Eric Benét A Day in the Life (Warner)
St. Etienne Places to Visit EP (Sub Pop/Warner)
Lamb Fear of Fours (Universal) Lou Rhodes' strange and melancholic vocals over Andy Barlou's bizarre, sometimes-jungle, always-experimental beats and melodies invoke a sense of uncertainty in me, like that feeling I get on cold, rainy days. I like it but I can't figure out why. Cellos and strings are used on all tracks, lending to the overall perturbing feeling of Lamb's music, but tracks like "B Line" and "Alien" really send the shivers up my spine. 7.5/10 (Krista)
Fantastic Plastic Machine Luxury (Emperor Norton/FAB)
Atari Teenage Riot 60 Second Wipeout (Digital Hardcore/Warner)
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The list of discerning R&B stylists is long: Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, more recently D'Angelo and Maxwell come to mind. Add Eric Benét to the roster. His sophomore set reveals a sound that's layered, full, a reflection of '70s soul, the melding of contemporary jazz and urban groove. Vocally, he pushes Canadian R&B vocalist Tamia to new heights ("Spend My Life With You"), solicits a stellar performance from Faith Evans (the Toto cover "Georgy Porgy") and gives funky priestess Me'Shell Ndegocello a run for her money ("Ghetto Girl"). And just when he's bordering on overly commercial (the trite "Loving Your Best Friend"), he bites back with jazz master Roy Ayers for "When You Think of Me." His solo contributions are no less impressive. One day is hardly enough. 9/10 (Gerard Dee)
Seems that angel-voiced Sarah Cracknell and her jetsetting sidekicks are en route again, having left the brutal catchiness of their last album Good Humor behind--and the disco/mod equation that came before that as well. Now, save for the housy "We're in the City," it's destination: cloudland, following the flight patterns of Stereolab and Air. Actually, Tortoise and High Llamas may be more accurate--oh look, there's the names Jim O'Rourke and Sean O'Hagan in credits. O'Boisterous, like the chips? No, just plush, picture-perfect century 21 pop. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
If you thought Tokyo trendsetter Tomoyuki Tanaka, aka FPM, had boxed himself in with his bossa-disco-kitsch-pop sound, think again. This new joint's got that ("Theme of Luxury," for example) and a hell of a lot more, too. The massive "You Must Learn All Night Long" is a pink elephant on a dancefloor-demolishing rampage, "Electric Lady Land" is Miller time at Santa's workshop, "Bossa for Jackie" is cocktails for Camelot, "Satellite Beats" is C-3P0 bustin' the worm. Plus cornets, piano, porno, Pong songs and the sound of one hand tapping the kitchen sink. Domo arigato, dude. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
You know what's neat about these ridiculous Germans? Not only do Alec Empire and his electroni-core posse crack me up, they also bring the goosebumps now and then, like Bad Brains used to when I was a wee lad. Lifting elements of hip hop, hardcore, d&b, industrial and gabber, they force it all through a filthy, abrasive grind cycle, churning out crackhead anthems for self-consciously disaffected brats. Oh, my God, are the lyrics lame--vague sloganeering of the smash-the-state variety. Alec, take a cue from Rammstein: this shit sounds better in German. It really does. 7/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)