A Bionic Xtina, a country Jewel, some Chinese Junkies, an Italian stallion and more; seems all the rockers are reinventing themselves this week.
Christina Aguilera
Bionic
Dance-Pop
3
It seems what a girl wants now is to have it both ways. True to its title, Aguilera’s fourth English CD is a musical hybrid. Half the 18 cuts are robotic electro-pop built from twitching beatboxes and buzzy synths. The rest are organic ballads set to rich strings. The results are equally mixed — Xtina’s restrained vocals draw you in but few songs hold your attention. Can they rebuild it?
Download: Not Myself Tonight, I Hate Boys
Jewel
Sweet & Wild
Country-Pop
3
Country may not have saved Jewel’s soul, but it hasn’t hurt her career. Her seventh album follows the trail of 2008’s Perfectly Clear, outfitting her rootsy pop numbers — which are generally more sweet than wild — with twangin’ guitars, weepy fiddles and plucky banjos. For those who prefer their Jewel in the rough, the Deluxe Edition includes all the songs in solo acoustic form.
Download: No Good in Goodbye, Stay Here Forever
Ryan Adams
Orion
Metal
31/2
Adams a metalhead? Go figure. On his first release in two years — an eternity for the prolific singer-guitarist — the country-rocker unleashes a headbanging sci-fi concept album, yowling about galactic war, radiation and electro-snakes over a dark technoverse of star-crunch guitars and thrashing drums. It won’t make you trash your Voivod CDs, but not bad for an amateur.
Download: By Force, Ghorgon Master of War
Mike Patton
Mondo Cane
Italian Pop
4
Since his days fronting Faith No More, Patton has become one of rock’s oddest characters. But even for him, this is freaky. Mondo Cane finds him — no kidding — covering ’60s and ’70s Italian pop hits with an orchestra, a choir and a 15-piece band. Encompassing everything from blues and soul to psychedelia and garage-rock, it truly deserves the adjective Felliniesque. Bravo!
Download: Che Notte!, Urlo Negro
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Soul-Rock
31/2
Some bands take a while to warm up. The Vermont crew, for instance, has put out three CDs of jammy, denim-clad roots and soul. But on this self-titled effort, they finally find the gas pedal. And they punch it, cranking out swaggering rock ’n’ roll riffs and fatback soul grooves to go with Potter’s full-throated Janis Joplin caterwaul and saucy lyrics. A shot of southern comfort.
Download: Medicine, Money
Cowboy Junkies
Renmin Park: The Nomad Series Vol. 1
Alt-Country
31/2
If only all junkies were this ambitious. Renmin Park is the first of four CDs the 25-year-old alt-country brooders plan to release over 18 months. They’re definitely off to a good start. Inspired by guitarist Michael Timmins’ visit to China, this song cycle seasons the foursome’s shadowy, slow-burning shimmer with some Asian musicians, instruments and textures. Bring on Vol. 2.
Download: I Cannot Sit Sadly by Your Side, (You’ve Got to Get) A Good Heart
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Kanye West
Power
So much for Kanye’s newfound humility. The first sneak peek from West’s forthcoming CD Good Ass Job is no introspective ballad: It’s a big, boisterous anthem anchored by a funky backbeat, layered with everything from a choir to a sample from King Crimson’s 21st Century Schizoid Man, and topped with some typically self-centred boasting from Kanye. You can’t fight this Power.
hypem.com
Arcade Fire
The Suburbs | Month of May
The beloved Montrealers head to suburbia on their upcoming album. And the surroundings are anything but monotonous, judging by these two previews. The title cut The Suburbs walks the fence between laid-back honky-tonk and Itchycoo Park, while the driving Month of May distills The Ramones’ catalog down to four minutes of punky power chords. Put out the welcome mat.
hypem.com
Luke Doucet
The Ballad of Ian Curtis
Canadian roots-rocker Doucet would seem to have more in common with Ian Tyson than Ian Curtis. But this oddball gem — presumably from his next album Steel City Trawler — honours the late Joy Division frontman with a nimble bassline, thumpy post-punk beat and biographical lyrics like “rope will take my breath away if the shakes don’t do it first.” Stranger than fiction.
lukedoucet.com
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CDs
Hail the Villain
Population: Declining
Metal
31/2
First impressions are important. And this Oshawa foursome make a powerful one with their debut full-length. Their sound is a one-two punch that fuses Billy Talent’s screamo-punk intensity with Metallica’s thrashing aggression, then crowns the whole furious hybrid with frontman Bryan Crouch’s grimly personal lyrics. From a bunch of villains, it’s a fairly heroic effort.
Download: My Reward, Blackout
Ladies of the Canyon
Haunted Woman
Roots
3
Presumably, they got their name from Joni Mitchell. Apparently, they got their duds from Deadwood’s brothel. And definitely, this female foursome got their earthy sound and rich harmonies from a long list of old folkies and country-rockers. That makes their hazy brand of roots-pop reverent homage or derivative, depending on your view. Either way, it still beats Pussycat Dolls.
Download: Follow You Down, No Deliverance
Hot Hot Heat
Future Breeds
Dance-Rock
31/2
One small move backward, one giant leap forward. That’s the two-step these Victoria rockers make on their fifth release. Back in indie-land after a pair of major-label releases, they take full advantage of their artistic freedom by expanding their synth-driven disco-rock with more experimental songs driven by shifting prime-number time signatures. Welcome to the future.
Download: 21@12, Implosionatic
Born Ruffians
Say It
Indie-Rock
31/2
Youthful exuberance only gets you so far. And while it worked for BR on their 2008 debut Red, Yellow & Blue, the Torontonians wisely take a calmer tack on this followup. The guitars still clang, the drums still tumble and the vocals still yawp like Vampire Weekend. But thanks to more restrained songcraft and bare-bones production, you can’t accuse them of repeating themselves.
Download: Retard Canard, What to Say
Tokyo Police Club
Champ
Indie-Pop
31/2
Everybody mellows with age. Even TPC, it seems. At 36 epic minutes, this 11-cut sophomore disc is their longest to date. And while it sports plenty of the frantic beats, ringing melodies, yelpy vocals and sharply styled songcraft of their debut Elephant Shell, it also tosses in moodier moments and slower passages that let everyone catch their breath. Hey, you gotta pace yourself.
Download: End of a Spark, Big Difference
The Jayhawks
The Jayhawks
Reissue
4
Everybody starts somewhere. These recently reunited Minneapolis alt-country kings started in 1986 with this self-titled debut (aka The Bunkhouse Album). Unearthed after years out of print, the disc hints at the greatness to come — though its roster of playfully upbeat twangers are a world away from the darker hues and thoughtful views of their later work. Essential for fans.
Download: Cherry Pie, (I’m Not in) Prison
Television Personalities
A Memory is Better Than Nothing
Indie-Pop
31/2
“He’s a poet, he’s a lark,” MGMT sang on Song for Dan Treacy, their recent tribute to the TVP anchor. They got that right. The British cult figure sticks to his freewheeling ways on his umpteenth full-length, warbling quirky ditties about new tattoos, good anarchists and hand-me-down clothes, set to ramshackle tunes that bridge pop, rock, folk and psychedelia. Better than real TV.
Download: People Think That We’re Strange, My New Tattoo
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DVDs
U2
360° at the Rose Bowl
Stadium-Rock
4
If you had tickets to U2’s tour, you have my condolences. And here’s your consolation prize. This live DVD captures all the massive spectacle: The stadium-sized round stage with wraparound runway and video screen; the global anthems like Elevation and Vertigo; even Bono’s overblown proselytizing — and some stage antics he’s unlikely to be repeating without a back brace.
Nikki Yanofsky
Live in Montreal
Jazz
31/2
Finding your identity isn’t easy. Not even for Yanofsky. The precocious Montreal phenom’s DVD — taped before a rapturous hometown crowd — betrays her teenage capriciousness: One minute she’s scatting classic be-bop; then she’s crooning smoky Norah Jones-style originals; then she’s covering Jimi and Janis. Granted, she can do them all. But that doesn’t mean she should.
