Laurent Garnier Unreasonable Behaviour (F Com/Fusion III)
Rollins Band Get Some, Go Again (Dreamworks/Universal)
The Smashing Pumpkins Machina: The Machines of God (Virgin/EMI)
Oasis Standing on the Shoulder of Giants (Creation/Epic/Sony)
M Je Dis Aime (Virgin/EMI)
Lullaby Baxter Trio Capable Egg (Atlantic/Warner)
AC/DC Stiff Upper Lip (East West/Warner)
Various MIMIs 2000 (SOPREF)
Johnny Fiasco and Jo Zas Chicago Versailles (Pamplemousse/ Fusion III)
Common "The 6th Sense"/"Doonit" 12" (MCA/Universal) If you didn't already know, Common has been making some power-moves as of late, first hooking up with the Roots for their last tour, followed by a label switch from Relativity to MCA. "The 6th Sense" represents the first collaboration of Common and DJ Premier, a team-up that is equally complementary, while the b-side has Com and nod-factor master Jay-Dee "Doonit" all over again. Both songs are from the upcoming album Like Water for Chocolate, which features production by the Roots, Primo, Slum Village and all kinds of good shit. Watch for it. 8/10 (Scott C)
Femi Kuti Shoki Shoki (MCA/Universal) Sometimes the offspring of musical legends have an extremely hard time living up to the exploits of their internationally known parents. Femi Kuti, the son of Afro-beat visionary Fela Ransom Kuti however, has produced a fruitful bounty of African rhythms that stand toe to toe with his father's. Shoki Shoki bridges the percussive, big band genius of the Kuti Afro-beat sound with the age of the remix. Songs like "Beng Beng Beng" and "Eregele" are joined by the Kerri Chandler remix of "Truth Don Die" and the Roots remix of "Blackman Know Yourself," making for a strong record of 12 tracks. 8.5/10 (Scott C)
Guy III (MCA) So why is Teddy Riley always surrounded by a group? The reason I ask is because, Blackstreet or Guy--it's basically Riley's show. Not to dis Guy's other members, the Hall's Aaron and Damion, but the disc is produced, written and mixed by Riley, and it's got that Riley sound, from the latest installment of "Teddy's Jam" to the bouncin' lead single "Dancin'." Interestingly, a very un-Riley sound that punctuates the superior "Fly Away," one of the disc's best cuts. 7.5/10 (Gerard Dee)
Charles Lloyd/Warne Marsh The Flowering/Warne Marsh (Collectables/Fonographe)
March 2 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kurt Weill, and his "Speak Low" opens this reissue of two albums originally on Atlantic. Lloyd is joined by Keith Jarrett, Cecil McBee and Jack DeJohnette. Tenorman Marsh, one of the great improvisers in jazz, is inspired here, pushed by Ronnie Ball, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones and Paul Motian, who split the drum chair. Kudos to the label for making both sessions available once again! 10/10 (Len Dobbin)
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Certainly one of the most brilliant and influential DJs and producers of his time, France's roi de techno Laurent Garnier returns with an album of monolithic musical proportions that just might save us from the scourge of mediocrity that is ravaging the world of electronic music. Though on first listen, Unreasonable Behaviour emits a hint of darkness and introspection, a second and third run through reveals a depth in the noise that soothes. Tracks like "The Man With the Red Face" and "Dangerous Drive" contain elements of the now-classic Garnier sound of early releases like the Choice EP, while "Forgotten Thoughts" and "Cycles d'Oppositions" take old concepts and carefully reconstruct them with strong, clean architectural lines. 9/10 (Krista)
Well, Hank is back and moving in the right direction. Having replaced his prog/jazz band with three rocker dudes, his limited vocal range can now climb ropes and start swingin' a bit. Hank has come to rock this time around and for the most part he pulls it off. His band do fall into schlock ("Love Is So Heavy") and Hank does follow them through holes on occasion, but the cover of Thin Lizzy's "Are You Ready?" with Scott Gorham is white hot, and MC5's Wayne Kramer delivers guitar work on the hidden track that makes Get Some worth getting some of. The closest Hank's come to recapturing the Black Flag yet. 7/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Bassist D'arcy makes her exit bow on this album, allowing Montrealer Melissa Auf Der Maur to fill that Hole on stage. Singer/songwriter Uncle Fester--I mean Billy Corgan--gets rid of the drum machines and brings back drummer Jimmy Chamberlin, who provides us with the heavy tribalistic drumming we've come to adore all these years. Opener "Everlasting Gaze" and "Heavy Metal Machines" are the token menacing rock tracks; "Raindrops + Sunshowers" (sure to be the next single) and "Try, Try, Try" are perfect rainy-day tracks. With producer Flood, the Pumpkins end up sounding like a rock version of Depeche Mode. Machina makes up for Adore, their last album, and continues where Meloncollie and the Infinite Sadness left off. 8/10 (Lateef Martin)
Pity Blur, whose extended grope for a post-Britpop identity has included everything from a once-antithetical grunge to gospel. But pity former rivals Oasis more, for, well, just being Oasis. Their moment is over but the Brothers Gallagher really can't get over their one trick (and a big, dumb, latter-day Beatles tribute isn't much of a trick), and their fourth album finds them flailing in facile Sgt. Pepper references, i.e. psychedeli-lite. A tweak in the mode of Blur's more ambitious approach would go a long way for Oasis, as demonstrated by the driving and drum-looped opening instrumental, "Fucking in the Bushes" (the Chem. Bros. saw the big-beat gene in Oasis long ago in "Setting Son"). Instead, later in the album, semi-literate Noel lets sub-literate Liam write a song. 6/10 (Chris Yurkiw)
The M stands for Mathieu--Mathieu Chedid, French pop musician of notable lineage and delusional "superhero." The M does not stand for "masculine"--M's breathy androgyny is likely to creep out a lot of straight guys (clarifies the superhero thing, though). As if compensating, this disc is a bit fuller, a bit more rockist than his sparse, snaky debut, La Bapteme. That is, in a brittle, blue-flake funky fashion, with clever wordplay to boot. Think Talking Heads if Byrne weren't so asexually Amish. BTW: Philippe Zdar of Cassius co-produces. 7/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
If the name Lullaby Baxter Trio evokes a fuzzy, jazzy reverie then local singer-songwriter Angelina Iapaolo has christened her faux band well. At the core of this stellar debut album (from a neophyte, no less) is one of those proverbially "smoky" voices--raised on Sarah Vaughn but applied here to some highly original ditties that play fast and lovely loose with a carnival of styles (and I do mean carnival--be it in Rio or New Orleans). In a shrewd move, Atlantic hook up Iapaolo with San Francisco's Oranj Symphonette, whose backing chops on everything from clarinet to banjo fit perfectly in taste and restraint. There's a lot of world-weariness lurking in the playground of songs like "Ding-A-Ling" and "Mr. Powder-Blue Breadbox," but then, this album is a dream. 8.5/10 (Chris Yurkiw)
Having released their two greatest records, Powerage and Let There Be Rock, about 20 years ago, and having peaked commercially (Back In Black) shortly after, these kings of rock would've called it a day if it wasn't for their still-stunning live show. Their recorded output's another thing. Angus is still the spark for the flame--and Brian Johnson's junkyard dog howl is the extinguisher. Once the Young bros. get some serious three-chord boogie shuffle going, Johnson's poorly aged screech stops dead any chance of recapturing the glory years. But if you are able to ignore the Aussie yob yelping away, Angus still proves he's still got some good years left in 'im. 6.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
About once a year, a locals-only comp rolls through to give us a freezeframe of whussup in the 514 (and satellite 450), at least in terms of indie kidnoise. This year's model is an offshoot of the MIMI fest, and reflects the fest's championing of rapprochement, not only linguistic but stylistic as well. Hip hop (Shades, Royal Hill), heaviosity (Anonymous), raunch 'n' roll (WD-40), worldbeat (Awana) and electronica (Jardiniers, 1% Free) all get elbow room. Support the scene, and so on and so forth. This thing's free with any local-music purchase at Kerozen on Ontario, or so I'm told. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
The name of the CD says it all. Chicago's veteran DJ/producer Johnny Fiasco teams up with Versaille's (as in Palais de) Pamplemousse label producer Jo Zas for a little Franco-American house experiment that yields some funky results. Both Chicago and Paris-Versailles house-guys are known for producing pretty distinct styles of house music, but the two vibes end up being quite complementary. Chicago Versailles contains 10 tracks of French-style filtered house with soulful Chicago elements, padded by a few downtempo interludes from Mr. X. 7.5/10 (Krista)