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 Misteur Valaire
Golden Bombay (Mr. Label)
With their third album, Montreal quintet Misteur Valaire deliver their best batch of blithesome, imaginative prog-pop, its buoyant grooves and silly samples recalling the jaunty Euro/Japanese lounge-funk of the late ’90s, though with a better ear for memorable melodies and its punchy quotient ratcheted up for a post-Ed Banger era. Endlessly inventive in its tones and timbres, Golden Bombay also affords vocal duties to Bran Van’s James Di Salvio (on the so-so retro rap “Ave Mucho”), gravel-piped Gigi French, a kids’ choir and more. Supremely yummy stuff. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Brandon Marlow” (Rupert Bottenberg) CD launch at Club Soda, Tues., May 18, 5 p.m., free
Elephant Stone
The Glass Box EP (independent)
These seven songs carry the ’60s pop torch, with flickers of vintage riffage and psychedelia (the latter represented largely by the sitar, played backwards on the closing track) without relying on a retro aesthetic. “Strangers” emits strains of fellow locals the High Dials, of which band leader Rishi Dhir was a longtime member, while “Savage Soul” exemplifies his own brand of sun-kissed, open-armed early morning music. 8/10 Trial Track: “Savage Soul” (Lorraine Carpenter) With the Jon Cohen Experimental, Panoramic & True at Casa del Popolo tonight, Thurs., May 13
 Frog Eyes
Paul’s Tomb: A Triumph (Dead Oceans)
The Victoria, B.C. band’s first album in three years finds new personnel in tow (singer Megan Boddy) and old tricks at work (Carey Mercer’s quaking vocals, rivalled by almost equally eccentric guitar work). Woven through the unconventional sounds and structures, not to mention delightfully wild lyrics, are sweet melodies, alluring sounds and pretty back-up vocals, an invitation to the uninitiated wrapped in familiar weirdness for the fans. 7.5/10 Trial Track: “The Sensitive Girls” (Lorraine Carpenter)
 Xavier Rudd & Izintaba
Koonyum Sun (SaltX/ Fontana North) Anyone can snap a few pics, buy a t-shirt and say they visited some far-off land. But to capture a specific place musically, so even those who’ve never been feel something, it takes more than having a didgeridoo player on speed dial. Rudd and his rhythm section combine white and aboriginal Australian music into a passport stamp for anyone with a CD player. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Yandi” (Erik Leijon) With Justin Nozuka at Metropolis, Sat., May 15, 8 p.m., $35, all ages
 Ariel
Après le crime (Tacca/Select)
Brash and showy as far as local outfits go, this impressively confident and charismatic francophone quintet reach for the stars with highly campy pop-punk rock, but thankfully, their sonic aggrandizement comes from theatrical flair rather than through any agonizing emotional pretensions. Well-produced and containing a slightly unpredictable, vaudevillian soul, these newcomers are impossibly ambitious, but irresistibly fun too. 7/10 Trial Track: “Tout va très bien” (Erik Leijon)
Subhumans
Same Thoughts Different Day (Alternative Tentacles)
Rerecording their 1980 Canadian punk classic Incorrect Thoughts seems almost preposterous. Having long lost the rights to this classic, the original members regroup and once again have a go at “Slave to My Dick,” “Death to the Sickoids” and other gems. Is it is as good as the original? Well, sort of. Production is amped up with the band obviously packing in more confidence while not screwing too much with the original formula. If you’re looking for killer, honest and pure punk rock, this is it. 8/10 Trial Track: “The Scheme” (Johnson Cummins)
 Circa Survive
Blue Sky Noise (Atlantic/ Warner)
Singer Anthony Green joins in on guitar duties on Blue Sky Noise, making for a mellower sound, new and welcome though leaving less room for guitarists Colin Frangicetto and Brendan Ekstrom’s omnipresent sonic partnership. Recruited for the band’s new direction is producer David Bottrill (Tool’s Aenima and Lateralus), but still, Blue Sky Noise is lacking in the type of hooks that made Juturna and On Letting Go so urgent, and more importantly memorable. 7/10 Trial Track: “Get Out” (Lateef Martin) With Coheed & Cambria, Torche at Metropolis, Tues., May 18, 8 p.m., $25, all ages
Guillaume & les Coutu Dumonts
Breaking the Fourth Wall (Circus Company) Montrealer Guillaume’s latest is as packed with variety as ever, from the weird, brass-driven groove and buried vocoder of “32 Tonnes de Pigeons” to the funky bass and nervous energy of French-house-influenced “Hélicoptère.” His usual world tendencies remain, as with the jammy reggae of “Radio Novela,” and his minimal techno roots come out in the finicky percussion details, as on “Décennie.” 7/10 Trial Track: “Hélicoptère” (Jack Oatmon)
 Bone Thugs-n-Harmony
UNI5: The World’s Enemy (Reprise/ Warner)
Whatever Eazy E first saw in these influential Midwest legends when he signed them nearly 20 years ago, you gotta admit the guy knew talent. With hits, awards, misses, kick-outs, break-ups and near-reunions behind them, the original five can now call it a comeback. Laid-back, polished production and signature double-times and soul-heavy hooks all intact, the Bones, on this, are solid. 8/10 Trial Track: “Only God Can Judge Me” (Darcy MacDonald)
Naturally 7
Vocal Play (Interactive Audio)
This seven-man vocal group delivers their most satisfying set to date, creating a contemporary soul album that nods to pop, jazz and gospel, all the while maintaining a very contemporary setting. Their musical optimism permeates throughout, but particularly on tracks like “Jericho (Break the Walls)” and “You’re Beautiful.” And their interpretation of the Hockey Night in Canada theme is sublime. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “All I Ever Wanted” (Gerard Dee)
 Mulatu Astatke
Mulatu Steps Ahead (Strut)
Known for his Ethiopian jazz creation of the 1960s, this album, decades later, is the result of a resurgence of interest in Mulatu over the past 10 years. The sounds of the traditional Ethiopian krar, masinko and washint are here alongside not only trumpet, sax and Mulatu’s trademark vibes but West African tones as well. Deviating somewhat from the feel of his early work and crafted alongside Boston’s Either/Orchestra, this represents perhaps the first step in a new direction. 9/10 Trial Track: “Mulatu’s Mood” (Erin MacLeod)
Lewis/Downing/Martin
On a Short Path From Memory to Forgotten (Barnyard)
Jim Lewis is a brilliant improvising trumpet player, perhaps the strongest and most creative in this country, though largely lost to education through much of his career. This is a recording of astonishing horn playing, full of subtlety and fire. The bass and drums sometimes diminish the effect with clumsiness, but when it comes together we can hear an unbridled power exulting in sound and a dedication to freedom. 8/10 Trial Track: “On a Short Path” (Gordon Allen
MINI CD REVIEWS
Batusis self-titled (Smog Veil) This pairing of Dead Boy Cheetah Chrome and New York Doll Sylvain Sylvain on this all too brief, four-song EP is as deliciously sleazy as it gets. 8 (JC)
Karyn Ellis Even Though the Sky Was Falling (Mathilde’s Home Productions) Shades of country and folk, arrangements ranging from orchestral girth to slim strumming, grace the lovely new LP by this TO songstress. 7.5 (LC) At Centre St-Ambroise, Fri., May 14
Panoramic & True self-titled (Raymond Roussel) Local muso John Lennox achieves melancholic might and hopeful grandeur with this beautifully arranged folk-pop record, but could we have a moratorium on Canadian songs called “California”? 7.5 (LC) With Elephant Stone, the Jon Cohen Experimental at Casa del Popolo tonight, Thurs., May 13
Justin Nozuka You I Wind Land and Sea (Coalition/Warner) Mature R&B/soft rock from the 21-year-old Canadian singer-songwriter. His well-trained young persons’ voice smoothly navigates some solid slow jams. 7 (EL) With Xavier Rudd & Izintaba at Metropolis, Sat., May 15, 8 p.m., $35
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