U2 All That You Can't Leave Behind (Universal)
Pepe Deluxé Super Sound (Emperor Norton/Outside)
Various Fistful of Rock and Roll, Vol. 5 In the tradition of great compilation series like Nuggets and Pebbles, Electric Frankenstein's Sal Canzonieri has searched far and wide for the best of underground rock 'n' roll and compiled it all on this 13-volume series. Vol. 5 features established acts like Dwarves, the Go, Uppercrust and Zen Guerilla as well as shedding new light on great new bands like Aerobitch and Weaklings. Vol. 6 has got the tried-and-true Gluecifer, Turbonegro, Dragons and Sonny Vincent (with the Stooges' Ashton bros. and the Damned's Capt. Sensible) but the real fun is the discovery of the snotty sounds from the Bobby Teens and the Plungers. Both CDs come with an interactive CD-ROM and cool artwork from some of the best up-and-coming underground artists. Both 8/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Joe Jackson Night and Day II (Sony Classical)
Jazzanova The Remixes 1997-2000 (Jazzanova Compost/Fusion III)
Black Eyed Peas Bridging the Gap (Interscope/Universal)
Insane Clown Posse Bizaar (Island/Def Jam) This shit's funny. Kinda like cancer is funny. This is retard rap for the got-nuthin'-better-to-do-generation. You've got all the staples here: pointless answering machine messages, the obligatory skittering cymbal track, silly fuck-you-I'm-a-do-what-I-want anthems, and generous use of childish, pre-pubescent sex references. And hey, if you find your kid fuckin' beehives, sucker-punchin' gorillas with a banana lodged in their butts, sashaying through prisons in pink thong bikinis and stabbin' your average, decent, tax payin' citizen with a rusty screwdriver, you can blame these guys! 9/10 (Lateef "Big Top" Martin)
BrassMunk Live Ordeal! (Audio Research/Heavy Heads Ent.) Is T.O. hip hop getting so organized that all you can do is hate it? I dare you to hate Toronto's BrassMunk who've just released their first single on MTL's Audio Research. "Live Ordeal!" is crazy, guitar-laden rah-rah, lurching along with a brutal beat and live lyrics. "Rise Up," the first song on the flip, is a cool nod to the production of Pete Rock, produced by Da Grassroots, with some fitting call and response BrassMunk antics. Rounding out the single is "Serious Business," the DJ-Serious-produced bassline runner with "cricket noises" (!?). Buy this so you can honestly say you were "up on it back then" years from now. 9/10 (Scott C)
David Alvarado Mixer Presents United DJs of America Vol. 15 (DMC/Razor & Tie) It's really hard to get excited about a mix CD these days. Every DJ is putting one out and it's not hard to mix a few records together: if you can count 16 bars of music you can probably figure it out. The real test is putting together a set that will actually make people want to dance, and invariably that's what separates the true DJs from the perpetrators (duh). Mixer magazine chose L.A.-based house pioneer David Alvarado, who has selected 13 cuts of smooth, deep, vocal and tribal house and created a lovely mini-journey to the underground that's definitely worth a listen or two. 8/10 (Krista)
Vicious Vic Trance Voyages (Topaz) One more former house DJ/producer turns to trance. This time it's NYC's infamous Vicious Vic of breaks/house anthems Liquid Bass/Frozen Bass fame who has traded in his chunky beats for uplifting anthems. I guess this really is the sound of the future--too bad. Vic has sewn together 13 tracks of driving, swirling trance hits (b-o-r-i-n-g) from the likes of Pulse Driver, Wavehead and Timeriders. But it all sounds the same to me. 6.5/10 (Krista)
SplattercellRemiksis 12" (Celldivision) A strange 12-inch that sits very uncomfortably on both sides of the musical fence, this is too weird for the mainstream kids and not experimental enough for the hardcore nerds. While Dan the Automator's mix does an okay job, the rest is a muddy mix of down-tempo, IDM and random noises that sound a few years old. Confusing and boring, this is the quintessential soundtrack for bad acid. 6/10 (Chris Hatherill)
M.O.P.Warriorz (Loud/Sony) FIRING SQUAD!! Nobody works the trenches like the boys from M.O.P., who are back with their fourth full-length ass-whoopin' on record. Name one other group who can collectively run down the rawness on every song and attract producers like Primo, Pete Rock, Buckwild, Rockwilder, DJ Scratch and Dr. Period. With riot-starters like "G Building" and "Ante Up" leading the way to a fiery arsenal of equally hardcore tracks, M.O.P. have once again silenced all the imitators and duplicators who do not understand the science of ripping a track from the ass up. This is not for the smoothed-out set. 7/10 (Scott C)
Lewis Taylor Lewis II (Island/Universal)
Marc Copland Softly... (Savoy/Allegro) I was asleep on this marvellous pianist/composer till hearing him with the Joe Lovano Nonet at this year's Ottawa International Jazz Festival. That event and this recording were certainly wake-up calls. The trio numbers, where he is joined by Gary Peacock and Bill Stewart, are both intense and highly musical and there are bonuses in guest appearances by Tim Hagans, Michael Brecker and Lovano. A classy outing from the first note of "Softly" through to the last one on "My Foolish Heart." More please! 10/10 (Len Dobbin)
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The man in black is back and this time it's personal. While some of the original outlaws like Merle Haggard have mellowed with age, Cash's trademark well-weathered baritone can still shake the walls with awesome power. The CD's opener--a cover of Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down"--is now permanently stamped with Cash's signature. He can also claim ownership of songs by Nick Cave, David Alan Coe, Will Oldham and Neil Diamond, and he easily outdoes Bozo on U2's "One." The five originals also prove that he is the last of the great storytellers and his deli-very still cuts through with unabashed honesty and diamond brilliance that can't be faked. 9.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
On their millionth album in as many years, these Irish elder statesmen have dropped the big, postmodern spectacle of Zoo TV and Popmart in favour of unpretentious, radio-friendly tunes. Surprisingly, this works quite well. Light on electronics and heavy on simple rock 'n' roll themes ("it's a beautiful day," "slow down my beating heart," etc...), this album seems to be a return to their roots, or maybe someone else's. The Edge's trademark guitar and Bono's vox remain in the forefront, and while there are a few stinkers in the pack--and nothing particularly revolutionary to be heard--this is pretty pleasant stuff. 7/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
A trio of Finns arriving with exceptional credentials (one's a prof at Helsinki U, one's a four-time Finnish DMC champ and one's a vinyl junkie with a five-metre stack of "the good stuff"), Pepe Deluxé present a calling card that should open a few doors. Impeccably constructed oddities, gags, grooves and weird-outs, these "many moods of three bad brothers," as opener "Three Times a Player" suggests, continue to surprise and inspire curiosity listen after listen (note: could do without the bluesy "The Ride" though). Fine-tuned funky Finnish foolishness, in short. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
After years of unsatisfying digressions into classical and otherwise, Joe's back where he found his most successful material--watching the NYC nightlife menagerie roll by through the window of a warm cab. Hell, "Stepping Out" even gets a wink during the gloriously sarcastic "Glamour and Pain." He makes a lot of stops--eerie operatics, cornball cabaret with Marianne Faithfull, pensive balladry and earnest, plain-faced piano-man pop ("Dear Mom"). There's plenty of rich string punctuation and a nervous hi-hat tick running incessantly throughout. The cab's meter maybe? 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
The six-man DJ/production team that make up Jazzanova, the core of Berlin's Sonar Kollektiv, are long overdue for a debut album of original material (more than half a decade they've been at it). One's in the works but in the meantime, here's a scrapbook of what else they've been up to. The roll call is respectable, featuring house and down-tempo names like 4 Hero, Har-You Percussion Group, U.F.O., Azymuth and Ian Pooley. All get the royal treatment--a quintessential club sound that balances airtight, smooth-contoured elegance with the raw, intricate sweat of Afro-beat and samba. A few tracks come off too slick and cheesy, but the standouts more than make up for it. 9/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
I was never really sure if I was going to see another album by this California trio. With their first album, Behind the Front, I always thought that they stuck out their Native Tongues just a little too far. Their attempt to capture that Tribe vibe was just a little too contrived. But here they are again, so what do I know? This album is a fence-sitter. I listen to it and bob my head, but it's missing that thing that grabs you and pulls you in. The Primo joint is well placed, they got the nod from De La and Jurassic, as well as Macy Gray and Les Nubians, but there's still something missing. Maybe it'll show itself later. 7.5/10 (Scott C)
London knows how to funk. Lewis Taylor knows how too, and, like his self-titled debut, the Brit's latest, Lewis II, is a hearty mix of funk, pop and rock. At his best, he brings these elements together seamlessly in stellar tracks like "My Aching Heart" and "The Party," and balances the retro feel of cuts like "The Way You Done Me" by blending futuristic musical elements into tracks like "You Make Me Wanna." London should be proud. 7.5/10 (Gerard Dee)