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 Joanna Newsom
Have One on Me (Drag City)
Nearly living up to the staggering hype that surrounds her, Joanna Newsom’s third record is another fairy tale folk epic. Complemented by her signature harp and light acoustic accompaniment, her once divisive voice has transformed into an angelic vibrato with earthy, warbling accents, Kate Bush one minute, Billie Holiday the next. And with such fanciful, delicate and endearing love songs and laments, this is her most conventionally beautiful work to date. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Good Intentions Paving Company” (Lorraine Carpenter) With Kevin Barker at Ukrainian Federation, Sun.–Mon., March 14–15, sold out
 JIMI HENDRIX
Valleys of Neptune (Sony Legacy)
Even Hendrix obsessives have a hard time keeping tabs on his unearthed work, but after the exhaustive 2000 box set, the scraps have been getting pretty thin. This new one, though, culled from his later work in early 1969, does stick out from the posthumous pack, but it’s the discovery of the title track and the funkified version of “Stone Free” that really makes this worthwhile. Although for serious Hendrix-philes only, this does prove that even Jimi’s mongrels outshine most modern guitar slingers. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “Valleys of Neptune” (Johnson Cummins)
 BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
Beat the Devil’s Tattoo (Vagrant/Universal)
Gritty, bluesy, blackened rock ’n’ roll doesn’t have many popular practitioners these days, so San Francisco’s BRMC have stepped up, after years spent down and out. This is their strongest record since 2001, a return to form following acoustic and ’60s-variety-pack tangents, and though the sound is far from fresh (JAMC, BJM and even Oasis fans will feel at home here), it’s very much alive. 7/10 Trial Track: “Bad Blood” (Lorraine Carpenter)
 GORILLAZ
Plastic Beach (Parlophone/ EMI)
An ambivalent eco theme informs the return of Albarn & Hewlett’s multimedia mega-wank, providing at least some cohesion to this iteration of the cartoon quartet, their virtual environment and Damon Albarn’s doob-stunned Frankenpop dispatches. Again, he enlists a cadre of cool guests—half of the Clash, Bobby Womack, Lou Reed, Mos Def. Surefire hits à la “Feel Good Inc.” are sorely lacking, but once you’ve got the lay of the land, there are some bright spots on this plastic island. 7/10 Trial Track: “Glitter Freeze” feat. Mark E. Smith (Rupert Bottenberg)
 BROKEN BELLS
self-titled (Columbia/Sony BMG)
The impulse to compare with Gnarls Barkley doesn’t flatter this new duo of producer Danger Mouse and the Shins’ James Mercer, the latter lacking Cee-lo Green’s potent pipes and pernicious quirks. Thus it’s Danger Mouse who does the heavy lifting here, pouring his organ playing on thick and gussying up Mercer’s brand of bland-good-looks blog-pop into something properly welcoming. 6/10 Trial Track: “The Ghost Inside” (Rupert Bottenberg)
JASON COLLETT
Rat A Tat Tat (Arts & Crafts)
The Beatles’ white album came on two LPs for a reason, and at times the overflowing, 38-minute Rat A Tat Tat feels like a heavily annotated version of eccentric ’60s psychedelia. Although nearly bursting at the seams with folk-rock revelry, it’s refreshing to hear Collett fiddle around within familiar confines yet not handle the music with the reverence of a priceless antique. 7/10 Trial Track: “The Slowest Dance” (Erik Leijon)
XASTHUR
2005 Demo (Hydra Head)
Don’t let the seemingly tossed-off title fool you because this prolific one-man depressive black metal machine, conjured up by serious sociopath Malefic, still devastates. Recorded just before his epic masterpiece Subliminal Genocide, these two untitled tracks are as murky, painful, bleak, disturbing and despairing as ever, but it’s especially interesting to hear the first forays into drawn-out, charred-black death dirges that this misanthrope would later be known for. 8/10 Trial Track: “Untitled 5/05” (Johnson Cummins)
NOLWENN LEROY
Le Cheshire Cat et Moi (Mercury/Universal)
Honest-to-goodness French people from France are eternally reticent to heap praise upon what they consider their slack-jawed cousins from Quebec, so we’ll take this Parisian pop tart’s latest—whose delicate, folkish 180-degree turn is clearly indebted to local chanteuse Coeur de Pirate’s effect on the French—as a reluctant thanks for saving French pop music from a camembert-stinky, poperatic corpse. 7/10 Trial Track: “Faut-il, faut-il pas?” (Erik Leijon)
 SERJ TANKIAN
Elect the Dead Symphony (Reprise/Warner)
Giving his fans the regal treatment, Tankian performs his solo debut live in New Zealand with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. Elect the Dead gave Tankian the opportunity to set himself apart from his role as System of a Down’s singer. This live album adds grandeur to his sound, making it approachable outside the metal sphere, without sacrificing the power and quality. As far as filler goes, until the next solo album or the next System of a Down, this is a satisfying and epic entry. 8/10 Trial Track: “Money” (Lateef Martin)
 LUDACRIS
Battle of the Sexes (Disturbing Tha Peace/Def Jam)
Ludacris, the man, is great. Ludacris, the man who put this album out, must think we’re all idiots. Rhyming “Kobe” and “Obi Wan Kenobi”? Was this pushed back from 2009 or 1999? With minimum effort, play with your jeans zipper and repeat the track titles here over and over, and you’ve heard it all. If that exercise doesn’t quite satisfy you, caveat emptor. 4/10 Trial Track: “I Do It All Night” (Darcy MacDonald)
 KELLYLEE EVANS
The Good Girl (Enliven!)
On her sophomore effort, Ottawa-based Canadian chanteuse Evans replaces the jazzy undertones that characterized her 2006 debut with a more mainstream pop sound. The affecting lilt that colours her vocals still works well, lending an almost storytelling feel to tracks like “Questioning My Path.” Elsewhere, Evans tempers the somewhat moody feel of this set with more buoyant songs, like the title track. 8/10 Trial track: “Lost” (Gerard Dee)
P.E. HEWITT
JAZZ ENSEMBLE
Winter Winds:
The Complete
Works 1968-70
(Now and Again)
In 1968, a 16-
year-old with a knack for the vibraphone
put together an ensemble and
self-released an album called Jawbones.
He followed this up with a
couple more, all before he turned 20.
Dedicated record collector Chris Veltri
was able to get his hands on the
records, and the music convinced
Stones Throw’s Egon to reissue all
three in this remarkable collection.
This means that the rest of the
world can enjoy weird, wonderful,
moody jazz that really, really
swings. 10/10 Trial Track: “Bada Que
Bash” (Erin MacLeod)
MINI CD REVIEWS
BUSY SIGNAL “One More Night” (VP) Busy Signal does Phil Collins.
And it’s incredible. 10 (EM)
BUZZOVEN Violence From the Vaults (Relapse/E1) Tip o’ the hat for
Relapse reissuing this forgotten classic from 1994. Seriously fuckedup,
sludgy industrial doom that goes straight for the jugular. 8.5 (JC)
CAMAROMANCE The Parade (Lazy at Work) Local lady Martine
Groulx et cie elicit goosebumps and bruise hearts with their fusion of
folk, pop and rock ’n’ roll balladry. 8 (LC)
SKINNY VINNY self-titled (independent) Boston duo with a fresh take on
performance. Uplifting, silly, surprising, and absorbing music. 8 (GA)
AIRBOURNE No Guts. No Glory. (Roadrunner/Warner) The worst part
about tongue-in-cheek heavy metal is, deep down, these meatheads
actually think they’re saving rock. 2 (EL)
AFTERPARTY The Army You Got (Sound of Pop/Fontana North) I spent
part of Nuit Blanche at Pub St. Paul. Inside, a female-fronted house
band played a lame cover of “Hey Ya” as the toilets upstairs overflowed
and leaked through the ceiling onto the dancefloor. 1 (EL)
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