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Doktor Kosmos Cocktail (Minty Fresh/Koch) In the future everyone will be a musician for 15 minutes--or however long it takes to record a one-man Casio-band album. But Doktor Kosmos is here today, a silly Swede who's maxed out the memory on his Micro Moog with sweet melodies and Latin rhythms, a lone funman armed with songs like "Porno-Person," "Elevator bossa" and "L.S.A.T.T. (Lazy Sunday Afternoon Table-Tennis)." An instant classic for those caught between no-fi and cheesy listening. 8/10 (Chris Yurkiw) We As Is (Asphodel) True, I might be giving up too much room to the Asphodel label, but I'll scream it from the highest mountain: this label is flawless! After We's remix EP of Tipsy, I thought there was no way they could surpass themselves, but As Is is one of the freshest displays of electronic, dub and ambient your likely to hear for quite some time. This San Francisco collective has come up with beats once thought unimaginable and stays away from the trampled ground of hip hop and electronica, choosing to pave their own way. 8/10 Johnson Cummins 30 Second Motion Picture Can't Kill Time (Spectra Sonic Sound) Ottawa's Spectra Sonic Sound pick up nicely where Washington D.C.'s Dischord label left off. Made up of ex-Shotmaker and Okara members, this little vinyl slab of emo-core borrows heavily from Fugazi and Rites of Spring, but they still manage to stake their own ground with the trade-off vocals in "Fricative." This is angst-ridden art-core played at its finest. In true Ottawa fashion, 30SMP have broken up, but this posthumous release is proof that the flame that burns the brightest is also the first to fizzle out. Too bad. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins) Fred Eaglesmith Lipstick Lies & Gasoline (Razor & Tie)
In a perfect world, Fred Eaglesmith would have the career of Shania Twain. Then again, that would mean having to kiss Mutt Lange. Not that the Southern Ontario singer-songwriter hasn't tried to nuzzle up his rural country-folk to the industry, as with his Nashville nookie of last year, Drive-In Movie. But here he decides to walk the line between mountain music and country rock--truer to his, um, roots, and out for Wilco's fans over Wynonna's. 7.5/10 (Chris Yurkiw)
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