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Check
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around Winnipeg tonight! |
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Check
out this week’s
online CD reviews by our
music staff |
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Kid
Koala
Some of My Best Friends Are DJs
(Ninja Tune)
B-
Website: www.ninjatune.net
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Few people in electronic
music can create immediately recognizable soundscapes. Montreal’s
Eric San, aka Kid Koala, can — and does so on this disc.
Some of My Best Friends Are DJs, Koala’s second disc
for Ninja Tune, continues with the dusty grooves, cut ’n’
paste collage instrumentals and sappy horns that made his
debut so unique. San’s thrift-store beats, woozy basslines
and quirky melodies aren’t just a reflection of his
personality and his sense of humour, but also show his desire
to push turntablists to really explore the turntable as an
instrument. Tracks such as Basin Street Blues, which is essentially
a DJ cover of Spencer Williams’ track from 1928, and
his fun and funky Robochacha are what set this disc apart.
The album also includes an enhanced CD, a thick comic book
and a cut-out chess set. Like Kid’s music, the comic
paints a picture of a world of weird and wonderful characters
where it’s OK to be yourself, and music of every type
is the soundtrack to your life.
Anthony Augustine |
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Dave
Matthews Band
The Central Park Concert
(Bama Rags/RCA)
B-
Website: www.davematthewsband.com
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The Dave Matthews
Band seems to be well on its way to becoming a modern version
of the Grateful Dead; touring constantly, priding themselves
on extended jams and releasing about three live albums every
decade. This three-disc, 20-song album presents the band’s
2003 New York charity concert in its entirety. That means
it includes an endless intro of piano tinkling and crowd noise,
relentless post-9/11 “We love New York,” patter,
as well as all the band’s hits. The sound here is incredible,
the performance is flawless and the band plays with its usual
passion. However, if you aren’t a true DMB fan, the
extended jams and Matthews’ quirky descents into gibberish
can quickly go from brilliant to incredibly annoying.
Mike Warkentin |
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Cyndi
Lauper
At Last
(Epic/Daylight)
D
Website: www.cyndilaupermusic.com
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Lauper was the darling
of the ’80s MTV boom, most notably with the neo-feminist
anthem Girls Just Want to Have Fun and hits such as All Through
the Night and True Colors. At Last, Lauper’s recent
release of cover tunes, begs several questions: Why name the
album after its weakest track? Why attempt vocal acrobatics
a la Mariah Carey on the remake of the Righteous Brothers’
Unchained Melody, fail, and release the track anyway? Can
I have my money back? There are some redeeming songs here,
such as Lauper’s, growling take of You’ve Really
Got a Hold On Me, and a cutesy duet with Tony Bennett called
Making Whoopee. But this one’s a definite miss.
Christine Leger |
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Red
Hot Chili Peppers
Greatest Hits
(Warner Music)
A
Website: redhotchilipeppers.com |
Just like Metallica,
there are really two Red Hot Chili Peppers. There’s
the young, rowdy quartet of uplift mofo party mothers who
enthralled club audiences through the latter half of the ’80s
with their funk-fuelled blend of danceable rock music and
then terrorized them with their legendary “sock”
encore. Then there’s the post-Bloodsugarsexmagik Peppers
— radio-friendly MTV and arena superstars struggling
to deal with the idea that loads of suburban kids really liked
them, and they couldn’t behave as they did in their
younger, tearaway days. Both bands are well represented here
— a testament to the strength of will of their core:
Flea, Chad Smith and Anthony Kiedis. If anything, this disc
will help younger listeners understand the band’s development
from the days of Higher Ground to Californication —
the links are here, from Give it Away to Under the Bridge,
for all to hear.
John Kendle |
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Puddle
of Mudd
Life on Display
(Flawless)
C-
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Puddle of Mudd was
immediately cast as a Nirvana/Alice In Chains clone when it
released its 2001 debut, Come Clean. Three years later, the
Puddle takes the logical next step, this time ripping off
the bands which originally ripped off Nirvana — much
of Life on Display recalls Silverchair’s 1995 release,
Frogstomp. The lyrics are weak (see the repetitive and clichéd
banality of Think), and colured by endless references to booze,
drugs and suicide. Where have you gone Kurt Cobain and Layne
Staley? The music is sometimes catchy, but remains the standard
alt-metal fare. Almost every song speaks to some ethereal
“You,” who has somehow tragically wounded the
band’s poetic soul, and sent it tumbling into a sea
of drugs and alcohol. “I’m the freak of the world,”
Wes Scantlin cries. Nope, you’re just another Fuel.
Mike Warkentin |
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Korn
Take a Look in the Mirror
(Epic/Immortal)
B+
Website: www.korn.com
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The post-grunge, nü-metal
world is full of screaming people who hate you, hate the world,
hate melody and hate intelligible lyrics. Korn are founding
fathers of this angry style, and they manage to pull it off
better than most. Their heavy, detuned riffs sound original
rather than forced, and their lyrics — though heavily
based around the words “fuck” and “you”
— are at least intelligible. Similarly, Jonathan Davis’
delivery is aggressive and hoarse without overpowering the
guitars of Head and James the Gorilla. Davis also has a smoother
side, adding texture to the mix. Take a Look is good blend
of contrasts that doesn’t lose itself in the frothing
rage that dooms so many other modern metal bands. It’s
melodic then violent, meandering then churning, with a good
dose of rap-rock, stuttering rhythms and funk thrown in. And
it’s really angry.
Mike Warkentin |
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Lori
Carson
Stolen Beauty
(Restless/Rykodisc)
B+
Website: www.loricarson.com
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A Geffen Records baby
who made her debut for the label in 1990, Lori Carson was
one of those singer/songwriters meant to follow in the commercial
footsteps of Tracy Chapman and Suzanne Vega. Fortunately for
musos (sadly for Geffen), Carson moved on to collaborate with
Golden Palominos mainman Anton Fier through the mid-’90s,
making some wonderful trip-hoppy music, but leaving the straightforward,
folk-inflected singer/songwriter stuff behind. People such
as Beth Orton have come along and taken over what might once
have been called Carson country, but Lori is still doing the
work and writing the songs. Stolen Beauty is a reminder of
her talent, collecting various songs she’s written for
film and TV in a single place. Almost surprisingly, these
low-key, atmospheric songs knit together rather neatly, despite
the fact they are sometimes years apart in age and their movies
(from Stealing Beauty to Blue Car) are decidedly different.
John Kendle |
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Penelope
Houston
Snapshot
(Flare Records)
B+
Website: www.penelope.net
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Like many of her late-’70s
punk rock contemporaries, California beauty Penelope Houston
and her band The Avengers created a bit of a stir back in
the so-called day — and then basically fell out of view
when they broke up in 1979. Houston hasn’t been idle
by any stretch. She has an arms’ length of independently
released albums in her catalogue, and her latest is a wonderful
five-track tribute to some of her late-’60s and early-’70s
favorites. Backed by the talented Maydays band (Alec Palao,
Patricio Johnson and John Kent), Houston wraps her strong
and sultry pipes around undiscovered Nuggets-era gold like
The Flying Machine’s mover Maybe We’ve Been Loving
Too Long and the Pentangle’s laid-back I’ve Got
a Feeling. She even takes a rootsy swipe at The Band’s
It Makes No Difference. Let’s hope she keeps it coming.
Jeff Monk |
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The
Paperboys
Dilapidated Beauty
(True North Records)
B
Website: www.paperboys.com
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The Paperboys won
a Juno for 1997’s Molinos — and it wasn’t
a fluke. The two-disc Dilapidated Beauty set is one of those
rare albums you can listen to with your parents (if your folks
dig The Eagles or Jim Croce). Disc 1, aptly called Night Driving,
will get you through those long, pre-dawn, head-bobbing hours
on the road. Traditional three-part Gospel harmonies blend
with an East Coast influence in If I Could Be There. By The
Hand of My Father is a stark tale of domestic violence as
seen through a child’s eyes. Night Driving’s melancholy
character contrasts sharply with that of the sunny second
disc, Saturday Afternoons. The dichotomy is so jarring this
collection might have been released as two separate albums.
Night Driving gets an A while Saturday Afternoons gets a C.
Christine Leger |
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