Doug Wamble
Bluestate
(Rounder Records)

B

Website: www.dougwamble.com

Exodus
Shovel Headed Kill Machine
(Nuclear Blast/PHD Canada)

A+



Website: www.exodusattack.com

OK, peons, move your little hatchbacks and SUVs filled with adult-contemporary CDs. I’m parking this Shovel Headed Kill Machine in your spot. You got a problem with that? Feel free to take it up with guitarist Gary Holt. He’s the lone original member of Exodus, and he’s in charge of this wicked shit. “Please, Gary, we can’t handle raging tunes like Deathamphetamine and Going Going Gone. Can’t you thrash less and play more melodic music?” You know what Holt would say to that? Nothing. He’d just plug in and waste your ears with the title track, a glorious metal anthem that would have Satan banging his head down in the ninth ring of hell. You want your parking spot back? Buy this awesome CD and turn your Tercel into a Shovel Headed Kill Machine of your very own.
Mike Warkentin

Heartless Bastards
Stairs and Elevators
(Fat Possum)

B

Fat Possum has thrived on releasing the music of old bluesmen as well as newer blues-based acts such as Heartless Bastards. The cartoon portrait on the cover of two guys and a tiny, longhaired woman in the middle says it all — the drawing is as simple as the band’s sound. Stairs and Elevators is an album of a dozen songs that have the power of rock ’n’ roll and the soul of the blues. A Les Paul crunched through a Vox amp is the sound here. Backed by a bashing rhythm section, the Bastards tear through song after song of dirty blues-rock. The heart of the band lies with vocalist/guitarist/ songwriter Erica Wennerstrom, whose voice carries the catchy melodies. The cover of Junior Kimbrough’s Done Got Old is garage-rock heaven, and Lazy is just that, a slow barnburner.
Ashley McCurdy

British jazz/pop hipster Jamie Cullum would have been a card-carrying member of Sinatra’s Rat Pack had he been in his 20s in 1950. On Catching Tales he’s definitely channelling the same cool vibe and smouldering intensity. Cullum is a formidable songwriter and instrumentalist who peppers his tracks with everything from speaker-crushing sub-bass to brassy horn flourishes, whistled solos, cranked snare drums and a ton of inventive piano work. Standout tracks include Photograph, 7 Days to Change Your Life and the standard I Only Have Eyes for You. Jamie flirts with disaster when he goes for the highest note in the middle of the latter song, but it resolves into a perfect tone held for a brief and beautiful second. The moment sums up the whole disc. Cullum takes big risks here, and we are rewarded with what could be the jazz/pop record of the year.
Chris Brown

Last year’s hit single Selfish did wonders for Slum Village. Too bad not even a Kanye West assist could convince its label to promote the Detroit Deli alb or keep SV on the roster. The duo wears freedom well. Backed by Black Milk and Young R.J. on the boards, T3 and Elzhi lick their chops and make beautiful music. They’ve found consistency after so much upheaval — just listen to the self-affirming Can I Be Me, the honey-chasing charm of Multiply and the heavy kick-snare stomp of Fantastic. SV really impress when they step away from their signature sound and bring some dirty funk to the table on 05; 1,2; Hear This and the lead single, EZ Up. They may want to think about going into this new direction.
Angelou Flores

Back in May I reviewed System’s Mezmerize, the other half of this release. I gave it a C and have been regretting it ever since. Mezmerize caught me at the wrong time, and it came off as irritating rather than wicked. Hypnotize is very similar to its predecessor. It’s just as aggressive and frantic as Mezmerize, and it’s just as good. Still, it took me three or four listens to ‘get it.’ System is pushing the envelope of metal — hard — and both albums are about as frenetic as you can get (Mezmerize is more thrash-based; Hypnotize is a bit more melodic). Still, both discs show a band at the peak of its talents exploring uncharted musical territory with aggression and a social conscience as its only guide. Pick up both albums and listen to them until you realize how good they are.
Mike Warkentin

American singer/songwriter Toshi Reagon should get some wider acceptance if people listen to her hot new album, Have You Heard. Reagon often finds her music lumped into the folk category, mostly due to her performing with an acoustic guitar and being an urban woman with something to say. This album crosses more than a few categories. Yes, there’s her homespun folk-mama side (You, Down to the Water), but along with this excellent quietude comes some boiling, funk-tinged exclamations and a dollop of blues and soul. Not that this spreading out causes any weakness in her ability to get her songs across; on the contrary, Reagon nails everything nearly perfectly here. Didn’t I Tell You and Ooh Wee turn the soul-funk flame up to red hot as Reagon makes it plain she will be heard.
Jeff Monk

Lowering your salt intake and increasing physical activity are two ways to improve your health and avoid looking like the overweight lifers at the office. Now you can get your salt fix while dancing up a storm, thanks to Miguel Migs’ latest offering. In the first of likely many Get Salted releases, the California native gets things moving with his sexy blend of deep, soulful house. It’s not boring house with long repetitive loops and wailing divas — this master knows essential track selection. The pumping bass of Chuck Love’s Back In My Life is meant for sweating on the dance floor, so grab a partner and leave the rest to the music. If you’re in the mood, crank up Migs’ bouncy dub of Remember, or for a Latin flair listen to the horns wail on Like This by Special Interest. Get this disc.

Shannon Ander