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The Roots Things Fall Apart (MCA/Universal) The Illa-fifth column of hip hop genius has returned with an album that may not have been exactly what we were all expecting, but will definitely do. Friends Mos Def, Common and Erykah Badu spice things nice without going overboard on the cameo content... not that the Roots can't hold it down alone anyways. Musically, there's a wider berth left for the beats, as the liner notes so fittingly explain, leaving the back-to-front vibe from their last album bubbling in back of your mind. But "Dynamite" and "The Love of My Life (Hip Hop)" seal the Roots style tightly. Those of you without the CD should note that there is another hidden track on this piece, but you have to let it play to the end and beyond to catch it. 8.5/10 (Scott C) April March Chrominance Decoder (Ideal/Attic)
Sparklehorse Good Morning Spider (Capitol/EMI)
The Dinner Is Ruined Band Maggot in Their Heads (Sonic Unyon)
Title opener "7092's Slave Machine" sounds like Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young jamming out at Spahn Ranch with Charles Manson and co. Actually, come to think of it, all of the 15 tracks here kind of sound like that. If you're looking to rock out, then you best be lookin' elsewhere, because this little puppy sets the controls for the heart of the sun. When they near the irony of the Rheostatics ("You Bought Yourself a Bullet") it can get to be a bit much; part of their problem is owning their own studio and getting caught up in their own muck. A little less experimentation and more songwriting might be a good idea. 7/10 (Johnson Cummins)
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Various Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels soundtrack (Island/PolyGram)
If Tarantino sessioned a garbage bag full of coke and then promptly directed an episode of Eastenders, you'd get Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, the indie heist flick that went off like a nailbomb in the U.K. last year. It'll be in Montreal theatres in a couple of weeks, but in the meantime, here are the tunes that go with. Remember that Clash number "Police & Thieves"? The original, some sweet conscious reggae, is in there. As is "Man Machine," an exclusive contribution from English pop hunk of the hour Robbie Williams. Plus your Stooges, James Brown, Castaways, Stone Roses, and of course the essential cockney tough guy dialogue snippets. Bloody brilliant! 9/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
That nice Yankee girl with the France Gall fixation is back for more bilingual Franco-American foolishness, and her flat, nasal voice is as adorable (and accent-free!) as ever. She's been seen with garage-punk überjerks the Makers and authentic frogs Air, but her ace in the hole, Gainsbourg to her Gall, is one M. Bertrand Burgalat. Despite his mathematically perplexing haircut, Burgalat is a capable craftsman with the tinkertronic nouveau-yéyé, slinky space-age ear candy that should appeal to those who like where St. Etienne are going. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Sparklehorse is essentially Mark Linkous, a control freak and sound geek who plays everything from Wurlizter to Speak and Spell on his second album for Capitol, a guy living in rural Virginia who creates a reverie/world that wouldn't be out of place on the 4AD label. Melancholy, mellifluous and highly melodious, Linkous, um, links his oft-rockin' gems on a string of consciousness that sings "'pop madman."8/10 (Chris Yurkiw)