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 Iggy Pop
Préliminaires (Astralwerks/EMI)
After playing kingmaker with his cameos for years now, the iconic proto-punk drops a full album and it’s his best in perhaps decades. Riffing on French novelist Michel Houellebecq’s The Possibility of an Island, Iggy channels Serge Gainsbourg’s smoky lounging en français, goes to the dogs on the desolate spoken-worder “A Machine for Loving,” toys with battered blues and Big Easy boogie, and egad, proves himself a surprisingly supple crooner more than once. 9/10 Trial Track: “Les Feuilles Mortes” (Rupert Bottenberg)
 Tori Amos
Abnormally Attracted to Sin (Epic/Sony BMG)
Dynamic and lush, Amos’s 10th album is a departure from the rock-heavy American Doll Posse, ranging from darker pieces (“Give”) to lurching rockers like “Police Me”—where Tori seems to channel Kate Bush—to voice and piano on “Mary Jane” and upbeat summer fare on “Not Dying Today.” One of the few artists that gets better with time, Amos draws in pieces of all her past forays, creating a varied yet cohesive album here. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Abnormally Attracted to Sin” (Lateef Martin)
 St. Vincent
Actor (4AD/Select)
An edgy Snow White remake could use this album as its soundtrack. With lullaby vocals, light and dark ambience, harsh noise, beats and orchestral flourishes, there’d be snatches of music suiting the Prince, the Queen, all seven dwarves and Snow White herself. Annie Clark and co-producer John Congleton (Modest Mouse, Polyphonic Spree) assemble these disparate elements smoothly, making it sound easy and artful, with superior songwriting to boot. 9/10 Trial Track: “The Strangers” (Lorraine Carpenter)
Feathership
self-titled (Maisonette/Select)
After releasing a solo album as Jay Pea in ’06, Jean-Philippe Sauvé enlisted Gregory Leclair-Paquet (Plaza Musique, ex-Stills) and three members of francophone act l’Indice, including frontman Vincent Blain as producer. The result is six solid, mid-paced indie rock songs with charming vocals, shimmering synths, smooth horns and piano, and echoes of folk in the vocal melodies and acoustic guitars. 8/10 Trial Track: “Sorrow Stones” (Lorraine Carpenter)
The Dreadnoughts
Victory Square (Stomp/Warner)
Spirit of the West aside, Vancouver is an odd home for a rambunctious band of seafaring Celtic punk misfits, yet the donnybrooking and broken bottles are sure to follow in the wake of the Dreadnoughts’ beer-soaked and bloodstained path of destruction. The Dreadnoughts have the kind of boundless energy one would expect, and respectfully adhere to Canadian shanty mystique. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Grace O’Malley” (Erik Leijon) At l’Absynthe tonight, Thurs. May 28, 8 p.m.
 White Rabbits
It’s Frightening (TBD/Red)
There are a few occasions on It’s Frightening where this quirky, Brooklyn-based indie rock sextet sound more inspired than say, your average quirky Brooklyn-based indie rockers. Oddly enough, these moments, when their ingenuity outpaces their self-awareness, tend to be when the direct rhythm section and grating vocals cede to exploratory percussion and fractured pacing. The jazzy passages were the most appealing. 6.5/10 Trial Track: “They Done Wrong/We Done Wrong” (Erik Leijon)
 Flipper
Love (MVD Audio)
With the current crop of kids still doing the wang-dang-doodle over the noisier areas of punk, the timing is perfect for these forefathers of noisy dirge to return. Hosting all the living original members, with Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic replacing the late Will Shatter, nothing much has changed since they first set out to infuriate audiences. 8/10 Trial Track: “Old Graves” (Johnson Cummins)
 Crocodiles
Summer of Hate (Fat Possum)
This electro-pop duo bring up the usual ’80s suspects—the Jesus and Mary Chain, New Order etc.—as a cheap drum machine leads the charge in the mix. Hardly offensive, but the mediocrity and predictability gets to be a bit much. Again, not deplorably bad but these ’80s revivalists are really getting dried up right now. 6.5/10 Trial Track: “Refuse Angels” (Johnson Cummins)
Diamond Watch Wrists
Ice Capped at Both Ends (Warp)
With this, the latest of Guillermo Scott Herren’s numerous permutations since he singlehandedly set the stage for the recent glitch-hop boom as Prefuse 73 with 2003’s One Word Extinguisher, scattershot IDM percussion is replaced by Zach Hill’s intuitive stomping clatter while the relaxed synth accompaniment is met with haunting, quasi-ecclesiastical choruses, a minor recurring theme in his work now fully realized. 6/10 Trial Track: “Dot Org Green Consumer” (Jack Oatmon)
 Method Man & Redman
Blackout! 2 (Def Jam/Universal)
This album is phenomenal news for any self-respecting hip hop head and, thankfully, it rarely disappoints. The rap game’s Cheech & Chong are back at it after 10 years, bringing some deeply needed humour to the current landscape. This sequel is a lot more colourful than the original Blackout! but tracks like “Four Minutes to Lockdown” with Rae and Ghost, and “Dangerous MCees” still taste just like the original potion. 8/10 Trial Track: “Dis Iz 4 All My Smokers” (Morgan Steiker)
 Ben Harper and Relentless7
White Lies for Dark Times (Virgin/EMI)
Forming Relentless7 last year has given Harper a rollicking rock podium to shout the gospel from. Empowering and fun all at once, Harper slides all over the map. “Up to You Now” digs deep into the alt-rock side of things, ”Why Must You Always Dress in Black” is a romping party track while “Keep It Together (So I Can Fall Apart)” is a heartfelt plea for support. A vibrant and kinetic album on which Harper and co. bring rock and blues together with class and style. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Number With No Name” (Lateef Martin)
 Ciara
Fantasy Ride (Jive/Sony BMG)
On her latest, Ciara delivers a guest-laden set that puts emphasis on the R&B/dance style she’s best known for. But it’s an uneven effort that doesn’t deliver on the sexy groove introduced by lead single “Love Sex Magic.” Guests like Ludacris (“High Price”) and Chris Brown (“Turntables”) try to make the ride more enjoyable, but ultimately the fantasy is never fulfilled. 7/10 Trial Track: “Echo” (Gerard Dee)
Chip White
More Dedications (Dark Colors)
This is volume two in a series of dedications by the drummer leader, who composed and arranged all the material on CD one and wrote the poetry on CD two. He’s assisted by an array of fine musicians including Peter Washington, Mulgrew Miller, Steve Nelson and Wycliffe Gordon. Milt Jackson, Miles, Clifford Brown, Booker Little and Eric Dolphy are among those saluted. 9.5/10 Trial Track: “Booker’s Little Leaps” (Len Dobbin)
Mini CD Reviews
Bobby Sanabria Kenya Revisited Live!!! (Jazzheads) Great outing with the Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra, led by Sanabria and featuring guest Candido. 9 (LD)
Dark Castle Spirited Migration (At a Loss) Devastating doom with a penchant for technical twists and turns—and we wouldn’t expect any less from a band called Dark Castle. 8 (JC)
Jason Lytle Yours Truly, the Commuter (Anti) Former Grandaddy frontman turns in a pack of pretty ballads for the lovelorn. 7 (LC)
Subb To This Beat (Stomp/Warner) These veteran local punkers have penned a fun, albeit stilted and awkward ode to our fair city, “I (Heart) MTL,” featuring fellow local Jah Cutta. 5 (EL)
Bif Naked The Promise (HRM/Fontana North) Canada’s most recognizable punk personality now has her audition tape for season three of Rock Star: Supernova. 3 (EL)
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