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 Major Lazer
Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do
(Mad Decent/Downtown)
Given the righteously retarded gimmick here—the fictional Major being a monster-fighting Jamaican cyborg commando—you’d expect this revisionist batch of digital dancehall and more from M.I.A.’s producers Diplo and Switch to be utterly over the top. A little restraint goes a long way, though, allowing the stark Caribbean beats, skatecore basslines, Balkan brass, delirious dub jams and gleeful foolishness (dig “Mary Jane” or “Baby” with Prince Zimboo) to breathe, bump and entertain. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Lazer Theme” feat. Future Trouble (Rupert Bottenberg)
 Eels
Hombre Lobo (Vagrant)
Subtitled “12 Songs of Desire,” the latest record by Mark Oliver Everett (aka E) tells the story of a werewolf (a grown-up Dog-faced Boy, a character from 2001’s Souljacker) seeking love, sex and blood. There’s certainly some stellar writing amid Hombre Lobo’s tender pop, cock rock and smutty soul songs, but it’s an underwhelming exercise overall. 6/10 Trial Track: “Fresh Blood” (Lorraine Carpenter)
 Dinosaur Jr.
Farm (Jagjaguwar/Sonic Unyon)
This second release since they reformed in 2006 easily stands as one of their strongest since the classics You’re Living All Over Me and Bug. J Mascis comes the closest he ever has to actually singing, with even more pop hooks sparring it out with his trademark sludge-slinging and monolithic guitar solos. Not going to get any new fans here but this should prove to be a favourite among the diehards. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Plans” (Johnson Cummins)
 Dirty
Projectors Bitte Orca (Domino)
Following up their 2007 “reimagining” of Black Flag’s Damaged, this Brooklyn sextet deliver an equally eclectic but less obscure seventh record, another treasure for the indie-lover with ADD. Disjointed guitars, gritty drums, salacious beats, soft-rock synths, freeform time signatures, refined strings, unpasteurized crooning, dreamy cooing and busy chanting are the tools employed here, to effects both fab and frustrating. 8/10 Trial Track: “Useful Chamber” (Lorraine Carpenter) With Skeletons at Théâtre Plaza, Fri., June 25, 9 p.m., $15
 Hayden
The Place Where We Lived (Hardwood/Universal)
A reflective folk songwriter like Hayden isn’t an easy artist to parachute into, considering the personal nature of his lyrics. His hyped-up early career as the voice of the dejected flannel army now in the past, he’s grown into a bandleader with the musk of too many Trans-Canada Highway drives under his belt. It’s still music for the brokenhearted, but for maturing hearts. 6.5/10 Trial Track: “Let’s Break Up” (Erik Leijon)
 Precious Fathers
Alluvial Fan (White Whale)
A Vancouver instrumental quartet minus the pomp and anthemic grandeur unavoidable with most vocal-deprived bands. Uncomfortably minimal and led with terrific guitar interplay. Even at its most explosive, Alluvial Fan rarely arrives at anything of epic stature, yet the quiet, nuanced build-ups make for good headphone listening as one experiences both guitarists coalescing with dead space. 7/10 Trial Track: “Alluvial Fan = Bone” (Erik Leijon)
 Sir Richard Bishop
The Freak of Araby (Drag City)
This ex-Sun City Girl absolutely stuns on his sixth solo release. Plunging headlong into Arabic film music, he splits his writing with traditional Arabic songs. Bishop hardly has anything to prove as a guitarist but it’s his choice of minimal musical backing that really pushes his lyrical guitar-playing here, with Bishop able to wring an amazing vocal quality out of his neck. 8/10 Trial Track: “Solensara” (Johnson Cummins) With Oxacan, Oxen Talk at Lab Synthèse, Sat., June 20, 9:30 p.m., $12
 The Field
Yesterday and Today (Anti-/Kompakt)
Conspicuously absent from the title: any mention of tomorrow. Appropriate, given that the latest from Axel “the Field” Willner isn’t one with much of a future. Given Willner’s pedigree—touring with !!!, remixing Thom Yorke and Battles (whose drummer John Stanier adds little to the first track here)—you’d hope for more than featureless, anachronistic chill-out tracks that take forever to get not much of anywhere. Oh so pretty—and vacant. 3/10 Trial Track: “Leave It” (Rupert Bottenberg) With the Juan MacLean, Jordan Dare at SAT, Fri., June 19, 9 p.m., $18.50
 Tim Exile
Listening Tree (Warp)
This stylistically chameleonic Brit’s third full length is a gaudy collage of mismatched sounds jammed together via countless software synths. At points, it hints at past experimentation with drum & bass and IDM, but it also spans chaotic, glitchy synthpop, heavily distorted and whimsical noise and other such unlikely bedfellows, all accompanied by Exile’s deep, deadpan, Depeche Mode-ish droning voice. Directionless and unpleasant. 4/10 Trial Track: “Pay Tomorrow” (Jack Oatmon)
 Black
Eyed Peas
The E.N.D. (Interscope)
Ever since the Cali trio hired the bimbo and completely gave up their underground rap cred for their “Let’s Get Retarded” musical manifesto, it’s been a great painting by Garbagio. Nonetheless, their raw pop power is notably impressive on the number-one hit “Boom Boom Pow,” as well as “Ring-a-Ling” and “Rock That Body,” but the borrowed electro party-record vibe is still pure cheese. 4/10 Trial Track: “Boom Boom Pow” (Morgan Steiker) With Simple Plan, Hedley etc. at Virgin Festival 09 at Parc Jean-Drapeau, Fri., June 19, 1 p.m., $75
 Leela James
Let’s Do It Again (Shanachie)
James’s stunning 2005 debut, A Change Is Gonna Come, revealed a powerful singer with a penchant for heady music delivered with raw emotion. Her debut included a couple of covers, while her sophomore effort is entirely devoted to them. Although new music would have been preferable, James delivers classics like “Clean Up Woman” with enough fire to do the originals proud. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “I’d Rather Be With You” (Gerard Dee)
 Frank van Bommel Quartet
A Crutch for the Crab (BVHaast)
A doozy of a CD by this pianist’s quartet with reedman Tobias Delius. As the title implies, this is a tribute to the unsung piano and composing genius of Dick Twardzik. The group plays his sole five recorded compositions, including “The Fable of Mabel” and “The Girl From Greenland,” plus seven wonderful compositions by the leader, another gem from Holland. 10/10 Trial Track: “Albuquerque Social Swim” (Len Dobbin)
Mini CD Reviews
Freddie Hubbard Without a Song (Blue Note/EMI) The late trumpeter at the peak of his powers in this newly released 1969 quartet session, with Roland Hanna, Ron Carter and Louis Hayes. 9.5 (LD)
Astra The Weirding (Rise Above) Heavy psych- and prog-heads, rejoice! This will liquefy you. 8.5 (JC)
Sports The Band (independent) Their moniker is a Huey Lewis album, their record is Dylan’s back-up, their portrait is a photo of Hole, but this Toronto band’s pop prowess is all theirs. 8 (LC)
Justin Hines Chasing Silver (Orange Lounge/Universal) The wheels of soft, sweet singer-songwriter types keep on turning. A must for those whose personal thoughts have become politically correct. 5.5 (EL)
Brave Radar A Building (Fixture) If you find willful ineptitude sexy, the third album by these born-again amateurs will surely stoke your heat. 4 (LC) CD launch with Cresting, Beaver, Elenora Thompson at Playhouse, Fri., June 19, 9 p.m., $6
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