| Disc
of the week
Below the Sea Les Arbres dépayseront davantage (Where Are My Records)
CD launch at la Sala Rossa, Sun., July 14, 9pm, $8 Rollins Band The Only Way to Know for Sure  (Sanctuary/EMI) Love him or hate him, ol’ Hank’s energy would give most young ’uns a coronary. This two-CD set recorded live in Chicago has Hank backed by L.A. group Mother Superior and, even at the tender age of 40, his angst still shoots through you like a diamond bullet. He couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket but when it comes down to laying down his skewed take on the blues, he is top-notch material. The tackling of Thin Lizzy’s “Are You Ready” in this live setting is simply stunning and would even make Phil Lynott proud. 8/10 (Johnson Cummins)  Oasis
Heathen Chemistry (Epic/Sony) Will the bros. Gallagher ever make another What’s the Story Morning Glory? Was that such a landmark album to begin with, or just the dumb luck of obnoxious fab-four fanatics who could kinda slap a tune together? Dubious achievements aside, this fifth effort easily tops the last two discs with less intense Beatles “homages” and some ace riffage on bookend tracks “The Hindu Times” and “Better Man,” one of three compositions by junior songwriter Liam. The rest of the album chugs along in an acceptable, lazily raucous fashion, part decent, part lame, part nothing, all Oasis. 6/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) Halford Crucible (Sanctuary/EMI) The crowned queen of metal and former lead screamer from Judas “fucking” Priest, Rob Halford returns to the throne and rules with an iron fist. The photos are worth the price of admission alone-Halford decked out in trademark leather and bullwhip and ready to do business. Musically, Crucible is closer to his Priest days, and once Halford hits those high notes, it’s game over. Compared to his recent flirtations with sampling and nü-metal, this is a return the old-school vibe of falsetto screaming backed up with a twin guitar attack. If you miss his old days, Halford has returned. 7.5/10 (Johnson Cummins) Various Cook Book CD: Libro de Cucina y Musica (Eenie Meenie)  And thus the vege-pop genre is born. Put together by Mario Hernandez of From Bubblegum to Sky (who have a track here,) Cook Book CD collects a neat tune and an uncomplicated vegetarian recipe from 11 fairly varied artists. The Anubian Lights bring mushroom pie, and some hookah-delic kozmo-kitsch, to the table. The Ray Makers deliver vacuum-sealed electro-pop and plans for a wicked veggie BLT, Seksu Roba revives the Shibuya sound and dictates a white-on-white cold salad, and the Evolution Control Committee lay down a big-beat/dorkcore zamboni anthem and some serious potato knowledge. The tastiest part, though, has to be the hyperactive eye-candy packaging by Electric 69. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)  The
Somatics self-titled (Beggars Banquet/Select) From the ashes of England’s bulbous rock ensemble Ultrasound, the Somatics emerge relatively light and loose, shedding the glam assault for a more alt-pop approach. Former Ultrasound guitarist Richard Green shares vocal duties with bassist Stephanie Green, each singing lead or forming cool, lovely harmonies. But don’t take this for Britpop. The sound suggests angular post-punk at times, morose post-rock at others, with vaguely discordant guitar lines and desert reverb leading simple melodies astray in songs ranging from two to 12 minutes long. It’s uneven, it’s skewed, it’s pop, it’s not, but it’s worth your time either way. 7.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) Chris Bowden Slightly Askew (Ninja Tune/Outside) Well, I hate to say it, but I’m not sure even the open-minded masses that regularly dine from the Ninja Tune trough will be able to swallow this one. Bowden is not a horribly talentless jazz noodler that plays himself into a bottemless pit. Better put, this alto-sax playing producer/arranger is a master chef that has prepared a feast so delectably unique that all the hungry souls gathered around the table can only marvel at his creation. Digesting it is something else altogether. This album is a far sight more than slightly askew, with bold and cocky arrangements made for only the heartiest of listeners and an arsenal of hired guns who make the four songs found here more than enough for EP haters. This is leftfield jazz with a bullet. 7.5/10 (Scott C) Mood Ruff Antarctica: Cold Cold World (Urbnet/Slocoach) The boys from Mood Ruff seem to have regrouped and tightened up their sound a bit on this release. ICQRI, Odario and Spitz have been bumpin’ around since the late ’90s, and this is the first time I really feel like they’re comfortable with themselves. This EP features the production of Kemo of Rascalz fame, as well as Murr from the Grassroots, who add another dimension to the production of Odario, who holds it down in-house. Although Modd Ruff have often sounded simplistic to me, Cold Cold World speaks volumes about how far these guys have come, and how far they want to go. 7/10 (Scott C) P18
Electropica With Issa Bagayogo at Kola Note tonight, Thurs., July 11, 9pm, $25  Speedy
J Loudboxer (Novamute/Fusion III) After Speedy J (aka Joachim Paap) blew up countless headphones with his first two releases back in the ’90s on the seminal techno label Plus 8, people wondered what happened. His next albums (on Novamute) turned away from the hard, bleepy sound he was known for and delved deeper into his more cerebral, experimental side. Now, with Loudboxer, Paap returns true-to-form with an album that bridges the gap between the ambient, experimental and harder, dancefloor-oriented tracks. From a whisper to a scream, Papp kicks it off with a very deep, dubby, Basic-Channel-type sound that, by the seventh track, is morphed and twisted into a brutal, almost tribal, pounding minimalism. Whoa nelly! 8/10 (Raf Katigbak) Tony Humphries Fabric 04  (Fabric/Fusion III) Fabric is one of London’s most serious house clubs, and Tony Humphries is the living-legend New York DJ who was brought in to help christen this lily-pad of hot electronic dance sounds. Featured in the fourth installment of Fabric’s in-house CD series, Tony’s set recalls the nights when he was the maestro of the widely influential KISS-FM Mastermix Dance Parties. Displaying classic form with first-rate platters, he shows his penchant for thinking outside the box with an adventurous stream of Jersey-style vocals, trippy beats and sleeper hits. The ultra-hot Soldiers of Twilight, Yukihiro Fukutomi, Dub Taylor and a cut which features Marie Tweek of the Rurals are all part of the fun. 9/10 (Peter Lightburn)  Jon
B Greatest Hits (Sony)I still don’t get this whole concept of having a couple of albums and then releasing a “greatest hits.” These days, it’s more like one or two hits and a lot of filler. Case in point, this compilation by Babyface sound-alike singer Jon B. Sure, “Someone to Love” (which features Face) and “They Don’t Know” put B on the map, but most of the tracks here are space fillers from his three albums. And wouldn’t B fans already have those? 6/10 (Gerard Dee) Lee Shaw A Place for Jazz (Cadence) This is a new one from the little lady from Albany who again enthralled local jazz fans. This time with a July 4 appearance at the Pub Quartier Latin with Skip Bey. The CD at hand, which is a bit low level, was recorded live in Schenectady, N.Y. on November 16, 2001, just a dozen days after the trio’s long time drummer, her husband Stan Shaw, died. Her always-swinging piano is supported by bassist Rich Syracuse and drummer Jeff Siegel in a nine track program that includes “The Touch of Your Lips,” “I Love You” and “Isn’t It Romantic” as well as Navarro’s “Fat’s Blues,” Tommy Flanagan’s “Sea Changes” and Mary Lou Williams’ classic “Walkin’ and Swingin’.” A joy for any lover of piano jazz-just crank up your volume a bit and enjoy! 9/10 (Len Dobbin) |
>> MINI REVIEWS >> MUSIC LISTINGS
Working
from Montreal and Quebec City, juggling shrill intensity and ample calm,
this trio deserves credit for their consolidation skills alone. With
a noticeable upturn in tempo since Loss of Winter, this sophomore LP
also seats more sounds at its table, inviting sly breakbeats, sinewy
electro noise, droning guitar lines, soft water samples, majestic church
organs, an other-worldly chorus, slight piano and unsettling bleeps
and rumbles, all used sparingly but effectively. The result is rarely
overbearing or underwhelming, ebbing and flowing where others of its
kind lock and jam. 8.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)
