Youssou N'dour
Egypt (Nonesuch/Warner)
Word is, this was recorded prior to 9/11 and sat on until now. A primary figure in African pop, Senegal's N'dour is no stranger to musical mixtures. In the case of his latest album, he's given his Super Etoile de Dakar band and enlisted Cairo's Fathy Salama Orchestra for what is soundwise a firm but intricate fusion of West Africa and the Middle East, with N'dour's rich, decisive tenor front and centre. Lyrically, Egypt aims to showcase Islam's affirmative and tolerant aspects, offering a tonic of Senegalese Sufism to counter the caustic Wahhabi brew (and resultant Islamophobia) soiling the faith's global image. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) At Metropolis, Sat., July 10, 9pm, $39.50

Mystery Girls
Something in the Water (In the Red)
Lots of booze and bluesy rock 'n' roll were consumed in the making of this record, the sophomore release by five Green Bay ruffians called Mystery Girls. There are no Mystery Girls in the band, but the band would probably appreciate a vice-versa situation, from the hormonal sound of their garage-powered, psych-showered groove-rock slop. With unbridled guitars, harmonicas, tambourines and drums of fire, these guys stay consistently on message, leaving plenty of room to get loaded and mess around with the sound live. 7/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With the Sunday Sinners at Café Chaos, Sun., July 11

Alexisonfire
Watch Out (Distort/EMI)
These screamo MuchMusic stars had a sleeper hit on their hands with their debut, and this sophomore effort shows them on the verge of even bigger things. A bit more ballsy than Billy Talent, these St. Catharines, ON, natives stick close to the scream/melodic blueprint but it's their talent for writing a mini opus that brings an early At The Drive In to mind. Production is through the roof and occasionally the overextended arrangements get a bit muddled, but the precision assault cuts through every time. 7/10 (Johnson Cummins)

Die Haut and Nick Cave
Burnin' the Ice (Hit Thing/Fusion III)
Recorded in 1982, shortly before Cave's band the Birthday Party split, this album features a characteristically fervent performance by Dr. Nick, but the real attraction is Die Haut (the Skin), a post-punk band that craftily articulated Germany's answer to Wire. Joining mathy precision with penetrating melody and a touch of frontier goth reverb, they effortlessly hold their own on a handful of brief instrumentals, probably because they never had a proper singer, only a long and impressive list of guests. Watch, listen and read about Die Haut in this comprehensive three-step reissue. 8.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Dave Alvin
Ashgrove (Yep Roc/Outside)
Alvin was the guitarist in the final lineup of X, but he comes home to roost with Ashgrove. In an overcrowded genre, Alvin's blue-eyed but swampy blues actually come straight from the heart, unlike the droves just following in Muddy's footsteps. Alvin practises restraint throughout, putting in a solo only when it's called for, and keeps things interesting by dabbling in country on "Nine Volt Heart" and Tex-Mex on "Out of Control." It seems he picked up more than a few things from X's master songwriter John Doe, shedding the hired-gun thing and wearing the bandleader hat comfortably. 7.5/10 (Johnson Cummins)

Globe Glotters
Garg (BRS Audiomonde)
When the focal element of the band's sound is as odd and intense as throat singing, the only safe bet as to where it will go from there is that all bets are off. This Quebec quartet-and-friends employ the mesmerizing harmonic drones of throat singing, nodding to the Tibetan, Tuvan and Inuit traditions, and play them off the strangest things - hillbilly hustle, heavy metal chuggery, a rubbery funk groove. Alternately eerie, funny, frightening, uplifting and irritating, Garg inhabits a world that's wide, wild, weird and wondrous. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) CD launch at Lion d'Or, Fri., July 9, 8pm, free

Benny Sings
Champagne People (Kindred Spirits)
Sliding in somewhere between the limp swing of a D'Angelo ballad and the poppy, melancholic melodies of Stereolab, Holland's Benny Sings succeeds in crafting a record that immediately stands out as something different. Benny honed his skills making hip hop beats for years, but now employs his own voice, a slight, timid but soulful one, which regularly lets listeners think that they could be singing his songs. From the slow, sad harmonies of "Melissa Davis" to more upbeat creations like "Style Beats Liberationfronts," Benny's songwriting skills are clearly the star here, drawing more smiles and comparisons than anything I've heard in a very long time. 8.5/10 (Scott C)

Various
New Recruits (Camobear)
While the history of Camobear Records is probably some closely guarded secret, they only started doing things officially in 2003. New Recruits sheds some light on what the Vancouver-based imprint has in store for 2004, showcasing hip hop talent from coast to coast. Josh Martinez contributes here with his pensive "Blessing in Disguise" but gets a little more testy as part of Pissed Off Wild on "Pissed Off Wild." While Halifax duo the Goods (DJ Gordski and Kunga 219) come with "The Eff," DJ Moves teams up with Awol One for "Shakeyer Eywind," which sounds exactly like Buck 65 after a few too many. This comp doesn't need my help, because these guys make hip hop music their own way, whether we like it or not. 7.5/10 (Scott C)

Martin Siewert
No Need to Be Lonesome (Mosz)
As one third of the Viennese trio Trapist, Siewert has become known as a master of restraint and abstract improv (check their brilliant Ballroom album on Thrill Jockey). For his debut solo album, he focuses more on quirky melodies than his previous delicate, jazz-inspired meanderings. The result is six extended tracks of bleary-eyed, early-morning fog, sputtering analog rhythms, distorted chords and contrapuntal hooks that are as much Aphex as they are Archie Shepp. 8/10 (Raf Katigbak)

Miss Kittin
I Com (Nobody's Bizzness/EMI France)
Finally, the velvet gloves are off and Miss Kittin's made a record with her paw prints all over it. Co-produced with Chicks on Speed cohorts Tobias Neumann and Thies Mynther (and featuring a cameo by the Hacker), this is a fruitful offering of tight, slinky dancefloor tracks, motorway electrorock, liquid synthpop, dub lite and chansons tristes, such as her tenderized version of Indochine's "3ème Sexe." Thankfully, Miss Kittin expands her vocal range, alternating that famous deadpan with Lush-like falsetto, intimate whispers and megaphone commands, and sparring with "da big ass boot pimp" L.A. Williams. 8.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter)

Max de Wardener
Where Am I Today (Accidental/ Fusion III)
With his beautifully understated album, classically trained Max de Wardener has provided a perfect audio snapshot of life's simple pleasures. The opening track "Luster" glides effortlessly like an airplane breaking over rainy-day clouds, while "Noises From a Small Planet" melds gamelan-like gongs with digital squelch and nasal sinewave melodies creating a driven track that slowly swells with emotion then drifts off with calculated carelessness midway. "Until My Blood" reclaims the power of the church organ with its looming chords and loopy, pipsqueak melodies, while closer "Hundreds and Thousands" goes from squishing like warm mud between your toes to full-on barefoot puddle jumping. 8.5/10 (Raf Katigbak)

Brandy
Afrodisiac (Warner)
Brandy's last album, '02's Full Moon, featured tracks like "He Is" and "WOW," clearly the music of a woman in love. Well, times have changed. The joy of motherhood and the disappointment of a bitter divorce have transformed Brandy into a more accomplished though less innocent artist. Furthermore, Rodney Jerkins, who produced most of her last two sets, has been replaced by quirky beatmaster Timbaland and producer du jour Kayne West (on lead single "Talk About Our Love"), among others. Bookended by two deeply personal tracks, "Who I Am" and "Should I Go" (which samples from Coldplay's "Clocks"), Afrodisiac marks a bold step in a new direction. 7.5/10 (Gerard Dee)

Mary Lou Williams
Black Christ of the Andes (Smithsonian Folkways/Koch)
Ask me who the most important woman in jazz history is and my immediate answer would be Mary Lou Williams. Leave out the word "woman" and she'd still rank as one of the music's most important figures. During the early days of bebop, the heavies like Gillespie and Monk could be found at her New York apartment, looking for solutions to musical problems. After some time off the scene, a Catholic priest convinced her that she should be sharing her gift with the world and this reissue (one of the most important of the year) is from that period. Besides superb pieces with religious overtones, "St. Martin de Porres" and "Anima Christi," there are many straight-ahead yet quirky pieces, like "A Fungus Amungus," "Dirge Blues," "A Grand Night for Swinging" and "My Blue Heaven," on which Percy Heath and drummer Tim Kennedy ably assist. 10/10 (Len Dobbin)

Mini CD Reviews

Kenny Werner Live at the Blue Note (Half Note) Pianist Werner can always be counted on for a musically stimulating outing and this one, with Johannes Weidenmueller and Ari Hoenig, is no exception. 9 (LD)

AMCW Turning Point Pt. 2 (CDR) A Man Called Warwick digs deeper than a coaltown miner working overtime. 8 (SC)

Blackout Beach Light Flows the Putrid Dawn (Soft Abuse) It's slurred singing and Blue Velvet vibes with Frog Eyes singer Carey Mercer, who's guitar-light and ever-intense. 7.5 (LC)

By Divine Right Hybrid TV Genii (Linus) This six-song EP will have you salivating for the upcoming full-length. 7.5 (JC)

Philip Glass The Fog of War (Orange Mountain) Nothing too new in the latest Glass score for an Errol Morris doc, but his insistent, cyclical patterns still hold water. 7.5 (RB)

The Vanishing Songs for Psychotic Children (GSL) This sci-fi goth horror disco trio from San Francisco is relocating to Germany soon, and it shows. 7.5 (LC) With Statue Park, the Inhalers at Café Silencio, Tues., July 13

Fluke Puppy (One Little Indian) Slow down, boys, you've got at least a few more years before the inevitably crappy big beat revival kicks in. For now, just keep those brutally painful lyrics in your dream diary. 5 (RK)

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