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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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Various
Artists
Bebel Gilberto Remixed
(Six Degrees Records)
B
Website: www.sixdegreesrecords.com
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Not many nine-year-olds
can say they’ve shared the stage with Stan Getz —
but Bebel Gilberto can. Born into a musical family, the Grammy-nominated
artist never strays far from her Brazilian roots, and her smooth
voice can be enjoyed with either a slow bossa nova beat or with
a flurry of bongo drums. Despite have been in the musical spotlight
for more than 20 years, Giberto released just her first solo album
Tanto Tempo in 2000, and a remix collection quickly followed.
After the success of that project, Thievery Corporation, Tom Middleton
and other guests accepted the invite to shake up Bebel’s
2004 self-titled effort. The result is this dreamy selection of
summery tracks, none of which are remixed beyond recognition,
with Gilberto’s voice still stealing the show. Fans of Gilberto’s
past albums and the Verve Remixed series will find this a worthy
investment.
Shannon Ander |
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The
Agony Scene
The Darkest Red
(Roadrunner Records)
A
Website: www.theagonyscene.com
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After muddling through
a self-titled debut that saw The Agony Scene flirting with death
metal and hardcore, the quintet has settled into a heavily blood-soaked
metalcore groove. The Darkest Red is a harsh disc which serves
notice that the band has found a sound and is going to punish
you with it. The riffs on tracks such as Scars of Your Disease
and Screams Turn to Silence are bludgeoning and thick, and vocalist
Michael Williams shows good ability to go from screaming to
melodic singing at the drop of a severed head. After the slow
and brooding album-opening interlude, the pacing of The Darkest
Red is furious and unrelenting through 10 more tracks. The band
still has a little room to refine its sound, but the riffage
is heavy and dark enough to set this American metal outfit apart
from Killswitch Engage and other warriors.
Mike Warkentin
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Emanuel
Soundtrack to a Headrush
(Vagrant)
C+
Website: www.thisisemanuel.com
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Headrush, indeed. Emanuel
will leave you dizzy and confused, wondering what you just heard.
How many bands out there can mix the raucous garage rock sounds
of a band like Nashville Pussy with pop-punk choruses à
la Lit? This just might be the disc that brings the greasy stoner
kids and the clean-cut skaters together. And it would, if Emanuel
could just keep that sound up over a whole record — when
it slows down the group comes too close to falling over the
edge into emo obscurity. That is a damn shame because album-opener
Hey Man!, Buy American Machines and The Willing are superb chunks
of modern-sounding, ass-kicking rawk with a classic rock flair.
Jared Story
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Niyaz
Niyaz
(Six Degrees Records)
B
Cheb i Sabbah
La Kahena
(Six Degrees Records)
A
Midival Punditz
Midival Punditz
(Six Degrees Records)
B
Website: www.sixdegreesrecords.com
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Musically speaking, our
planet is still a very large ball of wonder. While crass commercialization
and overt Westernization wreaks havoc on cultures that are uniformly
unwilling or unable to deflect the onslaught of corporate cash
money, there are still a few conscious human beings who choose
to respect musical tradition and uphold its beauty.
These three dynamic and loosely connected new releases represent
culturally diverse musical angles on some pretty ancient forebears.
Niyaz comprises a vocalist, a multi-instrumentalist and a producer/
remixer who have combined their disparate talents to create a
genuinely psychedelic tapestry of sounds supporting the words
of revered 13th-century Indian poet Jalaluddin Rumi.
Vocalist Ms. Azam Ali plays her traditional, ethnic-sounding voicings
off the turbulent beats created by Loga Torkian. It’s all
fleshed out with roomy production that echoes and bounces with
intriguing modern electronic sounds. The sky is the limit, it
seems, and expect to travel while soaking this gem in.
The Midival Punditz (Tapan Raj and Gaurav Raina)
tilt more toward the dance floor on their latest release, while
still maintaining a multicultural root to their esthetic. By featuring
many vocalists, the Punditz will please those ready to stimulate
more than one chakra per experience. This is dense, articulate
and forward grooving all at the same time. Tabla beat science,
indeed.
Cheb i Sabbah is the old-schooler of this bunch,
and the Algerian-born producer has a knack for subtly melting
a modern sheen onto his North African soul. This tribute album
of sorts finds Sabbah collaborating with a range of female vocalists
who will completely enrapture the souls of those with ears open
enough to hear the contemplative moans. There is a cool cultural
mix here, with Sabbah and a posse of some of the finest ethno-musicians
available giving natural support on these eight long tracks.
Sabbah’s treatments bring new life to melodies and rhythms
in danger of being overtaken by unwelcome and wholly unnecessary
musical homogenization and cultural imperialism.
Jeff Monk |
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Erol Alkan
Bugged Out
(Resist)
A
Website: www.resist-music.com
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Thank God. Rising above
countless garbage-filled summer compilations, Erol Alkan steps
up with a double-disc release worthy of your patio. The slightly
greasy-looking 30-year-old Turk began deejaying more than 10 years
ago before opening the London nightclub Trash. Most fans will
be buying this release expecting full electroclash mayhem and
might be a little put off with his chillout disc, Bugged In. The
selections support Alkan’s idea that a warm-up DJ set doesn’t
have to be dance music or music everyone’s heard before.
Ranging from romantic ’60s tunes (Julie London’s End
of a Love Affair) to haunting piano melodies (Gonzales’
Overnight), the disc is an unexpected surprise — and a good
one. On Bugged Out you can get your groove on to Soulwax’s
latest, E-Talking, and Erol’s remix of Tiga’s Move
My Body. Put on some bug spray, get outside, and get ready for
some late-night dancing.
Shannon Ander |
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Iommi
l
Fused
(EMI/Sanctuary)
B
Website: www.iommi.com
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One listen to an Iommi
riff makes you thank the dark gods that the legendary guitarist
lost a few fingertips when he was a teen. Fused finds the fretmaster
reuniting with former Deep Purple wailer Glenn Hughes and laying
down a follow-up to last year’s The 1996 DEP Sessions. Iommi’s
work is impeccable, as always, and on Savior of the Real Hughes
serves notice that he hasn’t lost anything, either. Despite
the quality of the players, this effort does feel a little dated,
and if you take away Iommi’s wicked tone, he’s often
playing some pretty simple riffs (check out Sabbath’s Paranoid
for an example). Fused will please classic rockers, but if you’ve
grown up, I’d suggest sticking with bands such as Audioslave,
where Tom Morello offers a searing update on the groundwork Iommi
laid back in the day.
Mike Warkentin |
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Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion
Exploration
(New West)
B+
Website: www.sarahleeandjohnny.com
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The new sweet and lowdown
album from singer/songwriter Sarah Lee Guthrie should at least
root her firmly in the hearts of those with expectations of
greatness. On most of the dozen tracks on the fine Exploration,
Arlo’s daughter plays Emmylou to Johnny Irion’s
Gram Parsons as the two weave their tight, at times Everly-esque
harmonies into a seamlessly matched whole. The duo and its obviously
road-tested band deal in folk-hearted melodies and tight little
rockers with equal finesse — a skill that should leave
audiences well satisfied. The title track bends to a thumping,
’70s-inspired soulbeat after introducing itself as an
innocent ballad. Guthrie shines in her solo vocal turn, Mornin’s
Over, giving hope that she may fly solo at some point. Scout
this out and enjoy.
Jeff Monk
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