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Big Cheese, a French label known for its hip hop and its retro soul archaeology, takes a crack at the terrain dominated by Germany's merchants of vintage soundtrack sleaze, Crippled Dick Hot Wax. Applying their froggy notions of funkiness, Big Cheese pull the caper off with these themes from French exploitation cinema of the '70s, many of them rarities. You can't not dig tracks like the menacing opener, Résonnance's "OK Chicago", or the dopey delight of G. Garvarentz's "Haschisch Party." This disc sits proudly next to Vampyros Lesbos and Beat at Cinécitta, and that's a tough space to fill. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Anvil Absolutely No Alternative (Hypnotic/Attic) Two old school Canadian metal bands get out of the fast lane and park in the handicapped section, but still manage to do wheelies around the competition. Razor try to keep up with the current metal sound of labels like Relapse, via distorted vocals and "topical" subject matter such as gun control ("Violence") and of course getting loaded ("Open Hostility"). Although I was pleasantly surprised with Razor, the clear winner in this metal grudge match is Anvil. Drums are hilariously overplayed and the lyrics are complete genius. "Show Me Your Tits" and "(Knee High in) Hair Pie" take lowbrow to soaring new heights. Susan Sontag and Maya Angelou might not approve, but for those of us who like to turn off our brains and laugh at the morally challenged, this is the money. Razor 7.5/10, Anvil 8/10 (Johnson Cummins) Aretha Franklin A Rose Is Still a Rose (Arista/BMG) Miss Ree jumps back into the game with a bang. Her first new release in years is marked with phat grooves, smart lyrics and superb voice, though her entourage of superstar producers achieve different levels of success. The Lauryn Hill-produced title track is one of Ree's best in years, as is the super savvy Dallas Austin-produced "I'll Dip." Not surprisingly, though, one of the album's best tracks is the one Franklin produced herself, the soul-drenched "The Woman." 8/10 (Gerard Dee) Monoclese Samplemagic (independent)
An indie-as-can-be release from England. Monoclese, a father and son duo, call themselves "sample marauders" and tribute the Coldcuts and Jive Bunnies of yore by cutting 'n' pasting (what else?) bits 'n' pieces (no kidding) of breakbeats (surprise!) and illegal snippets (snip! snip!) from the top 40 '98. Someone might want to tell Monoclese that people are doing amazing things with samples now, stretching them, flipping them around, becoming the Prodigy, you name it. And if this is some irony brick on how "anyone can do it, even my 12-year-old son," well, we know that. That's always been the point, for crissakes. 5/10 (Mireille Silcott)
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Various Stereo Ultra (Big Cheese/FusionIII)
Razor Decibels