Manchilde Baby Mother/Science 12" (Bandit Records/Butta Babees)

The multi-talented writer/performer/rapper/poet finally has a record out. Assuming my man fell into the natural artistic process of the chosen few, it's no surprise we had to wait so long for this buttered-on-both-sides single. "Baby Mother" is a synth-laden mouthful on parental responsibility that didn't hit me quite as hard as the b-side, "Science." It's this song and the bonus bit, "Ill Groove Garden Live" with brother Sekou and T.O.'s Motion, that made me smile. Butta Babees is comin' up strong! If you've got it, flaunt it. 8/10 (Scott C)

Yvon Kreve C'est rendu F.U. (Fucked Up)/GRO$ BILL$ (MontReal/Jah Tak)

Montreal's own hot-boy picked an A-team to aid in assaulting the city with his first single. "Fucked Up" has DJ Choice bringing up the rear while Kreve lays down the lyrical thickness. "GRO$ BILL$" marches along thanks to Dave Motherf*#kin and his Middle-Eastern fixation, but the real pay-off is Kreve himself. With perhaps the best French flow in the city right now, he rips it here like he would onstage, or on the bus, or in an elevator, or in a cab, or anywhere. 7.5/10 (Scott C)

Orishas A lo Cubano (Chrysalis/EMI)

Here you go, the Buena Vista Playa's Club. Sure, their approach to hip hop is straight off the streets of Paris. The source material, however, is pure trova Cubano. Not just cute samples, mind you, but a thorough fusion of hip hop technique and Havana tradition. The quartet slide from rapping to crooning with zero effort, and there's not an ounce of the rapmetal raunch here that sullies the efforts of their peers elsewhere in Latin America (Molotov, for instance). A midtempo party disc with heart and soul, this one would be hard-pressed to rub anyone the wrong way. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Various The Shadow Masters: Drum & Bass (Shadow/Instinct)

More and more d&b seems to be moving away from the dark and hard sound and leaning towards the European school of frantic yet spaced out beats. Shadow Masters is a collection of tunes in the latter style, some of which, like the Justice and Cujo pieces, have a strong, ethereal Bukem-ness to them. Others, like the more "experimental" Futique and Ultralights selections, will make drum & bass purists cringe. 7.5/10 (Krista)

A:xus Soundtrack for Life (Guidance/Fusion III)

Despite its reputation for being the capital of crappy raves, Toronto has turned out to be the epicentre of talent for Canada's electronic music scene. Out of "The City" comes another masterpiece, this time from the talented veteran Guidance/Prescription/Fragile recording artist Austin Bascom, aka A:xus, or A'ba-cus. His debut full-length is a beautiful, sweeping pleasure trip through patterns of chilled-out house and jazz-tinged minimal Detroit techno, featuring vocal contributions from Naomi Nisombi (Bagdad Cafe) and Esthero's Jenny B. 8.5/10 (Krista)

Russell Mills/Undark Pearl + Umbra (Instinct/Koch)

"Renegade beats weave complex networks of endless variation, guitars, honey-drenched or searing like axed piano wires, buzz-saw through unnerving blood flow frequencies plunging and swerving eel-like over depth-charge basses, luminous heat shimmer drones and traceries of otherworldly voices conjure up memories of disturbing dreams" (sic). Um, yeah, like a disturbing dream I had that I listened to a stilted ambient album by visual and sound artist Russell Mills, who's somewhere amid a bloated list of guests (Brian Eno, Bill Laswell, David Sylvian, Robin Guthrie, Peter Gabriel performing "muted howls"...) trying to make us buy into this fart-art. No, "fart-art" would sound better. 4/10 (Chris Yurkiw) D'Angelo Voodoo (Virgin/EMI) It's been four long years since D'Angelo's debut Brown Sugar went down like a chocolate kiss. Deeper, richer, though not immediately accessible, Voodoo is more of a bittersweet brew. Already burnin' ears is a savory slice of "Devil's Pie," the reverberating "Left & Right" with Method Man and Redman, and the emotive ghetto ballad "Untitled (How Does It Feel)." The slinky "Chicken Grease," the phattened-up Roberta Flack classic "Feel Like Makin' Love" and soul shaker "Send It On" are pure Black Magic. 8.5/10 (Gerard Dee)

Kelis Kaleidoscope (Virgin/EMI)

None of the tracks on Kelis' debut disc are as angry or captivating as lead single "Caught Out There." Still, producers Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo supply her with enough chunky beats and quirky lyrics to hold your ear. "Ghetto Children," featuring Marc Dorsey and N.E.R.D., aims a message at the shorties. "Game Show" is a musical marital debate, and "Mafia," with Markita, takes the ties that bind to a new extreme. A vivid entree. 7.5/10 (Gerard Dee)

Virginia Rodrigues Nos (Hannibal/Outside)

Although this hoodoo is a somewhat watered-down version (file under "chamber samba" ?!) of slum-shaking Bahian Carnival batucadas, wisps of hypnotic blue smoke (bottled in hillside favelas) periodically make their spooky presence felt. Billed as the "new voice of Brazilian music" (with artistic direction by Caetano Veloso), Rodrigues' Nos is a voodoo offering to afro-Brazilian Candomble gods. Light a fistful of candles for all the evil deeds you've undertaken and offer a silver chestnut and a plastic red feather to the goddess of the sea. Obrigado! 9/10 (Adam Gollner)

Helen Forrest The Complete World Transcriptions (Soundies)

A veteran of the big band era, Ms. Forrest died last summer at the age of 82. She was justifiably called "the voice of the name bands" (Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Harry James). Collected here, with backing from Carmen Dragon, are 54 tracks recorded in '49 and '50 for the World Transcription Service--the great songs, the great songwriters: Noel Coward, the Gershwins, Matt Dennis, Irving Berlin, Vernon Duke et al. A veritable feast for lovers of the great American Popular Song Book. 9/10 (Len Dobbin)

Gheorge Zamfir The Feeling of Romance (CMC/EMI)

Hark! What are those gentle tones that drift our way, over the rolling hills and laughing brooks of Arcadia? Why, it's the Pied Piper of Hudson, coaxing such tender treacle from his pan pipe (the only instrument capable of approximating the German umlaut sound--"tuet, tuet!"). Opening on that song from Titanic, Zamfy takes us on a bittersweet boatride across the sometimes-still, sometimes-choppy waters of love between a man and a woman. Enjoy the positively parenthetical "(The) Actor," get blown away by his passionate performance of "Candle in the Wind," shed a silent tear at the last notes of closer "Thank You for the Music." No, Gheorge... thank you. 10/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) Note: did I mention Zamfir lives in Hudson? C'mon, gang, let's all go visit him!