-Gluz’s vocals have grown since their first album. If there were any question of whether she could outdo herself, “When the Bough Breaks” will shut naysayers up. Borrowing from Tool, Meshuggah, grindcore and opera only adds to the Agonist’s ferocity. 8/10 Trial Track: “The Sentient” (Lateef Martin) CD launch at Underworld, Sun., March 8, 6 p.m.
 APlotAgainstMe
Deuce (Smell the Pink)
This rough and tumble Gatineau quartet successfully punch out mechanical, hardcore dirge rock with trippy, melodic passages and irreverent lyrical content. They can rock out with angry, Folsom-prison aggression and demonstrate technical proficiency, yet can shift to a softer, more bluesy side and work with pop harmonizing as well. At their most jocular, such as on the opening track and the effective desert saloon psychobilly/punk combo of “Mrs. Pinkerton’s .22 Twins” and “My Horse Has Cancer,” they come across as a potentially smug Queens of the Stone Age, but APlotAgainstMe are visceral enough to pull this off. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Swearengen” (Erik Leijon)
 Bodychoke
Cold River Songs (Relapse/E1)
Relapse scores again with another killer reissue of this 1998 release from members of industrial legends Whitehouse and Sutcliffe Jugend. This exquisite noise rock is as teeth-gnashing as it gets with the use of power electronics, plodding repetition and walloping tribal and industrial percussion, all filtered through the seething hatred of vocalist Kevin Tomkins. You could use Cop Shoot Cop’s and the Birthday Party’s sense of misanthropy, Swans’ and Godflesh’s desperation and Ian Curtis’s desolation to help sum up these noise dirges, but there proves to be so much more here. If you ever wondered what the purity of hate sounds like… 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Aftermath” (Johnson Cummins)
Amenra
Mass III–IIII (Init)
This two-CD set collects the last three releases (oddly enough, Mass II is also included but not in the title) for the first time on North American shores. This doom-laden and punishing piece of post rock is sure to level any fans of godspeed you! black emperor and, more specifically, Neurosis. While bands with similar influences like Isis have taken more of a progressive approach, this Belgian five-piece hunker down and just bludgeon over the two hours here. This is quite simply as crushing as it gets and is easily earmarked for my record of the year while making so-called “doom” and “power drone” bands weaklings by comparison. As our friends in the U.K. would say, “this is fucking massive.” 9/10 Trial Track: “Razoreater” (Johnson Cummins)
 The Prodigy
Invaders Must Die (Take Me to the Hospital/
Cooking With Vinyl)
Even at their height, a Prodigy record of drunken rugby headbanging electro cock rock was tough to consume in one sitting. They were loud, relentless beatings to the senses necessitating an open field and no inhibitions. Although as brash as during their pre-Criminal Justice Bill heyday, Invaders Must Die was constructed with immobile 21st-century music fans in mind. It hits explosive peaks of rave-era tribute (“Warrior’s Dance”) but otherwise it’s all immediate, poppy, rapid-fire noises with little room to get sweaty. The Maxim/Flint collabs try to recapture 1997 and there are sped-up vocal samples for the Experience fans. 6/10 Trial Track: “Warrior’s Dance” (Erik Leijon)
Lifelike
“Sunset”/“Sequencer” (Vulture)
“Please Stay” (Vulture)
Lifelike’s two new singles, “Sunset”/“Sequencer” (just out last week) and “Please Stay,” about to be dropped on Alan Braxe’s label, confirm longstanding suspicions that the Frenchman is a serious contender in the often cheesy, half-assed world of catchy, radio-friendly house. On “Sunset,” guest vocalist Jotta Hautanen is filtered to a robotic hum to match the spacey, Mediterranean synth lines while a funky instrumental bass line warms up the mix. “Sequencer” is, as the name suggests, a gradual, arpeggio-laden flux of Kraftwerk-ish synthesizer eventually drifting into epic filter. The real kicker, however, is “Please Stay,” where a post-punk bass line and breathy, taunting female vocalist meet under Lifelike’s soothingelectronics to evoke the moody majesty of Goldfrapp. “Sunset”/“Sequencer” 7.5, “Please Stay” 8.5/10 (Jack Oatmon)
Mike Clark
Blueprints of Jazz Vol. 1 (Talking House)
Phil Woods
Phil’s Mood (Philology)
Clark is a drummer with loads of experience who’s joined here by Jed Levy, who I thank for the dedication, Donald Harrison, Christian Scott, Patrice Rushen and Christian McBride in a spirited outing that includes Billy Eckstine’s
“I Want to Talk About You” and nine originals. The Woods is subtitled Woods Plays Pieranunzi, 11 tracks, seven compositions plus four alternate takes, recorded in Rome with Woods’ alto joined by pianist Enrico Pieranunzi, one of Europe’s finest musicians, and his trio. Both 9/10 Trial Tracks: Clark “Thanks Len,” Woods “Night Bird” (Len Dobbin)
Mini CD Reviews
Rodgers & Hammerstein Allegro (Masterworks Broadway) A great 1947 show by these masters in its first complete recording, songs like “The Gentleman Is a Dope” with a cast that includes the magnificent Audra McDonald. 10 (LD)
Bill Frisell The Best of Bill Frisell Vol. 1: Folk Songs (Nonesuch/Warner) If you’ve been missing out on this incredibly gifted and innovative guitarist and modern composer, this would be your perfect starting point. 8 (JC)
New Found Glory Not Without a Fight (Epitaph/FAB) In these times of diminishing returns, New Found Glory’s bouncy relationship punk is reassuringly recession-proof. 7 (EL)
Trouble Andrew self-titled (Virgin/EMI) Santogold’s beau’s debut sounds a lot like hers, minus the refreshing eclecticism. 6 (EL)
The Soundtrack of Our Lives Communion (Yep Roc) Sweden’s TSOOL has always been about epic proportions, but now it’s their music that’s massive. Album five features 24 tracks of hit-and-miss astral rock bliss. 7 (LC)
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