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Check out
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Check out
this week’s
online CD reviews by our
music staff |
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Chris
Joss
You’ve Been Spiked
(ESL Music)
B-
Website: www.eslmusic.com
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Car chases are cool. French
producer and deejay Chris Joss must think so too, as he invites
us along for the ride in his ’60s-infused funk machine.
Originally released on Cristal Records, this 13-track re-release
on the ESL label includes two bonus tracks from 1999’s The
Man With the Suitcase and the video of his single Discotheque
Dancing, which is worth checking out for all it’s French
weirdness. Wrong Alley Street will have you quickening your step
and checking over your shoulder with its wonky guitar riffs and
thundering bass. Riviera 69 and Waves of Love will put you in
the mood as long as you don’t get bored first. Despite the
funky grooves and deep basslines a few tracks are missing that
something extra and aren’t quite as ‘spiked’
as you’d expect them to be.
Shannon Ander |
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Gotan Project/Phillipe Cohen Solal
Inspiracion Espiracion: A Gotan Project CD Set
(XL Recordings)
A
Website: www.xlrecordings.com
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Back in the day, before
men wore too much cologne and cheap deodorant, the tango made
its debut. The story goes that the woman would dance with her
head held up and to the left to avoid the perspiration smell emanating
from the man. Luckily for us, this disc doesn’t stink. Philippe
Cohen Solal, one-third of Gotan Project, starts things off with
traditional tango rhythms and before you know it your hips are
swaying to soothing trumpets and African percussion. Calexico’s
remix of La Del Ruso would be the perfect soundtrack to a Mexican
standoff, and Anibal Troilo’s Tres Y Dos’s is a perfect
romantic interlude. I’ve never heard a rap-influenced tango
before but the Antipop Consortium’s mix of El Capitalismo
Foraneo works. With a few new tracks and lots of cool remixes,
this disc will have you signed up for tango lessons in no time.
Shannon Ander |
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The Mooney Suzuki
Alive & Amplified
(Columbia)
A
Website: www.themooneysuzuki.com |
The members of The Mooney
Suzuki are the current and perhaps forever Gawds of Rawk. Their
latest album, A&A, completely obliterates a good portion of
the quivering competition by dumbing down and lifting up
at the same rocking time. This quartet of loose-and-juicy New
Yorkers has the best kind of screw-you-I’m-rockin’-over-here
attitude and delivers it with raucous stomp and stagger. Augie
Wilson’s assaultive drumming is moved so far up in the mix
it’s like he’s beating those sassy skins right in
your living room. Graham Tyler turns his Keef Richards guitar
licks upside-down and uses some neat recording twists to create
a tone that borders on matchless. Tracks such as Shake That Bush,
New York Girls, Hot Sugar, Naked Lady and Messin’ in the
Dressin’ Room proudly leave nothing to the imagination.
Have you bought this yet?
Jeff Monk |
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Various
Artists
Reggae Pulse 4: Christmas Songs
(Sanctuary/Trojan)
C
Website: www.trojanrecords.com
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There is no denying the
weight of musical history that stands behind the venerable Trojan
Records label: The mighty imprint has released only the finest
of roots-reggae over the last few decades. This set has its heart
in the right place but misses the mark as far as dread authenticity.
Nearly all of the versions of the so-called seasonal classics
are here — White Christmas, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,
Frosty the Snowman and all that bilge. You may think you could
never hear these nuggets enough but one only hopes that nobody
was hurt jumping on this bandwagon. Surely Trojan could release
at this time of year a collection of tracks more closely aligned
to the musical and religious traditions of the folks performing
them, rather than obeying the call of the cash register. Buy the
Trojan Dub Box Set instead.
Jeff Monk |
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Silvertide
Show and Tell
(J Records)
C
Website: www.silvertidemusic.com
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At exactly the same time
last year we were overtaken by the visual and aural hard glamrock
onslaught of England’s The Darkness. Like clockwork we now
witness the arrival of the new princes of Yankee cock rock, Silvertide.
Unlike Silverhead, the band’s near-namesake from a couple
of decades ago, this swaggering quintet presents absolutely nothing
new — and they bring it with great flourish. Sartorially
the ’Tide boys make no advances, and since their look seems
to be a big part of their “package,” it’s unfortunate
that they’ve chosen the standard-issue faded denim and shapeless
long hair. Singer Walt Lafty has the kind of nasal passage purge-croon
that sounds sincere after about 15 shots of cheap bourbon. Most
of the songs are warm homages to “chicks” —
of the angel-in-my-heart/devil-in-my-bed variety. What Silvertide
shows isn’t great and what they tell ain’t worth hearing.
Jeff Monk |
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Danny
Michel
Loving the Alien: Danny Michel Sings the Songs of David Bowie
(MapleMusic)
B
Website: www.dannymichel.com
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Danny Michel’s voice
is a fragile, otherworldly instrument, fraught with innate heartache,
capable of conveying untold misery and desire with a simple turn
of phrase. So it is at least interesting to hear the Ottawa singer/songwriter
applying his instrument to the songs of David Robert Jones. Most
of these treatments are spare and acoustic-based, acknowledging
Bowie’s beginnings as a ’60s folksinger. As such,
the songs hold up well, even when stripped of their Philly soul
adornments (Young Americans) or Ziggy-era rock trappings (Moonage
Daydream). Good as this collection is, however, it’s a disappointment
in that fans of Michel’s tremendous talents probably want
to hear them on an album of his own material.
John Kendle
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Various
Artists
Studio One — Disco Mix
(Soul Jazz)
B+
Website: www.souljazzrecords.co.uk
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Don’t let the word
“disco” in the title of this near-flawless, 16-track
roots-reggae set make you think this is related to the American
dance style of the same name. In Jamaican music of the 1970s,
“disco” simply meant re-tooled versions of popular
“straight” tracks. Studio One was the prototypical
master blaster purveyor of all things righteous in those smokey
times when real reggae was conquering the tastemakers of the world.
Artists such as The Ethiopian, Jackie Mittoo and Sugar Minott
pretty much wrote the foreword to the genre’s book of rules
and are represented here in full force. Willie Williams and the
Brentford Disco Set deliver a sweet take on the cool Armagideon
Time and lesser-known acts such as George Allen, Doreen Schaefer
and Judah Eskender Tafari make this a must-own for collectors.
Jeff Monk |
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The
Go! Team
Thunder, Lightning, Strike
(Memphis Industries)
A
Website: www.thegoteam.co.uk
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For its debut album, England’s
The Go! Team has created an upbeat and thoroughly modern-sounding
sonic throw-down. The short, mostly instrumental set mixes plenty
of groovy beats and super-uplifting melodies that will have you
increasing the volume on your player as each song passes. This
kind of creativity is rare these days — the dense simplicity
is intoxicating and the minimal raps that do appear as ‘vocals’
sound more like children’s schoolyard chants than serious
lyrics. Sometimes the naive melodies edge the cheese-o-meter toward
the Sesame Street incidental music region — but in a really
good way. This multiracial, mixed-gender gang of kooks is hugely
talented, since the most difficult music to play sometimes sounds
the simplest. Standouts include Junior Kickstart — with
it’s ’60s movie chase scene horn arrangement —
and the sweet instro Friendship Update.
Jeff Monk |
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The
MC5
Are You Ready to Testify? — The Live Bootleg Anthology
(Castle/Sanctuary)
A
Website: www.sanctuaryrecordsgroup.com
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Thanks to the recent
reformation of The Five (actually it’s the MC3, but who’s
counting?) to tour and promote the new DVD release of their
100 Club performance, the group’s name recognition and
overall props have never been better. The Detroit-bred combo
was always a force of nature live, and that gospel is now finally
widely available via this stunning, two-CD, one EP box set.
The Five’s decimating sonic roar is intact — albeit
in this rough-as-nails bootleg form — all over this monstrosity
of a collection. Yes, these primal screams of a band in full
heat have been toted around the indie labels forever but this
is the complete set you need to fill any and all gaps. In a
word: Howling. In another word: Wicked.
Jeff Monk |
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