Brent Randall and his PineconesQuite Precisely(Just Friends)Best known as Mark Bragg’s bass player, Brent Randall steps out in a major way. An ambitious and skillfully written effort, Quite Precisely is driven by Randall’s knack for melody and tasteful piano-playing. “Television and Treasure” conjures the spirit of Mott the Hoople while “In Horsedrawn Delight” marches and […]
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Karminsky Experience Inc.
Karminsky Experience Inc.The Power of Suggestion (Caroline)For those still longing to recapture that fateful day you first heard Air’s Moon Safari, introducing Karminsky Experience Inc. Martin Dingle and James Munns are the UK DJ duo behind this project unleashed to North America seven years after their first British release. The Power of Suggestion is their […]
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Candali
Published February 05, 2004. Candali Supersensory (independent) Listening to Candali’s debut album is like going to a cool garage sale: you’re gonna find gems, but you’ll have to sort through some junk. The band knows how to pen a musically challenging and catchy jazz/pop song—“One Masquerade,” “Her Hair” and “Better Days” are prime examples—but can […]
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Ryan Malcolm
Ryan MalcolmHome (BMG)While there is little to rave about our Canadian Idol’s debut, there is little to criticize either. It doesn’t feel like Malcolm really cares about these tunes, as he never really sinks his teeth in like he did during the competition. But at least he isn’t being pounded like a square peg into […]
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Madvillain
MadvillainMadvillainy(Stone’s Throw)Madvillainy is fucking awesome. A collaboration between Madlib and MF Doom, the disc splices Saturday morning cartoons, late night movies and inspired beats with a surgeon’s accuracy. There is not one misstep. While much hip-hop has been weighed down by ego, Madvillain shows an absolute dedication to the art. Most MCs in Doom’s shoes […]
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Harry Connick Jr.
Published September 18, 2003. Harry Connick Jr. Other Hours (Marsalis/Rounder) Harry drops the Sinatra wanna-be act and pulls together an instrumental jazz record. Who knew at the heart of Connick were Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell? Other Hours is based around small-combo swing, but the band lifts off in various directions in their solos, making […]
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The Fall
Published December 11, 2003. The Fall The Real New Fall LP; Formerly Country on the Click (Action) Originally slated for an April release, this new Fall album was pulled, remixed and re-titled after an Internet leak. Whatever changes (may) have been made don’t matter. The Fall, headed by the Thelonious Monk of punk rock (Mark […]
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Tori Amos
Published November 27, 2003. Tori Amos Tales of a Librarian (Atlantic) With no bona fide hits and only a few singles in her career, Tori Amos’s best-of collection inherently avoids the trap of existing to appease half-assed listeners who don’t own any albums. It’s a fan’s compilation, culling 20 songs from her first five records […]
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Joel Plaskett Emergency
Published November 06, 2003. Joel Plaskett Emergency Truthfully Truthfully (Maple) If the intro to “Written All Over Me” doesn’t convince everyone that Joel Plaskett is a rock god, there is no justice in the world. The cleanly picked, lively riff that slowly morphs into a fuzzed-out orgasm of rawk is one of the best openers […]
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Danko Jones
Published October 23, 2003. Danko Jones We Sweat Blood (Universal) Warning: This album will rock your friggin’ face clean off. Danko Jones has returned with We Sweat Blood, and if you’ve ever seen these guys play, you’ll know just how true that is. Danko, JC and Damon refuse to hold anything back live, or in […]
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Steve Earle
Published October 09, 2003. Steve Earle Just an American Boy (E Squared) In the wake of Steve Earle’s dark vision of George W. Bush’s America on Jerusalem comes the live set Just an American Boy. The show is riddled with his “unpatriotic” and unapologetic views of politics and American music. It contains favourites such as […]
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The Constantines
Published September 04, 2003. The Constantines Shine a Light (Three Gut) The Constantines’ debut was a full-frontal assault that revealed a level of artistry and intelligence that defied the band’s relative infancy. Shine a Light is a fitting and worthy follow-up, displaying a greater sense of dynamic experimentation from the nail-biter “National Hum” to the […]