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Check out
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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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Angélique Kidjo
Oyaya!
(Columbia)
B
Website: www.angeliquekidjo.com
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Keeping with her mantra
that the world is more culturally connected than we think, African-born
songstress Angélique Kidjo infuses her blend of African/American
soul music with a Latin edge. Oyaya!, which means joy in Yoruba,
is made up of tracks that borrow from traditional styles of salsa,
meringue and calypso. Inspired by her travels in Cuba, this follow-up
to 2002’s Black Ivory Soul tones down her R&B influences
and takes her Latin tendencies a step further. Opening track Seyin
Djro will make you get up and dance, while Adje Dada sounds like
a soulful bachata. The three-time Grammy nominee sings in English,
French and African languages and once again proves that music
knows no boundaries. It’s no Oremi, but kudos to Kidjo for
exploring new blends of world music. Fun and lighthearted, it’s
the perfect summer patio soundtrack.
Jen Skerritt |
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Ben
Kweller
On My Way
(ATO/RCA)
C
Website: www.benkweller.com
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Ben Kweller sounds like
he looks: Less than dangerous. Long, fringy bangs dust his eyebrows
and his shirt collar is done up to the top button — you
get the picture. On My Way is loaded with Kweller’s views
on himself and his life journey played out in mid-tempo rockers
and light-in-the-loafers ballads. The problem is this guy really
can’t stop talking about himself, and while that is exactly
what some music fans desire, it is really too much to take over
the course of an entire album. His overly sincere delivery and
simplistic arrangements make you wish Ben would just rock out
once in a while. He does show some hope of digging in on The Rules
and Ann Disaster, where he actually moves away from his sing-speak
delivery and actually roars for a few moments. Good — in
small doses.
Jeff Monk |
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Doug
Sahm
He’s About A Groover - An Essential Collection from the Texas Tornado
(Fuel 2000)
A+
Website: www.fusion3.com |
When Douglas Wayne Sahm
passed over in late 1999, he left a gaping hole in the world of
American rock ’n’ roll music. From his earliest recordings—
featured here on disc one of this two-CD compilation — Sahm
zoned in on the purity and powerfully raw essence of real roots
music. It’s difficult to find any fault on this fairly complete
compilation, and nearly any set of Sahm tracks is worthy of inclusion
into any righteous collection. The late ’50s and early ’60s
sides here are prime, horn-fuelled rockers of the highest order,
with Sahm emoting wildly like some kind of loud Texas twister.
The second disc moves into the Sir Douglas Quintet world of wacky
tobacky, wild women and loose road life, as viewed from the backrooms,
bars and paisley Cadillacs of Sahm’s world. Groovy? Most
definitely. Rave on Douglas, wherever you are.
Jeff Monk |
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The
Drowning Pool
Desensitized
(Wind-up)
B
Website: www.drowningpool.com
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This sophomore disc from
DP is better than what you’d expect from a band that puts
a baseball bat-wielding porn star on the cover. Bring in the heavy
shit: Detuned riffs from snarling guitars, blood-spitting vocals
and head-banging rhythms. DP’s vocalist, Dave Williams,
died in 2002 (you’re wrong — natural causes), but
these Dallas rockers have found a good replacement in Jason (Gong)
Jones. The vocals here are livid and aggressive while still intelligible,
and some death metal screamers might take a lesson from Gong.
Tracks such as Step Up and Numb threaten to rattle fillings from
teeth, and this band is capable of ultra-distorted mucking about
as well as more intricate and melodic moments (see Nothingness
for examples of both). If your ears aren’t bleeding, get
more speakers.
Mike Warkentin |
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Joe
Satriani
Is There Love in Space
(Epic)
B-
Website: www.satriani.com
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Satriani oozes credibility
in the world of guitar heroes. He taught licks to fretmasters
Steve Vai and Kirk Hammett and has guested on tours and albums
by heavyweights such as Mick Jagger and Deep Purple. This disc
continues the Satriani tradition of sizzling guitar rock and killer
riffing, taking you on a tour of the holy of holies that is the
Electric Guitar. Satch offers vocals on a couple of tracks —
and should stick to the strings — and also gives us a mandatory
magnum opus 10-minute jam, the dreamy Searching. While this isn’t
the kind of thing you can listen to with anyone but the acolytes
of Page, Beck and Blackmore, it does offer a trip into Satriani’s
wah-pedalled vision of what a guitar can do.
Mike Warkentin |
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Various
Artists
Late Night Tales
(Azuli)
A
Website: www.latenighttales.com
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Part of a compilation
series, this particular gem has been assembled by U.K. folk-rock
duo Turin Brakes. Sublime and soothing tracks from days of old
illustrate the bands’ influences and the music they love.
Punctuated by an acoustic style that has come to characterize
the Turin Brakes’ sound, this smart collection opens with
Last Night I Dreamt Of Mississippi (feeling rather like a much-needed
stretch and yawn) by Swedish singer Nicolai Dungar, and it’s
an accurate indication of what’s to come. Following suit
is the classic easy-listening of Midnight Cowboy and then the
more modern but equally wonderful Send in the Clouds by the Silver
Jews (a side project of Pavement’s Stephen Malkmus). Finally,
the Brakes boys give you their own version of the Rolling Stones’
Moonlight Mile as an exclusive track. There’s also a bonus
spoken-word track (not to be missed) from British actor Brian
Blessed. Late Night Tales is an almost-perfect compilation.
Liz Hover |
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Ben
Jelen
Give it all Away
(Maverick)
B+
Website: maverick.com/benjelen
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Consider Ben Jelen the
male spin on Michelle Branch and Vanessa Carlton. The budding
singer-songwriter’s bittersweet sound and Ashton Kutcher
good looks are deceiving at first, but don’t let that throw
you off. Jelen is more than just another pretty face. Signed to
Madonna’s record label (which is home to Alanis Morisette
and Tyler Hilton), his sensitive and emotional lyrics are already
thrusting this 24-year-old into the spotlight. His debut album
showcases the self-taught musician’s talent for introspection
and passion and features classic piano and string instrumentation.
Jelen’s first single, Come On, is an intense ballad filled
with yearning desire. Every Step and Stay are a touch livelier,
though the vocals remain pure and light on every track. While
the album is mostly comprised of wistful love songs, Ben comes
off genuine without being too overwhelming; his lyrics are as
real as his talent. Likely a future MTV mainstay.
Jen Skerritt |
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Patti
Smith
Trampin’
(Columbia)
A
Website: www.pattismith.net
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Punk poetess Patti Smith
really has no peers at this stage of her career, and her first
release on Columbia Records is really not noticeably different
from her last few Arista outings. Smith views the world exactly
as a true beat journalist would — with a slightly suspicious
eye and an unwavering commitment to those who struggle daily trying
to figure it all out as life speeds by at an increasingly unrelenting
speed. Love (as opposed to romance) figures prominently —
not the sappy Hallmark-imbued platitudes that ring with shrill
insincerities but rather a powerful, life-altering shaking of
the soul. Smith’s band (the long-serving Lenny Kaye, Jay
Dee Daugherty, Oliver Ray, and Tony Shanahan) are like a well-oiled,
completely synchronized machine, giving Smith’s emotionally
powerful words full flight. Smith’s body of work is undeniably
superb, and Trampin’ rates with her best.
Jeff Monk |
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Hound
Dog Taylor
Release The Hound
(Alligator)
A
Website: www.alligator.com
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The story goes that Bruce
Iglauer started Alligator Records to record Hound Dog Taylor,
the late, great, incendiary Chicago guitar player and singer.
It seems to have worked out fine for Bruce and his label, and
for a few short years in the early 1970s, old Hound Dog and his
double-shot backing band (second guitar and drums) enjoyed more
success than they had ever known working the boards in Chi-Town
for 15 bucks per man per night. There are more than a few apologies
on the album sleeve concerning the condition of the audio mix
on these 14 jewels, but for anyone who knows and loves the intensely
kinetic sound of Mr. Taylor throttling his cheap Japanese guitar
with glee, these words are surely unnecessary. The honesty of
the earthy blues power here is absolutely undeniable. Buy this,
put on your wig-hat and throw down.
Jeff Monk |
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