even more discs

Alex Clements Suite No. 3, The Cycle of Life (ACR)

Among the many fine jazz musicians currently creating in the city is Alex Clements, a pianist/composer who arrived from Calgary to attain a Master's at McGill. Thankfully, he's stayed here. He's a first rate musician on this release, as his own compositions will attest. Vocalist Susanne Doucet, who wrote the lyrics for "Drew's Lullaby," is among the nine musicians who help make this a successful debut. 8.5/10 (Len Dobbin)

Irving Klaw Trio Love Equals High 7" (Mag Wheel/Cargo)

Local indie label Mag Wheel delivers again with this vinyl slab from Olympia' s Irving Klaw Trio. The A-side "Love Equals High" recalls Pavement's early Westing years, especially in the vocal delivery, but has an instrumentation yards more inventive and bizarre. The B-side cleans the palette with two quirky ditties that match up the Minutemen and DJ Shadow in a grudge match. File under pleasantly weird. 8/10 (Johnson Cummins)

Plastikman 005, 003, 002 EP (Plus8)

Hot on the heels of the Sickness and Recycled Plastik EPs (both of which contained tracks composed over a year ago) comes the first new single from Richie Hawtin in over a year, and a complete change in direction. Gone are the percolating analog rhythms that became synonymous with the Plastikman name: this time the beats are completely stripped down, replaced by growling analog bass lines that subtly mutate as the tracks progress. Sheer hypnotic brilliance. 10/10 (Mateo)

Peter Crno At the Still Point

Peter is a DJ who has been making quite a name for himself lately, and this home-mix (which actually comes on CD) shows why: a keen sense of programming and an eclectic selection of tracks (with an emphasis on obscure material) gives welcome respite from the monotony of most club DJs. Trying to fit so many different styles of music into 70 minutes makes for a few rough transitions, but that's a minor point. Available at DNA records, 284-7434. 8.5/10 (Mateo)