Ted Nugent Full Bluntal Nugity (Spitfire/EMI) The Motor City madman is back, once again captured in his favourite setting--live, in front of thousands of bandanna-clad, Bud-guzzlin' goombahs! Knowing full well that nobody gives a rat's ass about his output over the past 20 years (and that goes double for Damn Yankees), the Nuge fills the set-list with all the hits, like "Stranglehold," "Wang Dang Sweet Poontang," "Free For All" and numbskull anthem "Cat Scratch Fever." Dumber than a bag o' nails but even after all these years, Theodore still has the power to deafen. Crossbow sold separately. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins) Travis The Invisible Band (Independiente/Sony)
Brian Setzer '68 Comeback Special: Ignition (Surfdog/Universal)
Belle & Sebastian Sing Jonathan David EP (Matador/Fab)
David Candy Playpower (Jetset) In which Ian Svenonius of the Make-up and Nation of Ulysses constructs an eccentric, intellectual alter-ego who pours his heart and head out over '60s beat pop. And covers Komeda's lullaby from Rosemary's Baby. Yes, it's a bizarre record with only seven tracks, most of them spoken word. The album's epic centrepiece, "Diary of a Genius," examines David's sardonic philosophies, while "Redfuchsiatamborine&gravel" discusses the merits of visual arts and pudding. While the proper songs are decent, and getting to know David is an interesting trip, it's a choppy voyage with little staying power, as with many one-off novelty ventures. 6.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) Jigmastas Infectious (Beyond Real/Nice) For a while there, DJ Spinna was carving himself a nice little spot in hip hop's underground as the guy most likely to make your track nicer than the rest. Then he started getting busy with non-hip-hop remixes, where he's been spending a lot of time. Infectious is a good record, from a production point of view, but lyrically MC Kriminul seems to weigh down the entire affair with several half-assed performances. Spinna is still the star here, if you mind paying for a bunch of dope instrumentals with some dude ruining most of them by saying a whole lot of nothing. I like the J-I-Gs, really, but I wasn't expecting this. 7.5/10 (Scott C) Various Fashion TV (Spring Summer Collection 2001) (V2/BMG) The marriage of music and fashion occurred the moment prehistoric man stood upright, put a loincloth on and starting banging on a rock, so it's rather baffling to me that it's taken the geniuses of the modern world this long to put together a CD compilation of music about fashion. But, hallelujah for France's Fashion TV, launched in 1997, which just released a collection of trés chic, too-sexy-for-you, house-ish grooves. Inspired by the gangly legged, non-eating form of humans called Models and the catwalk they live on, this easy yet enjoyable comp features tunes from some very stylish artists like Laurent Garnier, Tosca, Château Flight, Moby and more. 7/10 (Krista) VariousAfrican Travels (Six Degrees/Outside)
Various Vital 2Step (V2/BMG) As much as I like most of the piddly 15 tracks that are offered up here on this good-natured compilation, I have to say that most of these songs would have been considered essential at the beginning of 2000, but now are getting just a little tired. Vital might be the term used but there's nothing particularly necessary about it. There's Wookie's " Down On Me" and Richie Dan's "Call It Fate," as well as Artful Dodger's "Re-Rewind"--all great songs, but not fodder for a late 2001 comp. A nice introduction to the two-step movement perhaps, but a little late for all those hungry nutters waiting for the new shit to bust wide. 6/10 (Scott C) VariousSamba Soul 70! (Six Degrees/Outside)
Luther Vandross self-titled (J Records/BMG) Since the early '80s, Luther Vandross has charmed R&B audiences with smooth-as-silk vocal tales of love's concoctions. His label debut on Clive Davis's J Records has clearly translated into a new attitude. Working for the first time with a variety of producers, Vandross is fresh. Not surprisingly, he breathes new life into classics like "Any Day Now." Pleasantly surprising are the bumpin' uptempo grooves like "Say It Now," "How Do I Tell Her," and the hidden dance track "You Really Started Something." Brilliant. 8.5/10 (Gerard Dee) Hanged Up self-titled (Constellation) Hanged Up are a local viola and drum duo featuring the more than ample talents of musicians Gen Heistek and Eric Craven, respectively. Their full-length debut is noisy, stirring and altogether terrific-sounding. Craven's drums are abetted by a variety of found and created percussive business (a propane tank, skateboards). The sound is unique and vigorous, and pretty damn fun at times, too-- they take on New Order, obliquely, in "New Blue Monday," with most unusual and entertaining results. Hanged Up aren't easy to describe, but their sound is singular, experimental and most enjoyable. 9/10 (Mark Slutsky) Phil Nimmons Sands of Time (Sackville) Clarinetist, composer, educator and all-round good guy, Nimmons was born in Kamloops, B.C. on June 3, 1923, and this two-CD set was released to coincide with his 78th birthday. These 17 pieces, all Nimmons compositions, were recorded just after last year's birthday celebrations and find the leader in top fettle, joined by three of Toronto's finest jazz musicians--pianist Gary Williamson, bassist Steve Wallace and drummer Barry Elmes. Recommended to all fans of the clarinet. May there be many more like it! 10/10 (Len Dobbin) |
A Frenchman now based in Montreal, Minière's a neo-chansonnier already given to unusual but effective tangents and idiosyncrasies. This time, however, he's really out in left field. I'll play along with his story of "discovering" one Mr. Herri Kopter, composer and refugee from the late, multi-ethnic Arctic microtopia of Laanka (now so much global-warming slush). I draw the line at claims of a secret Laankan nerve centre in the old Eaton's building, though. Come on, Jérôme. Musically, these Kopterian compositions lay mesmerizing, repetitive motifs in the tradition of Reich and Satie over skeletal dub and sparse slivers of digi-glitch, weaving sonic fabrics of subdued but undeniable beauty--sheer, fragile structures of ice that seem to glow with a quiet inner warmth. And that ain't no fairy tale. 9.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
Glasgow's mild-mannered masters of sing-along simplicity are back to pout and plod their way into our heads. Album three features several songs evidently modelled after their hit "Why Does It Always Rain On Me," complete with Fisher Price melodies and strings of clichés. Travis continue to border on MOR, singer-songwriter sleepiness, but a new dynamic (producer Nigel Goodrich? a touch of Coldplay?) lends more depth and texture here and there, to the ballads in particular. Even the lyrics offer a surprise or two, notably on "Last Train," which includes a fantasy about a shooting rampage. Such violence from a man named Fran? 7.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
After his successful flirtation with big-band swing, erstwhile Stray Cat Setzer has stripped his sound down like a '55 Chevy--this new project is built for speed. Setzer's fretwork is more front and centre than ever and shows him at his zenith on 14 rockabilly barnstormers that owe quite a bit to Chet Atkins, Duane Eddy, Sun Records, Scotty Moore etc. Songs like "Hot Rod Girl," "Who Would Love This Car But Me?" and "Rooster Rock" kick up dirt and axle grease while always crossing the finish line at under the three-minute mark. More songs about cars and girls--all right! 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Cheers to these reticent Scots darlings for keeping up a steady stream of music between albums. There's always a three-tune EP cooking, and while this one's under 12 minutes, every moment's a charm. The titular track one is a sly, peppy, piano-driven Biblical reference, while "Take Your Carriage Clock and Shove It," which follows, is B&S-by-numbers (pastoral folk-pop with lap steel and expansive strings). The closer's, well, somewhere in between, a shiny, shuffling soft-rockuh with bittersweet bite in the lyrics. By the way, guess who are scoring the next Todd Solondz film, Storytelling. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
The good folks at San Francisco's Six Degrees records take us on vast excursion to the motherland in the latest volume of an acclaimed series. Jams from Mali, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa are peppered with overhauls by NYC garage-housers Masters at Work, who flip out Fela's "Expensive Shit," and Joe Claussell, whose oil-change of les Go's "Dan Gna" is heavily sought after in DJ circles. The other cuts get treatments representing the diaspora of electronic music, by the likes of GusGus and electro jazzer Frederic Galliano. More than worth the trip. 9/10 (Peter Lightburn)
In the late '60s, something comparable to Fela Kuti's Afro-beat went down in Brazil. American jazz-funk and R&B, with attendant Black Power insights, seeped into the musical efforts of Brazil's black contingent. Whereas Fela brought war-drum muscle and fierce politicizing to his hybrid, Brazil's equivalents fused American soul action with the gentle, deeply nuanced melodic tendencies of samba and bossa nova. Suffice it to say, the results were magnificent, as illustrated on this overview spanning a decade. Banda Black Rio are in there, of course, as is Getz/Gilberto collaborator Milton Banana, "the Brazilian Tina Turner" Elza Soares, the celebrated Gal Costa and many more. More than just a good comp, this is the gateway to some amazing new musical vistas. 9/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)