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Cake Prolonging the Magic (Capricorn/PolyGram)
Whale All Disco Dance Must End in Broken Bones (Virgin/EMI) After releasing the great, lost, metallo-trip-hop album of 1995, We Care, Sweden's Whale went on hiatus--only to come back here just slightly more understated than "Hobo Humpin' Slobo Babe." Problem is, it's tough to pull off a branché, pop-cult party-on-wheels when you're being understated. Only a couple of guest-spot rap numbers redeem this feckless fête. 6/10 (Chris Yurkiw) Sepultura Against (Roadrunner/Attic)
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Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Acme (Matador/EMI)
I must admit, I never got the JSBX. These Lower East Side trust-fund kids just never really did it for me. But after listening to Acme, I now get it and the only trouble is that I don't know how to get rid of it. Album opener "Calvin" successfully fuses hip hop breakbeats with blues guitar. Next up is the amazing Stones-y R&B groove of "Magical Colors," sounding like it just leapt off of the Exile on Main Street cutting-room floor. Relentlessly funky, to the extent that you're almost waiting for a stinker to rain on this kid's parade. But with producers like Steve Albini, Calvin Johnson, Alec Empire and Jim Dickinson, things keep chugging along, with a new flavour to each song. Goddamn, this is good! 9.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Good title for this latest slice of Cake... their third, in fact. They still sound like the lost Talking Heads country/funk mystery tapes--sparse and accurate, with that sad little trumpet. They've brought the irony down a notch, filling that vacuum with melancholic ache. My call for this round's hit? I think "Hem of Your Garment" might go the distance. 9/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Sepultura without Max? Two years ago they released the metal masterpiece Roots. Shortly after, leader Max Cavalera moved on to form Soulfly, leaving the rest of the band to start their imminent careers as air conditioner repairmen or something, right? Well, they're back and Max better watch his back. Members of the Japanese percussion group Kodo come in to complete the rhythmic assault already started on Roots, which keeps things interesting without taking away from the barrage of ballast. It's no Roots, but then again, nothing out there is. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)