MUSIC REVIEWS

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SUPERHEAVY
self-titled
(A&M/ Universal)
Mick Jagger, Dave Stewart, A.R. Rahman, Damian Marley and Joss Stone open their supergroup LP with a title track/theme song (“We’re superheavy,” repeat) sung by Marley with forced-feeling interjections by Jagger (we’ll later hear him rap), bits of faux-black and actual-Indian back-up chanting by Stone and Rahman, respectively, and a weighty ragga-rock beat. Aren’t we eclectic? Sounds like what would have happened if the Happy Mondays had made a second cracked-out record in Barbados (ie. better than expected). 6.5/10 Trial Track: “Hey Captain” (Lorraine Carpenter)

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THE LAST ASSASSINS
self-titled
(Dare to Care)
Jean Leloup is a legend in these parts, but unfortunately this project doesn’t showcase his skill as a lyricist or pop songwriter—he’s the trio’s guitarist/jester. Alongside Mathieu Leclerc and Virginia Tangvald, Leloup stays off the mic (well, almost) to play on a series of mostly mediocre English-language blues rock numbers that will win over his ’n’ hers-leather-pants-wearers across the province. 5/10 Trial Track: “Dead Birds” (Lorraine Carpenter) Album launch with Hôtel Morphée and Beaver at the Rialto, Fri., Sept. 23, 8:30 p.m., $49

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TORI AMOS
Night of Hunters
(Deutsche Grammophon/Universal)
Sooooo, why haven’t Tori Amos and Tim Burton collaborated yet? Tori’s 12th album marks a shift away from her past works by going completely acoustic. Full of elegant darkness, nary a computer or processed beat flutter into the sonic tapestry of clarinets and strings. Paying tribute to classical composers, this concept album revolves around the subject matter of love and loss. A refreshing release that brings the focus back to Tori’s voice and piano skills. 8.5/10 Trial Track: “Battle of Trees” (Lateef Martin)

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LAURA MARLING
A Creature I Don’t Know
(Virgin/EMI)
At 21, this English folk-singer-songwriter has already released her third solo album, won a Brit and been nominated for the Mercury Prize (twice). She sure does have an impressive CV, moving some to wonder if she has secret talents, like milk-bottle juggling or telekinesis—she’s been largely aloof with the press, so who knows? But this is for certain: she’s a skilled guitarist (she started at age six), her voice is absolutely stunning and she likes to sing about those dark places inside us all. 7/10 Trial Track: “Night After Night” (Shawn Thompson) With Alessi’s Ark at Corona Theatre, Sat., Sept. 24, 9 p.m., $20

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WILD BEASTS
Smother
(Domino)
Frontman Hayden Thorpe likes to talk dirty and has the flamboyant delivery to back up the gutter mouth. But it’s as a cohesive quartet that this strange, arty U.K. group have gradually scaled back their brash theatrical tendencies to become insular, restrained brutes, their dark edges emboldened by lean instrumentation that thumps like damaged heartbeats. Proof positive even the most grotesque of creatures can have a firm understanding of beauty. 8/10 Trial Track: “Bed of Nails” (Erik Leijon) With Still Life Still at Cabaret Mile-End, Wed., Sept. 28, 8 p.m., $15

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ELKS
Destined for the Sun EP
(Tee Pee)
Another surging, albeit brief transmission from these Brooklyn-based sludge-slingers. It’s chock full of the good stuff with a Sabbath heft to the riffs, perfect caterwaul vocals and Hawkwind-styled oscillations, but unfortunately there isn’t enough here to differentiate them from the recent rash of like-minded contemporaries. Hardly bad, but this should be earmarked for the recently anointed sludge fan and not cantankerous hacks like me. 7/10 Trial Track: “Fall of the Starchitect” (Johnson Cummins) With Quest for Fire, Burning Love, Naam at Divan Orange tonight, Thurs., Sept. 22, 10 p.m., $12

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KOUROSH YAGHMAEI
Back From the Brink
(Now Again)
This is a definite must-have for any fan of early world beat psych. Enclosed in a lavish hardcover book with a 52-page booklet, this two hours of music covers Iranian musician Yaghmaei in a peak period as he managed to create against all odds during the years 1973–1979. Yaghmaei manages to merge western pop with psychedelic overtones along with traditional Iranian music that refuses to grind gears. Fans of the label Sublime Frequencies are definitely going to want to jump on this. 8/10 Trial Track “Tavalode Yek Seda” (Johnson Cummins)

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BLU
NoYork!
(Sire/Warner)
When Blu leaked his major label debut, handing out copies at Rock the Bells in Cali last month, he proved that he is of the people, and for the people. Whether or not he is with the people depends on how fast we catch up to his increasingly left-field sonic vision. If you are seeking catchy hooks and corner wisdom, Blu ain’tcha boy no more. If you wonder what else this hip hop life has to offer, he’s your man. 8/10 Trial Track: “Above Crenshaw” ft. Cashus King (Darcy MacDonald) With Exile at le Belmont, Tues., Sept. 27, 9 p.m., $10

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TODDLA T
Watch Me Dance
(Ninja Tune)
Sheffield wunderkind Tom “Toddla T” Bell has been able to reach out and connect Jamaican bass with a Northern English pop sensibility. Eclectic and fun, but also insightful and interesting—“Streets So Warm” seems to comment directly on the recent London riots—Toddla has upped the ante. With bits from Donaeo, Skream and Roots Manuva (among many others), this is a record that, like Toddla, refuses to stop for a minute. 8/10 Trial Track: “Take Me Back” (Erin MacLeod)

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BILLY BANG’S SURVIVAL ENSEMBLE
Black Man’s Blues/ New York Collage
(NoBusiness)
Hopes that Billy Bang’s passing might silver-line some unreleased treasure are fulfilled by this two-CD gem from ’77/’78. Bang is at his most radical, rapping poetic about jazz and social conditions pulsed by the bass/drum duo of William Parker and Rashid Bakr. Frenzied slithering of bow over violin from Bang and the agitated beauty of Bilal Abdur Rahman’s sax fill the upper partials. Includes a 40-page booklet with historical background. 9/10 Trial Track: “Nobody Hear the Music the Same Way” (Lawrence Joseph)

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MINI REVIEWS

VARIOUS African Beat & Latin Beat (Putumayo) First two records in a new series of comps from world music giant Putumayo, this time showcasing some of the best remixes and refixes of rhythms from Africa and the Latin world. 9 (EM)

JENNIFER CASTLE Castlemusic (Flemish Eye) This sweet cosmic folk record (by Toronto’s equivalent to our Katie Moore), released in the spring, really should’ve been short-listed for that Polaris Prize. 8 (LC) With Snailhouse, One Hundred Dollars, David Macleod at Casa del Popolo, Fri. Sept. 23, 10 p.m., $12

WISE BLOOD These Wings EP (Dovecote) Chris Laufman raps but doesn’t really, and his deformed samples are somewhat chopped and screwed but not exactly. Either way it’s trippy, vaguely unsettling and hard to define. 8 (EL)

STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS Mirror Traffic (Matador/Select) I can’t claim responsibility for the beer cup thrown at Pavement at Osheaga last year, but I’ll admit it was an impressive throw from that distance. Beer toss: 9 Album: 5 (EL) With Holy Sons at Corona Theatre, Fri., Sept. 23, 8 p.m., $25, all ages

ALICE COOPER Welcome 2 My Nightmare (Universal) Dear Alice: You’ve already released some of the best rock ’n’ roll records of all time, so seriously dude, just stop already. 4 (JC)

SEBASTIAN BACH Kicking and Screaming (Frontiers) …and sucking ass all the way. 3 (JC)

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