Wanda Jackson
Heart Trouble (CMH)
Jackson is one of classic rockabilly's greatest crooners. Of course it's 40 years later now, but Jackson can still pack a wallop with a voice that has just gotten more velvety smooth with age. We get a great all-star line-up here too. On the amazing Pasty Cline duet ballad "Crying Time," Jackson goes toe to toe with Elvis Costello. Dave Alvin of the Blasters and X makes a couple of appearances, but it's the contributions of the Cramps' Poison Ivy and Lux Interior on the cuts "Funnel of Love" and "Riot in Cellblock #9" that remind you that, despite her advanced age, Jackson can still get hog wild. Her revisiting of the barnstormer "Let's Have a Party" closes this record and can even give the original a run for its money. 9/10 (Johnson Cummins)

The Stills
Logic Will Break Your Heart (Vice/Warner)
This local band, rising from the ashes of Stomp act the Undercovers, has hardly been still. Their meteoric rise to big-deal buzz-band status isn't undeserved, neither are the comparisons to the dark British pop-rock of the early '80s (Bunnymen) and '90s (Ride). Even as the Undies they displayed an unusual knack for melodies that stick, and they now explore emotional grey spaces with dexterous skill, never overwrought or maudlin, in songs that roll forward with a graceful, natural momentum. An auspicious debut, but from here they'll have to expand the parameters of their approach if they're to outlast the sea of bands on a similar tip in their new HQ of NYC. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

The Rapture
Echoes (DFA/Universal)
The crown princes of disco punk unload that long-awaited LP, fully unveiling their partnership with NYC's white-hot hipster producers/label the DFA and essentially living up to the hype. Club cuts "Olio" and "House of Jealous Lovers" bump and bop up to superior subterranean dance tracks like "Killing" and "Sister Savior," the latter an oasis from singer Luke Jenner's extreme Robert Smith-isms - maybe he switched to boxers. But the band falters when they veer into half-baked angular rock and piano ballads, and the DFA-co-written tracks easily outshine the rest, so the Rapture are best not left to their own devices. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Various
Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before (Rough Trade/BMG)
Rough Trade celebrates a quarter century above water with this covers comp, pairing acts from today's roster with classics from Rough Trade's past. There's no Smiths (despite the album title), but there's the Tyde and British Sea Power gone Galaxie 500, Adam Green and a boogie-shoed Belle & Sebastian doing Young Marble Giants, Royal City and the Detroit Cobras tackling Strokes songs, the Fiery Furnaces' take on the Fall, Cocteau Twins' Elizabeth Fraser covering Robert Wyatt and the Hidden Cameras paying tribute to the Clean. Sixteen tracks with two tiers of talent for the price of one. 8.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

King Khan & His Shrines
Smash Hits (Vicious Circle/Fusion III)
Many of you may be asking, whatever happened to Arish "Blacksnake" Ahmad of local garage punks the Spaceshits? Is he doing lines, doing time or asking, "What would Jesus do?" Nope, he's building a formidable rep in Germany as the wild frontman of this superior old-school R&B outfit. While not as tight and in-the-pocket as, say, the Dap-Kings or Sugarman 3, the Shrines make up for it with authentic sleaze and grit - nasty rarely sounds this nice. The nine tunes here, originals all, show both originality and loyalty to the music's history, and goddamn you if "Kukamonga Boogaloo" doesn't get your tailfeather in a twist. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

The New Bomb Turks
Switchblade Tongues, Butterknife Brains (Gearhead)
This collection of compilation tracks, vinyl-only releases and outakes may sound like a scraping of the bottom of the barrel for these recently defunct rawkers, but this last testament is chock full o' the good stuff. The real thrill here is that nine out of the 16 songs here are covers. Their takes on the Devil Dog's "Radiobeat" and "Death of Mightly Joe" are stunning, but the pillaging of Aerosmith's "Chip Away the Stone" is leaps and bounds better than what Tyler and co. could ever muster. One of the greatest high-octane rock 'n' roll bands that ever existed, and this swan song just cements the fact that they will be sorely missed. 9/10 (Johnson Cummins)

Sevendust
Seasons (TVT/Universal)
On their fourth album, Sevendust have found a nice, comfortable formula. An inch or two above all the other nu-metal types, it's clear there's talent and passion here. They've crafted a balance of surefire riffs with that little extra push. Morgan Rose's drumming helps things as he steers into territory neglected by many a rock drummer. To ensure you buy their albums, it seems many bands are responding to peer-to-peer pressure by offering bonus DVDs, and Sevendust is no different. But in the end it's all about the music, which is solid if not a bit safe. 7/10 (Lateef Martin)

People Under the Stairs
…Or Stay Tuned (Om/Fusion III)
Although PUTS exist in the same realm as Jurassic 5 and Ugly Duckling, they still manage to hold to their hip hop purist stance while coming with a genuine vibe. If you listen to these guys talk about music, you might expect their sound to be very narrow-minded and loopy, but instead, it's fresh, crisp and loopy. Thes One and Double K insist that they're not DJs, MCs or producers but b-boys doing what comes naturally. If that's the case, then they do it considerably well for a couple of hacks. …Or Stay Tuned sounds a lot like their last LP O.S.T. to me, but you can't front on the feel-good vibe oozing out of this record. 7.5/10 (Scott C)

Various
Café Méliès Volume 1 (Jajou/Select)
Mega-clubs have long been releasing comps that carry their names, and in recent years, many a hip, upscale bar, bistro, hotel and spa have done likewise. Café Méliès, the coffee spot attached to the Ex-Centris complex, has one too now. Selected by DJ Stéphane Cocke, this tasteful spread of local tunes touches on house, bossa nova, broken beat, dub reggae, hip hop, pop and points in between. It's a remarkably colourful array, including sweet stuff from Ramasutra, Miguel Graça, Bet.e & Stef, Fred Everything, Jean Leloup and Jazz Pharmacy's Phil Clarke. It all reflects well not only on the café but on Montreal in general. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Lowfish 1000
Corrections Per Second (Suction)
You know Lowfish, right? After two shit-hot melodic synth-pop albums and a wicked EP on Adult.'s Ersatz Audio imprint, you darn well should. For several years Toronto's Gregory De Rocher has been repping Canada's electronic scene with his and cohort Solvent's electro label Suction. On this, his third album, Lowfish's synth-pop sound is pushed to new and varying heights as glassy leads cut through thick clouds of melodic synth chords, past bubbling analogue basslines and through dark throbbing beats. Essential listening for robotic retro revellers the world over. 7.5/10 (Raf Katigbak)

Monolake
Momentum ml/i (Caroline)
Remember a few years ago when the dub sound was big? It got so that you couldn't swing a laptop without hitting someone with an overdriven echo effect on his or her glitch record. Nowadays things have shifted slightly - Pole have moved onto hip hop beats and Deadbeat have opted for a purer, rootsier sound. Now you can count Monolake as one of those who have flipped the script. Of course there are still the head-fuck twisted sounds and sonic spacescapes you've come to expect, but after spending the last couple of years developing the crazy good Ableton Live performance software, his new album is more straight-ahead, beat-oriented dark techno. While the few dubby style tracks are admittedly a little dated, the rest is worth a listen. 6/10 (Raf Katigbak)

Various
Fabriclive 12: Bugz in the Attic (Fabric/Fusion III)
Broken beat, for lack of a better term, encompasses underground dance music fused with soul, funk or jazz. At nine members deep, BITA have contributed greatly to this growing bed of once marginal music that creeps more into the spotlight everyday. This mix is a healthy combo of Bugz productions, broken-beat standards and next shit that we've never heard before. New classics from 4Hero's "Having Your Fun" remix to Seiji's "Loose Lips" ride alongside Umod's "Trampoline" and the Neptunes remix of Daft Punk "Harder, Faster". 8.5/10 (Scott C)

Aaron Neville
Nature Boy (Verve/Universal)
If you like standards or Aaron Neville, you'll like this one. If you like standards and Neville, you'll just love it. I like standards, and as for Neville, well, let's just say his voice is an acquired taste. Nevertheless, he uses his trademark fluttering falsetto to give a different, if subtle, spin to some well-known songs. Old pal Linda Ronstadt lends her voice to "The Very Thought of You" while a host of talented musicians, including Ron Carter (bass), Michael Brecker (tenor sax), Roy Hargrove (trumpet) and Ry Cooder (guitar) support the rest of Neville's vision of the American songbook. Which you'll appreciate, if you're a fan. 7/10 (Gerard Dee)

Dorothée Berryman
P.S. I Love You (Le Factorie/Select)
Ms. Berryman is a singer informed by the jazz world, at times a "chanteuse," at times a little girl with a laugh in her voice and a sparkle in her eye, both girlish and a woman of the world. Her long acting career helps her to find meaning in a variety of songs. Here she's a girl, in a bar, on an island in the Pacific, on a camel in the desert, in Paris in the fall (where perhaps she takes in Truffaut's Jules et Jim at the cinema). Ms. Berryman sounds like no one else, a woman with a great voice, time, diction, carefully chosen songs and most importantly, feeling. What more could one ask for. 9.5/10 (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

Lenny Breau The Hallmark Sessions (Art of Life) The guitar genius at 20 with Rick Danko and Levon Helm. 9 (LD)

Against Me! As the External Cowboy (Fat Wreck Chords) Young emo kids get hip to the Jam's In the City. Thank fuckin' God. 7.5 (JC)

The Carnations In Good Time (Ductape) Vocals tight with youthful tension, tunes thick with good-time classic rock and punk-tipped pop. 7.5 (LC) All-ages show with the Weakerthans and Fembots at le Spectrum, Sat., Nov. 1, 8pm, $15

Styles of Beyond Megadef (Spy Tech) Rock riffs on almost every song? This is hip hop repeating itself, unfortunately not for the last time. 7 (SC)

The King Cobra self-titled (Troubleman Unlimited) Who says chicks suck at math? Over six songs, these three round up to punk, add prog, and divide by no wave. 7 (LC) With the Sick Lipstick at Casa del Popolo, Sat., Nov. 1, 9pm

The Undertones Get What You Need (Sanctuary) The Undertones without Feargal Sharkey? I don't think so. 6 (JC)

Asmus Titchiens Delta-Menge (Mille Plateaux) Sometimes I just don't want to feel like I need a degree in rocket science to appreciate music. It's no coincidence that his name sounds like Latin for "tight ass." 5 (RK)

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