Tarwater Animals Suns & Atoms (Kitty-Yo/Mute) Laubntuition (Kitty-Yo/Triage) Remember the early '80s? Nina Hagen recording for Columbia... Falco singing "Der Kommissar" in German on Top 40 radio... some dumb song about "Luftballoons"? If not, kiddies, you are now experiencing the Second Reich of German pop. Tarwater (and kindred compatriots Kreidler, To Rococo Rot, Mouse on Mars...) are more like the lower-flying D.A.F. or Holger Hillers of the day--not least because they're also hooked up to the world via the stalwart, electrocentric label Mute. Laconic electrobeat, dispassionate vocals, and a very German assertion that "Man is the most adaptable machine in the universe." And I thought it was the Audi Quattro. Meanwhile, Laub are one of the more sheeny entries from Berlin's hot Kitty-Yo label, wispy woman vocalist in tow. But their music (and these remixes, by Pole, Coldcut, and minimalist German techno-oids with names like Rechenzentrum) is anything but; alternately slammin', serene, and cerebrum-scrapin'. All heil. Tarwater 7/10, Laub 8/10 (Chris Yurkiw)
A Perfect Circle Mer de Noms (Virgin/EMI) No, singer Maynard James Keenan did not leave Tool. Tool did not break up, but at the same time, A Perfect Circle isn't exactly a side project. Billy Howerdel, ex-engineer of NIN, Marilyn Manson and Tool (to name a few), has created a lush pro-ject which has influences from all the above but goes places the aforementioned dare not go, giving Maynard free rein to explore territories not yet charted wih Tool. I saw these guys (and girl Paz on bass) open for Nine Inch Nails recently, and they blew the crowd away. Someone at Rolling Stone needs a smack for giving this album two-and-a-half stars. 8/10 (Lateef Martin)
Big Tymers Got That Work (Cash Money/Universal) It's a real shame that BET (Black Entertainment Television) isn't available in your regular cable roundup here in Quebec. If you had BET, you'd realize just how much they play these guys, permanently engraving them in your mind. Just like the video for "Get Your Roll On," with all our favourite Big Tymers tooling around a moist parking lot in million-dollar cars, this record is big, bold and retardedly addictive. It's like a bunch of knuckleheads got together and decided to get rich rappin' about bullshit, so the haters would have something to rap about. Genius. 7/10 (Scott C)
Dilated Peoples The Platform (Capitol/EMI)
Laflèche Montreal Mix Sessions (Vol. 4) Laflèche (Turbo/Koch) WARNING! Do not listen to this CD at 3 am on a Monday when you are overtired and on the verge of passing out. It will seriously do your head in. And do not listen to this CD while you drive--you will cause accidents. Local hero Laflèche's second mix CD for Turbo's Montreal Mix Sessions is one relentless collection of pumped-up house, brilliantly orchestrated and properly mastered, but way too over the top for these ears. Includes several unreleased tunes and exclusive Laflèche re-edits of DJ Dan and Dahlback and Krome. 7.5/10 (Krista)
Big Al BarefootMixed by Big Al (Ready Mix) Holy mix CD madness, Batman. These days everybody's got one. Like Lebanon-born Montrealer Big Al, renaissance man, keeper of the unified groove, fan of the old school. From his very own Ready Mix Factory comes his debut CD, Barefoot, so named for the fact that our feet are what connect us to Mother Earth. This collection of uplifting, PLUR-themed house tunes is, if you can handle all the emotional build-ups, a real shaker. Summer in Ibiza anyone? 7.5/10 (Krista)
Whitney Houston The Greatest Hits (Arista/BMG)
Rumours about Houston's sexual orientation, drug abuse and faltering vocals have been persistent. Yet what this two-disc collection shows is that while everyone's been talking, the girl has been singing. Disc one (Cool Down) highlights the ballads, including two new tracks: the commercial "Could I Have This Kiss Forever" with Enrique Iglesias, and "Same Script, Different Cast," an adult contemporary version of "The Boy Is Mine" with Canada's Deborah Cox. The Throw Down disc mines remixed Houston dancefloor staples like "Queen of the Night" (CJ Mackintosh) and "Love Will Save the Day" (Jellybean & David Morales). The Raphael Saadiq-produced "Fine" is one of two new tracks. 8.5/10 (Gerard Dee)
Equalizer Rise (Peter Unplugged)
This local act have been incurring a lot of Police comparisons. These are partially inappropriate, in that Equalizer do their reggae straightforwardly, but the clean, technical approach is early '80s through and through. If you're grounded in raw roots and rock steady sounds, you'll find this too antiseptic. If you simply want a party from the heart, however, and want it competently executed, then Rise should rise to the occasion. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) CD launch at Q-Stix, Sat., May 27, 7pm
Various Morgan Heritage Family and Friends Vol.2 (AO!/Oasis)
The reigning "Royal Family of Reggae" not only serves up the proper harmonies and rhythms that they've become revered for, but includes the talents of many of their other family members and close friends. "Buss Up Barriers" finds the Morgans challenging the prominent portrayal of a blond-haired, blue-eyed Jesus in an effort to enlighten listeners on the contributions of early African people. The group that has been called the Jacksons of reggae also collaborate with Toots and the Maytals, Prince Theo, Capleton, Don Marshall, Buju Banton and JAH Cure. 7.5/10 (Scott C)
WetfishNosferatu (Trancecore)
Various New Coat of Paint: Songs of Tom Waits (Manifesto/Oasis)
Usually these tribute records aren't worth the plastic they're burned on, but after one listen to Screamin' Jay Hawkins taking a stab at "Whistlin' Past the Graveyard" or André Williams' velvet gravel approach on "Pasties and a G-string," you'll be all over this. Lydia Lunch teams up with guitarist extraordinaire Nels Cline for "Heart Attack and Vine," and this time around Ms. Lunch is (surprisingly) not completely vile. Cline is brilliant as usual. Knoxville Girls' cheap organ screams through "Virginia Avenue," while Neko Case sounds believable on "Christmas Card From a Hooker in Minneapolis." Even ol' Tom himself would be tickled pink to hear Floyd Dixon croon "Blue Skies." 8/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Dave Holland Prime Directive (ECM/Universal)
In 1968, Miles Davis hired English bassist Dave Holland via a transatlantic phone call. The rest is history--a year stint with the "Prince of Darkness." This is a marvelous session by Holland's quintet, a working band that will make a Festival appearance here on July 1. Made up of the crème de la crème of practicing jazzmen--Chris Potter, Robin Eubanks, Steve Nelson and Billy Kilson, composers all. Eight originals by the quintet's members make for a memorable and musical outing. 9/10 (Len Dobbin)
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Forget the buzz surrounding the debut of Lucy Pearl. Forget that each of the members--Tony Toni Tone's Raphael Saadiq, A Tribe Called Quest's Shaheed Muhamad and En Vogue's Dawn Robinson--have already had stellar careers. Most of all, forget that this is supposed to be the next big thing and just listen. When was the last time you heard a bass kick as hard as on "Trippin'"? How long has it been since a nostalgic track like "Dance Tonight" was as sweet and sample-free? Is it me or does the vocal interplay on "Don't Mess With My Man" revisit some Rufus/Chaka Khan shit? And doesn't "Without You" sound like what a funky Shalamar would have been in 2000? Forget the hype, this is damn good music. 9/10 (Gerard Dee)
The Stars A Lot of Little Lies For the Sake of One Big Truth (Le Grand Magistery/FAB)
I had the pleasure of catching a set of the Stars' delicate, ornate pop at the Fez in NYC last September, and have since been waiting for this disc to surface. Building on a philosophy of luxe, calme et volupté (light, calm and voluptuous), songwriter Chris Seligman applies classical training to constructing little moments of fragile perfection, into which singer Torquil Campbell breathes quiet pulses of life. Found here are a Smiths cover, a theme song, a demo, the radio-ready "My Radio" and a pair of live ones from the Fez show. It's a prep run for their forthcoming full-length, so keep watching the Stars, as they say. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) CD launch at Club Zone, Mon., May 29, 10pm, $7
Not a whole lot to say about this record, only that it's mad tight both lyrically and production-wise. Dilated have this habit of being, if not exactly predictable on record, never venturing too far from home. They really do "Work the Angles," though. Sharp and precise, Iriscience, Evidence and Babu are joined by partners in crime the Alchemist, picking up the non-existent production slack, B-Real, the Alkaholiks, Aceyalone, Planet Asia, Defari and White E Ford (aka Everlast). All movements begin underground. 8.5/10 (Scott C)
Last summer local weirdness-weavers Wetfish composed a live accompaniment to the silent film Metropolis. In November they repeated the feat with the eerie, seminal vampire flick Nosferatu, bringing along didgeridoos and digital dudes, pipes, drums, strings and throat singers--and this time 'round, a DAT recorder. Now a scaled-down version of the experience can be enjoyed by anyone capable of buying a CD, renting a video and pressing two "play" buttons simultaneously. Alternately morose, funny and forboding, the stuff stands well on its own (for freakophonica aficionados, at least). 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
