Alison Moyet
Voice
(Sanctuary/EMI)

C+

Website: www.alisonmoyet.com

The Bled
Found in the Flood
(Vagrant)

C+



Website: www.thebledsite.com

This is the second album from Tucson-based The Bled, and it’s got goods and bads. More importantly, it has potential. This band has the ability to become the next Dillinger Escape Plan success story, and they could be the next band to warp the way we look at metalcore. That said, the album is also missing a lot of things; namely any semblance of catchy hooks or lyrics. There is nothing really here for the audience to sink its teeth into — no scream-along anthems, no lines that are just so good that they plague your mind for weeks. These guys do have the ability to make good, hard music, but they need more than that to stand out of the ever-engulfing pack. The Bled must play to its potential if it hopes to maintain fans and create staying power.
Brodie Sanderson

Boards of Canada
The Campfire Headphase
(Warp)

A-

With the highly anticipated follow-up to 2002’s Geogaddi, Scottish duo Boards of Canada has created a work that may not be as instantly gratifying as its predecessor but gradually and quietly works its way into your psyche. Pairing elements such as the ebb and flow of waves with the concrete sounds of a guitar, the duo fleshes out the gentle, ambient beats that are so definable as Boards of Canada, taking them on a leisurely journey beyond the realm of time and space. The band’s brand of electronic music has always been a bit of an anachronism and, steeped in nostalgia, much of what the duo does is like a sepia-toned memory. That is Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin’s greatest strength — fashioning a universe entirely of their own devising and welcoming the listener into it with open arms.
Barb Stewart

Get an early start on your New Year’s resolutions and lose some of those extra pounds by dancing your calories away. Guaranteed to make you sweat, Bob Sinclar gives the party people what they want — funky house music. The first of this three-CD set has recent favorites such as Martin Solveig’s disco-licious Jealousy and the dirty percussion of G-Club’s Pressure Cooker, and both are guaranteed to heat up any dance floor. Disc 2 blends old and new from the retro, ’70s sounds of George Duke’s Brazilian Love Affair to the slow-building jungle noises on Lacatush by Idju Boys & Laj. The final disc is for late-night relaxation on a comfortable sofa. Some lulls occur in the over three hours of music, but overall there’s a wide selection of tracks to keep your ears and feet happy.
Shannon Ander

England’s pop-informed, roots-reggae masters Matumbi hit most folks musical radar about the time they toured with Ian Dury and the Blockheads and released their wonderful album Seven Seals, which became available domestically in 1978. Led by the unshakable talent of Dennis (Blackbeard) Bovell, this seven-member team of roots men countered the stock-and-trade dread-roots reggae flying in from Jamaica at the time with their honey-voiced singing and skill at building soulful arrangements in the context of trad-reggae grooves. What makes this set worth investigating is the wealth of tracks (some good, some a little less stirring) from both before and after the very few albums that were eventually released in Canada. Music In The Air, Hook Deh and the smashing Bluebeat and Ska will be familiar to fans, and this two-disc, 33-track overview is worth searching out.
Jeff Monk

Now that the weather’s turning cold it’s time to find inventive ways to keep warm. The soulful pop sounds of Jamaican-born Osmond Wright, aka Mozez, will start you on the right track. You’ll recognize Wright’s voice from several Zero 7 tracks, some of which he co-wrote. Henry Binns (from Zero 7) returns the favour and guest stars on the dreamy Beautiful Day. Mozez sounds like Seal on Stay Beautiful and Take the Sun, songs that are so soothing they might even cure the winter blues. Spinning Top will help you make it through those times where you want to stay in bed all day. With a smooth voice that rises from a deep whisper to a falsetto, Mozez guarantees relaxation while listening to his first release. Fans of Remi Shand and Seal take note — this disc is for you.
Shannon Ander

Florida-based quartet Shinedown is usually mentioned in the same sentence as Nickelback, but Us and Them reeks more of Audioslave than Chad and co., especially on Heroes. Singer Brent Smith doesn’t have Chris Cornell’s pipes, but he ain’t bad, and guitarist Jason Todd can lay down a groove even if he can’t cement it like Tom Morello. In fact, several tracks on this sophomore post-grunge album are very encouraging — but Shinedown quickly shows that it hasn’t figured itself out yet. Lady So Divine recalls Incubus, and Beyond the Sun is a shitty attempt at the requisite ballad. I Dare You was essentially already done by Live. I dare you, Shinedown, to ditch the wanking, be yourselves and let loose, regardless of what the label thinks will sell.
Mike Warkentin

www.peterwalkermusic.com
Someday the elegant and evergreen icon Neil Young will be gone, and it may take young upstarts like Bay Area bruiser Peter Walker to fill the void. Walker nails the everyman-as-rocker vibe throughout the pleasing Landed. With the aid of some Tonight’s the Night-vintage guitar work and arrangements loose enough to drive a hearse through, it really comes off as a neat homage to the grizzled master. Walker’s voice regularly slides into a throaty wheeze that sounds like he lost the lozenge on purpose for this album. The kicking band is tight as a nun’s, and for that we can be truly grateful. Walker may not yet be unique enough to pull his head above the fray that is today’s high tide of grungy country rockers, but he’s one worth keeping and eye out for.
Jeff Monk