Various
Afro Baby: The Evolution of the Afro-sound in Nigeria 1970–79 (Soundway/Fusion III)
A leading Afro-beat archeologist, Soundway founder Miles Cleret fills the gap between his first Ghana Soundz comp and the next with an excavation of the source. Between the late, venerated Fela Kuti and his assorted colleagues and acolytes (many of whom are here, as is Fela himself), Nigeria in the '70s was ground zero for the collision of American soul, funk and jazz with traditional highlife pop, Afro rhythms and the politics of African pride. This comp strikes an amazing balance, diligently tracing the course of Afro-beat over that decade without compromising on quality - not a dud among the dozen tunes here. 9/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) Miles Cleret DJs with Andy Williams and A Man Called Warwick at Salon Daomé, Fri., June 18, 10pm, $10

Beastjie Boys
To the 5 Boroughs (Capitol/EMI)
The three bad brothers you know almost too well still manage to surprise. The lead-off "Ch-Check It Out" and boss "Triple Play" clearly recall the style of Paul's Boutique, but the rest, while swamped in samples, relies heavily on sparse, severe electronic production - repetitively so. Lyrically, however, the B-Boys lay it on as dense and clever as ever. The requisite clowning, braggadocio and hip-hop historicism are in place and well articulated, and an unprecedented, post-9/11 political pique has surfaced. The jewel in the crown is the powerful "An Open Letter to NYC," biting the Dead Boys and biggin' up the battered Big Apple with moving eloquence. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

The Fall
50,000 Fall Fans Can't Be Wrong (Beggars Banquet)
Man, was this ever overdue. Spanning from their start in '78 to last year, this two-CD set cements the fact that Mark E. Smith is the godfather of post-punk. His trademark cold, monotone delivery and crotchety attitude has often been imitated but never matched. You don't have to travel far to find the Fall's continuing influence - just look at Franz Ferdinand or Pavement's Stephen Malkmus. All the hits are here, like "Totally Wired" and "Industrial Estate," but it's the more recent works like "Middle Class Revolt" and "Are You Missing Winner?" that validate Smith as the ultimate thorn in the side of mediocrity. One of the most important bands ever, whether Smith likes it or not. 9/10 (Johnson Cummins)

The Organ
Grab That Gun (Mint/Outside)
Building on the solid foundation of their 2002 EP Sinking Hearts - most of which is reproduced here, re-recorded but largely unchanged - Vancouver's sombre sweethearts continue to wax melancholic and manhandle the early '80s in all the right places. Despite some imperfections and redundancies, the Organ's exceptional vocals, dreamy Hammond, white-hot guitar and steadfast rhythm, not to mention smart lyrics steeped in heart and soul, recall the likes of the Smiths, the Cure and Indochine, a sound fit to rock and awe the dancefloor and the bedroom floor, respectively. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With Girl Nobody and Marlowe at Café Campus, Fri., June 18, 8pm, $10

Mission of Burma
ONoffON (Matador/Select)
While their peers were still running around in circles in the early '80s mosh pits, Boston's Mission of Burma were experimenting with tape loops and noise, but upped the ante with melodies that could tear your eyes out. After an extended absence, the band are back in the saddle. Roger Miller and Clint Conley's songs still offset each other perfectly, while Peter Prescott delivers three shining moments as well. "Fake Blood" and "Nicotine Bomb" easily stand up to classics like "That's When I Reach for My Revolver," but the new record offers more cohesion than any of their past efforts. I can't wait to finally see this band live. 9/10 (Johnson Cummins)

!!!
Louden Up Now (Touch and Go)
If New Yorkers think their disco-punk front is secure, they've overlooked the Sacramento caravan lying in wait on the horizon. Channelling A Certain Ratio, 23 Skidoo, Gang of Four and Talking Heads, and sealing it with some modern spunk, !!! have delivered the best contemporary LP of its kind. Whether minimal or supersized, the band lays down roof-raising arrangements of keys, horns, guitars and three-dimensional percussion with full-on funk at its core. Their wisely rationed vocals flow with the current, either riding the rhythm or punctuating tracks with profanity, as in "Shit Scheisse Merde" parts 1, 2 and 1A. Spines, meet basslines. 9/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Various
DJ Frigid presente Kink! (Kink! Inc.)
Following the success of his red-hot weekly Kink!, local glamourpuss and electro-punk DJ Frigid now reps Montreal talent in a big way with his first full-fledged compilation. The hour-long disc plays like a compressed version of the Kink! night, moving from Tiga's late-night stormer "Burning Down" to the guitar-heavy trash rawk of les Dandy Fauchés and back again. Frigid really shines in his duet with the legendary Plastic Bertrand on their distorted, Gary Glitter-meets-Fischerspooner shufflepunker "Machine!," while two of my favourite local acts, Echo Kitty and Lesbians on Ecstasy (remixed by Frigid), also make solid contributions. An excellent effort, bringing together local luminaries and some of Montreal's fresher hidden talent (watch out for Duchess Says). 8/10 (Raf Katigbak) CD launch at Unity II tonight, Thurs., June 17, 10pm

[sic]
Gorilla Masking Tape (Piehead)
Montreal audio-visual artist [sic] has been voluntarily hovering just below the radar for the past year, letting her fan base - like her music - creep in slowly and steadily. For this release on Piehead, [sic] has crafted a fine ambient release that shows a taste for balance, restraint and creeping people the fuck out. Gorilla Masking Tape is the sound of warm analog textures, prepared guitar and bass, a bevy of effects pedals and two months without sleep. Bleary-eyed and hazy, the sonic landscape has a moodiness that is at once peaceful and unsettling, not unlike the feeling of successfully removing a small metal shard from your eyelid with a needle. 8.5/10 (Raf Katigbak)

DJ Revolution
Wake Up Show Archives Volumes 1-6 (Nocturne/FusionIII)
I know I'm not the only one who cringes at the term "mixtape" becoming code for a snippet album of half-assed freestyles. DJ Revolution has earned his stripes as not only a talented producer but as the turntable muscle behind the world famous Wake Up Show with Sway and Tech, so what we have here is three double CDs of hip hop gold. Gold meaning real cuts, real blends, real MCs, real beats and nuff songs. Vol. 1 alone features Kool G Rap, Tony Touch, 50 Cent, Busta, Dilated, Blackstar, Tribe, Mos Def, Shyne, King Tee, Nas, DMX, GZA, Ghostface, J-Live, Keith Murray, Ludacris and many, many more. Puttin' the mix back in mixtape might not mean a lot to some people, but it makes all the difference for me. 7.5/10 (Scott C)

X-ecutioners
Revolutions (Columbia/Sony)
Revolutions manages to escape the trappings of your average turntablist offering, but in doing so, the X-ecutioners have tailored a grating collection of seemingly unrelated songs that feature scratch accents. While a song like "Live From the PJs" featuring Ghostface, Black Thought and Trife will get some attention, stinkers like "Let Me Rock" with Star Trouble couldn't be further away from enjoyable. That, coupled with the boring return of the rap/rock snore-fest on "Get With It" with Cypress Hill, and then again on "(Even) More Human Than Human" with Rob Zombie, Slug and Josey Scott, make even the skits on this record seem interesting. Naming this record after the Matrix trilogy flop may be a curse rather than a clever spin. 6.5/10 (Scott C)

Lionel Richie
Just for You (Universal)
Richie drives his latest straight down the middle of the road and right into staid, adult-contemporary terrain. His first album in three years finds him still meandering through pop and light rock tracks that are, well, boring. It's not Richie's pop leanings that are the problem - after all, he successfully mined the genre in the '80s, producing memorable songs like "Penny Lover" and "You Are." It's just that he has nothing new to say, or no new way to say it. The addition of Lenny Kravitz ("Time of Our Life") and New Zealand singer Daniel Bedingfield ("Do Ya") barely raise the temperature of this lukewarm offering. 5/10 (Gerard Dee)

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
Funeral for a Friend (Ropeadope/ Outside)
The venerable Dee-two-Bee-two, New Orleans' leading musical export, took a hit this past January with the passing of Anthony "Tuba Fats" Laceni, a founding member and, as sousaphonist, such a band's backbone. Nobody does funeral music like Big Easy brass bands, and DDBB see their old friend off in magnificent style. The pattern on these familiar spirituals is a little bluesy formality rolling out the carpet for an explosion of raucous bounce, with some gospel vocals on several tracks. Oh, and the accordion of Los Lobos' David Hidalgo adds Tex-Mex spice to "Please Let Me Stay a Little Longer." Now that's a send-off. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg)

Daniel Thouin
Mile End Waverly (La Factrie/Select)
Daniel Thouin
Mile End St-Viateur (La Factrie/Select) Two airy outings of much substance from an April session by an electro-acoustic ensemble consisting of some exceptional players. The leader handles a number of keyboards and is joined by a basic group of Yannick Rieu, Maxime St. Pierre, Adrian Vedady and Phillipe Soirat, with Jocelyn Tellier on guitar and percussionist Christian Lagueux added when their expertise is called for. The leader and Rieu contributed most of the music, with a piece by Björk heard on the former and one by Joe Zawinul on the latter. An impressive session well worth some serious attention on a new jazz label that debuted with a Dorothee Berryman CD last fall. Try "Half Dub 2," a floating Latin piece. Both 9/10 (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

Nancy Walker When She Dreams (Justin Time/Fusion III) The latest Festival concours winner joined by Kirk MacDonald, hubby Kieran Overs and Barry Romberg. Outstanding! 9.5 (LD)

Supergrass Supergrass Is 10: The Best of 94–04 (Parlophone/EMI) Ever alright, Britpop's most animated act marks a near-perfect 10 with a singles comp and an ace DVD, sold separately. 9 (LC)

Various Spiritual Life Music: New Birth (SLM) A wash of ambient, soulful and sometimes flighty tunes that will calm you down. 7 (SC)

Eloi Brunelle Musique pour l'amour (Epsilon Lab) While the production quality is solid, the album's glaring derivativeness (Basic Channel, Swayzak) leaves it sounding a little too safe and a few notches short of its full potential. 6.5 (RK)

Juliana Hatfield In Exile Deo (Zoe/Rounder) Half-decent pop and half-witted revelations about life. Sometimes a wasted mind is a terrible thing to hear. 6 (LC)

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