Ever wonder what it's like to be one of the oldest crews in the hip hop game and to have all eyes on you when your record comes out? Can you imagine the pressure involved putting out a new album to rival all your previous records? Fortunately, De La doesn't bother with such idle thoughts and just gets right down to business. I'm thinking Mosaic Thump refers to the fact that the album is pretty much all over the place, but still maintains an all-inclusive, head-nod cohesive thump. De La and Beastie Boys on "Squat!" is some fantastic foolishness for real, while "U Don't Wanna B.D.S." has Freddie Foxx on some hired gun shit, ready to scare all fake MCs into hiding. My only complaints are the unnecessary inclusion of Busta Rhymes, and the fact that there's only one running skit (Ghost Weeeeeeeed!). Otherwise, this is getting play into the winter months. De La Soul still know how to have fun without looking stupid. 8.5/10 (Scott C)
Rancid self-titled (Hellcat/Sonic Unyon) These spiky-haired punkers have really hit their zenith. Rancid, with 22 hardcore rockers, have succeeded in making their own hardcore London Calling. The new single "Let Me Go" has a pumping '77 punk beat with Lee Perry dub moments, and the G.B.H.-styled "Corruption" is a swift kick to the balls, but "Radio Havana" and "Disgruntled" are pure pop/punk craftsmanship. Lars Frederiksen's songs are nothing to wake the neighbours, but when Tim Armstrong is croaking like a young Joe Strummer on crank, it just don't get much punker. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins) Ray WonderA New Kind of Love (Nons/Fusion III)
Origin self-titled (Relapse/Song) Origin's death/grind blast manages to harness its musical chaos here with devastating technical prowess. Stop-on-a-dime changes and rapid-fire guitars take hold of the utter brutality of songs like "Mental Torment" and "Lethal Manipulation." Singer Mark Manning's sub-death scream dovetails perfectly with guitarist/singers Paul Ryan's and Jeremy Turner's hardcore wails on "Disease of Man" and "Vomit You Out," while a concussion-like attack throughout refuses to relent until this 30-minute record ends. Origin's debut disc has all the delivery and punishment of a nailbomb, proving them to be a band to watch out for. 9/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Saint Low self-titled (Thirsty Ear Recordings)
Johnny Thunders Belfast Nights (Amsterdamned/Song)
Big LThe Big Picture 1974-1999 (Rawkus/EMI) As one of the more vocal members of D.I.T.C., Big L always managed to set himself apart from the rest of the crew, rockin' the high-pitched slang and the uptown drama. Unfortunately, somebody else decided to set him apart from the rest of the crew for good, robbing the world of a talented MC who by every account was just getting started. This record does not discredit Big L at all, sitting all those classic singles right beside some new shit that makes for a fitting legacy. Unlike the D.I.T.C. record, The Big Picture doesn't dilly-dally with wasted tracks that don't even warrant inclusion. This is as much a tribute to Big L as it is a solid body of work, and a proper memorial to a feisty little brother from Harlem spittin' big words. 8/10 (Scott C)
Chris Fortier Trance America (Engine/ADA) And one more Florida native hops on the trance bandwagon that's zooming across the planet, kicking up dust at every rave from Halifax to Ho Chi Mihn City. Allied with Florida rave icons like DJ Icey and Kimball Collins, Orlando's DJ Chris Fortier has been kicking the progressive-breaks styles since the days when phat pants were le dernier crue. Now he's a big-time progressive trance DJ/producer touring with big shots like John Digweed, and Jimmy Van M. Fortier's Trance America mix is seamless, deep and heady, and contains a very lovely and uplifting track by our very own Max Graham. 8/10 (Krista)
Hexstatic Rewind (Ninja Tune/Outside)
DJ Heather Tangerine (Afterhours/Song)
Victoria WilliamsWater to Drink (Atlantic/Warner) If you're up on your Jobim catalogue and nova-Brazilian references (as many people are these days), you might catch that the title here is the English version of the '63 bossa classic "Agua de Beber," and you might even extrapolate that Victoria Williams' latest is an album of pop-stand covers. Well, it started out that way, but in the end just three of 12 tunes qualify, the title track (faithful, not bad!) rounded out by Van Dyke Parks' strings on "Young at Heart" and "Until the Real Thing Comes Along." The rootsier originals are also bolstered by nifty arrangements (kalimba, long-necked banjo, vibes), with the wonderful waltz "Claude" making a play for all the old Kate Bush fans who still don't know Williams. 7.5/10 (Chris Yurkiw)
China On Tourne en Round (EMI) Not many artists can pull off the bilingual thing--especially on the same album--without coming off sounding rehearsed. But female chanteuse, China, does a remarkable job at sounding cool in French and English. As such, she's equally laid back and jazzy fresh on tracks like the downbeat "Près de toi" as she is on a trio of English songs, including "Somebody." Live instrumentation and a guest spot by effervescent jazz singer Dee Dee Bridgewater round out a set that makes for great chill music. 8/10 (Gerard Dee)
Chicago Underground DuoSynesthesia (Thrill Jockey) Yes, cornetist Rob Mazurek has guested with Tortoise and yes, percussionist Chad Taylor moves in the same Chicago post-rock pack. But make no mistake: these guys got their start as old-school jazzbos, meaning they went to some ol' school to learn the canonical chops of bop and free jizz (my spelling). Of course, the reason they're here today as the Chicago Underground Duo is the very influence of Chi-town bridge-builders like John McEntire, Jim O'Rourke and Sam Prekop, and CUD's second album is a tasty mix of free flourishes and electronique ambiance (and vibes: what would Chicago be these days without vibes!?). And rock--long live its legacy. 7/10 (Chris Yurkiw) at le Petit Campus next Thursday, Aug. 24
Ralph Lalama Music for Grown Ups (Criss Cross) If you enjoyed Lalama on Joe Lovano's new Blue Note release, you'll want to own this one. Vanguard Band member Lalama is a roaring player in the Sonny Rollins tradition. He's heard with a superb trio of Richard Wyands and the unrelated Washingtons Peter and Kenny in a program of some standards, including "Blue Gardenia," an early Rollins piece and a pair of originals by Lalama, including "Newk It!" in honour of Sonny. Tenor sax playing of the first order! 9/10 (Len Dobbin)
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Those with an ear for quality neo-pop should know the name Komeda, a Swedish outfit giving homies the Cardigans a run for their money, in the catchiness department if not in terms of sales. What both lack, though, as ex-Komeda member Henrik Andersson seemed to figure, is that old-tyme rock locomotion. Ray Wonder, Andersson's new band, got that shit in spades. It's not just the heaving organ, mighty crooning and spangled guitar chords that meatify these classy numbers. It's a sense of confident ambition, a push toward pop perfection that's at once raw and carefully refined, totally now and totally in the spirit of the Kinks and their cohorts. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
You may remember a little U.S. band called Madder Rose from the heyday of obscure indie rock. As a preview of sorts for the band's next album (out in 2001), frontwoman Mary Lorson releases the debut by her pet project Saint Low, which marks her first foray into songwriting. Although the often dark, country-goth undertones are reminiscent of Madder Rose, Saint Low lack their mother band's unique texture and pop crafts(wo)manship. At its best, this is guitar-driven lounge-noir with familiar but inspired production and nice vocals. At its worst, it's overly clean, assembly line folk rock. 6/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
If Iggy was the godfather of punk, then Thunders, through his work with the Heartbreakers and the New York Dolls, must be the illegitimate father. By the time Thunders made a go as a solo artist he was already a dilapidated wreck, due to too much junkie business, and thus became a joke by not singing in mics, falling off stages, nodding off in mid-song and so on. This live recording from 1980, though, shows a back-to-basics, somewhat-sober-but-still-slurring Thunders commandeering a rock 'n' roll juggernaut that, at least on that particular night, could still ride safely on the rails. Of course, he does do "Chinese Rocks" three times and "Pipeline" twice in the set. 8/10 (Johnson Cummins)
You may recognize the name Hexstatic from the visuals the duo (Stuart Warren Hill and Robin Brunson) have provided for Coldcut, live and on CD-ROM. Rewind is tunes they've cobbled together themselves--fax machine funk, contextualized voice bites and low-res video game bleeps woven into a circuit board circus that's lively and fun despite its creepy, computer-age caveats. It's no surprise that the real prize is disc two, with a digital vid-clip for each track (remixing ninja flicks, robot toys, talking heads and vector-based arcades graphics), plus bonus stuff. Each clip is clever and clean enough to stand on its own, and these guys sure know how to punch the nostalgia buttons. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
I don't think I will ever truly understand what it is about house DJs from Chicago, their innate sense of rhythm and their ability to find tunes and mix them like no other DJs can. Chi-town woman DJ Heather falls into that esteemed category of "my favourite DJs," with names like Derrick Carter, Diz, J-Dub and a couple of those San Fran guys. She can turn it out like nobody's business, and this mix compilation on Johnny Fiasco's Afterhours label demonstrates just how well she knows her shit. Features tunes from Freaks, JT Donaldson, Toka Project and more. 11/10 (Krista)