The Anubian Lights Naz Bar (Crippled Dick Hot Wax)
The Rock *A* Teens Golden Time (Merge)
Deviates Time Is the Distance (Epitaph)
Various Charm Soundtrack (Kill Rock Stars) Lies vocalist Dale Shaw, formerly of Blood Sausage (not the Montreal B.S.), sought to profile 10 women in his life in the 10 songs on this second Lies album. From the sound of it, Shaw's ladies are not the type you'd want to party with. This outwardly Goth band is appropriately funereal, fusing classic Gary Numan and Bauhaus when they're at their best. Despite these moments, the album is weakened by heavily cobwebbed lyrics and other Goth clichés, as well as a (presumably) involuntary lo-fi sound. Happily, two members of the Lies are pursuing an alternate career in filmmaking. The soundtrack for their film Charm ranges from tinny '60s pop to straight acoustic country to retro techno-dance to instrumentals that sound like a chorus of chainsaws. And, of course, another heavy-handed track by the Lies. Resigned 5; Charm 6/10. (Lorraine Carpenter) Buck 65 Man Overboard (Anticon) I think, for the first time, I can really understand where Buck 65 is coming from. Not that this assertion won't change after several more listens to Man Overboard, but I get it today. Buck is what I call a "necessary MC." He doesn't drop slick, punchy lines about street life and the struggle, but he does rhyme often sick, troublesome lines about his shortcomings and girl trouble. More of a poet than anything, Buck balances out the scales by taking credit for all of the beats on this record, and most of the scratching. Man Overboard has this looming weight and a darkness that somehow allows you to listen very closely to what's going on, without getting depressed to the point where you can't listen anymore. It's quite good actually. He's wild at heart and weird on top. 7.5/10 (Scott C) Spacek Curvatia (Island U.K./Nice) Providing the soundtrack for my so-called life for the past month has been the futuristic grooves of South East London's Spacek. Triumphantly reclaiming the recently bastardized term "future soul," Spacek redefines the tag with progressive originality, deep, lush beats and a unique, soulful vocal. Moving at a comfortably sexy pace, this record never really gets anywhere past about 90 bpms, making it the perfect album to supplement your sexual deficiency/proficiency with a dose of well-produced music. Fans of Jay Dee can rest assured that Spacek are fans as well, taking several production cues from Detroit's finest and making great steps with the influence. You want to be challenged and impressed as a music lover? Listen here. 9/10 (Scott C) VariousChris Duckenfield: Sheffield Mix Sessions (Turbo/Koch)
PlaidDouble Figure (Warp/Outside) Hard to know where to begin with this, Plaid's fourth album on Warp. Describing how good it is? Talking about how it is 19 tracks, and over 70 minutes, long? Mentioning how varied the tracks are, ranging from buzzing experiment-o madness to ambiental noises to more straight-ahead, crunchy, funky breaks? Admitting that I don't really know Plaid super well but that this is floating my boat? So difficult to know how to begin, but easy to know how to end: buy this. 8.5/10 (Chris Hatherill) Various Spundae Presents Interpretations II by Jerry Bonham (Mute/Fusion III)
Various Chillout Excellence (Chill Printz/Dep)
Syleena Johnson Chapter 1: Love, Pain & Forgivness (BMG) Syleena Johnson's father may be veteran bluesman Syl Johnson, but her mother might as well have been Glayds Knight. Not that she sounds like Knight, but the old-school soul that she delivers could have come straight out of Knight's book of song. At 24, Johnson sounds seasoned, delivering tracks like the R.-Kelly-produced "I Am Your Woman" or the twisted love song "He's Gonna Do You In" like someone who's lived many past lives. The fist chapter of a potentially brilliant series. 8/10 (Gerard Dee) Blue Mountain Roots self-titled (Square Dog) The insurgent y'all-ternative country thing is all fine and dandy but Mississippi's Blue Mountain Roots seems to be have a past that goes a little further than the roster on the Bloodshot label. All these odes to forgotten love, booze and death are sung in the key of extreme melancholy and ring with a heaping amount of honesty. This is a collection of old nuggets that receive a bit of a makeover but BMR know that the real secret is not to mess with them too much. The tale of "Banks of Pontchartrain" receives an Irish folk rendition while "That Nasty Swing" kicks up some dirt and gets a Jimmie Rodgers honky-tonk groove. Nothing new here at all, but for anyone who considers Garth Brooks country... 7/10 (Johnson Cummins) Gary Bartz/Peter Leitch The Montreal Concert (DSM/Unidisc) Two major, underappreciated talents, Baltimore reedman Bartz and Leitch, a guitarist who whetted his chops here in Montreal. The concert took place at the Maison de la culture Frontenac on Oct. 14, 1999, a night of high-calibre music by musicians obviously comfortable with the duo format. The six tracks here include Bartz's "Uncle Bubba" and Leitch's "Some Other Samba," and four combining songs in pairs, like "Well You Needn't" with "They Say It's Wonderful." A treat for those who missed the concert, a trip back for those who were there. 9/10 (Len Dobbin) |
The Virgin Suicides score, it turns out, was a transition, not a digression. 10,000Hz Legend (what?!) finds their dream-pop soufflé replaced by a rich 'n' heavy layer cake. While not all super Catholic like the score, it's dense, introspective and at times sardonically funny--the "grown-up" sophomore, in their own words. The tunes are more thematic; "Radio #1" is an AOR pisstake, "People in the City" is philanthropy through a glass wall, and opener "Electronic Performers" is a vocodered statement of defense. New elements join the plush analog synths that planted Air in the public eye--folksy fooliganism c/o Beck, moon-babe vox from Buffalo Daughter, bellbottomed proggy notions from the Jellyfish guys. All in all, a surprising and substantial work, vast enough to feed countless listens. 9/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
The collab list of "Nubes" Len del Rio and Tommy Grenas draws a snaky line from Hawkwind through Chrome up to DJ Me DJ You, and the tunes on this third full-length of their "kinetic infa-sound" reflects it. There's a lot of snarky neo-exotica on the Sukia/Tipsy tip--Hawaiian steel guitar, vibraphonics and swank brass over snappy breaks. That weaves in and out of electropop ("Micronite" is OMD guzzling mai-tais) and rolled-back rave-o-delica (the outstanding "Smoke and Mirrors" is Orbital on camelback), and moreover some effective prog-rock touches. What makes their sci-fi travelogue trip so successful is the solid melodies and a remarkable knack for pasting disparate elements together as though they were just waiting for it. 9/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
The first song is utterly wretched, hinting at some of the aimless, tuneless droning to come, helped along by a singer who tends to over-reach his vocal ability with tragic results. It's unfortunate that this Georgia band starts off album four on such a foul note because much of it is pretty decent. A rough garage/rockabilly energy graces some tracks, while less energized numbers feature inspired string arrangements, spooky Animals-esque organ, and refreshingly angular lyrics. Too bad a good portion of the disc still falls in the shit. 5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With A Vertical Mosaic at Jailhouse, Mon., June 4, 9pm, $5
Deviates stick close to the Epitaph punk for pre-pubes with the tried and true formula of fast-tempo chugging along with NYHC-style chorus chanting, econo Bad Religion harmonies and vocals recalling The Offspring's Dexter "follow the bouncing ball" Holland. One thing that Deviates do succeed at is at least making an attempt to write catchy ditties, but in the end the memory just draws a blank once this CD ends. It would be nice if Deviates actually deviated from the same tempo, mundane arrangements and childish lyrical duds that litter every one of the 14 tracks here. As a real punk band by the name of Black Flag once said, "I've heard it before/Don't wanna hear it again." 4/10 (Johnson Cummins)
The Lies Resigned (Kill Rock Stars)
Duckenfield is one half of the production duo Swag (along with Richard Brown), the hottest team to hit the courts since Jordan started for the Bulls. Duckenfield has been working the "real house and electronic grooves played with maximum funk" sound of Sheffield on the wheels of steel since back in 1989, burning up dancefloors in the city of hills and rivers, while he and Brown have been feeding their fetish for heady tracks heavy on the percussive tip in the studio since the early '90s. On his Sheffield Mix, Duckenfield has selected 18 tracks of tech-house mastery, and ironically not one is his own production. Artists like Jazzanova, Morgan Geist, Crispin J. Glover and Wagon Cookin' set the pace. 9/10 (Krista)
Spundae started out eight years ago as a small, Sunday-night "end of the weekend" event in San Francisco and quickly grew into a clubbing phenomenon, due in part to the skills of one Minnesota-born DJ Jerry Bonham. With over two decades of experience under his belt, Jerry's career spans almost the entire history of dance music from disco right up progressive trance. For Spundae's Interpretations II, Jerry has put together a smooth and spaced-out two-CD mix of some of the most overlooked and underappreciated trance tunes out there, from names like Lovesky, Guillaume La Tortue, Starecase and Souldriver. 7.5/10 (Krista)
Sure, this local release is only the latest of a million "lifestyle" downtempo comps to pimp Thievery and the ubiquitous "Suzuki" from Tosca. But that's it for the obvious choices. Not so obvious are Kyoto Jazz Massive's first track released under a Canadian imprint, as well as Mo' Horizons' Euro-hit "Foto Viva" and the super-rare "Infinity" by Dimitri From Paris. Then there's the 10-minute extension of Art of Noise's long-standing "Moments in Love," something of a prototype for the genre, and cuts introducing a pair of Hungarian acts, Gábor Deutsch and Yonderboi. An unusually careful selection process, just so your lazy spaces can feel that much more cool. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)