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 Oneida
Rated O (Jagjaguwar)
This is guaranteed to reduce your grey matter to a lumpy guacamole! This second installment in their three-part “Thank Your Parents” series actually scales to ambitious new heights over a three-disc set (yes!). Further foraging into electronic blips and bleeps, these Brooklynites have created a true psychedelic masterpiece that has as much to do with Lee Scratch Perry as it does early Can and Silver Apples—and that’s only barely scratching the surface. Headphone listening is mandatory here for a shear pummelling of your senses. 9/10 Trial Track: “10:30 at the Oasis” (Johnson Cummins)
 The Mars Volta
Octahedron (Mercury/Warner)
The Mars Volta get a little mellower—consider this fifth album an unplugged acoustic record mutated by electricity. Much like everything they’ve done, it’s unconventional in its approach, this time into quieter forays incorporating programmed beats and subtle song intros fit for baby monsters freaked out by daylight. This deep into their career, the Mars Volta are still experimental and jammy but have embraced their ability to write catchy hooks that are arguably indie-film-ready. 8/10 Trial Track: “Since We’ve Been Wrong” (Lateef Martin)
Barnburner
Bangers (New Romance for Kids)
With the mind-numbing title to this debut and songs like “Beer Today, Bong Tomorrow,” “Wizard Island” and “Brohemoth,” you would figure these local heshers would have their tongues firmly placed in cheeks, but with double-barrelled riffs this blazing, these “brahs” are hardly just in it for the yuks. Bang the head that doesn’t beer-bong. 7/10 Trial Track: “Beer Today, Bong Tomorrow” (Johnson Cummins)
Elvis Costello
Secret, Profane & Sugarcane (Hear Music)
Oh Elvis, where art thou? Costello has worn many spectacles in his long and varied career, although his aim appears to be less than true in this foray into stripped-down Nashville country. Past collaborator T-Bone Burnett is at the helm of this gimmicky serving of Americana twang, right down to the thematically appropriate lovesick lyrics and overly pretty cotton-pickin’ instrumentation. 5.5/10 Trial Track: “Hidden Shame” (Erik Leijon)
 Timber Timbre
self-titled (Arts & Crafts)
Toronto’s Taylor Kirk is Canada’s M. Ward, a singer-songwriter who makes minimal enchantment of mixed roots music, topped by similarly soft yet sturdy vocals, with shadows casting darker overtones. On his third album, Kirk pairs his voice with spare arrangements of acoustic guitar, fiddle, keys and percussion, woven through songs that waft gently, occasionally creeping through noir soundscapes and narratives to match. 8/10 Trial Track: “Magic Arrow” (Lorraine Carpenter)
Cheval Sombre
self-titled
(Double Feature/Redeye)
Brooklyn’s Christopher Porpora debuts with lovely, lazy folk echoing the hallucinogenic shimmer of the early ’90s, with assistance from a pair of that era’s key players: production by Sonic Boom (ex-Spacemen 3) and guest guitar and bass by Dean Wareham (ex-Luna) and his latter-day partner Britta Phillips, who are also Double Feature’s label heads. Great summer psychedelia. 8/10 Trial Track: “Little Bit of Heaven” (Lorraine Carpenter) With Sharcüt at Divan Orange, Tues., July 7, 10 p.m., $7
 Nutsak
Failed Musician
(Signed by Force)
Matters are indeed totally scrotal across this ballsy batch of jittery jazz-punk care of local multitaskers Sam Shalabi, Chris Burns, Howard Chackowicz and André Asselin. Opening on “Baby Drools Diamonds,” a shakedown on Sesame Street, Failed Musician then coughs up some surly blues, dyslexic downers, cracked-out klezmer (“Cossak”) and numerous hair-raising spasm jams. Nutsak wail, flail and almost derail—but don’t fail. 8/10 Trial Track: “Balzac” (Rupert Bottenberg) CD launch with Jérémi Mourand and DJ Sunny at Divan Orange tonight, Thurs., July 2, 10 p.m., $7
 Various
Fuse Presents Anthony Rother (Fuse)
Kicking off with a stomping but played-out Boys Noize remix of John Starlight, then dipping right into a nondescript, minimal tech yawner by Studio 1, Datapunk label boss Rother establishes early that his mixing is unfortunately no match for his considerable production skills. The mix livens up later on as Fetish & Me’s classic electro “Discotecktonic” gets a deep, dubby Uktu Dalmaz remix. Trial Track: “Discotecktonic” 6.5/10 (Jack Oatmon)
 DJ Drama
Gangsta Grillz: The Album Vol. 2 (Grand Hustle/Atlantic/Warner)
Known primarily for his lauded Lil Wayne compilation, Dedication 2, it’s not surprising the Atlanta DJ’s own disc is pretty uninspired and primarily dependent on a who’s-who of cameos to give these flaccid club cuts some heart and soul. The likes of Akon, Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, Too Short and Nas are not up to the challenge, choosing to lend their names rather than their abilities. 4.5/10 Trial Track: “Ridiculous” (Erik Leijon)
Nickodemus
Sun People (ESL/Select)
Brasher and brighter than most of the anaemic fare on Thievery Corp.’s label, the latest from Brooklyn DJ Nickodemus (with a hand from Quantic and copious guests) displays how an internationalist beat batch should be executed. Jumping from Afro-beat to salsa to Balkan bump to hash-stained Turkish funk, Nickodemus prioritizes melody, character and clarity over any anthropological protocol. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “2 Sips & Magic” feat. the New York Gypsy Allstars (Rupert Bottenberg)
 Hermas Zopoula
Espoir (Asthmatic Kitty)
Straight out of Burkina Faso comes Hermas Zopoula, whose soft, warm voice is the reason to listen to this album. Though some might find the synthesized sounds on disc one (an album initially released in Zopoula’s homeland) of this two-disc set a little lacking in atmosphere, the accompanying set of recordings made outdoors, where birds sing along, more than make up for it. 8/10 Trial track: “Alpha et Omega” (Erin MacLeod)
 Seal
Soul Live (Warner)
Seal’s 2008 set, Soul, paid tribute to R&B classics like “A Change Is Gonna Come” and “Stand by Me.” He takes his love of timeless soul to the stage here, revisiting songs like “People Get Ready,” while throwing in a couple of Seal standards like “Crazy” for good measure. The bonus DVD adds visuals to a couple of the tracks. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “I’ve Been Loving You for Too Long” (Gerard Dee)
 Seamus Blake
Live in Italy (Jazz Eyes)
This is a two-CD set recorded by one of best of the younger tenor players around. Blake, born in England and brought up in B.C., has able assistants here in pianist David Kikowski, bassist Danton Boller and drummer Rodney Green. Nine long tracks including a look at Debussy’s only string quartet, the standard “Darn That Dream,” Scofield’s “Dance Me Home” and Duke Ellington’s great “The Feeling of Jazz.” 9/10 Trial Track: “The Feeling of Jazz” (Len Dobbin)
Mini CD Reviews
Laurence Hobgood When the Heart Dances (Naim) Kurt Elling’s musical director and pianist is showcased here with bassist Charlie Haden. Elling guests as well. 9 (LD)
Suffocation Blood Oath (Nuclear Blast) These true masters of death metal still have a few new tricks up their sleeves. 7.5 (JC)
Pete Yorn Back and Fourth (Columbia/Sony BMG) A landlocked Jack Johnson: dreary, facile, acoustic-guitar-strumming singer-songwriter coma-pop. 2 (EL)
Escala self-titled (Simco/Sony BMG) TV talent-show bums add pointless electronic noises to popera. Il Divo without the singing, basically. 0 (EL)
Stuart Murdoch God Help the Girl (Matador/Select) A story of a girl’s breakdown and recovery set to classy classic pop by Stuart Murdoch (Belle and Sebastian), who cameos vocally alongside Neil Hannon (the Divine Comedy) and Asya (Smoosh), while relative unknown Catherine Ireton sings lead. 7 (LC)
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