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Bush The Science of Things (Trauma/Universal)
Groove Collective Declassified (Shanachie)
Sasha "Expander" EP (Ultra/Deconstruction) The words "epic house" make me cringe, even worse than "progressive house" did a few years ago. But, boy can Sasha--the don of both prog and epic and all things swooshy in Brit-house--suck in even those who hate him most (me), when he wants to. The neat, four-minute "Expander Edit," the first track here, really got me reeling, and wanting to use words like "lush" and "dreamscape" and "long-awaited" and all kindsa craperoo like that. That being said, the other four tracks, including the full 12-minute "Expander," are just the same old pretentious bollocks drawn out for the sake of Sasha's ever-growing, ever-coked-out ego. 6.5/10 (Mireille Silcott)
Technical Itch Diagnostics (Moving Shadow)
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There used to be something called art rock--in fact, I believe the term was dragged out a couple of years ago when Radiohead--another Brit band with Stateside success--dropped OK Computer. Bush, on the other hand, manage to make "artless rock," which is fine if you're Blink 182 but pretty pathetic when you aspire to sum up the zeitgeist of these barely pre-millennial days with your third album. Did someone say OK Computer? Well Bush say "Warm Machine"! with the lead-off track, and then "Jesus Online" (how's that for zeitgeist?), and then slap down some turgid riffs underneath. And another thing--Gavin: on January 1 you must give back Gwen Stefani. 3/10 (Chris Yurkiw)
Winner of the "band with the most the most members ever" award, the multi-faceted Groove Collective come with their fourth album of disco-soul-jazz-hip hop inspired jams. And just in time, as rare groove/acid jazz dancefloor music has once again become hip with the 20-something crowd. Declassified brings together musical styles, cultures, melodies and rhythms--from Fela Kuti-like sounds to the Steely Dan-esque. 8/10 (Krista) At Cabaret Fri. Nov. 12
Moving Shadow, one of the U.K.'s most successful drum & bass labels, showcases its dark side with a debut LP from Tech Itch. Technical Itch came onto the scene some three years ago when "tech step" first emerged as yet another incarnation of the drum & bass genre. Since then, this young producer has been busy refining his dark and scary, conspiracy-theory-inspired tracks. Diagnostics is one for the Thursday night crew at Angel's. 7/10 (Krista)