u-Ziq Royal Astronomy (Astralwerks/Outside)
Delta 666 Mayhem (independent) The kings of Montreal psychobilly finally get their debut release out and Mayhem shows them greased up and ready for action. Delta 666 do give rockabilly the respectable nod, but what separates them from the tunnel-vision pompadour pack is their unabashed rock power. This could very well be the most exportable sound to come from Montreal since that Ivan guy danced around with a midget. After hearing the sheer power and craft of songs like "Little Drink" and "Hell Outta Dodge," you wonder why Epitaph or Victory haven't already heaped a pile o' cash on them. The other bonus point is local colourful character DJ Witchdoctor, whose banter peppering the disc is worth the door charge alone. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins) CD launch on Saturday, Aug. 21 at Bar St-Laurent
The Katies Self-titled (Spongebath/Elektra) On the CD cover, bass player Gary Welch proudly sports AC/DC's Angus Young tattooed on his arm, but this econo-rock would have poor Bon Scott spinning in his grave. The Katies write typical FM radio fodder and throw the occasional solo or "rock out" part to attempt to make an identity for themselves. Unfortunately, these "rock out" parts seem forced and awkwardly inserted, throwing any chance of pop sensibility out the window. Maybe Welch should stop living in denial and consider getting Tal Bachman's likeness for his next tattoo, seeing as they have more in common (they both really suck). 4/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Adult Rodeo The Kissyface (Shimmy Disc)
Guided by Voices Do the Collapse (TVT/Universal) Miss the Posies? Robert Pollard takes the occasion of his band's jump from Matador to TVT to enlist a producer (Ric Ocasek) and clean up GBV's trademark no-fi sound, turning them into a bonafide power-pop group. I'm glad that the anglophilic singer and hyper pro-riffic Pollard finally got his indie-rock props in his forties, but now he's just making museum music for the rock-connoisseur niche (not entirely his fault). Still, it's quality shit, and can be fun to do the (rock) collapse. 7/10 (Chris Yurkiw)
|
Easing off a bit on his cold, grey drill & bass, u-Ziq (pronounced "music," also pronounced Mike Paradinas) generates a diverse mix of moods. The one recurrent theme is his modernizing of the Switched on Classics concept. Recalling the keyboard klassical of Wendy Carlos and Jean-Jacques Perrey, Royal Astronomy is nonetheless more inspired by u-Ziq's tour with Björk and her string octet two years ago. Check the Prokofiev-finds-his-groove feel of "The Hwicci Song" or the off-kilter synth-o-Nymanisms of "Slice" and the breathtaking flagship track "The Fear." That said, there's other trips going on here, too, like twisted space disco, surly crank anthems and stark, beatless laments. Most all of it works out quite nicely, thank you. 9/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Camper Van Beethoven had a lyric once that's stuck with me: "...and the cowboys on acid are like Egyptian cartoons." That's the card I'm gonna play here. At the core of The Kissyface is an old-tyme concoction of folk, country and bluegrass, maybe rockified a bit here and there. Thing is, it's caked in so much dub magic and far-out electronic wee-oo that it would probably register on a Geiger counter. Forget "insurgent" country, this shit is lysergic C&W. 7/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)