How many times over the years has the music industry played up records bridging the gap between jazz and hip hop? Too many. Most get shined by both jazz and hip-hop heads and end up on the compost heap. Here comes West Coast producer Madlib and his Yesterdays New Quintet to blow up the bridge, and then rebuild it creatively. This is a dense and sometimes muddy jazz ensemble sprayed with hip hop nuance. No MCs here, just free and soulful interpretations of crate-digger classics with that added Madlib touch. Purists may snub this, but I'm liking it a whole lot. Without meaning to, Madlib may have raised the bar of hip hop production to classic depths. 10/10 (Scott C) New Order Get Ready (London/Warner) Despite their eight-year hiatus, it feels like New Order never quite went away. Between Electronic, Monaco and a handful of one-offs, Bernard Sumner and Peter Hook have kept busy working that New Order touch. Yes, everything they touch turns to New Order, and even Billy Corgan's guest golden throat doesn't stain that signature sound: Hook's no-nonsense basslines, Sumner's half-voice, and semi-catchy guitar pop (plus a fresh portion of lazy Britrock) framed by rolling electro mosaics. Problem is, density sometimes substitutes for strong songs, leaving a haze of mediocrity over about a third of the album. In short, a respectable comeback, but no cigar. 7.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) Stars The Comeback EP (Le Grand Magistery)
Ozzy Osbourne Down to Earth (Epic/Sony) Ozzy may be a just a shadow of his former Sabbath self, but when you prop this drug-addled lump up with a microphone and let his familiar nasal twang do its thing, it's simply... Ozzy! Not that much has changed, really, judging by the CD-ROM section that includes vintage Ozzy jammin' out with Randy Rhoads on "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley." Maybe a few pounds and brain cells shed, but there's no nü-metal with irritating samples mucking things up. Returning to the fold is redneck six-string slinger Zakk Wylde, whose fretboard pyrotechnics and low-down chug that really makes Down to Earth come alive. The effects on Ozzy's voice are even kept at a minimum--recent recordings had him sounding like R2-D2--so if you've worn out your copy of Blizzard of Oz, it's safe to say that Ozzy has returned to his winning formula. 7.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Los Straitjackets Sing Along With... (Cavalcade/Outside) Following their success with a cover of Celine's Titanic theme, these masked marvels of surf mayhem gather their friends to sing over the reverb-drenched renditions of Los Bravos' "Black Is Black," the Challengers' "California Sun" and other sunstroked classics. Rockabilly, surf and down 'n' dirty R&B are all given the treatment with surprising results. The boys get a motley crew of Reverend Horton Heat, Nick Lowe, X's Exene Cervenka and El Vez to croon along and even coax the Trashmen ("Surfin' Bird") out of retirement. Crank up that tremolo and let your fuzz flag fly. 8.5/10 (Johnson Cummins) Vincent Gallo When (Warp/Outside) Actually, music came first for this actor, director and alleged all-around asshole. As a teen, Gallo formed an experimental band with NYC artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, going on to score his own film Buffalo 66. But don't believe the label, this sounds nothing like Aphex Twin. It's quaint, minimal, sweet and slow mood music with occasional silly, syrupy, ladylike vocals. Yep, he sings, he produces, plays acoustic guitar, percussion, keys, loops and more. Currently terrorizing and eating people on screen, Gallo gives us his soft, sad, little-boy side here. And while it may induce some unintentional chuckles, it's not half bad. 7.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) Chris Vrenna Original Music Score to American McGee's Alice (Six Degrees/Outside) Chris Vrenna, the drumming/programming virtuoso previously responsible for most of Nine Inch Nails' bite for eight years (now known as Tweaker), has assembled a horror show of sounds for Alice, a video game based on Alice in Wonderland. Obviously, this game ain't for the faint of heart, especially when Alice is a brunette darkling in black knee-highs wielding a kitchen knife and the Cheshire Cat is a rotting, tattooed, pierced zombie. The soundtrack keeps up with the game's exquisitely rendered vibe--it's dark, moody and bloody creepy. Vrenna constructs a score full of haunting Danny-Elfman-esque vocals, strings, hollow atmosfearix, skittering sound effects that travel from speaker to speaker and samples of old toys. Not to be compared to the bleeps and bloops from arcade games of yesteryear. 8/10 (Lateef Martin) Adam F Kaos (Chrysalis/EMI) Have you got a burning sensation in your gut telling you it's time to make a career change? Well, take some notes out of world-famous D&B producer Adam F's book of life and I'm sure you'll get inspired. After years of being at the forefront of the U.K. drum & bass scene, this dude decided he was going to cash in on hip hop in the good ol' USA, and he didn't cut corners either. Kaos features big-budget beats and A-list rap stars who somehow flocked to this dude like somethin' else. Pharohe Monch, Redman, De La Soul, LL Cool J, Beenie Man, Guru, Carl Thomas and Capone 'n' Norega all settle in for Adam's hip hop ride. A true studio head, Adam F's beats are extra-large and speak volumes about his promise as a multi-talented producer. 7.5/10 (Scott C) Safety Scissors Parts Water (Plug Research/Fusion III)
Mightykat Confidence (Haute Couture/Select) Aside from being Montreal's number-1 supporter of homegrown tech-tronica, Haute Couture is now also this city's foremost supporter of female talent. Perhaps that title comes to them too easily, seeing as how there is a disproportional amount of female talent here, but I'll give them points for having the foresight to cash in on it. The second mix CD in HC's Hautec series comes from Laika starlet Mightykat who, despite a slightly later initiation to the whole "scene," has displayed downright remarkable skill and ingenuity. Some people just got it, right? Her mix, entitled simply Confidence, is a seamless blend of deep, minimal and funky tech-house from names like Deadbeat, Mike Shannon, Swayzak and more. Absolutely dreamy. 9/10 (Krista) Launch at the FCMM's closing party at SAT, Sun., Oct. 21, 9pm, $4 DJ Dan In Stereo (Kinetic/Fusion III) In the early '90s, raves represented a baptism of fire for those aspiring to become knights of the turntables. DJ Dan is a native West Coaster (from, Olympia, WA) who fits that bill and has since ascended up the ranks to globetrotting popularity. Apart from spinning with venerable tech mavens like Carl Cox, he is part of an impressive stable of electronic DJ/artists at Kinetic--Sasha & Digweed, LTJ Bukem and BT share his company. In this continuous mix, Dan's frenetic beats gallop like wild stallions as hard house jams with electro-funk and disco underpinnings plow through a terrain of minimalist loops and sounds. If you want a pulse of today's clubland and also enjoy Timo Maas, Dan is the man. 8.5/10 (Peter Lightburn) Naked Music NYC Reconstructed Soul (Om/Fusion III) In a little over two years, New York's Naked Music imprint had gone from relative obscurity to talk of the town. This is due in part to the high calibre of sexy house tunes Jay Denes and the Naked crew have been producing and also in part to Stuart Patterson's very appealing record sleeve art featuring lovely naked ladies. However, before the label, Jay released an album entitled What's on Your Mind (1998), which San-Francisco-based Om Records has decided to direct attention back to. Reconstructed Soul is a collection of remixes of tunes from the first album, done by stars like Miguel Migs, King Kooba, Chris Brann and Jay himself. 8/10 (Krista) Carmen Lundy This Is... (Justin Time/Fusion III) This is the perfect time for Carmen Lundy. Her collection of jazz compositions is the best companion for the coziness that accompanies the fall season. This album may sound like a set of standards, but actually they're all originals, penned by the lady herself. That being said, the sophisticated arrangements on tracks like "Better Luck Next Time" could easily be from another era. The 10-minute opus "(I Dream) In Living Color" and the moving "One More River to Cross" are stellar examples of jazz's continuing social consciousness. 8/10 (Gerard Dee) Herbie Nichols Project Strange City (Palmetto) Pianist/composer Nichols died in 1963 at the age of 44. A man of enormous talents as both a player and a composer, he left very little in the way of a recorded legacy, enough music to fill a three-CD set on Blue Note, a single CD on Bethlehem and part of a Savoy release. Thankfully, musicians like Roswell Rudd (who actually worked with him) and Misha Mengelberg have been keeping his music alive. Now we have this marvelous project dedicated to his music. This is its third CD and the first for an American label. The group's founding members--Frank Kimbrough, Ben Allison, Ron Horton and Ted Nash--are joined here by Wycliffe Gordon and Matt Wilson, in a program that has eight Nichols compositions found in the Library of Congress and recorded here for the first time. "The Happenings" and the delightful "Shuffle Montgomery" fill out a not-to-be-missed CD. 9/10 (Len Dobbin) |
It's apropos to review this right after the New Order disc, given the hints of Sumner and co. in Stars singer Torquil Campbell's voice and in the band's soft-focus electro-pop. But this is Stars, version two, as singer/guitarist Amy Millan and bassist Evan Cranley bring a rich, new fullness to the Stars sound established by Campbell and keyboard guy Chris Seligman. Also, the symbiosis with fellow Montreal "soft revolutionaries" the Dears is apparent on "Côte des Neiges." Me, I'm particularly liking the domestic balladry of "The Aspidistra Flies." This is some first-rate pop that's going places--tag along. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)
While clearly in the clicks 'n' cuts corner of things, hence his booking at the FCMM, this Safety Scissors character (M. Patterson Curry) is in many ways the polar opposite of many of his dour, overly abstracted compadres. Laced into his slack-jawed vacuum funk and micro-house is no small amount of colour and character, clever humour and resigned sadness (note his narcoleptic sing-song on tunes--tunes!--like "Stormy Weather"). As the title suggests, H2O is elemental here. It's present in the lyrics, the song titles and, by proxy, in the distant, softened quality of the sound. In a genre of too many floaters and sinkers, this one's a pearl diver. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) With Twerk and Sutekh at SAT on Sat., Oct. 20, 9pm, $25.50