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 Archivist
Learning to Live on Poison (independent)
After heartbreak came hibernation, and local musician Ben McCarthy learned to live on songwriting, eventually emerging to partner up with half of Pony Up and four other musicians on keys, strings, drums and effervescent harmonies. His debut record is earnest, artful and impressive, from liturgical a cappella to pretty pop to suave rock to a blasé poetry-reading. Here’s to Ben. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Jagwagger” (Lorraine Carpenter) With Pony Up, Scapegoat Sailboat at Il Motore tonight, June 25, 9 p.m., $12
 The Sounds
Crossing the Rubicon (Arnioki/Original Signal/Universal)
Sweden’s the Sounds may have traded major label rule for relative autonomy, but the switch hasn’t altered the massive, and massively ’80s, girth of the tunes. The blanket synths, the nervous guitars, the cliff’s-edge choruses, the awkward “Rapture”-esque rap, it’s all there. Hackneyed but never hollow, this record’s sheer energy and melodic might somehow stymies the gag reflex. 7/10 Trial Track: “Midnight Sun” (Lorraine Carpenter)
 Voivod
Infini (Sonic Unyon)
Before guitarist Denis “Piggy” D’Amour left this planet for a better one, he recorded this final record on his laptop, which is incredible in itself, but these are hardly cutting-room scraps. Opener “God Phones” perfectly merges Nirvana sludge with Motörhead muscle, and throughout, Piggy proves he was one of the most innovative guitarists the metal world has ever seen. While envelopes are still pushed here, these space-metallers never lose the plot. A truly bittersweet listen. 8/10 Trial Track: “Destroy After Reading” (Johnson Cummins)
 Minsk
With Echoes in the Movement of Stone (Relapse)
With prog metal really making its mark thanks to Mastodon’s success, Minsk remain the elder statesmen of the overcrowded genre. Minsk’s complexity, turn-on-a-dime time signatures, expert use of dynamics and death-defying arrangements are still their calling cards, but this could also be their most dazzling moment. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Consumed by Horizons of Fire” (Johnson Cummins)
 Deathstars
Night Electric Night (Nuclear Blast)
Combining darkness and tongue-in-cheek humour, Deathstars remind the goths that the occasional smile will not crack your make-up. They fill their album with striking synths, female back-up vocals, a whole lot of drama and lyrics like “Say what you want me to do/And I will do it for you/Say who you want me to do/and I will do her too.” These Swedish hedonists will clearly hit it off with teenage darklings. 8/10 Trial Track: “Night Electric Night” (Lateef Martin)
 The Evaporators/Andrew W.K.
A Wild Pear EP (Mint/Outside)
The madman meets the plaid man as the ever-excessive Andrew W.K. applies his party-metal bombast to a couple of Canadian covers—Subhumans’ alternate national anthem and a Leather Uppers tune—and chats with B.C.-based media meddler and garage-rock booster Nardwuar. The Nard’s own band brings two pop-punk ditties to this seven-inch also, including a cover of ’60s Montreal act les Hou-Lops. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Don’t Sell Hot Dogs Tonight” (Rupert Bottenberg)
 Steve Bug
Collaboratory (Poker Flat)
The fourth album from Poker Flat Recordings’ Berlin boss man is not exactly a groundbreaker, but at least it seems to have lifted him out of a recent uninspired slump. As the name suggests, there are numerous cameos, accounting for the jazzy quirk and vocal variety sprinkled about the hour-long ride of deep, humming, creeping, slickly produced minimal techno, which is tailored for the ears more than the feet or booty. 6.5/10 Trial Track: “Month of Sip” (Jack Oatmon)
 DJ Quik & Kurupt
BlaQKout (Mad Science)
These two certified players of ’90s G-Funk prove that their skills are just like fine wine. Quik’s production is as skilled and versatile as any of today’s beatmakers, shown on “Hey Playa (Moroccan Blues)
” or “Ohh!,” and Kurupt’s spit-fire delivery matches the production througout the album. Proof that the West Coast is alive and well, this leaves you wanting more and more. 8/10 Trial Track: “Do You Know” (Morgan Steiker)
 Big Ali
Louder (Madison/Warner)
A portly Queens party MC/DJ so famished he’s resorted to consuming his own musical equipment, Big Ali has the perfect forceful, big-man delivery to send any ’90s dance-retread-playing, velvet-rope-blockading Friday nightlife hotspot into a tizzy. From the unoriginal catchphrases to familiar vocal samples, he’s the ideal party-starting faux-gangster for popping bottles at the world’s most hype-obsessed clubs. 5/10 Trial Track: “Make Some Noise” (Erik Leijon)
 Queen Ifrica
Montego Bay (VP)
Sure, Queen Ifrica gained fame as a deejay, but as this sophmore effort demonstrates, she’s that and more. Working with a variety of producers, the woman born Ventrice Morgan is powerfully good whether she’s singing about her man, chanting against Babylon or chatting over classic riddims. Lyrics are conscious, clever and just as consistent. Overall, this is a great collection. 9/10 Trial Track: “Keep It to Yourself” (Erin MacLeod)
 Ossie Davis
A Voice Ringing O’er the Gale! The Oratory of Frederick Douglass (Smithsonian Folkways)
Think Obama writes great speeches? Check out these dramatic sermons by eminent African-American abolitionist Frederick Douglass as interpreted by late, great actor Ossie Davis. Davis provides emotional depth to orations that focus on slavery, freedom of speech and the rights of women. A slave-turned-human-rights-orator, Douglass eloquently conveyed the hopes of a people still in bondage. 8/10 Trial Track: “If There Is No Struggle, There Is No Progress” (Gerard Dee)
 Roger Kellaway
Live at the Jazz Standard (ipo)
This is a two-CD set recorded at one of NY’s great jazz clubs. Thirteen tracks in all with the pianist joined by Stefon Harris, Russell Malone, Jay Leonhardt and cellist Borislav Strulev. Wonderful playing by all with a good dash of Ellingtonia as well as unusual items like “Tumbling Tumbleweeds” and Don Redman’s “Cherry.” Kellaway fanciers will want this one! 9.5/10 Trial Track: “Freddie Freeloader” (Len Dobbin)
Mini CD Reviews
Resonance Big Band Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson (Resonance)
Eleven tracks by this U.S. West Coast band featuring the outstanding piano of Europe’s Marian Petrescu with arrangements by Bill Cunliffe and Claus Ogerman. 9 (LD)
Fires of Rome You Kingdom You (The Hours/Fontana North) Bombastic, T-Rex-style glam rock that never loses its sense of absurdity. 8 (EL)
The Paper Chase Someday This Could All Be Yours Vol. 1 (Kill Rock Stars) Grandiose arrangements and extreme density are the tickets for this pop racket. 7.5 (JC)
Gliss Devotion Implosion (Cordless/Ryko/Frontside) Another homage to the Jesus and Mary Chain and other heavenly heaviosity. Somewhat like honey, with some vinegar in the mix. 7 (LC)
Placebo Battle for the Sun (Vagrant) I seem to remember Cillian Murphy winning that battle, minus the emo poetry, lighters-aloft choruses or laughable bleating. Sorry Brian. 4 (LC)
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