RAMASUTRA
El Pipo del Taxi EP (Semprini/Fusion III)
Montreal's Ramachandra Borcar, aka DJ Ram, has kept a low local profile since his Felix-winning '99 debut The East Infection. This EP (a teaser for his next full-length La Villa Medusa) proves the downtime wasn't wasted. Capitalizing on his concurrent capabilities as club DJ, film-score composer and actuellista with a world-beat bent, Ram's further focussed his polyglot pop for consenting adults. The five tunes here evoke a patently impossible but sharply defined meta-exotica peopled by spectral geishas and surfing fakirs, breakdancing dragon ladies and dreadlocked mariachis on camelback. Colourful, absorbing and wicked in the traditional sense. 9/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS
Pig Lib (Matador)
Still shambling through quirkmeister lyrics and slacker-jawed vocals, Malkmus remains Malkmus, minus a few jokes, plus the Jicks. Though they played on his post-Pavement debut, the Jicks get proper credit on this follow-up and settle into an ensemble groove where lengthy FM jams cuddle up with rhythmic twists and sunny pop. The sound is straight and often slight (despite the jamming), with lone guitars, minimal keys and rhythm, and Malkmus, singing the spectrum from deadpan drawl to wobbly falsetto. Essentially, there are just enough departures from the monotone to keep interest piqued. 7/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With Azita at Café Campus on Sat., May 17, 8PM, $18.50

BROADCAST
Pendulum (Warp/Outside)
Warp's pop band bring the best of both worlds to this six-track EP, their first release since 2000. Trish Keenan guides pop melodies down her usual 1968-Qualude-Pinup-Girl path, while live drums, synths and drops of lo-fi guitar set the scene. Slow-motion psychedelia, electro and Krautrock combine in ways you'd expect, but free jazz drums, atonal industrial sounds and quivering sci-fi transmit in equal measure. Birmingham's Electro Acoustic Sound Theatre contribute to "Minus 2," where snippets from Broadcast's upcoming album hahasound (due in August) are skewed, scattered and stitched together in Warp-friendly fashion. 8.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With Montag at la Sala Rossa, Fri., May 16, 9pm, $15

MARILYN MANSON
The Golden Age of the Grotesque (Nothing/Interscope)
With the departure of longtime bassist/genius Twiggy Ramerez, Marilyn Manson no longer has the punch that made your skin crawl. The new album offers obnoxious rock with creepy techno tendencies care of new bassist and noise maker Tim Skold of KMFDM, but is hardly the dramatic change that Manson has promised. Where is that 5,000-pound heaviness and disturbing soundscape that had evangelists quaking in their boots? Antichrist Superstar scared the hell out of people, Mechanical Animals was a shiny glam pill full of razorblades, Holywood was a cheap rehash of old themes. The Golden Age, which does have its moments, doesn't quite measure up. 6/10 (Lateef Martin)

COLD
Year of the Spider (Geffen/Universal)
What is it with this pretentious Nickelback/ Godsmack vocal style? Retread song progressions are beaten into the dirt - deeply - and hey, while I'm at it, I might as well slag the name. Cold? C'mon, are you in elementary school? Mediocre rock that offers nothing new, you won't catch me givin' these guys a good review - after all, Fred Durst likes this. And hey, nice one rippin' off Spidey's logo and flippin' it upside down for your album cover. Gawdamn. Oh yeah, comes with a DVD of stuff and a tattoo for the kiddies! 5/10 (Lateef Martin)

PREFUSE 73
One Word Extinguisher (Warp/Outside)
There's a lot to be said for originality. Prefuse (aka Scott Herren) has managed to turn the all-important corner that defines a signature sound. He takes a hatchet to the mix, utilizing the finer points of digital distortion and random noise, but despite all his chaotic charm, he doesn't miss a beat. Armed with his immediately recognizable approach to production, he weaves his way through instrumental bits and pieces as well as some well-chosen alliances. Collabos include "Storm Returns" with Tommy Guerrero, "Busy Signal" with Daedelus and "Uprock and Invigorate" with Dabrye, all accentuating the chopped up sounds of this boom-bip visionary. 8.5/10 (Scott C)

RJD2
The Horror (DefJux/Outside)
By now, you've probably heard at least one person fawn over the sounds of RJD2, who is quickly carving out a sound for himself with a new approach to sampling and sequencing mystery breaks. His unique musical sense is definitely fresh, and although your jaw may not drop in awe, the succinct consistency of his productions will shock you. The Horror follows his critically acclaimed debut LP with some new stuff as well as remixes for "Ghostwriter," "June" and "Final Frontier." A second disc also includes live footage from NYC, where RJ teams up with Murs and Aesop Rock, and a peek ant the animated and live-action videos for "The Horror." 7.5/10 (Scott C)

FOUR TET
Rounds (Domino)
On his eighth album (including his releases as a member of seminal laptop rock band Fridge) Four Tet moves away from the Timbaland-esque instrumentation of his last effort Pause and delivers a bittersweet album of experimental pop. Never sounding overly obsessed with technique, Kieren Hebden (as he's called by his mum) knows how to ride the line between the experimental and emotional, delivering an album that will no doubt appeal to fans of both IDM and post-rock. On Rounds, Hebden breathes a melancholic sigh into the processed live drums and acoustic guitar. Rainy days just got a whole lot sadder. 9/10 (Raf Katigbak)

TIM HECKER
Radio Amor (Mille Plateaux/ Fusion III)
Who wants to be consistent? The dullard? The doctrinaire? With the self-assured grip of that feathered serpent of ancient Mexico, Hecker casts aside the shackles of laptop convention and gingerly fondles Mother Nature. But Mother Nature is so uncomfortable, no? Grass is hard and lumpy and damp, and full of dreadful black insects. On Radio Amor, Hecker has managed to tame the hideous bitch goddess and, like a winter wind, has whipped the tears from our eyes, revealing the fruits of seasons passed: the autumn dusk dew drops and jewels of melted snow. 10/10 (Raf Katigbak)

TOMMY GUERRERO
Soul Food Taqueria (Mo' Wax/Select)
Guerrero first made his mark on the ramps as a pro skater with the legendary Bones Brigade. Two decades later he's reinvented himself as a one-man studio band, assembling a homemade parade of easygoing, instrumental grooves. His latest leans heavily toward the Chicano soul of his burg San Francisco (think War et al.), with touches of rock, jazz, folk and hip hop (Lyrics Born of Blackalicious drops in for "Getting It Together"). The tempo remains firmly in the lazy head-nod range - more rocking-chair than rocking the block. Ideally suited to beers on the balcony in the last rays of the day. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

KELLY PRICE
Priceless (Def Jam/Universal)
LIL' MO
Meet the Girl Next Door (Warner)
These divas may front like they come from different worlds - Kelly the new uptown girl, Mo still around-the-way - but the similarities that drive their latest discs (Kelly's third, Mo's second) outweigh their differences. Besides being executive producers and chief writers, these sisters explore common ground like female empowerment (Kelly's "Sister," Mo's "Ten Commandments"), domestic territory (Kelly's "I Live Here Now," Mo's "Get Over It") and starry-eyed romance (Kelly's "He Proposed," Mo's "4Ever"). But it's not all Memorex; pound for pound, even a slimmed-down Price carries more vocal weight than Mo, and she finally has the material to carry her tremendous pipes. And while both discs are solid, Priceless is a bigger production, and in this case bigger definitely means phatter. Kelly 8/10, Mo 7/10 (Gerard Dee)

DALE FIELDER
Howling Monk (Clarion Jazz/North Country)
It's time this very exciting, California-based saxophonist gets some international recognition. His quartet of Danny Grissett (piano), Trevor Ware (bass) and Thomas White on drums is heard on this two-disc set recorded live at Howling Monk. The leader, who as a composer reminds me of Horace Tapscott at times, plays soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxes. On the latter, Fielder shows an affinity with the work of Pepper Adams, whose "Ad Astra" is a highlight of the first CD, which, over eight tracks, also has music written by Dizzy, Trane and Cole Porter as well as the leader. The second is taken up with the leader's "Suite: Clarity," which clocks in at a little over an hour. More, please! 9.5/10 (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

SUNSHINE ANDERSON "Heard It All Before" (QSO remix) 12" (Rebutz) Quantic breathes new life into this hit with the dirty funk treatment. Classic. 10 (SC)

THE HIGH LLAMAS Retrospective, Rarities & Instrumentals (V2/BMG) A double-disc cornucopia from these prime purveyors of chamber pop, suitable for longtime fans and newbies alike. 9 (RB)

NO NAME JAZZ SEXTET self-titled (Effendi/SRI) "Emanon" spelled backwards - topnotch music in the hard bop idiom, written by band members who include Alexandre Cote, Aron Doyle and Roberto Murray. 9 (LD)

DAVID BOWIE Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders From Mars The Motion Picture Soundtrack (EMI) Another 30th anniversary, two-disc limited edition, featuring Visconti's ace mix of the last Ziggy gig. The kids had killed the man. 8.5 (LC)

HINT Portakabin Fever (Ninja Tune/Outside) Pastoral beat motifs from the same neck of the woods (musically) as Lemon Jelly. 7.5 (RB)

PERSEPHONE Helia (Local) Tough, tender, female-fronted rock cut from '80s cloth, lined with dark velour. 7 (LC) With Dilemme at Petit Campus tonight, Thurs., May 15, 8:30pm, $6

ANTIMATTER Antimatter vs. Antimatter (Asphodel) A retrospective DSP remix album of Bay-area artist Mixture 151 (aka Antimatter) that only occasionally goes beyond the now-all-too-common Fennesz guitar drone sound. 6.5 (RK)

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