Compilations are usually a long shot at best. It just gets too taxing trying to make it
through the flotsam until you finally find the one or two good songs. Compiled by Electric
Frankenstein's Sal Canzonieri, this series is all killer and no filler. The usual rock elite
Kataklysm The Prophecy: Stigmata of the Immaculate (Nuclear Blast) After three years between releases, Montreal metal merchants Kataklysm release their most brutal blast yet. Devastating N.Y.H.C vocals mesh perfectly with speed/death beats, laying waste to all in their wake. Prophecy shows Kataklysm returning back to their metal roots, as opposed to the more hardcore sounds on their last effort, Victims of This Fallen World. Vocalist Maurizio Iacono goes easily from a hardcore grunt to a death squeal and Jean-François Dagenais' harmony leads à la Arch Enemy thankfully ride the riff instead of overwhelm. The real success here is that Prophecy shows growth without losing touch with its roots. Well done. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Paul Weller Heliocentric (Island/Universal)
Joseph Arthur Come to Where I'm From (Real World/EMI)
Cypress Hill Skull & Bones (Columbia/Sony) So the Hill are back and have added yet more styles to their repertoire. They sound as good as ever, if a tad melodramatic on "Another Victory," with their very own version of Tony Montana threatening punks with 9mm enemas and spit. "(Rap) Superstar" is arguably the most powerful track on this double CD, tellin' it like it is 'bout the fake-ass exploitative music industry with the likes of Eminem and Noreaga droppin' 411 on their views between B-Real's tite nasal flow (likewise, Everlast and Deftone's Chin Moreno guest on the Korn-y "(Rock) Superstar"). The Hill seem to steer away from blunted tales of bongs and mary-jane (except the pissed-off "Can I Get a Hit") and jump down the throats of stank-ass playa haters, and hell, why not? After 10 years in the biz I think it's high time these boys got a little get back. 8/10 (Lateef Martin)
Rah Digga Dirty Harriet (Warner/Elektra) Rah Digga would probably kick my ass if she knew that I was partial to her because of her good looks, but it's the truth. Not that she doesn't have a distinct tone and her own personal flow as well, but the woman is sweet. The record is cool for a debut, featuring production by Busta Rhymes, Beatminerz, Pete Rock, Ruff Ryders, Rockwilder, Outsidaz and Primo. Digga flows best when Busta is at the controls, but by and large she warrants a good beat and knows what to do with one. An unnecessary addition was the inclusion of a spoken track with Digga defending against rumours that she changes her voice to sound deeper and doesn't write her own rhymes. It just ends up sounding like she has something to hide, but I doubt she does. 7.5/10 (Scott C)
Phat Cat AKA Ronnie Cash "Dedication to the Suckers" 12" (House Shoes Recordings) Everybody knows that Jay Dee has been keeping a pretty high musical profile as of late, producing tracks for names like Q-Tip, Common and D'Angelo and getting ready for his own group's long awaited release. What people don't know is that Jay has still been keeping his eye on his hometown of Detroit, where there's more to hip hop than just Eminem. Phat Cat is the first to emerge from Slum Village's camp of unknowns who have ample lyrical skills but benefit most from Jay Dee's signature production. As well as featuring the excellent B-sides "Don't Nobody Care about Us" and "Microphone Master," "Dedication..." features Jay Dee flexing some scratch samples, paying homage to a production style popularized by none other than DJ Premier. 8/10 (Scott C)
Da Brat Unrestricted (Sony)
Mark Anthony Global Groove: Edge (Centaur) Montreal's undisputed king of the ring, DJ Mark Anthony, visits the outermost "edge" of his mixing ability on NYC-based Centaur Recordings' Global Groove series mix CD. As is clearly obvious by the packaging, which features a male model by the name of Brandon wearing a pair of leather Helmut Langs, the Centaur imprint gears their product more towards the gay/circuit party set. The music on the CD doesn't betray the stereotype. Not surprisingly, Mark delivers a seamless mix of deep, dark and dreamy trance-tinged house. 8/10 (Krista)
Dimitri from Paris A Night at the Playboy Mansion (Astralwerks/EMI)
Kevin YostStraight Outta the Boon Dox (Distance/Fusion III) Kevin Yost's second mix CD for the French label Distance serves as a tribute to his life in easygoing rural Pennsylvania, where Yost was born, raised and has lived all his life (hence the "boon dox" reference). Citing Chuck Mangione and Don Ellis as his major musical influences, Yost has developed a unique style of rolling, jazz-inspired house that ranges from smooth and chilled-out to suave funk. Boon Dox features 13 tracks from the i! Records catalogue by Richard Les Crees, Todd Edwards and Yost himself. 8/10 (Krista)
Horace Andy Living in the Flood (Melankolic/EMI)
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Party Dust to Gold (Real World/EMI)
Milt Jackson To Bags... With Love (Pablo/Universal)
A fitting memorial: 11 tracks featuring the late vibraphone giant, recorded between '54 and '83. Sessions under his own name and in combinations led by Count Basie, Benny Carter, Roy Eldridge, Cannonball Adderley, Wes Montgomery and Miles Davis with Monk, plus an early example of the Modern Jazz Quartet and an opening duet with Oscar Peterson--they're all here and Milt, the great bebop master, makes them all worth a listen. An open door to the wonderful world of "Bags." 10/10
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Various Fistful of Rock 'n' Roll Volume 1 and 2 (Tee Pee/Caroline)
are here--Gaza Strippers, Zeke, Candy Snatchers, Supersuckers etc--but the real joy is getting
turned on to the new rockers like Easy Action (ex-Laughing Hyenas), El Diablo (ex-Hagfish) and
the best song I've heard this year, "Changing Colors" by Bell Rays (Imagine Ike and Tina kicking
out the jams with The MC5, woo hoo!). Volumes 3 to 6 are coming up this month and if they're half
as good as this... Vol. 1 10/10, Vol. 2 9.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Blame it on the upswing in England's economy, shall we? The punk turned god-father-in-his-own-right has witnessed a parallel downswing in the last decade, wallowing in uninspired classic rock. Gone is the deadly accuracy of the Jam and the gracious lustre of the Style Council. What's left is tired, ponderous, overproduced transmissions from the dinosaur graveyard--a mere tombstone or two over from Phil Collins or Tom Petty. Paul, man, just write a play or something, okay? 5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Joseph Arthur is a raw, idiosyncratic talent whose second album should bust him out of any previous confines, be it "singer-songwriter" or "the first non-world-music signing to the Real World label." He writes longish, lulling, acoustic-based pieces driven by drum loops and supplemented by synths. His upbeat numbers could be power ballads by Filter. He startles with a sentiment like "May God's love be with you." He gives power to an unremarkable voice. And live, he'll rebuild his songs in front of you by sampling sounds he's just played. And if you want live, you've got it: Montreal is in Arthur's current touring circuit wherein he returns to cities several times in the space of a few weeks. 8/10 (Chris Yurkiw) With Julie Doiron at Jailhouse on Sat., April 29. Also May 13 & May 27
If you're not already a fan of Da Brat's rapid-fire, relentless rap style, then her latest isn't going to win you over. On the flipside, if you're a long-time fan, then Unrestricted won't turn you off. It's pretty much par for the course: the bratty one goes off on useless men, gives herself much props and parties with a bunch of well-known friends, including Ja Rule, Tyrese, Kelly Price, LaTocha Scott (Xscape) and Lord-have-mercy-where-have-you-been-glad-you're-still-around, the original foulmouthed MC, Millie Jackson. 6.5/10 (Gerard Dee)
It's not entirely clear whether the Respect is Burning posse, those avenging disco hot-spotters outta Paris (with Dimitri front and centre as point man) really did hook up a house party chez Hef. Regardless, this is a sexy, silly mix of classic disco (Cerrone, the Originals) and its colourific house godchildren (Atmosfear, some goodies from the MAW scene), getting down and all dub-dopey. In short, this is guaranteed to boost mirrorball rentals everywhere. Coming soon: The Larry Flynt Bedside Vigil Songbook, followed by Hot Tub Time with Bob Guccione and the special scratch 'n' sniff edition of Laundry Day for Al Goldstein. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
When Massive Attack engaged sweet 'n' high reggae vocalist Horace Andy to sing "One Love" (and a couple of other tunes) on their '91 debut Blue Lines, it sharpened their influential dub tip and re-pointed ears toward a Studio One original. Both parties are still benefitting from the relationship today with the release of Andy's first album of new material since just before Lines, on Massive's own Melankolic label. His distinctive falsetto carries even the more pedestrian roots numbers here, but song and singer do soar mid-album with the anti-rude boy "Johnny Too Bad," the rock-steady R&B of "Right Time," and the title chugga-skank co-written with Joe Strummer. 7/10 (Chris Yurkiw)
I recommend a retitling: Dusting Off the Gold. This is material from the vaults, four qawwalis (sprawling Pakistani gospel analogues) recorded in Nusrat's hometown of Lahore before his passing. The exact date of the sessions is unclear, but I'd bet they were done before the legendary Nusrat began lending his powerful, goosebump-inducing voice to Real World and Canuck guitarist Michael Brook. Not to knock those efforts, but this is the real stuff--pure, uncompromised and deeply moving. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)