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Check
out what’s going on
around Winnipeg tonight! |
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Check
out this week’s
online CD reviews by our
music staff |
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9Lazy9
Sweet Jones
(Ninja Tune)
B+
Website: www.ninjatune.net |
One of Ninja Tune’s
first draft choices – back when the label was a small-scale
enterprise turning out 12-inch singles and not a worldwide
force in music – 9Lazy9 has reformed to deliver its
first full-length album since 1995’s The Herb. It’s
not as if Keir Fraserello, Giacomo Braddellini and James Bradell
have been unproductive – each of them has been working
on solo projects, with Bradell’s Funki Porcini getting
the most attention. Like most artists on the Ninja Tune roster,
9Lazy9 has an uncanny ability to create interesting, engaging
music in a genre that has become increasing stale of late.
9Lazy9’s relaxed percussion and heavy use of horns,
organs and muted guitars gives the album the type of trippy,
stoner-slow vibe that Ninja Tune is known for. Let’s
hope it doesn’t take them this long again to get back
together in the studio.
Anthony Augustine |
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Andrew
W.K.
The Wolf
(Island/Universal)
A-
Website:
www.andrewwk.com |
Andrew W.K’s
2001 release, I Get Wet, was one of the most charming rock
discs to come out in recent years, a series of unapologetically
big and dumb rock songs performed by an enigmatic man with
extensive classical training and a penchant for using the
word “party.” Now, on The Wolf, he’s still
at it – but with a twist. Instead of making an album
of songs extolling the benefits of having fun, the singer
has created an epic, exhilarating, retro piano-rock record,
like a gloriously extended version of “November Rain”
blown to proportions Wagner would applaud. Subtlety is hardly
his strong point, but when you’re banging away to the
record Freddy Mercury didn’t live to make, who needs
it? The Wolf is a sweeping, orchestral release that just begs
for an arena, and one that’s delightful enough to survive
critics calling it anachronistic.
Melissa Martin |
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Cauterize
So Far From Real
(Wind-Up/Sony)
B-
Website: www.cauterize.com |
They’re cute,
no doubt about it, and not just their cherubic skater-boy
smiles. The debut album from Oshawa’s Cauterize (formerly
known as T.O.E.) is such a charming little punk-lite offering,
you might not even notice it’s really just a pop record
in amped-up rock clothing until you’re jonesing for
a sugar fix. Eleven tracks of giddy riffs and unimaginative
but solid emo lyrics don’t necessarily make a great
record, but combined with genuine, sometimes vicious guitar
assaults and fantastic melodies, they make a pretty decent
one. Cauterize won’t win any awards for innovation (although,
had they broken slightly earlier, they might be replacing
the Ataris on radio airwaves right now), but a seamless, consistent
debut makes them a safe bet for those who think the whole
skater-punk phenomenon is fine just the way it is.
Melissa Martin |
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The
Dave Rave Group
So Far From Real
(Bullseye)
B
Website: www.bullseyecanada.com |
You’ve gotta
give Canada’s New Wave ambassador David (Dave Rave)
Des Roches credit for time served. For such a talented singer/songwriter
never to have hit the Canuck mainstream musical radar is unfortunate.
Rave worked the boards in plenty of classy combos; some skinny-tie
time was spent with Hamilton new-ravers The Shakers and (post-Frankie
Venom) Teenage Head. He even had a nouveau-folk duo with partner
Lauren Agnelli as Agnelli & Rave. Everyday Magic charts
all of Rave’s strengths in one swoop. From the sincere
pop grind of the title track through the uplifting, Matthew
Sweet-esque chime of “Trace of the Human Race”
and rockabilly slap of “Help Me Please,” Des Roches
proves adept at conveying multiple moods in his writing. The
album goes a little limp at the halfway mark, but still offers
some magic.
Jeff Monk |
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Deadstring
Brothers
Deadstring Brothers
(Times Beach Records)
A
Website: www.deadstringbrothers.com |
On their self-titled
debut, the Deadstring Brothers have constructed a perfect
slice of Americana. That in itself is no small feat, though
it does seem odd that such a fine roots album comes via a
quintet out of Detroit. While most of their Motor City counterparts
have chosen to crank their amps past 11, the Deadstrings opt
for a mostly quiet, sombre affair. The album’s more
raucous moments do have a definite swagger to them, calling
to mind the blues-boogie rock of the Stones, but the true
highlights stem from the interaction between pedal-steel player
Peter Ballard and vocalist Kurt Marschke, a perfect fusion
of vox and guitar. Ballard’s top-notch playing seems
to make the saddest vocals that much more pained. Throw in
a healthy dose of Rhodes organ and you have a stunning debut.
Jared McKetiak
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Hawksley
Workman
lover/fighter
(Isadora/Universal)
A
Website: www.hawksleyworkman.com
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Hawksley Workman has
never had any qualms about being a lover, not a fighter, and
on his fourth release, he explores this relationship in typical
fashion: playing most of the instruments and producing the
album himself. The result is rich with warm textures, crack
songwriting and catchy alt-pop hooks. The jangly exuberance
of “We Still Need a Song,” the melancholy hopefulness
of “Wonderful and Sad,” and the spirit of “Anger
as Beauty” prove our man is a master of his craft no
matter what the tempo. Lyrically, Workman’s at the top
his game – take “Smoke Baby”: “You
went out for a smoke/I call you in/Just before the storm begins/Your
last breath of smoke/You let it out in the room/It makes a
cloud/Like the greyest/Perfect plume.” It’s remarkable
that a man who takes the trouble to articulate such simple
moments can also keep the bigger picture successfully in mind.
Susan Krepart |
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Swell
Whenever You’re Ready
(Beggars Banquet)
B+
Website: www.beggars.com |
For their seventh
album, California’s Swell have again whittled themselves
down to original duo David Freel and Sean Kirkpatrick. The
band’s sound draws its inspiration and easy feel from
the geographically diverse and open terrain that links the
two members’ homes, miles apart in the sunny state.
The duo creates an intoxicatingly quiet din, and while it
may be called “lazy rock,” it’s far from
uninteresting. The strummy acoustic guitar and brushed snare
at the heart of many of the tracks may seem languid at times,
but it’s exactly the delivery this band excels at. Drummer
Kirkpatrick’s gorgeous sleeve paintings offer a vital
visual link to the concept of the album. If you like an easygoing
grace and built-in headroom to hear an album, this is for
you. Whenever You’re Ready is a quietly dramatic, understated
treasure.
Jeff Monk |
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Guided
By Voices
Earthquake Glue
(Matador)
B+
Website: www.matadorrecords.com |
Although he’s
one of indie rock’s most prolific songwriters, former
schoolteacher Robert Pollard almost always packs his releases
with material that’s more killer than filler. Though
his arena-rock-writ-small songs are often hampered by low-fi
production and his often rambling sensibilities, Earthquake
Glue is a relatively big-sounding effort that steers clear
of too much fuzz and awkwardness – which may not appeal
to longtime fans who relish his ramshackle side. Whatever
your opinion, there’s no question that “The Best
of Jill Hives” is classic GBV – it’s instantly
appealing, effortlessly tapping into a melody at once totally
familiar and perfectly fresh, both somehow mournful and celebratory.
“Useless Inventions” is another gem, as wiry guitars
twine around each other under a ridiculously catchy melody.
Consistently inconsistent GBV may be, but there’s plenty
to love here.
Jill Wilson |
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Satchel
Paige
Guy, I’m From Here!
(Your Brothers Records)
B+
Website: www.peanutsandcorn.com
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Storytellers are hard
to find in hip-hop these days, and perhaps that’s what
makes Guy, I’m From Here!, the solo debut from Your
Brother In My Backpack’s Satchel Paige, such a pleasure.
Throughout the album Paige, a.k.a. Mr. Ness, doles out a healthy
history lesson over fresh beats supplied by three of Peg City’s
finest, Kutdown, Kinetik and The Gumshoe Strut. Insightful
and introspective, he talks about growing up in Winnipeg and
in the greater Toronto area, and of those people who touched
his life along the way, be they soccer stars or sweet soul
singers. On “Theo’s Gartrelle” he warns
of the evils of over-confidence, while “Lincoln Alexander”
preaches the importance of finding a positive role model.
Now that I know where Satchel Paige is from, I’m interested
to see where he’s going.
Jared McKetiak |
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