Gary Numan Pure (Eagle/EMI)
Novillero The Brindleford Follies (Endearing/No)
Hawksley Workman (Last Night We Were) the Delicious Wolves (Isadora/Universal) Following up his acclaimed debut, For Him and the Girls, Ontario's boy wonder is trying a bit of everything. The lead track, "Striptease," is a sleazy chugger bathed in guitar and electro-fuzz. "Old Bloody Orange" recalls latter-day Leonard Cohen, complete with corny female backup. Other tracks are stripped down, piano-and-drums affairs. Not too shabby, but it's a shame that the unifying elements here are Workman's often-whiny warble and his quirky retard lyrics. "Dirty and True" is particularly special. I don't like to throw the word pretentious around, but I may throw this disc around when I'm done with it. Heads up. 4/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
Bigdumbface Duke Lion Fights the Terror! (Flip/Universal)
Ricky J Lose Control (Warner)
Various Connected: The John Acquaviva Mix (YUL/Song)
Kriedler self-titled (Mute/Fusion III)
Polygon Window Surfing on Sine Waves (Warp/Outside) Warp has a brand new shiny office in New York, which means we'll be seeing a lot of old material being re-released and a lot of confused people praising 10-year-old albums as absolutely brilliant cutting-edge stuff. Of course, when the record is Surfing on Sine Waves, Richard D. James' classic debut on Warp, that's exactly what you're getting. Still fresh-sounding and easily better than a lot of the Intelligent Dreck Music coming out these days, the only thing that seems to have aged is the title. Nowadays you'd be publicly flogged for such cheese. Warp even anticipated smug old you saying, "Ha, ha, I bought that five years ago!" and added two new bonus tracks, so now you have to buy it again. "9/10 (Chris Hatherill) Jedi Knights Jedi Selector (Smugg/Ozone)
David Alvarado Soundscapes: Live From London (Phatt Phunk) L.A. DJ David Alvarado is a well-regarded part of Cali's deep house vanguard, along with the likes of Marques Wyatt and Mark Farina. In a live set from London recorded in late '99, Dave serves up a pina colada of a mix that would make any Buckingham Palace guard tap his toes. Infectious tropical groovers with a hint of rumba-flavoured funk are presented in a seamlessly blended big-room format. You gotta love a mix that includes confections from Kevin Yost, Miguel Migs and Sandy Rivera. Want to shake it out in a rainforest? Check out Soundscapes. 8.5/10 (Peter Lightburn) Château Flight Puzzle (Versatile/Fusion III)/FONT> Once upon a time, or rather five years ago, a French producer by the name of i:cube sent a demo to a producer/Radio Nova host by the name of Gilb'r. Gilb'r thought it was quite excellent, and decided to put it on his newly formed Versatile label. Gilb'r and i:cube forged a close friendship and soon decided to get together in the studio. The result of this union is Château Flight, whose debut album Puzzle combines i:cube's penchant for ambient soundscapes and minimal techno with Gilb'r's love of jazz, breakbeats and house. The result is a beautifully guided musical tour of the Loire valley and all the sexiest regions of France. Très chic. 8/10 (Krista) Miki Howard Three Wishes (Peak/Concord)
Scott Hamilton Jazz Signatures (Concord/Song) It's been 25 years since Hamilton arrived in New York from his hometown of Providence, R.I. In a musical area overrun by Coltrane clones, he's a breath of fresh air, a contemporary "old school" player inspired by earlier greats like Don Byas and Ben Webster. On this quartet outing, his tenor sax is supported by John Bunch, Dave Green and Steve Brown in a program of (mostly) classic jazz compositions. The composers include Byas, Strayhorn, Waller, Dameron, Brubeck, Jacquet, Hank Jones and Benny Carter. Swing is the thing here. 9/10 (Len Dobbin) |
Taraf de Haidouks ("band of brigands") are lautari, meaning the members of the band belong to a lineage of Gypsy musicians, each generation passing on musical knowledge to the next. Their fantastic talents are on display in this amazing CD, culled from three previous releases. Taraf combines Romanian, Gypsy and other Eastern European music to amazing effect, its dozen members (who range in age from 20 to 78) masters of their instruments--violins, cimbaloms, accordions, double basses, flutes. It's crazy, often delightfully unpredictable music, and the only complaint one might have about this CD is its relative shortness. At 45 minutes, they could have easily fit in a few more tracks. A minor quibble with a fantastic album. 9/10 (Mark Slutsky) At Centre Pierre-Peladeau tonight, Thurs., March 15
Remember the synthed-up, Bowie-worshipping robot man with his horrible videos and cover art? Well, he's made over 25 albums and people probably still sing "Cars" at him in the street. Possibly with good reason. From the Christ pose on the album cover to song titles like "Walking With Shadows" and "A Prayer for the Unborn" (imagine the lyrics!) to the passé sounds of mid-'90s goth-industrial, this will be quite the shock to '80s electro fans. Sure, Numan does the NIN/Manson thing okay, maybe better than they're doing it themselves these days, but it feels so contrived it's almost funny. Bring on "Cars" anytime. 4/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
Hands up, those who remember Winnipeg mini-mods Duotang and bassist Rod Slaughter's punchy, Paul-Wellerish sense of melody and incisive wordplay. Duotang seemed to fall off the map after their excellent second disc, but word is, a new one's cooking. At the same time, Slaughter's distinct musical voice can be found all over Novillero's CD, which expands where Duotang contracted. Upscale, nuanced retroesque pop tunes benefit from well-incorporated brass and some organ flourishes, but even more from infuriatingly catchy hooks and clever, evocative lyrics. A proud addition to the rapidly expanding Canadian canon of revisionist neo-pop. 9/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Upon learning that Limp Bizkit's Wes Borland has spawned a puerile side project that displays even less talent than it's Limp father, my first inclination was to slam this CD hard. Not to my surprise, it ain't good, but it is so bad it's funny and I think that's the point. Crammed full of death-metal growling and country-twangin', pre-pubescent trailer-park humour at its most infantile, Bigdumbface is all about evil demons being slain by super-knight Duke Lion (he's got his own theme song, of course) and other really stupid shit. Kinda what you'd think Gwar would sound like if you'd never heard them. We all know this CD wouldn't see the light of day if Wes Borland wasn't part of such a recognizable band, but if you're 12, like your rock silly and have a big dumb face, this one's for you. 5/10 (Lateef Martin)
You've heard it on the radio, you've probably seen the video and now you can own "No Means No" and every other one of Ricky J's "hip-pop" hits collected here on his debut release. Comin' sweeter than cotton candy on a Sunday afternoon, R.J. makes no bones about the fact that, basically, this record is for the ladies. Straight old-school lifts, R&B choruses and party-vibe beats combine with R.J.'s squeaky-clean delivery for a finished product that screams "target audience." Don't forget, though, that with Warner at the wheel, you can expect to see a lot more of Ricky J in the near future. Co-starring Carl Henry, Stephen Baldwin, Tarzan Dan (?!), Majess, J Brass and the fabulous Ricky D. 6.5/10 (Scott C)
514 Productions and YUL Records have enlisted the highly lauded skills of London, ON native John Acquaviva to mix the CD which compliments the second edition of the spring fling called Connected. To help hype up faithful rave-goers for the big event, Acquaviva has compiled an energy-packed assortment of bangin', repetitive beats. From Cerrone to Electric Deluxe to Giorio Moroder to Lego, the vibe is full-on, tech-progressive party flavour. Get Connected. 7.5/10 (Krista) At Connected at CEPSUM on Sat., March 17, 10pm
Now that we're in the 2K stretch, here's another K-band from Dusseldorf, Germany you should know about. Like Kraftwerk, they do carefully constructed, dryly funny electronic pop that sits somewhere between the dancefloor and the den. But while Kraftwerk drove straight along the Autobahn, Kriedler detour onto scenic side roads, drawing on stranger and more diverse sonic resources. I particularly like the "anti-dub" sensibility--whereas dub takes a sound and explodes it in a shattered echo, Kriedler implode it instead, letting it glow momentarily before sucking it back into the vacuum. Oh, and check the cameos from Argentinean pop star Leo Garcia and loopy lyricist Momus. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
One of the few groups brave enough to risk the notorious wrath of George Lucas, the Jedi Knights are famous for mixing up house, electro, breaks and whatever else floated into their tractor beam with the skill of, um, Jedis. They've now decided to call it quits, but were nice enough to leave of with this mix of their greatest hits, including the all-time classic "Catch the Break" and 10 others. Smugg even anticipated smug old you saying, "Ha, ha, I bought this stuff five years ago!" and added two new bonus tracks, so now you have to buy it again. 9/10 (Chris Hatherill)
Back in the late '80s/early '90s, when torch-song divas like Regina Belle, Stephanie Mills and of course Anita Baker ruled the R&B realm, Miki Howard was in the inner circle. Fifteen years after the release of her debut disc, Howard is back, having lost none of her skills. Longtime producers LeMel Humes and Barry Eastmond add to a set that's all about laid-back, jazzy R&B. Tracks like "Nobody" and "Imagine" are proof that Howard can still carry the torch with the best of them. 7.5/10 (Gerard Dee)