Various The Mood Mosaic Vol.2 (Stone/Discomagic)
Mariah Carey Rainbow (Columbia/Sony)
The Real Kids Better Be Good; No Place Fast(Norton)
Microphones Don't Wake Me Up (K)
Not sure how this guy is going to pull this off live, since the Microphones are comprised of just one soul in Phil Elvrum, but in the bedroom/studio the 21 year old from Anacortes, Washington (Fuck Seattle! Forget Olympia!) does a nifty job of making the hyper-lo-fi seem grandiose. Part of it's the range of sounds (fuzz, loops, organ, timpani, plinking), and part of it's the stream-of-half-consciousness flow of the pieces. At worst, Elvrum comes off like Eric's Trip recording with kitchenware; at best like a one-man Stereolab when he gets into a groove. 7/10 (Chris Yurkiw) With The Dears + Julie Doiron + Mirah at Jailhouse this Sat. Nov. 13, $6
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Here's a collection of rare grooves that would make even the most serious techno-head do a number in their pants. The Mood Mosaic compiles a bunch of songs that you may know or slightly recognize--most of them leaning heavily on the boogaloo side of things. Whether it's Jimmy Smith's "Root Down (and get it)," stolen by the Beastie Boys a few years back, or Quincy Jones' "Call Me Mister Tibbs," this is the kind of album that keeps moving from beginning to end. There's even a new version of the theme from Sandford and Son by a cat named Bobby Forrester--and it's impossible to sit down through. 8/10 (Scott C)
What can you say about an album that features chirping birds on two songs? Many things. Like Mariah's taken all those comparisons to the crystal-shattering Minnie Riperton quite literally (see Minnie's chirpy 1975 hit "Lovin' You"). Like Carey's also taken all that "watch-out-Mariah-here-comes-Christina Aguilera" talk to heart, so she tarts herself up on the cover with a rainbow painted across her tits and ass. Like R&B is in a horrible, tuneless state. Like guest Snoop Dogg's career is sooo in the toilet. Like Carey's rare voice is rarely employed in service of the song--like so many other divas these days. Like yikes! 4/10 (Chris Yurkiw)
Hot on the heals of the re-issue of the Real Kids debut record, Norton have gone into the vaults and uncovered these great demo recordings from '77-'82. These releases show these four pimply brats full of piss and vinegar and all hopped up on power pop. On Better Be Good, "All Kindsa Girls" pays tribute to the Flamin' Groovies at their most brilliant, "Reggae Reggae" conjures up the MC5 at their most chaotic, and "Up Is Up" falls on the Kinks-ish side of things. No Place Fast has a bit more polish and shimmer, showing the Kids really paving the way for skinny-tie bands everywhere. Old new wave at its best. Better 9/10; No Place 8/10 (Johnson Cummins)