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 Yo La Tengo
Popular Songs (Matador/Select)
The 12th album by Hoboken’s indie elders shimmers, drones, bops and sways, evoking the pale pop, garage rock, Motown and hallucinogens of the ’60s (and fuzzy fun of the ’90s), with lush strings care of jazz man Richard Evans. The record ends with a pair of underwhelming meditative epics, but it’s an inviting destination nonetheless, following a fulfilling ride. 8/10 Trial Track: “Here to Fall” (Lorraine Carpenter) With Horse’s Ha at Club Soda, Fri., Oct. 2, 8 p.m., $25, all ages
 Dragonette
Fixin to Thrill (Universal)
The first date with the Toronto electropoppers was playful, sexy and disarming. So after a torrid opening night, what to do for an encore? You sleep it off and go even harder the second time. Musically more assertive and varied, rhythmically more urgent, and frontwoman Martina Sorbara (pictured in all her angular Grace Jones glory) is even less interested in your immature coyness. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Liar” (Erik Leijon) With Ruby Jean & the Thoughtful Bees, Diamond Rings at Cabaret Juste pour rire, Sat., Oct. 3, 8 p.m., $17
Carolyn Mark and NQ Arbuckle
Let’s Just Stay Here (Mint/Outside)
Toronto’s Neville Quinlan (aka NQ Arbuckle) and Victoria’s Carolyn Mark join forces on this solid indie country record (out Oct. 13), assisted by the likes of Corb Lund and Jenny Whiteley. On six songs by Mark, three by Arbuckle and three obscure covers, the pair trades lead and duets, revels in dark humour and packs in more Can-con and booze than a Molson ad campaign. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Canada Day Off/Toronto” (Lorraine Carpenter) With Loudon Wainwright III, Mike O’Brien at the Ukrainian Federation tonight, Thurs., Oct. 1, 8 p.m., $35
Subarachnoid Space
Eight Bells (Crucial Blast)
After a four-year absence, this Portland, OR prog/psych collective are back to claim the crown that is rightfully theirs. Their last effort, 2005’s The Red Veil, was a stunner to say the least, but the band have only further stretched out with krautrock oscillations, metal ferocity and meandering sections that keep their musical destinations obscured every step of the way. Fans of Can and Acid Mother’s Temple, take note! 8/10 Trial Track: “Lilith” (Johnson Cummins)
 Times New Viking
Born Again Revisited (Matador/Select)
Now that last year’s lo-fi mavericks are settling into more hi-fidelity confines, Times New Viking keep it real here but their murkiness, hiss and squelch is starting to get tired. This is not to say that Times New Viking don’t write classic power pop and aren’t a great band but their overuse of a self-deprecating pose and superfluous noise stops a lot of these ditties in their tracks—but greatness could still be a record away. 7/10 Trial Track: “Martin Luther King Day” (Johnson Cummins)
Alice in Chains
Black Gives Way to Blue (Virgin/EMI)
Since ’87, Alice in Chains has built a rep on eerie rock with lyrics about addiction, loss, anger and violence. When singer Layne Staley died in 2002, so did the band. Three years later, guitarist/songwriter Jerry Cantrell recruited William DuVall as the new vocalist. Alice in Chains is creepy again, but only in that Duval sounds a lot like Staley. Musically, however, Black… doesn’t have the same bite, just the same sound—save for “A Looking in View.” 7.5/10 Trial Track: “A Looking In View” (Lateef Martin)
 KRS-One & Buckshot
Survival Skills (Duck Down)
The Duck Down imprint comes through yet again with another record for the last thread of true hip hop fans. This collab album between the voice of the Bronx’s BDP and Brooklyn’s BCC general may sound a bit preachy at first, on “Survival Skills” or “Robot,” but when the rhymes set in, tracks like “Oh Really” and “Runnin Away” make you realize why these guys will always be considered legends. 8/10 Trial Track: “Oh Really” (Morgan Steiker)
Something Good
Just Add Water (independent)
Halifax ambassadors Markit and Boy-Ill join forces with DJ Y-Rush, producer Focus Aside, keyboardist/guitarist Alex Meade and bassist Oliver Cluett to put together a heartfelt, uplifting hip hop record that offers exactly what their namesake is. In contrast with the comforting piano loop of “Amazement,” the sinister Golden Era texture of “True Fist,” scratch chorus included, proves that this group can go left or right and come back with ease. 8/10 Trial Track: “Define Rap Quotable” feat. Ghettosocks (Morgan Steiker)
 Kids On TV
Shapeshifting Mutants (Blocks)
“Still on About Keith Cole” is a kitschy, faggy, chaotic and idiotic morsel of musical madness manifested in the form of grating beats, hooting software synth lines and glitched blathering. “Pioneers Over C” is Cure-esque pop, built from jangling guitars and vocals that are equally catchy and melancholy. The gap is spanned by a series of surprisingly competent pop experimentations. 8/10 Trial Track: “In Every Dreamhome, A Heartache” (Jack Oatmon) With Animal Monster, Katie Stelmanis and more at Casa del Popolo tonight, Thurs., Oct. 1, 8:30 p.m.
Tiësto
Kaleidoscope (Musical Freedom)
With masterfully executed examples of every cheap gimmick in the Euro instant-dance-hit canon, combined with cameos from Tegan & Sara, Emily Haines, Kele Okereke, Nelly Furtado and many more, this is about as calculated and radio-ready as an album can get. Tiësto probably has former CIA psychologists helping him concoct the most irresistible, inoffensive, mind-numbing tracks possible. 6.5/10 Trial Track: “You Are My Diamond” (Jack Oatmon) At Bell Centre, Fri., Oct. 2, 8 p.m., $49.50–$110, all ages
Mayer Hawthorne
A Strange Arrangement (Stones Throw)
The debut by DJ/producer Hawthorne, aka Andrew Cohen, is so true to the ’60s and ’70s soul style that the songs here almost sound like remakes. It’s no coincidence, since everything from the song structure to the vocal harmonizing on tracks like “Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out” could easily have found a home on an old-school jukebox. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Your Easy Lovin’ Ain’t Pleasin’ Nothin’” (Gerard Dee)
Michel F Côté and Isaiah Ceccarelli
Vulgarités (Ambiances Magnetiques)
Vulgarités is a work of alchemy, an irreverent and mysterious record unfolding on its own terms. Côté and Ceccarelli lure us inside their creepy laboratory, stirring a potion of drums, piano, lap steel and demented trumpet infused with haunted electronic treatment and a taste of cryptic feedback. The experience moves from rambunctious to ambient, guided by a wry and vulgar sense of humour. 8/10 Trial Track: “Las du futur” (Gordon Allen) With Ensemble SuperMusique at l’Envers, Fri., Oct. 2, 9 p.m., $7
 Bisso
Na Bisso Africa (UP)
Straight from Brazzaville comes Bisso Na Bisso (Lingala for “between ourselves”), whose mix of zouk, hip hop and Congolese rhumba made their 1999 debut, Racines, internationally successful. This second outing is an engaging set of tunes, charting a direction that draws from the roots and reaches across the world—from combinations with Algeria’s Khaled to Cameroon’s Manu Dibango to Jamaica’s Sizzla. 8/10 Trial Track: “Meme Comba” featuring Sizzla (Erin MacLeod) With DJs Sool le Digital, Mohtorious at Théâtre Telus, Fri., Oct. 2, 8 p.m., $35
MINI CD REVIEWS
Destroyer Bay of Pigs 12” (Merge) World-weary Vancouver songsmith pairs drole lovesick poetry with subtle beats, to beautiful effect. 8 (LC) With Avec Pas d’casque, Ghost Bees at Ukrainian Federation, Fri., Oct. 2, 8 p.m.
Muse The Resistance (Warner) Grandiose British rockers outdo themselves (and Queen) with an activist sci-fi glam rock opera, adorned with strings, beats and slogans. Impressive. 8 (LC)
Oliver Jones and Hank Jones Pleased to Meet You (Justin Time) Two elders with a great feel for pianistic jazz. Keeping up with the Joneses is a relaxing pleasure. 7 (GA)
Sonata Arctica The Days of Gray (Nuclear Blast) There is nothing worse than power metal when it goes horribly wrong. 3 (JC) With Dragonforce, Taking Dawn at Metropolis, Sat., Oct. 3, 8 p.m., $41
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