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 Wolves in the Throne Room
Black Cascade (Southern Lord)
In this day and age, when black metal cleans up and flirts with the mainstream (see Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth) while the underground continues to fuse Bathory riffs with Burzum’s sense of panorama over and over again, the four epic songs on Black Cascade come as nothing short of a revelation. With brutal, shrieking vocals, ethereal synths and plodding blast beats, this definitely touches on the Norwegian roots of black metal, but Wolves completely reinvent the genre by pushing it in unlikely directions that should bend the ear of most post-rock fans. This should prove to be one of the most important metal records released this year. 9/10 Trial Track: “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog” (Johnson Cummins)
 Swan Lake
Enemy Mine (Jagjaguwar)
“Enemies because they were taught to be. Allies because they had to be. Brothers because they dared to be.” That’s the tagline for an ’80s sci-fi film, namesake of the second album by Dan Bejar (Destroyer), Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade) and Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes). It’s another great sum of great parts, a wealth of penetrating melodies and fantastic poetry, with prettier arrangements than those of Beast Moans. Yet for all its conventional beauty, the record’s guitar squalls (on Krug’s “Settle on Your Skin”), trying vocal howls (on Mercer’s “Warlock Psychologist”) and eccentric lyrics (on Bejar’s “Heartswarm”: “Is it truly Paris in springtime for that piece of shit?”) keep predictability at bay. 8/10 Trial Track: “Spanish Gold 2044” (Lorraine Carpenter)
 Julie Doiron
I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day (Endearing)
Doiron goes electric! The latest record by the Montreal-based singer-songwriter is her most lyrically powerful and positive, and sonically dense and dynamic, to date. Put it down to recent reunion gigs with her old band—’90s indie rock gods Eric’s Trip, whose frontman Rick White produced this album as well its predecessor, the Polaris Prize-nominated Lost Wisdom—and an upturn in Doiron’s personal life, according to her bio, and her lyrics. Somewhere between the fuzzy electricity and introspective acoustica of old, Doiron has found her happy place, and fans of her whole body of work will too. 8/10 Trial Track: “Consolation Prize” (Lorraine Carpenter) With $100 at Il Motore, Sat., March 28, 8:30 p.m., $15
Company of Thieves
Ordinary Riches (Wind Up/Warner)
With an album title inspired by and a single named after Irish author and 19th-century gadfly Oscar Wilde, one would expect this Chicago trio’s debut to exhibit some sense of decadence or adventurism, or at least erudite wit. Instead, frontwoman Genevieve Schatz’s reservedly self-conscious lyrics and delivery would have drawn the ire of the silver-tongued writer. Ordinary Riches is precisely that—well-organized studio tricks such as handclaps and harmonicas, but no sense of aspiration beyond becoming the next Gin Blossoms. We’ve heard plenty of vocal-driven pop rock, and this first effort fails at carefully packaging a laid-back sound. 4/10 Trial Track: “Even in the Dark” (Erik Leijon)
 Mono
Hymn to the Immortal Wind
(Temporary Residence)
Over their 10-year career, these Japanese post-rock instrumentalists have become the kings of the quiet-loud-louder format, but on this new one, they completely leave contemporaries like Explosions in the Sky in the dust. Mono’s epic soundtracks actually ascend to new heights, with more sonic bombast and clever arrangements, and their guest string section (actually a 28-piece chamber orchestra this time around) finally taking its rightful spot in Steve Albini’s mix. Rock just doesn’t get more majestic than this. 9/10 Trial Track: “Everlasting Light” (Johnson Cummins)
 The Juan MacLean
The Future Will Come (DFA)
Inevitably a slight disappointment to those seeking as immersive and conceptual an outing as MacLean’s acid-techno debut, Less Than Human, his second full-length still packs worthwhile themes and well-constructed tracks. As per MacLean’s own admission, it’s a cross between late-’70s Human League and disco with some relationship drama on top. But the duets aren’t simply odes to semi-factual, composite lovers or rehashes of classic love themes. This is the story of MacLean and Nancy Whang’s romance, sung at each other and exposing all the tension of a real couple, put to pared-down new wave on three to four audio tracks at a time. 8/10 Trial Track: “One Day” (Jack Oatmon)
 Röyksopp
Junior (Wall of Sound/EMI)
2001’s Melody A.M. announced Bergen, Norway’s Torbjørn Brundtland and Svein Berge as electronic pop craftsmen of exceptional potential. If one hoped that 2005’s The Understanding was just a misunderstanding, however, the duo’s latest seems to confirm that their best is long behind them. Perfunctory vocal contributions from assorted Scandinavian songbirds, Robyn and Lykke Li among them, help not at all. The accordingly buoyant opener “Happy Up There” is pleasant if immediately forgettable, “The Girl and the Robot” is lowly Kylie-styling, and things just get more vague and irrelevant from there. Maybe Senior, the downer sibling disc arriving in a half-year’s time, will ironically pick things up. 4/10 Trial Track: “The Girl and the Robot” (Rupert Bottenberg)
MSTRKRFT
Fist of God (Last Gang/Universal)
Obnoxious and loud, Justice… sorry, MSTRKRFT digitize their dicks and flap them about your ears for an entire album. Rather than let guests N.O.R.E., Isis of Thunderhiest, Ghostface Killa and John Legend lead the journey, the more or less similar synth sounds, thick and rude, throughout Fist of God demand all the attention. Sure, it’s danceable and will kick in a club, but if you’re not throwing a party full of naked, wasted kids, it begins to grate. In order for MSTRKRFT to take it to the next level, they need to stop sticking to what they think works, because after a listen or two, it doesn’t. 6.5/10 Trial Track: “1000 Cigarettes” (Lateef Martin)
3OH!3
Want (Photo Finish/Warner)
Last year, rapper Wale delivered a great verse about white rap fans becoming enamoured of using black slang to the extent where they couldn’t differentiate joking around from overt racism. This Boulder, Colorado electro-rap duo with punk-pop overtones enjoys yukking it up like a couple of Lil Jons, shouting out rap slogans (minus the epithets) and making sexist comments. Not only is it a poor approximation of the real thing, the parody is done with such ignorant maliciousness that one can actually picture a couple of skinny Midwesterners fist-bumping each other, muttering Boondocks quotes under their OxyContin-reeking breaths. 0/10 Trial Track: None (Erik Leijon)
MF Doom
Born Like This (Lex)
Up until a few weeks ago, this album was a complete source of utter confusion—from the artwork to the official title—but it’s finally out and doesn’t disappoint. Every Doom trademark is here, including dark, ominous beats, non-linear rhyme patterns and random song titles. Fans will be hyped to hear a Raekwon verse on “Yessir!” and a Ghostface cameo as Tony Starks on “Angelz,” a very cinematic violin-and-horn beat you might have already heard before. Other than that, it’s light on guest appearances, quite short, consistent and funny as usual. 8/10 Trial Track: “Microwave Mayo” (Morgan Steiker)
 Brother Ali
The Truth Is Here EP (Rhymesayers)
Brother Ali is one of the greatest MCs you will never see on MTV. Not for any other reason than the fact that he’s a pure product of the underground, a truth-teller providing nothing but humility. The intro track of this EP, “Real as Can Be,” with its hypnotic sax, is a perfect foundation for Ali’s flow and voice, while the jazzy bassline and piano loop of “Good Lord” has the Minneapolis MC asking, “How you goin’ to hate me for being what God made me?” “The Believers,” which features labelmate Slug, is also a highlight of the album and a complete lyrical slaughter. One of the best albums of ’09 so far. 8/10 Trial Track: “The Believers” (Morgan Steiker)
The Jacksons
Destiny (Epic Legacy/Sony BMG)
Triumph (Epic Legacy/Sony BMG)
Michael’s back in the news because of his 50 sold-out dates at London’s Wembley stadium, so it’s good timing for these two seminal Jacksons albums to be reissued. Destiny’s massive dancefloor hits “Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)” and “Blame It on the Boogie,” both included in original and remix versions here, overshadow the fact that this 1978 release was full of low-key, thoughtful gems like “Bless His Soul” and the title track. Meanwhile, 1980’s Triumph boasts high-energy tunes like “Lovely One,” “Walk Right Now” (which also gets the remix treatment) and the unsettled “This Place Hotel,” which foreshadowed Michael’s own musical paranoia on later hits like “Billie Jean” and “Leave Me Alone.” A good reminder that before the tabloid fodder, there was just great music. Both 9/10 Trial Tracks: Destiny “That’s What You Get (For Being Polite),” Triumph “Walk Right Now (John Luongo Disco Mix)” (Gerard Dee)
Lucky Thompson
New York City, 1964–65 (Uptown)
Frank Wess Nonet
Once Is Not Enough (Labeth)
Two superior players—Thompson on tenor and soprano saxes, Wess on tenor and flute. The former covers two CDs of live material from NYC, one an octet featuring people like Dave Burns, Cecil Payne and Hank Jones, the other (from the Half Note) with pianist Paul Neves, drummer Oliver Jackson and the unheralded bassist George Tucker. The Wess disc is a 2008 session that includes Terell Stafford, Steve Turre, Ted Nash, Michael Weiss and Peter Washington on nine tracks, mostly by the leader. Both releases are well worth your attention. Both 9.5/10 Trial Tracks: Thompson “Lady Bird,” Wess “Lush Life” (Len Dobbin)
Mini CD Reviews
Monica Zetterlund Swedish Sensation (EL) The late Swedish jazz singer is heard on 21 tracks from 1958, her earliest recordings, including a pair with a quintet led by Donald Byrd. Classy! 9 (LD)
My Dying Bride For Lies I Sire (Peaceville) Purely devastating doom and gloom. These U.K. sourpusses are unbeatable. 9 (JC)
Howie Beck How to Fall Down in Public (13 Clouds/Fontana North) Pretty pop with folk, chamber and piano man inflections, feat. Gonzales, Feist, Sarah Harmer. 8 (LC) With Angela Desveaux at Il Motore, Fri., March 27, 8:30 p.m., $12
The Occidental Brothers Dance Band International Odo Sanbra (independent) Expect to hear this U.S./Ghana quintet’s ebullient highlife cover of New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle” a fair bit this spring. 7.5 (RB)
Anne-Julie Caron La Rencontre (Atma Classique) The bookends, Julie Spencer’s delicious “White Squirrel” and some Piazzolla guitar tangos transposed, are highlights of Caron’s sparkling, worldly marimba workout. Metheny’s maudlin “Letters From Home” should have remained unsent, however. 7 (RB)
The Script self-titled (Epic/Sony) With a name like the Script, were you seriously expecting an original take on British R&B pop? 2 (EL)
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