Susan Boyle
I Dreamed a Dream
Balladry
*
Yes, she’s frumpy. And yes, she can sing. But once you get past the reverse discrimination of Boyle’s fame, there isn’t much point to her much-hyped debut CD. Unless, there’s an untapped market for surreal, treacly covers of Madonna, The Monkees and Rolling Stones, interspersed with hymns. Just because she dreamed a dream doesn’t mean it has to become a reality.
Download: Wild Horses,
Cry Me a River
Wale
Attention Deficit
Hip-Hop
****
D.C. rapper Wale (say Wah-Lay) earned his cred with inventive fare like last year’s Seinfeld-inspired Mixtape About Nothing. Now he’s out to get paid with this major-label debut, which sets fast-thinking rhymes, Kanyesque vocals and cameos from Lady Gaga, K’Naan and others against radio-ready tracks by the likes of Neptunes, Mark Ronson and Green Lantern. Pay attention.
Download: Mirrors, Chillin’
Stereophonics
Keep Calm & Carry On
Brit-rock
***1/2
If it’s an even-numbered year, it’s time for another studio album from these Welsh rockers. To be fair, singer-guitarist Kelly Jones and Co. haven’t been as artistically consistent as they are punctual. But this seventh CD is something of a return to form, with a dozen sharply written slices of hook-laden power-pop and glammy Brit-rock. Carry on, lads. See you again in 2011.
Download: She’s Alright, Trouble
Devendra Banhart
What Will We Be
Freak-Folk
***1/2
After half a dozen indie flights of psychedelic wandering and experimentation, hirsute freak-folkie Banhart has leapt to the big leagues. Unsurprisingly, he cleans up his act slighty on this major-label debut, tempering his trippier tendencies in favour of simpler songs set atop a dreamy landscape of folk, pop, ska and jazz. If he isn’t careful, he could be the new Jack Johnson.
Download: Goin’ Back, 16th & Valencia Roxy Music
Helix
Vagabond Bones
Metal
***
Last time Helix’s Brian Vollmer thought I was ignoring his albums,
he ranted about me online. I don’t want to deal with that again. Besides, this album from Vollmer and his reunited Can-metal vets is actually surprisingly solid. Between the big riffs, sharp hooks, catchy choruses, sleek production and Vollmer’s raspy Vince Neil pipes, this is an enjoyable blast from the past.
Download: The Animal Inside (Won’t Be Denied), Make ’Em Dance
Hedley
The Show Must Go
Pop
**
Either Jacob Hoggard has amnesia or he thinks we all do. There’s no other way to explain why a guy who got his start on Canadian Idol thinks he can trash reality TV on his third CD. Of course, there’s also no explanation for the rest of this unoriginal CD, which rips off Fall Out Boy, Weezer, Sublime, Aerosmith power ballads and even a diamond-store jingle. Glass houses, dude.
Download: Cha-Ching, Scream
DOWN/STREAM
Vampire Weekend
Cousins
What sophomore slump? This second sneak peek at the Brooklyn indie-rockers’ upcoming Contra CD is nothing short of joyously infectious. Somewhere between flamenco and folk-punk, the
two-and-a-half-minute ditty comes with a cascading rain of guitar notes, a propulsively rolling snare drum and lyrics about risk takers, shoemakers and finding sweat on the ocean floor.
www.vampireweekend.com
Beck
Harry Partch
A few weeks ago, Radiohead issued a tribute to First World War vet Harry Patch — and got slagged by Fiery Furnaces’ Matthew Friedberger, who apparently confused the soldier with avant-garde composer Harry Partch. This week, Beck honours Partch with this surreal little fever-dream mashup of musical odds ’n’ ends. Let’s crank up the indie-rock celebrity-feud machine.
www.beck.com
Beach House
Norway
Vampire Weekend aren’t the only indie kids with a much-anticipated new CD. This dreamy Baltimore pop duo’s new disc Teen Dream is also due in January — and if this woozy collection of dreamy vocals, chiming melody and gently thumping drums is any sign of what we’re in for, it won’t be long before somebody in the blogosphere calls it 2010’s album of the year.
www.myspace.com/beachhousemusic
CDs
Downchild Blues Band
I Need a Hat
Blues
***
If you play the blues to make money, you probably won’t, Downchild founder and guitarist Donnie Walsh supposedly said. Not surprisingly, after 40 years, Walsh and co. still haven’t changed their tune. Their 15th studio CD is a predictably tasty platter of 12-bar riffs, laid-back boogie, piercing solos, sandpaper vocals, honking harps and tinkly pianos. Everything you need, almost.
Download: This Must Be Love, Rendezvous
Exene Cervenka
Somewhere Gone
Indie-Folk
***
You might recognize Cervenka as the frontwoman of long-running L.A. punk outfit X. Her latest solo album, however, has more in common with X’s rootsy off-and-on side project The Knitters. Flowing effortlessly from country and folk to bluegrass and rockabilly, these 14 rough-hewn acoustic tracks are sometimes celebratory, sometimes haunting, but consistently compelling.
Download: Where Do We Go From Here?, Walk Me Across the Night
Dave Rawlings Machine
A Friend of a Friend
Americana
***1/2
For 13 years, singer-guitarist Rawlings has played second fiddle to Gillian Welch. On his debut — their first release in six years — the Americana duo trade spots, with Welch supporting her man on a typically hushed set of new originals, classic covers, and tunes he co-wrote with Ryan Adms, Conor Oberst and more. It’ll tide you over until Gillian gets her act together.
Download: Ruby, It’s Too Easy
The Cribs
Ignore the Ignorant
Indie-rock
***/2
This scrappy trio of British brothers welcome a new playmate on their fourth CD: Former Smiths and current Modest Mouse guitarist Johnny Marr. The Jarmans’ feisty post-punk continues to cross the pop-grunge of Nirvana with the bedhead indie-rock of Sonic Youth — but not surprisingly, the addition of Marr’s reverberating jangle makes this disc something not easily ignored.
Download: Cheat on Me, We Share the Same Skies
The Scenics
Sunshine World: Studio Recordings 1977-78
Proto-punk
****
If a band makes an album and nobody hears it, does it still rock? It sure does. Three decades after the the fact, recently reunited Toronto punks The Scenics have finally issued a sophomore disc — this long-lost batch of wiry Television guitars, black Velvets art-rock, Pere Ubu yelping and the freakiest Tommy James cover you’ve ever heard. Stay tuned for a new CD in 2039 or so.
Download: Do the Wait, Mony Mony
Manassas
Pieces
Country-Rock
****
Formed by Stephen Stills and Chris Hillman in the early ’70s, this short-lived ensemble added Santana-like Latin pecussion to Burritos-style pedal-steel country and Stonesy rock. This aptly titled archival offering resurrects a slew of high-quality leftovers and outtakes from their two critically acclaimed albums. If they had tossed in a live album, the puzzle would be complete.
Download: Lies, Fit to be Tied
The Heavy
The House That Dirt Built
Indie-Rock
***
“How you like me now?” ask these Brits on their second CD. Well, since their freewheeling, more-the-merrier approach encompasses everything and the kitchen sink — Hives-buzz garage-rock, James Brown get-down funk, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins-sampling R&B, Ennio Morricone twangscapes, Curtis Mayfield soul, dubby reggae, gospel-blues and more — what is not to like?
Download: Oh No! Not You Again!!, Long Way From Home
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DVDs
Paul McCartney
Good Evening New York City
Classic Rock
****
More than four decades after playing Shea Stadium with some forgotten band called The Beatles, Sir Paul and his band returned to christen its replacement Citi Field with a trio of shows. That might give this compilation of tunes from all three shows some historic value — but the 33-song set list of Fabs classics, solo cuts and recent material is what makes it worth your money.
Katy Perry
MTV Unplugged
Pop
***
An Unplugged outing from provocative pop phenom Perry seems like something nobody needs in their life. Surprise! This 35-minute episode is surprisingly impressive — the 25-year-old starlet transforms hits like I Kissed a Girl and Ur So Gay into smoky jazz and blues with a nimble band, proves she can handle an acoustic guitar and even covers Fountains of Wayne. I liked it.
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GARAGE BAND
Dante
Toronto
www.myspace.com/dantemorra
Sex sells. And dance music is all about sex. Toronto electro-sleaze artist Dante has obviously learned those lessons. So his totally NSFW website is loaded with provocative pix of scantily-clad women. His songs — sample titles: Jack the Licker, Music 2F2, Do U Like It? — are all about ... well, that’s pretty obvious. And his stage act seems to consist of him cavorting with strippers. Nice work if you can get it, sure. But it’s not quite enough to distract you from the fact that a lot of his tunes are basically one-dimensional Prince knockoffs. I’m not buying.
VERDICT: “Not tonight, I have a headache.”
**
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UPCOMING
December 8
Graffiti
Chris Brown
Buffet Hotel
Jimmy Buffet
Malice N Wonderland
Snoop Dogg
This is War
30 Seconds to Mars
Shock Value 2
Timbaland
Monster
Usher
December 15
Body
Jamie Foxx
The Element of Freedom
Alicia Keys
Rebirth
Lil Wayne
